Page 55 of Leviathan's Song
The next time I woke,the sky was dark, and the fire was down to nothing but coals. I was covered in blankets and draped across Levi’s chest, and I immediately noticed how warm and flushed his skin felt.
“Levi?”
I shifted and tried to sit up, but his arms constricted slightly, holding me against him.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked, sounding groggy. I felt surprisingly fine. Good, even. I stretched my limbs and took a deep breath experimentally, only to find I felt normal and rejuvenated. I didn’t even feel the usual brain fog that was common upon waking.
“I feel… great, actually,” I answered, starting to sit up, which allowed me to notice I wasnakedunder my blankets. “Levi!” I quickly dropped back to his chest—before it occurred to me that pressing my naked body against him in an effort to hide my nudity didn’t really make any sense. He pulled me closer to him and situated my arms under his. Trying to keep me warm?
“What are you doing?” My voice was breathless. I couldn’t help but notice how soft his skin felt against my own. His muscles were taut and firm, but the skin under my fingers felt like satin.
“You were wet and cold.” His voice was a dazed-sounding whisper. “I had to cut your clothes off when I pulled you out, to check for injuries. It was hard to get you warm again, and you just kept shivering… but I think that was the potion working.” His enchantment wrapped me in an embrace as warm as his physical one, but his voice had a hazy, distant quality that concerned me, and his words were slurred.
Concern had me sitting up despite my nudity, pulling his face down so I could see him. His cheeks were obviously flushed, even by the light of the glowing coals, and his eyes had a thousand-yard stare I recognized from the night of the rave. His breath was coming in quick pants, and I remembered what he said about not being able to sweat.
“Are you overheating?” I cast my eyes around in the darkness, looking for water, finding a canteen within arm’s reach and grabbing for it, trying to rip the cap off when he was slow to respond. The blanket fell off my shoulders as I sat up, and just as I’d suspected, I was really, really naked.
I poured water on his damp shirt, which I found nearby, and wiped it down his face and chest, wringing water into his hair and then dribbling more water from the canteen into his mouth. His eyes drifted down to my chest, but his expression held no more than dazed delirium.
I needed to get him away from the fire. I got to my knees over him, doing my best to ignore my nudity—failing but trying not to care—and tried to figure out how I was going to move him when his hand smoothed down my forearm and closed gently around my wrist.
“Don’t leave me.” A murmured request.
“I’m not leaving you,” I answered, confused by his reaction. “We need to get you away from the coals. Why are you so hot?” I hooked my arm under him and tried to haul him up, but—surprise—he barely budged.
“I didn’t want you to be cold,” he slurred. “You kept shivering.”
I braced my feet on the ground and shoved at his torso. He slid a good foot on the blanket, and then, finally deciding to follow my lead, shuffled farther away from the heat. He collapsed in an exhausted slump and reached for me again, but I batted his hand away and wiped him down with cool water again.
“I understand that, but you’re going to get heatstroke like this,” I muttered. “Once I started to warm up, you should have cooled yourself down.” At least his pants were still slightly damp. “Besides, we’re in the Boundlands. You probably shouldn’t be in contact with me that much here, right? The bonding problem?” I heard the panic in my voice.
“Too late.”
My eyes shot to his in shock. “Too late for what?”
“The bond.” He didn’t move his head, but his eyes were locked on mine, sober and honest. “It’s permanent.”
His voice held no emotion. In fact, he almost sounded bored as matter-of-fact as he was. I felt my jaw drop open and tried to close it a few times without success as I struggled with a barrage of a million different emotions.
The two warring the hardest were guilt and joy. Joy because I loved him, and come hell or high water, he was mine now. And Iwantedhim. Guilt because it hadn’t been something he wanted, and now he was trapped with me.
Guilt surged forward.
“I’m so sorry,” I gasped.
“I’m not.” His expression was still sober, and far calmer than I felt in that moment.
“Levi, you didn’t want this. You saved mylife, and now… now you’re trapped with me, and you don’t have any choice!” My eyes burned, and I felt hot tears spill over and make tracks down my cheeks.
His gaze followed their descent down my face.
“I’ve always had a choice, to an extent.” His words were slow, but a little clearer this time. “I could have followed my instincts and stayed away from the mouthy little tinker who accused me of theft, but I think I fell in love with her the moment I laid eyes on her.”
When he raised a knuckle to wipe a tear off my cheek, I leaned into his touch.
“You’re only saying that because you’re overheated and don’t know any better yet.” He rested his hand against my face, and I leaned hard into his palm, crouching on my knees before him, my tears becoming quiet sobs.
“Elara, my little Empress”—he gathered me against him as he spoke, tucking my head under his chin—“I just forced water out of your lungs and held you in my arms for hours as you shook. I thought I would lose you the whole time, and it destroyed me. I realized—bond or not—if I lost you, I would never be the same again. My choice was already made.”
