House of Leights (Secret Keepers, #3)(51)

Chase gently sat me down in the center. “Wait here,” he said. “I’ll grab something to help your foot.”

He made sure I was comfortable before taking off. I let my eyes linger on those broad shoulders until they completely disappeared. I wanted to touch him, wrap my arms around him, hold him close.

Bonded. I suppose I should be able to touch him, right? There had to be a perk to being bonded without my permission.

Do you not want this union? The whisper of those words in my mind had me jerking upright and looking around. Was that the … Galinta? Speaking to me in those ancient whispering winds. Were they giving me a choice? Would they break the bond if I said I didn’t want the union?

My immediate reaction was one of complete and total horror. The thought of losing Chase to another, of not having that twirling sensation in my chest and body again, of losing the feeling of completion, of home … I could never say I didn’t want it. It was a force greater than anything I’d felt before.

“I choose him,” I said out loud and mentally. “I choose Chase.”

Fire burned in my belly, matching the throbbing pain in my ankle. I cried out, because it felt like I was being branded, flames across my skin. Scrambling to pull up my shirt, I stared down at my bellybutton. Just above it now was a dark green mark about the size of two quarters. I stared at it for an extended amount of time, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. The mark was a lot like the symbols the overlords had tattooed onto their heads, swirls and lines intersecting in what looked like tribal patterns.

Footsteps padded lightly across the leaves, and I lifted my head. “What. Is. That?” I pointed at my stomach.

Chase stopped a few feet from me, then lifted the bottom of his shirt up. My eyes just about fell out of my head as I traced the lines of his abs, and the mark that matched mine across them. “What the hell … you have one, too?” I half lurched to my feet, groaning as my ankle protested.

Chase caught me, taking my weight as I pressed my hands to his chest for balance. I was touching bare skin at the neckline of his shirt. It felt so warm and silky, hard and soft at the same time, I wanted so badly to continue moving my hands under his shirt. I wanted to touch him, press my lips down and see how he tasted.

Mark. You have a damn mark.

That reminder was enough for me to gain some composure and pull myself back from him.

He didn’t seem upset. “What happened while I was gone, Maya?”

“I … think the Galinta gave me the option to break our bonding, and I told them I choose you. Always. Then my stomach started to burn.” I’d done this, there was no other explanation. I jerked my head up to meet his gaze. “I’m so sorry. I think I might have taken the choice away from you.”

He cut off my babbling by kissing me. Unlike last time, this was no brief gentle brush of our lips. This was open-mouthed, tongues tangling, lips moving across each other. This was desperate, and perfect, and … I could not feel my legs or body any longer. My head spun, and the taste of Chase was everything I imagined, plus more. He shifted me around and picked me up so I could wrap my legs around him. I thought briefly of my sore ankle, but at this point I really didn’t care. Chase was the best kind of pain reliever.

My eyes had closed initially, but I needed to see him in this moment. Our first kiss. As my lashes fluttered up, so did his, like he had known I was about to look. Our mouths stilled, and I tried not to get lost in the multifaceted color of his eyes.

His breathing was slightly accelerated when he said, “You didn’t take my choice away – I chose you long ago. The moment I heard your name, I knew that I had to find you. I had to save you.” I was mesmerized by him, unable to look away. “I followed your energy, believing that my purpose – the reason I felt such a draw – was because I was supposed to keep you safe … and then I saw you at the party, dancing. You threw your head back as you laughed with such joy. That was when I knew that there was nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you, that there was no other for me in either world.”

“Were you worried I wouldn’t feel the same connection?” I whispered, my voice hoarse.

His eyes twinkled then as a slight grin lifted the corner of his mouth. “Not too worried. I figured I’d eventually convince you we were meant for each other. I had an eternity to try.”

An eternity. That was a freaking long time. But I decided not to worry about that for now. Now I would just enjoy Chase, try not to get killed or kidnapped by Laous, and save the world. Dropping my head against his chest, I let out a sigh. “As much as I hate to say this, because I want to stay in our tree bubble so badly, we have to head back to help the others. We have to try to find the fourth girl before Laous, since he has my blood now.”

Chase’s hands flexed against my thighs and his chest rumbled under me. “Lexen only told me a little about Laous’ attack. I’d like to hear the full story from you … now that I’m in a more reasonable state of mind.”

I wiggled for him to let me down. If I was going to tell this story, we might as well both be comfortable. With reluctance, he lowered me down near a tree trunk, which I leaned back against. He then took a few steps away, returning with a deep bowl – which must have been what he fetched before. My shoe and sock were removed gently, and now that I wasn’t wrapped around Chase, the pain was kicking in again.