CHAPTER THIRTEEN #4
Jeremy's hands skimmed higher along my thighs, his touch possessive and warm, and I let my head rest on his shoulder with my lips parted in a silent dare.
The bond didn't just stir—it lunged. A jagged, territorial snarl in the back of my mind, a cold shadow wrapping around my heart even as Jeremy's heat tried to burn it away.
Asher's grip tightened on his glass until his knuckles turned white, and I knew—right then—that the boundaries I'd set were the only things keeping him from tearing the dance floor apart.
Today I was learning something new about the bond, that you could shield your emotions from it, just like a mate-bond. Asher was a master at it—a fortress of ice and shadow, his feelings kept buried so deep I could never reach them. He had walls that felt infinite.
But me? I was shit at it.
I was a mess of wildfire, anxiety, and lust. I couldn't hide—not from him. And now, as I ground my hips into Jeremy under that silver stare, Asher wasn't hiding either.
His walls dropped.
And gods, I felt it. It was a physical blow to my senses. Jealousy like black smoke—thick, coiling, and suffocating. Desire like a cold dagger pressed against my spine. And the lust—it was hot and sharp, crashing into me like a tide of molten shadow.
He was turned on. By this. By me dancing like I was someone else, being touched like I was his.
When the full, jagged force of his emotion tangled into mine across the bond, I moaned. It was low, unintended, and raw. I bit my lip hard, the copper taste of blood grounding me for a split second.
Jeremy didn't notice. He was too far gone, lost in the scent of my skin as he nuzzled the curve of my neck.
But Asher? Oh, he noticed. His silver eyes burned like lightning storms trapped behind glass. He didn't move, but the shadows around his chair surged, devouring the light in a five-foot radius.
"Air?" Jeremy breathed against my skin, pulling me from the trance.
I nodded, my cheeks flushed and my lungs feeling two sizes too small. My eyes stayed locked on Asher's for a beat too long—a silent, vibrating challenge—before Jeremy took my hand and led me away.
We moved out the door, weaving past the sweating crowd and into the gardens. The cool moonlight hit us instantly, but it did nothing to chill the fever in my blood or the heavy, dark pulse of the male I'd left behind in the dark.
The music faded into a dull hum behind us as we weaved through the gardens.
I caught a glimpse of Maddy and Ryven mid-argument—she looked furious, arms crossed, while he looked like he was desperately trying to de-escalate.
I made a mental note to check on her later, but the thought evaporated as Jeremy pulled me under the silver canopy of a mooncherry tree.
Its blossoms glowed like fallen stars above us.
"Romantic," I teased, though the weight in my chest made the word feel heavy.
"When am I not?" he shot back with that crooked, effortless grin.
He sat back against the trunk and pulled me gently onto his lap.
"Gods, you look hot, Ava," he murmured, the alcohol softening his usual royal composure.
He brushed a stray curl behind my ear with such aching care that my heart squeezed.
I tried to keep the smile on my face, but it faltered the second his eyes dropped to my collarbone. To the mark. He reached up, grazing the golden-black sigil with his thumb, and my breath hitched as the skin there prickled.
"How does it feel?" he asked quietly.
I blinked, the cool night air suddenly feeling too thin. "I…"
"How does it feel to be bonded?" he asked again. His beautiful green eyes searched mine, thoughtful and heavy with a grief he was trying to hide.
"It's…" I struggled, the bond vibrating beneath his touch. "It's different. To have someone tethered to your soul like that. To feel their emotions. Their thoughts. It's… it's—"
"Intoxicating," he finished for me.
My heart stopped. "Jer…"
He dropped his head into his hands, fingers threading through his hair, his shoulders slumped under a weight no prince should have to carry. I sat perfectly still, terrified that even a breath would shatter this fragile moment.
Across the distance, the bond stirred. Worry—cold and sharp—pulsed from the house.
Shadows began to coil protectively around my spine like a silent warning, but I slammed my internal walls up, shoving Asher's influence down.
I didn't need him storming out here like some shadow-drenched avenger. Not now.
"Jer," I whispered, "we're still… together. We're truly friends—"
"I know," he interrupted, lifting his gaze.
The restraint was written in every hard line of his face.
"It's not your fault, love." He reached out to cradle my face, his thumbs brushing my cheeks with a softness that finally broke me.
"I thought I would be the only one bonded to you. My future queen and mate."
My eyes stung, the guilt tasted like ash in my mouth.
"But Ava, please, when the bond becomes too much—when you feel yourself slipping into him—promise me something."
I blinked, my vision blurring.
"Come to me first," he said, his voice dropping into a solemn vow. "Before the bond takes you completely. Come to me."
His eyes were full of a love that was unshakeable and entirely unselfish. Gods, I didn't deserve a soul like his.
"And I will wait," he whispered, leaning in until our foreheads touched. "I'll take whatever you can give me, until the day the gods name us fated."
My heart cracked clean in two. I didn't think about the sigil, or the shadows, or the silver eyes watching from the dark. I didn't think about the rules or the war. I just leaned forward and kissed him.
Hard.
My hands tangled in Jeremy's hair, my lips moving feverishly against his.
His arms wrapped around me, pulling me onto his lap in one fluid motion, and my dress rode dangerously high up my thighs.
The garden spun around us, mooncherry blossoms glowing above like scattered stardust—but I only felt him.
His hands gripped my waist, guiding me closer and anchoring me to him.
My body responded on instinct, heat pooling in my core as I ground against him, chasing the thrill, the comfort, and the ache of everything we were.
My fingers clutched at his shirt, feeling the taut lines of muscle beneath.
His lips trailed to my jaw and then my neck, and a gasp escaped me, raw and needy.
His fingers slipped under my thong, rubbing slow, agonizing circles between my thighs, and I was gasping for air.
"Gods, Ava," Jeremy groaned against my skin.
It was overwhelming. Familiar. It felt like home and heartbreak all at once. And still—through the blur of lust and longing—I felt it.
The bond.
A low hum, dark and electric, was stirring just beneath my skin. Asher. The pulse of it slithered up my spine, not invasive or even jealous this time, but simply aware. Present. And worse—aroused. My breath caught as my magic flickered.
Jeremy's mouth was on my collarbone now, and I couldn't help the soft moan that escaped me as his pace quickened.
He was chasing my pleasure, and my body was betraying me again.
The bond pulsed louder in response. Desire licked down my limbs like fire, and I knew—he was feeling this, too.
Asher Maddox. Wherever he was in that house, he felt the friction, the heat, and the way my walls were crumbling.
I was absolutely, completely undone.
Jeremy's hands were everywhere—his touch unrelenting, his body grinding up against mine with heated precision.
I could feel the hard length of him through his pants, the friction dizzying.
My head lolled back as his fingers continued their torturous rhythm, coaxing every ragged tremble from my lips.
And then… he stopped.
I sucked in a sharp breath, trying to steady my runaway pulse. The bond buzzed beneath my skin like a live wire, humming with a mirrored want that wasn't Jeremy's. I looked down at him—at his flushed cheeks, his wild green eyes, and the sheer tenderness laced into his rough edges.
"Gods, Ava," he breathed, brushing my cheek with a shaking hand. "I'm the luckiest male alive… and so is fucking Asher."
His mouth crashed into mine again, fierce and desperate, claiming every part of me that hadn't already unraveled. But even as I kissed him back, my heart beat faster for another reason. A quiet, dreadful realization threaded through my mind.
I was caught between two storms. Two bonds. Two lives. Two fates. And as the gold sigil on my neck burned in time with the heartbeat of the male in the shadows, I wasn't sure which one would tear me apart first.
···
I was stumbling back toward the party—not from alcohol, but because my legs were jelly, still trembling from the pleasure that had just exploded between my thighs.
Jeremy had kissed my forehead, his hand lingering on my waist before whispering that he had early training and wouldn't see me for a few days.
He was being sent beyond the borders—a trial all second-years had to face.
My heart skipped at that, but he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll come back to you. "
Back to me.
I barely registered the music pulsing through the walls as I stepped up to the front door.
The party was still wild, students spilling across the marble floors, laughter and music echoing like a heartbeat.
I couldn't find Maddy or Ryven anywhere, and Ember must've gone off with Ezra again.
I pushed my way through the crowd, heat still coiled low in my stomach, and poured myself a glass of water just to have something to hold.
That's when the bond lit up. Like a spark striking dry kindling, it flared to life—hot, insistent, and jagged. He was close.
My eyes swept the crowd on instinct, and then I saw him.
Asher.