Page 59 of Bound
Chapter 21
Amoret
I huddle as far from the tree as I can get without leaving the shade it offers. My insides quiver with unfulfilled need. The warmth it causes is stifling, leaving sweat trickling between my shoulder blades. But worse is the ache between my legs. The fullness of my breasts.
Gage stands feet away, his back to me as he speaks in angry tones to Tanner. Every pace he takes is rigid. Tense.
Our way back to the colony house was stolen.
While he had me pinned against the tree.
My eyes flutter.
I can still feel his hard fingers on my arm. The weight of his gaze as he watched me, the three lines of emerald, evergreen, and fern spinning and backlit in flames. A faint shift of moonlight had played under his skin, so soft I was sure I was imagining it in the sunlight.
But when his fingers grasped the tie to my dress, I stopped breathing. Wanting and needing things I have no experience with. But I know Gage can sate the fire inside me. The need.
I want him to.
Desperately.
He ends his call and just stands there for several long moments. When he turns around, his expression is blank once more. “Tanner is sending another car to get us. The SUV has LoJack. He’s already tracking it.”
I nod. “Good.”
His gaze cuts to me. “I should walk down to the road. I don’t want them to miss us.”
I. Not us.
Silent, I watch him turn on his heel and walk away.
My stomach clenches with the urge to call after him.
But I don’t.
As much as I want to, I know where my focus needs to be. On getting Bran and the others back. But after that? Then what?
Will we still reside over Ruin’s trial? That would buy me several days to stay with Gage. To get to know this version of him better.
Then we would leave. Return to the Sith.
And he would stay here.
A sharp pain, like a knife, lances through my chest.
Even if I convinced Gage a dalliance is possible, when we leave, I would never see him again.
He won’t return to the Sith. His words earlier assured me of that. He has no use for the politics of the court. No use for the aristocracy.
But Gods of old, I want him.
More than I did all those years ago under the Hill. This version of Gage seems more true. Darker, to be sure, but unbridled. Wild. As someone with his fire should be.
I crave the wildness. The chance to let my hair down every day. To wear dresses like the one I donned this morning. To learn of the world he has sworn his honor to protect.
But if we don’t get Bran and the others back, how can I ever hope to experience the joys I know he can give me? Without Bran, there is no happiness. No family. I would be just as alone as Gage.
Shuddering, my eyes raise as I watch the clouds swirl across the sky. “Bran?” I breathe. “What do I do?”
