My body was still trembling, my breath coming in shallow, uneven gasps as I pushed away from him
My breath catches, sharp and unsteady, as if all the air was removed from my lungs, my heart pounding in my chest, desperate to escape my ribs. The world tilts for a moment, the taste of his kiss still burning on my lips, searing into my skin like a brand I can't erase, something that will mark me forever.
I stagger back, my hand flying to my mouth in a futile attempt to erase what just happened. But it's useless. The taste of him lingers, as though he's branded me from the inside out, and I can't shake it, not even for a second.
Anger rises within me, sharp and vicious, mixing with regret in a bitter cocktail. The weight of my own desire crashes into me, suffocating, overwhelming, like a flood I never saw coming. My legs feel weak, my pulse races, and the blood pounding in my ears drowns out everything else. It's like the ground beneath me has tilted, just enough to make me question if I even know which way is up anymore.
Damn him. Damn myself.
What the hell did I just do?
I take another step back, my spine hitting the cold stone of the wall behind me. Trapped.
But it's more than that, isn't it? This isn't just him trapping me. This is me—letting myself fall into his damn trap. My body, my mind—they've betrayed me in ways I can't control.
I feel it—It's deep in my chest, tightening like a chain I can't break. This connection between us... it's not just physical. It's darker, deeper, something that claws at my soul from the inside. Like I'm tethered to him, bound by something I can't explain, can't understand. I don't know how to fight it.
I shake my head, trying to clear the fog that's settled over me, but it's no use. No matter how hard I try, I feel him—everywhere. The air around me feels thick, suffocating, as though the weight of everything between us is pressing down on me, too heavy to bear. My chest tightens with the force of it all, and I want to scream, to push him away, to escape this feeling. But I know i cant.
I was still leaning against the door, trying to steady my breathing, my heart pounding in my chest like I'd just run a marathon. The high of it—the rush—was still coursing through me, and I hated how much I'd needed it. How much I'd wanted it.
I try to steady myself, but my body refuses to cooperate. His touch still lingers, an imprint on my skin that won't fade. It's like my very blood is alive with the memory of him, thrumming in rhythm with something darker, more dangerous. The pull between us is undeniable, a weight I can't escape no matter how hard I fight against it.
And the worst part? I don't know if I want to escape it.
I close my eyes, trying to push it all away, but his face is burned into my mind—his eyes, cold and ancient, but somehow… alive when they locked onto mine. The way he kissed me, like he'd been waiting forever, like he needed me in a way that made everything else blur. And for a moment, I let him. For a moment, I was his—and that terrifies me more than anything else.
I can't do this. You—" I break off, frustration clawing at me. "I'm not supposed to want this, to feel this. You... you're not supposed to be real. You're a reaper."
His expression doesn't shift. He steps closer, his presence suffocating yet magnetic. "You think I don't know that? You think I don't know who I am, what I am?" His voice drops to a whisper that feels like a storm on the horizon. "But it doesn't matter anymore. Not with you."
His words pierce through the tension, and for a split second, it feels like everything has stopped. My heart races. The room feels too small, too tight.
The anger swells within me again, a storm I can't control. I clench my fists, but they tremble. "You don't get to say that. You're not supposed to—I'm not supposed to—feel anything for you. I'm cursed, Vaelen. I'm marked for death. Everything about me is a mistake," I say, too sharply, my voice betraying the depth of the pain I'm trying to bury.
It's a mask. I'm terrified. Terrified of the power between us. Terrified of the way it's growing, expanding like fire within me.
"No." He steps forward, his voice gentle but firm, like the steady rhythm of death itself. "Whatever this is between us, whatever the gods have done, it's not just some mistake. It's bigger than that. And you're not just some broken soul to fix. You're mine—in a way I never understood until now."
His words wrap around me, tight, almost suffocating, but in the best way. The power between us pulses, like a heartbeat. I can feel it in my chest, under my skin, like it's been there all along, waiting.
I close my eyes, unsure whether to fight it or let it consume me. But when I open them again, his hand is almost on me—his fingers brushing the side of my face, so soft it's almost unbearable.
I want to hate him. I should hate him. But instead, I find myself reaching for him, my fingers trembling as they brush against his chest. I want to pull away. I want to break this bond, but I can't.
I want him too much.
The moment my fingers touch him, something inside me snaps. A surge of power rushes through me, like a flood breaking through a dam. The room flickers violently, and the air grows thick with death, suffocating. The weight of my own emotions claws at me, raw and uncontained. My heart races as my body reacts, out of my control. My hand starts to glow, faintly at first, but then brighter—hotter—like I'm burning from the inside out.
The power thrums, violent and alive, like a beast inside me I can't cage. The temperature in the room plummets, and I feel the sharp sting of my own emotions being ripped from me, pouring into the air.
The world around me trembles. The ground cracks beneath my feet. I don't understand what's happening, but I know this: this bond, this power—it's consuming everything.
Before I can even process it, the force of the energy sends us both tumbling backward. My head spins, my pulse a deafening roar in my ears. And in that moment, as the room collapses around me, I feel it—the tether, the chain that binds me to him, pulling me into the abyss.