Chapter 60
60
W e didn’t leave Tristen’s quarters the rest of the day—or night. At one point that evening, food was brought to us, one of the ship’s crew knocking on the door. Tristen pulled on a pair of low slung grey lounge pants that looked downright indecent on him, the bulge of him causing my body to heat with desire as he went to the door and I pulled the bedsheets higher to cover my chest.
Trays of hot food were brought in, but Tristen just placed them on the table in the center of his large quarters. When we were alone once more, he devoured me instead as the food went cold.
The moon glinted off the sea out the windows as I traced circles on his bare chest hours later, my head resting on his chest as his heartbeat and the sway of the ship threatened to lull me back into sleep. Stars glittered like diamonds out the panoramic windows of his cabin.
“Were we always this…” I paused.
“Insatiable?” Tristen asked, and I could hear his smirk in his voice. “You have no idea.”
“You’ll have to remind me , then,” I murmured as I moved my head, kissing his chest. “I don’t want to leave this bed.”
“You don’t have to, Sael ,” he said.
I raised my head. “You’ve called me that a few times before. What does it mean?”
His expression shifted. A look of admiration filled his features. “I couldn’t tell you… before. Because of the silencing spell Cassandra had me under.”
“Tell me what?” I breathed.
“ Sael is a word from the ancient language. It’s a sacred term for the one who is meant for us in this life and every one after that. Our Soul Bonded.”
I stilled. “I’m your…”
“Soul Bonded. Yes, you are. You always have been,” he said. “Those who are Soul Bonded always find each other in every life, every world. You can reject the bond, but it doesn’t weaken it. If you accept it, through ceremony and the exchanging of blood similar to a blood oath, your heart crystal hums at the vibration of your partner’s, and the bond grows stronger. Sometimes granting those who are Soul Bonded additional powers. But at its core, those who are Soul Bonded can feel each others’ presence, like an invisible tether. Can even sometimes sense emotions. It grows more complex the longer the bond is in place.”
I froze as Tristen’s eyes flickered over my face.
“I don’t want to overwhelm you—” he started.
“I knew it,” I whispered, my heart racing. “Why I always felt pulled to you. Why I couldn’t stay away. Maybe a part of me remembered you, but it was more than that. Is more than that.”
Tristen rose from the bed, going to a golden chest by the window.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Tristen removed a small box. I sat up, stepping out of bed to join him as the moonlight bathed us in its pure white glow.
“I’m doing what I’d do in every lifetime,” he responded, dropping down to one knee as he opened the box, revealing the diamond ring I’d seen from his memory, inlaid with the twin sapphires. “Will you do the honor of becoming my wife, Saffron Greywood ?”
The words ricocheted through me, and I felt my heart hum. I said the only word that felt right, the only word that could begin to express the depths of what I felt for him. “Yes.”
With that, he slipped the ring on my finger, and pulled me into yet another devastatingly perfect kiss.