Allies and…
Whatever else we were.
A feral look took over his eyes, and he rasped, “You want to know how I’m suffering, Luna?”
Did I?
I thought I did. But now, I wasn’t so sure.
Sebastian looked at me like he wanted to devour me whole. Which, now that I considered it, might have been the case. My mouth dried as I stared at the predator looming above me. His fangs were so close, I could reach out and touch them if I wanted to.
A large part of me—the rational part of me that enjoyed science, numbers, and being alive—wanted to run in the other direction.
The rest of me—the irrational part that dreamed about this handsome vampire prince and his wings—wanted to stay and find out what he had to say.
I couldn’t even remember how we had gotten to this point. All I wanted to do was to see my friend. But no matter how we had started down this path, we were here now. I was not a quitter and I would not give in so easily.
“Tell me,” I breathed, my irrational side winning out. Raising a hand, I placed it on his heaving chest. “How are you suffering, Sebastian?”
Black, swirling eyes filled with shadows and storms and darkness searched mine as though he were looking into my very soul.
“There’s something I didn’t tell you about the Tethering,” he rasped.
My heart pounded. “What?”
Pulling an arm off the wall, Sebastian raised a hand. Running it over the strap of my book bag, which hung from my shoulder like a heavy weight, his fingers moved toward my face.
His touch was gentle as it ran down my cheek, the gesture so at odds with the tension radiating off him that it felt like a dream. “From the moment your blood entered my system, you were tied to me.”
“I know,” I whispered. Even if I wanted to move at that point, I couldn’t. His gentle touch sent flickers of warmth straight to my twisting core. “We can’t leave each other’s presence.”
He laughed bitterly. “No, you don’t.” He shook his head, tightening his grip around my cheek. “For a human, the Tethering is a physical binding. That’s all.”
For a human.
I was almost afraid to ask the next question, but I needed to know.
My tongue darted out, wetting my lips, and I asked, “And for vampires?”
The prince looming above me exhaled slowly. His fingers left my cheek, running down my neck, where my artery throbbed. Every single place he touched burned like it was on fire. My body yearned for more. For those fingers to continue trailing down my skin. The cold was long forgotten as he warmed me with his touch.
With deft fingers, Sebastian pulled back my hair and exposed my neck. A shiver ran down my skin. My breath stuttered and my heart—that vital organ I relied on for life—skipped a beat.
Damn my treacherous body.
This male was capable of killing me with little more than a glance, and here I was, practically panting as he touched me. The worst part of it was, I was enjoying it. There was no other possible explanation as to why I arched my neck, giving him more access to my body.
I told myself it was because of the Tether. That this meant nothing. We were allies, forced into an arranged marriage, and nothing more.
I was a liar.
Soon, the pounding of my heart was the only thing I could hear. Sebastian’s fingers trailed down my neck, and I stared at him.
“You don’t know what the Tether does to me,” he murmured hoarsely. His dark eyes flashed, and warmth coiled in my core. “The way being around you makes me feel.”
Even if I hadn’t wanted to see where this was going, I couldn’t have moved. My legs felt as though they were made of water. Remaining as still as the marble statues lining the Great Hall of my father’s castle, I stared at the winged male as he inhaled sharply.
“Sebastian?” I asked breathlessly. “How do you feel?”