Chapter 24 #2
Fear made him restless, and he paced the length of the bridge in the fading light. A suffocating, oily feeling coated his insides. He’d known this was a possibility, that Ulla might choose the sea instead of ever seeing him again, but he’d hoped she would grant him mercy.
He kicked at the puddles of water in his path. This vigil was a better test than any the island could have ever thrown at him.
Twilight fell and passed.
Still, he waited.
The guard changed again, and the moon rose over the sea, a bright pearl in the sky.
Bastion found the driest patch of the bridge he could and slid to the ground, his back to the water.
The thunder of the falls had long since overwhelmed his other senses.
He closed his eyes, breathed in the humid night air, and focused on the sound, searching for some measure of peace within his fractured soul.
When he opened them again, she was there, silhouetted by the moon.
Bastion shot to his feet, a terrifying, desperate thrum burning in his chest. Ulla stood so still he didn’t know if he was dreaming. Only her chest moved, rising and falling as her eyes searched his.
All of his carefully thought-out points fled like a flock of birds.
What did he say to the woman who had saved his life and showed him that it didn’t matter what the world thought?
The woman who could flay him open with her gaze, and gut him with her smile?
The woman whose very presence was air to a man who had been drowning his entire life?
“Tell me I’m a fool unworthy of your love, and I’ll walk away.” His heart jumped into his mouth as the words rushed away with the waterfall. Was there enough light for her to see the sincerity on his lips?
Ulla remained still, her expression as smooth as glass. She gave away nothing, he felt nothing. But she was still here. He would break himself against her, like a wave forming and reforming, for as long as she let him.
“I’m sorry,” he continued. “I’m sorry for listening to others, instead of you, instead of this.” He touched his sternum with his fist, moving it in a circle. “I failed to take into account the only voice that matters: yours.”
The bond quivered.
Bastion’s heart ricocheted against his ribs. Hope spread through him like the rising sun.
“I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I ask for it all the same,” he said.
He took a step closer.
The moonlight caught the pearls and shells in her hair as she shifted. It rimmed her horns and turned the twilight hue of her shoulders a pale iris, silvering her long hair.
“I don’t know why the island forsook me,” he whispered. “What I do know is that if I hadn’t failed, I never would have set foot on the same shore as you. That alone is worth more than any title.”
Bastion knelt, holding out his hand. Ulla considered him, her expression as grave and thunderous as the waterfall. For one heartbreaking moment, he thought she might turn and walk away. And he would deserve it.
When she lifted her hand, Bastion bit back a sob.
His fingers closed around hers, the sharp press of her claws against his palm a welcome reminder of what she was capable of and all he had to lose.
Bastion bowed his head and pressed her knuckles to his forehead.
His lashes were heavy with condensation.
More clung to his hair, falling as he inhaled, and streamed down his face, mingling with the tears he couldn’t hold back.
He passed all the unspoken words through that single point of contact.
His admiration. His awe. That she was a pillar of strength and a force to be reckoned with, as beautiful as she was dangerous.
Every emotion that was too bright and large to contain, every hope and fear shunted to the furthest corners of his mind. He poured it all out.
And most of all, love.
So much love that he thought his heart might burst.
She had shown him the meaning of strength, courage, and wisdom. Made him a better man by simply refusing to be anything other than what she was in a world determined to fit her into a box. If he could carry even a fraction of her conviction with him, he would consider himself lucky.
This is my oath to you. I will sharpen your teeth and claws instead of blunt them. I will be your voice only when you ask me to. I will listen to you before all others. Only let me love you the way the sea loves the shore. Gently and ferociously, by turns.
He sucked in a tremulous breath and waited.
There, in that moment, with water pooling around his knees and the roar of the waterfall drowning out the storm in his heart, Bastion let go of any expectations.
For the first time in his life, he was at peace because of himself and no one else.
Now she knew, and if that was all, it would be enough.
Ulla’s fingers curled around his. Something came back down the bond, and it buoyed him. He looked up, perhaps a little too quickly.
Ulla tugged him to his feet. He started to speak, but her lips collided against his.
She laced her fingers through his hair, pulling him in like she’d been waiting an eternity to kiss him. His arms closed around her, tighter, until he could feel every inch of her against the plane of his torso. This was just the beginning, the ocean drawing breath before a tsunami crashed down.
All-consuming need spread across Bastion’s skin, and an answering fire flared within Ulla.
His hands roamed over her exposed back, tracing the path of muscles that strained as she pushed herself up onto tiptoe, pressing into him harder, more urgently.
His tongue traced her lips, and she opened for him, fangs catching his lip as they savored each other.
She kissed him like she needed the breath in his lungs.
It was exquisite surrender.
When they finally broke apart, Bastion’s breath was ragged.
But Ulla smiled. Her sea green eyes danced over the starry white freckles dusting her cheeks, and Bastion thought he would never need to look at the night sky again.
Then, he heard something he’d barely dared dream of.
It was the tide coming in, sure and steady, as beautiful as the sea after a storm, as gentle as the wind over the bluffs. It was the song his heart had been longing to hear his entire life.
Bastion… How could this be failure?
Thank you so much for reading the unwritten Account of Sir Bastion.