A Cruel Kindness by Rory L. Scott

Author:Rory L. Scott [Scott, Rory L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Bellamy

Rationally, I knew that I had much bigger things to worry about. Soren was right, this was signaling something much more serious.

He didn’t actually say it out loud, but I just knew that was what he was thinking.

I also knew that the time was coming where I’d have to come clean. If the Muli Royal family, with Elijah doing their bidding, was done extending offers of peace and were prepared to unleash the full force of their army on us, I needed to say something.

There hadn’t been enough time for the note I slipped Carson to get to Elijah, or the Prince, and generate a response yet.

All of that should have been weighing down on me oppressively, but the only thing I could think about was how Soren had almost died right in front of me.

As we walked along the trail back to camp, I let Clover take the lead. She knew exactly what I needed, hanging just an inch back from Lucky so that I could stare at Soren and remind myself that he was alive.

Until the end of my days, I would never forget the terror that pumped through my veins when I saw him go over that cliff. Nothing else seemed important but him, two planets be damned.

I was losing my strength fighting the Bond.

Even now, it was chanting closer over and over in my head as if it needed to be physically connected to him to believe he was okay. It made me feel slightly better to be the one who’d tended to his wounds.

I would be the one doing that from now on, no matter how much of a possessive freak that made me. No one touched him but me.

I wanted to run my hands over the soft brush of his shaved hair, caress his skin so that the pain of his cut was replaced with the comfort of my touch. I didn’t have the strength to resist that anymore.

Giving into that one vice seemed okay, so long as I stayed away from the other forms of … physical connection the Bond constantly craved. Who was I kidding, I craved it too.

“Bell,” Soren barked halfway through our ride, making me return to his side. When I did, he turned to me, smiling under the rim of that wide brim hat, making me think dark, dark thoughts. “There you are.”

That made me feel very warm. All over. “I didn’t go anywhere.”

“Ah,” Soren breathed, then tsked. “But you did. See, on the way over, you were talking to me. You’ve been silent. Hence, going somewhere.”

My mind tripped over itself, trying to understand him. “You … want me to talk to you?”

Soren hummed, though it sounded a little like a laugh. “If you would, princess. Don’t leave me to my own devices for the next thirty minutes.”

It was silly, and a thought I’d sooner die than share with him, but that was the first time someone had ever directly stated that they enjoyed my presence. Or conversation, or whatever Soren meant.

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