Page 56 of The Bound Blood
His thigh slips between mine, and I let it, shameless in the way I rock against him, chasing pressure, chasing heat. He makes a sound that shoots straight through me, half-desperate and allhim.
My head tips back against the wall, and he follows, tasting down my throat, teeth grazing lightly before he seals his mouth over the hollow of my neck.
And stars, Ifeelthat.
All of it.
A hot rush of need I haven’t let myself feel—not with the world burning, not with everything falling apart. But it’s here now. In the dark. In the hush. In the hands of a boy who sees me, whowantsme, who almost lost me.
I don’t want to stop.
I should pull away.
I should care that anyone could walk by.
That Kael said he’d find me, and he could re-appear at any moment. That Raiden is likely dealing with some kind of fall out with his father. But none of that matters when Nolan groans against my throat and presses closer like hecan’t standto be any further away.
It’s not polished or perfect—there’s too much emotion for that. Too much breath caught between our lips. Too much heat thrumming between us like we’ve both come unmoored and finally found the same anchor.
His hand slides up my side, fingers splayed wide, and he murmurs my name like it’s a spell he’s still learning to cast. Like he’s afraid it’ll disappear if he doesn’t say it again.
“Lindsay…”
It’s reverent.
Slightly breathless.
Real.
I drag him back down into a kiss, hungry now. Desperate. Because I’m tired of feeling like I’m made of smoke and pain and power I don’t understand. I want to feelhuman.Grounded. Tangible.
His hips press into mine, and I can feel just how much he wants this—me—and I swear my whole body sings from the contact. I shift against him instinctively, and his breath catches like I’ve short-circuited his brain.
He drops his head to my shoulder, groaning softly. “Linds, I—I don’t want to stop, but if you keep doing that…”
I smile, teeth scraping my bottom lip. “Doing what?”
His hands tighten at my hips. “Beingyou.”
Something warm flickers in my chest. “You’re sweet.”
“I’mdying,” he mutters into my neck, voice strained and full of so much want it makes my knees weak.
He lifts his head, forehead resting against mine, eyes searching.
“This… is real, right?” he asks softly.
“Yes.” I answer without hesitation, threading my fingers through his hair and tugging gently until he kisses me again.
And this time, there’s nothing holding us back.
No fear. No logic.
His mouth claims mine in a kiss that burns, his hands exploring my curves like he’s memorizing every line and every sigh, like he’s trying to prove that we survived—not for fate, not for prophecy, but forthis.Forus.
The stone at my back is cool, but he’s anything but.
I moan into his mouth, hips arching toward him as his thigh brackets mine again, and he growls low andneedy—a sound I didn’t know he could make. Didn’t know I wanted to draw from him again and again until he forgets how to speak.
