“Like marriage.”
“It’s similar, but different. Consider it more of a long-term commitment to ensure that our pairing is what we truly desire. By escalating to the next phase of the bond, you’ll have more access to me. To my mind. It requires trust, Claire. And then from there, you move into the third stage, in which our elements mingle and flourish off one another—where you could borrow energy from me as I could from you. And the final level is eternity.”
She swallowed, some of the alarm melting into curiosity. “Were my mother and Mortus a three or a four?”
“A three,” I murmured. “When you reach that phase, there’s no going back. The elements are locked into one another—indefinitely.”
“Then why the fourth stage?” she asked.
“It’s more of a formality, a pledge of fealty that binds the souls. To join your elements, but not the souls, can be quite painful.” Which explained Mortus’s rage. But I didn’t add that part. I could see from the flare of her pupils that she inferred it anyway.
“The third step is binding, similar to an engagement without an escape route if you get cold feet,” she surmised. “And the second is a more serious level of seeing someone, like moving in with them. While the first is temporary—like dating—to see if the person your power is attracted to is someone you might like as well.”
I kissed her gently, loving the way she’d gone pliant and soft again beneath me. “Very accurate summarization, princess.”
“And we’re already living together,” she continued, her mouth moving against mine. “So, we should move up a level.” Her tongue licked across my lower lip. “Right?”
“If that’s your desire.”
“Is it yours?”
I pulled back to meet her eyes, my palm still resting against her cheek. “Yes.” There’s that word again.
Her blue eyes brightened. “Really?”
I pressed my arousal into her hot center and cocked my head to the side. “You can feel how much I want you, right?”
She slapped my shoulder. “You said this is about emotions.”
“It’s about everything, Claire,” I replied with a laugh. “Do I want to deepen our bond? Yes. Absolutely. But I also very much want to fuck you. The two are not mutually exclusive, but again, the connection isn’t about sex. It’s about power. And it also happens to heighten the sensations, or so I’ve heard.”
“You’ve never connected with anyone?”
“Only you, Claire. On any level.” I went to my elbows on either side of her head, wanting her to see the sincerity in my expression as I gave her the ultimate truth. “I never wanted to bond with anyone. Nor did I think I would actually find someone who suited my power. I’m one of the strongest fae in the world, and that’s not me boasting; it’s a fact. Finding a partner who can handle my gift, one my spirit is actually attracted to, was a very impossible notion. Until you.”
Tears pricked her eyes, causing me to frown.
That was not the response I wanted. At all.
But she pulled me down to kiss her, and the sensation she poured from her mouth to mine floored me.
She didn’t just accept the bond; she kicked the fucking door down and yanked me into the next level with her. I felt it in the way our powers snapped together, as if a lock had tied her spirit to mine, securing her place in my heart and mine in hers.
“Claire,” I whispered, returning the embrace and worshiping her with my tongue. She clung to me as if she needed me to breathe, her legs winding around my hips, her fingers in my hair.
This kiss sparked a new beginning.
It carved her name into my very being, marking my element as hers and hers as mine. Flowers blossomed around us, the creation of life filling the room with the fragrance of our heightened connection and shaking the very foundations of the building.
That it occurred on Spirit Quad only intensified the moment, bringing all ounces of life back to the formerly dead campus.
The trees rejoiced.
The grounds cried out in pleasure.
And the meadows bloomed.
That was the power we possessed together—a life energy no one could ever touch. Ours.