Page 44

Fletcher was sitting back in a chair at Aldris’s bare dinner table when I rode Graff’s wind to him.

His long legs were sprawled out, his hands crumpled in his lap, and his eyes sunken.

An empty shot glass held his unfocused gaze to the center of the table.

His wavy locks were rumpled to the side haphazardly as a shallow breath sped in and out of his chest.

“Fletcher,” I breathed out, twisting my arm free from Graff’s grip .

Fletcher’s gaze darted to me, darkness shredding to relief.

“Rip—Ripley!” He got up from the table so fast that the chair toppled behind him.

He practically stumbled the few yards between us before his arms wrapped around me with such speed and force, I couldn’t bear the tightness.

He pulled away to take my head in his hands, thumbs rubbing my cheeks and his eyes assessing my expression. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

I grinned while breathing in his smell of spices mixed with the sharp bite of hard liquor. “No, I’m fine.”

“You’re here.” A smile ripped over his face as he stroked the flyaways back with the palm of his hand. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

“I’m here.”

“I haven’t been able to communicate with you using magic since the ceremony.”

My eyes darted from his left eye to his right, tears filling between them. “What do you mean?”

His jaw feathered, cinnamon eyes deepening. “I-I-I don’t feel you anymore. The marriage has broken my bond to you and you have some sort of wall that won’t let magic through. ”

Graff huffed from the corner. “Hang on. I’ll fix that.”

Confusion twinged with blooming worry rattled through my body. “Y-you’re not bonded to me anymore?”

He shook his head as his hand cupped my cheek. “I’m not.”

The tears clawed up my throat as my heart sank. “What?”

“I don’t feel you anymore.”

My mouth went arid with panic. “Does this mean you’ll find a bond with someone else? Are-are you not in love with me anymore?”

He shook his head with a sad smile. “Oh no. Don’t you worry. Nothing else has changed.”

I fell into his chest, and his arms wrapped around me. “Are you sure?”

His hand curled around my head as he kissed my temple. “Yes.”

“But, I want you to feel me. I want the bond back.”

“Maybe one day. But for now, I assume it will be Graff who still feels you.”

I turned over my shoulder to glance at him as tears burned a trail over my face. How would my life be with this stranger knowing each and every emotion I had? I pulled away from Fletcher who was gazing at me with all the love I would ever need. “No! No! No, Fletcher!”

Graff shuffled behind me and rasped, “Whoa, easy. I need to get used to you, Ripley. Our bond is way stronger than it was before.”

I hoped Graff could feel the knife carving up my heart and the daggers I threw at him.

Fletcher bared his teeth and growled at Graff.

“I lowered the queen’s magic barricade for you. You’re welcome,” he sneered.

Swirls of my aqua magic came down Fletcher’s beautiful olive skin. Can you hear me?

I nodded with a relieved grin.

Graff’s pastel eyes widened, locking on Fletcher’s glowing hands. His brows pulled down and his lips pressed in a straight line. “Are you using her magic?”

I snarled and barked, “Go away!”

His gaze shifted to me, staring me down before he finally said, “I’ll be back in five minutes.”

“How about never?”

Fletcher squeezed me closer. “He can’t. He’s not supposed to leave you at all. ”

I turned to Graff again. “I am in Fletcher’s care, not yours. You will let me stay with him for however long I fucking want to.”

“Careful, Ripley,” Fletcher whispered in my ear with an overlay of delight weaved into his tone. “You’re turning me on.”

My cheeks flushed as heat began to spread from deep within my core.

Graff vanished without another word, and I spun in Fletcher’s arms. I latched my lips to his as his hands grasped at my dress and tore it down the center. Not wanting to let go of him, I took off the sleeves one arm at a time while he stripped me from every other article of clothing.

When I was naked, he hoisted me onto the kitchen counter and undid his own pants as I reached forward and dragged him close by his neck, sucking on it until a groan vibrated against my lips.

“I want it all off,” I begged. He pulled back and his lips parted to protest, but I cut him off. “I won’t ask about the tattoo. I just want to feel all of you.”

He gave me a smirk and took off his shirt.

I hadn’t seen his bare chest since he had taken his shirt off after that night out with him in Ellion City where we ended up in the showers while we were on the run.

The muscle definition of his long torso had my insides turning to putty.

That little tattoo on his left shoulder glared at me with secrets, but I kept my eyes away from it.

The wounds from all my time in the cages seemed to be healing well.

Never taking his eyes from mine, he lowered his bottom layers. My mouth dried as I took in the sheer size of him ready to be sunk deeply in me.

He stepped to me, placing himself between my spread legs as his eyes dipped down to my breasts, farther still, then back up again. “God, I wish you were all mine, Ripley. This is killing me.”

I rejected every part of the comment. I felt its revulsion in the way my body shivered to expel it from my ears. I took his face in both my hands, his scruff scratching my palms. “I am yours.” I searched his rich brown eyes for some acceptance of my words, but there wasn’t any.

Then, I was moving. A primal instinct swept through me with urgency to convince him that every part of me was his. It was in my bones to abide by this instinct, the one that directed me—had always directed me to Fletcher.

I pushed him back, scooted off the counter, and fell to my knees in front of him. I sat on my heels as I reached toward his feet, bowing my head. My fingers flared, magic gathering at the nails.

“Ripley,” he warned with a textured grit in his voice.

“I am yours, Fletcher Darkly.” I reached even farther. “For damn’s sake, believe me.”

A gentle touch came down on the front of my shoulder as he pulled me up from my bend. When I looked up, he was down on one knee, tipping my chin up with his folded forefinger. “This is the third time in your life you have bowed to me without knowing what it means. And you need to stop.”

I looked at him and blinked. His eyes didn’t look any softer. In fact, my bowing to him had made him appear more conflicted. “What does it mean?”

“It means you are pledging your life to me. And the princess should never do that.”

The words burned. The disapproval sent me to ashes.

I was crumbling into heated pieces that burned my soul until I was ready to become anew.

Ready to become my own. I could pledge my life to whoever I wanted.

In one swoop, I shoved his hand away and fell back to the floor.

“I don’t care. I pledge to you, Fletcher Darkly. ”

“Get up,” he snipped .

“No.” I pressed the palms of my hands into the wooden floorboards even harder.

He pulled my shoulder up again, and I couldn’t help but follow where he wanted me to go. “Yes. Because it’s my turn. Get up.”

I looked up at him, straightening my spine. “What?”

“Stand. Please.” He held out a hand, standing before me naked, strong, and beautiful.

I grasped his hand and he guided me to my feet.

I carefully watched as he took three measured steps backward and knelt slowly before me, holding my gaze. My breath caught as I drank in the sight of his muscles tensing and relaxing with each movement. Then, he reached his hands out in front of him and bowed his head toward the ground.

To see him on his knees before me filled me with an instinctual love so far beyond my conceptual understanding that it sent me to tears as a smile broke across my mouth.

Even with that spiral of fulfillment exploding in me, I knew this wasn’t right.

I could feel it in my gut that it was not Fletcher’s duty to pledge; it was mine.

But, I watched him and enjoyed the swirls of my aqua magic glittering up his back in intricate patterns of circles, soft stars, and arches.

He was beautiful. And seeing my magic gracing his skin pulled something at my core.

I watched in awe as my magic gathered at his fingertips, and when he began to speak, it shot out over the floor like a sheet of crystalized ice in a straight path. It shimmered in liquid stardust as it coated the ground on its way to me. “I pledge to you, Princess Ripley Griever.”

His voice shuddered through my entire body like he was claiming me. My magic swelled at the sound and my body warmed in so many lovely ways.

When the frost of magic reached an inch away from my toes, it separated, and curved around me.

“To protect you.”

I trembled in anticipation as the circle surrounding me unfurled outwardly in a symmetrical pattern like a celestial snowflake.

I gasped at how breathtaking it was—at how Fletcher could command my magic with precision and elegance.

I marveled at the delicate patterns weaving themselves through every inch of the house.

Warmth engulfed my feet, and I looked down to see green vines winding around my ankles and spiraling upward in helical ribbons.

And as the vines continued to climb, a garden of fluffy roses bloomed with gentle layers that softly caressed my skin .

“To love you.”

The vines wrapped up my torso, tickling my belly and coaxing a giggle out of me.

“To respect you.”

The magic near my feet continued to expand outwardly in straight lines with sharp edges then bent toward each other to make hearts for a brief moment before they curled around each other. Like a gorgeous synchronized dance.

I brought my eyes back to Fletcher on his knees before me as he whispered, “ I belong to you , Ripley.”

The rose vines coiled up my breasts, down my arms, up my neck, and over my head in a crown of divine love.