Page 67 of Shackled to the World
Then he was gone.
Edgar stood with the book in his hand, looking slightly startled as she approached. Nerves fluttered in her gut, and she dug her thumbnail into her fingertips to give her courage. Instead of saying anything, she grabbed his arm and led him into the living room. “Sit.”
He did as instructed, leaning back on the couch, his posture rigid, like he didn’t know how to relax. The book lay forgotten next to him. She stepped between his splayed knees and cupped his face. Thanks to her being so short, there were only a few inches separating them.
Even sitting there was an elegance to him, an effortless self-awareness she envied. She smoothed her palms along the sharp angles of his face, his pale skin cool and smooth to the touch as she learned the contours. While he appeared only a few years older than herself, his eyes showed he’d weathered hardship that would’ve destroyed lesser men, and his jaw had a stubborn angle to it.
Then her gaze settled on his lips. They were generous, if a bit hard, and she gently scraped her fingernail over them. With a hum of appreciation and lust, he studied her with pure joy and possessiveness shining from his eyes. The afterworld swirled in the dark blue depths until she could get lost in them.
“I’m going to kiss you now, but I want you to know why first.” She stopped caressing him, surprised to find curbing the impulse was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do. This was too important for him to be distracted. “This isn’t because you’re a phantom, or because you saved my life, and certainly not because you’ve claimed we’re mates.”
She felt him flinch at the last one and tightened her grip by sliding her palm to the back of his head and combing her fingers into his midnight hair. “I’m going to kiss you because you’re a man who has always had my back. At times, you’ve been my best friend—other times, a giant pain in my ass.”
She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his, not sure he was even breathing as he watched her. “I’m going to kiss you because I’m falling in love with you. You’re mine, whether I’m ready to admit it to myself or not.”
His breath left him in a whoosh, and she tightened her grip on him when he reached for her, needing to maintain the distance between them in order to get out what needed to be said. “What that means is you don’t get to sacrifice yourself or foolishly put yourself in harm’s way. You need to return to me, safe and whole, or you’ll shatter something inside me that can never be fixed. I don’t need you as a fighter or a protector anymore, I need you in order to be able to live. Do you understand me?” She dropped her hands to his shoulders and shook him for good measure.
He scanned her face, his expression both fierce and vulnerable. His hands came to rest on her hips, his grip almost brutal in his hunger. “Then prove it. Kiss me.”
She leaned down, closing the distance between them. Her lips barely brushed against his when he wrapped his arms around her and scooped her off her feet. She gave a startled squeak when he twisted and deposited her on the couch under his delicious weight. He took control of the kiss like he’d been dying for the taste of her, nibbling and licking and destroying her every thought but him.
She ran her nails down his back, then groaned when he arched into her. He pulled away, going only so far as to leave a gap of a few inches between them so he could gaze down at her. “Mine.”
It wasn’t spoken possessively, but with such heart-wrenching wonder that her breath hiccupped in her chest. She reached up and ran her fingertips along his cheek, unable to smile up at him, too many emotions clogging her throat. “Yes. Yours. That’s why you’ll come back to me.”
He gave her a captivating smile that lit up his whole face, making him look devastatingly handsome and incredibly young. “I will always come back to you.”
When she opened her mouth to protest, he sighed, then leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “I promise to take the utmost care of myself…if for no other reason than the chance to kiss you again.”
Annora gave him a sharp nod. “Excellent.”
He snorted, then sat back, giving her a hand to pull her upright, the amused gleam in his eye indicating he knew she’d manipulated him, but he didn’t give a fuck, not if it meant getting exactly what he wanted—her.
As she straightened her rumpled clothing, his humor melted away and he leaned down, picked up the book and handed it to her. When she went to grab it, he didn’t release his grip.
“The book is bound to you.” He released his hold, tapping the cover. “What that means is it will always find its way back to you. Your uncle won’t be able to access the spells anymore, and neither will anyone else. The more you use it, the more the spells will adapt to you.”
“So the book will be safe if I have to hand it over?” Annora hugged it to her chest, concerned what other people would try to do if they got their hands on the spells. She’d rather destroy it than allow it to fall into the wrong hands again.
Edgar glanced out the window and nodded. “If they take it, you should be able to simply walk into the afterworld and find it waiting.”
Relief poured through her, and she tightened her grip on the book, ridiculously pleased to know she literally couldn’t lose her last connection to her mother. Her mother had handpicked the spells for her, because she thought Annora would need them. Annora only wished she had more time to go through them, time to look for a solution where no one would get hurt.
She gave him a crooked smile and patted his chest. “Thank you.”
He reached up and grabbed her wrist, pressed her hand to his chest over his heart, then glanced out the window, his face hardening. “I’ll keep watch over you. If you call for me, I will come.”
Then he was gone, striding out to join the others. Annora took a deep breath and followed.
They were going to do this.
They were going after her childhood boogeyman and finally find a way to destroy the fucker so he couldn’t touch her or anyone else again.
As the groups began to get into their vehicles, Sadie approached her, her expression both unsure and annoyed. “Where do you want me?”
Annora hadn’t been sure the girl would actually keep her word. “I believe the guys are walking into a trap. Will you watch their backs and protect them?”
Sadie glanced at her sharply. “Why not just go in and kill your enemy? Between you and Alcott—”
