Page 28 of All the Pain of Promises
Solarius tilted his head back, angling his face to hers, and whispered into the space between them. “Let me kiss you, Rissa love.”
Her answering inhale was all the permission he needed.
Solarius didn’t hesitate. He claimed those luscious lips of hers, prying them open with the tip of his tongue, and then he drowned.
The rush of power between them was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, a damning swell, wave after crashing wave of emboldened magic. Moonfire exploded, a phantasmic burst of energy that pulled the mesmerizing strength of the tides right into him. He could hear the call of the ocean, the way it sang for the moonlight, the way it blended with the blood running through his veins. Solarius tightened his grip, unable to break their kiss, fusing their mouths together in maddening desperation.
Something wrenched around his heart and pulled, nearly ripping it from his chest.
The wild magic of the tides collided with the controlled chaos of the moon, claiming one another in a damning bond of their souls.
Solarius knew the exact moment the thread binding him to Narissa snapped into place. It was as though he’d been awakened from a years’ long slumber. Awareness flooded him, overwhelmed him. Her thoughts whipped through him like a whirlwind, her racing heart pumped blood through his veins, her scent, her essence, her very being, were ingrained into his soul.
Narissa belonged to him.
And he belonged to her.
Without warning, Narissa lurched backward, freeing herself from his hold. She stumbled through the pool, clambering away from him.
Her eyes were round with something that could either be considered shock or horror, and he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know the answer.
“I knew it.” Narissa clutched her heart and climbed out of the tide pool, grabbing her gown but abandoning her shoes. Her voice broke. “Iknewit.”
“Narissa!” Solarius called after her, but she didn’t stop. Instead, she took off at a full sprint, running toward the entrance of another smaller cove.
And she didn’t turn around.
“Narissa!” Solarius leapt out of the pool, striking his toe against a jagged rock. Pain splintered up his leg, but he ignored it. “Fuck. Rissa, wait!”
Naked, freezing, and alone with a damn erection, Solarius watched as Narissa disappeared into the mouth of the cove. He yanked on his pants and dropped onto one of the rocks, his frustration mounting. Her words replayed in his mind, and he couldn’t escape the heartbreak in her voice.
I knew it.
That’s what she’d said.
Solarius blew out a rough breath and dragged one hand through his hair.
Narissa had known they were mates. Somehow, she’d known…and she’d been so repulsed and put off by the notion that she’d fled. No wonder she’d avoided kissing him for so long, she knew their magic would claim one another. And the very thought of it revolted her. The lingering pain of the bond stretched between them and a dull ache formed in his chest. Mating bonds weren’t exactly meant to be ignored. Yet Narissahad run off and now he was left feeling the heated sting of her rejection.
Perhaps this was the sort of agony Novalise had suffered when Asher originally denied their bond as well.
Solarius groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face—making Narissa fall in love with him had become exponentially more difficult.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Narissa did not sleep.
Instead, she braced one hand on her hip and rubbed the other over her heart, where the bond warmed, spreading through her chest. A few tears slipped free once she was finally out of his sight, but she’d almost tripped over a pearl that rolled beneath her bare feet. She hated how she was in tune to his thoughts, to his emotions, to the steady beating of his heart. She could follow the bond between them and know it would lead her back to him, but that would defeat the purpose of intentionally trying to evade him. Solarius was aimlessly wandering the halls of House Azurvend, same as her, though his thoughts weren’t quite as tormented as her own.
She attempted to barricade her mind, carefully building a wall so he wouldn’t be privy to her innermost thoughts. It should hold so long as she didn’t let down her defenses.
Narissa shook her head, scolding herself.
Of course, she had to do something so foolish as kiss him. But breaking tides, he’d been so tempting. And when he’d picked her up in the pool, and every inch of him had been pressed against every inch of her, how could she possibly do anything else?
One careless moment of weakness and she’d bonded herself to Lord Solarius Starstorm. It didn’t matter if he was all she ever wanted, all she ever dreamed of, because he’d made himself perfectly clear quite some time ago.
He didnotwant her.
