Page 133 of GlitchBorn Heart

I breathe deeply; it’s a turning point in our relationship, or whatever this is. The rope could be undone with his fingers in seconds. But that isn’t the point.

He bows to me, sword lying across his palms. A moment of respect, as if he’s stepping onto the mat. When he straightens, his gaze finds mine again, and then, to my shock, he kneels before me.

Kael Ryudon kneels for no one. Not man. Not machine.

A deliberate kneel at my feet, the katana still laid across his palms like an offering.

His voice is deep and deadly serious. “I don’t kneel to anyone, Taiyō. Never have. Never will.” The blade tilts, catching the neon glow of the room. “But for you”—his eyes shift, dark liquid swirling like ink and flame—“submission. It’s trust. My trust. My vow to you.”

He lays the sword at my feet, slowly rising to kiss me through the lace of my panties, his breath so hot I think I may shatter right here and now.

“Spread those legs for me.” I feel him give my ankles a slight nudge. The rope doesn’t allow for much, maybe an inch. He leans away, still on his knees, and I see the katana between my ankles, the flat of the blade cool against my holo-skin. A shiver runs up my spine. I don’t dare move. I can’t. This is another test. Will I trust him not just with my body but with my heart, accepting that he will always protect me?

“You have no idea how dangerous this is, me on my knees, you bound. It isn’t just you risking everything here.” He’s bent over, his hands flexing and tightening over the hilt, almost in a state of conscious meditation.

With a sudden single motion, the katana raises in front of me, steel reflecting the neon-stained skyline in the dim light of the room. He slices. The rope gives with a single flick of his wrist, precise and clean, the fibers falling away like flower petals. My legs are free, but the sword lingers near my ankle as if he’s reluctant to move.

I hear him exhale with relief. “And when I free you”—his thumb brushes the inside of my ankle, slowly—“you’ll always come back to me. I’m the one choosing to stay with you. I need you to do the same.”

“Kael.” My voice is breathy and full of emotion. Tears swell. Who knew this hardened man could be so tender? I move toward him.

He remains frozen. He stays close on his knees and wraps his hands around my thighs. He looks up at me with a desire that threatens to consume him. If he could keep me tied up forever, I believe he would. I realize a part of me wouldn’t mind.

“That’s the difference, Taiyō. The rope binds. The blade frees. Both require trust. Both require surrender.”

My pulse hammers, and it’s not because he cut me loose or because he released me from standing in one place.

It’s because I know this...

I can no longer run from him, fight him, or hate him. I’m choosing to stay and trust him. Not only with my life but my heart. I want him. No, not just to save me but to love me. Commit to only me.

And that scares me more than anything Vikktor, LINK, or even Eli could do to me.

What happens when you place your salvation in the hands of one of the most brilliant but darkest minds in the city?

Credence. That’s what.

51

TheUndoing

Playlist: The Death of Peace Of Mind - Bad Omens

Kael

I slide my hands up the rope, settling them over her shoulders. A soft touch that will hopefully soothe her frayed edges. My fingers swirl down her arms. “Sugoi desu ne, Taiyō,” I translate. “Amazing.”

She moans softly, a sound that threatens to make me come undone. I want her to look into my eyes so she knows there’s something steady in the center, her anchor. “When you step out of this system, when you have your own body again”—my thumb grazes her full lower lip—“this is what I want you to remember. Not being trapped. Not running. This. You and me.”

Silence fills the air around us. Her pulse is still stuttering, a reminder of how much she’s revealed to me tonight, how much she’s let me in. Finally.

My fingers drift to the knotted rope. Not to tighten it, but to undo them. Free her, be her savior. Just maybe, this once, the villain actually gets the girl.

Another knot loosens, the rope whispering across her holo-skin. I work deliberately, every slip of the rope as careful as the tying had been.

“Trust.” I remind her. “It isn’t just about letting someone bind you. It’s also letting them set you free again.” I see her throat swallow hard. I fight the urge to wrap my fingers around it again.

She understands. I didn’t deliberately create the corporate systems to cage her or anyone else inside them. This happened as a result of magic and machine merging in a space where it shouldn’t be possible. Another reason why they both can’t exist simultaneously.