Page 111 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

“Is that why you’re here?” I asked. “Craving something sweet?”

Onyx averted his gaze to the nearby window. Quietly and somewhat resigned, he answered, “Must you truly ask that question?”

A weight settled on my chest. I didn’t need it spelled out for me. Our bond was too strong for either of us to fight. It was a lot like two magnets when held too close together, they started attracting, unable to resist the pull. That magnetic pull had caused me to seek him out earlier that evening in the greenhouse, just as it drew him to me now.

“Do you want some cocoa?” I asked, stepping over to the pot on the stove. “I made plenty. Then you can help me eat these brownies. I added extra chocolate.”

“I shouldn’t stay.” He glanced at me with a look that made the weight on my chest press harder. “Being here with you now is already precarious enough.”

“What are we supposed to do, Onyx?” I asked, my heart barely suspended by the battered strings struggling to keep it in place.

“Certainly not this.” He offered me a sad smile. “Yet, we seem to be unable to stay away from one another. Which is why this is the last time you and I will speak.”

“What do you mean by the last?” I asked as a chill snaked through my veins.

“Today alone has proven our inability to fight our fated bond.” Onyx returned his gaze to the window. The skin around his eyes pulled taut. “Therefore, I haven’t a choice but to send you and your mates away from the castle. At first light, Koga will take you to a cottage in the village. You will remain there for the time being. Perhaps the added distance will weaken the hold this bond has over us.”

My heart reached its limit and puttered out like an old engine too tired to keep running. Logically, I knew putting extra space between us was a smart decision. But my soul thrashed at the thought of being parted from him.

“So this is really the end,” I quietly said. For once, there were no tears. I felt too numb to cry. “You and I really can’t be together, can we?”

“We can’t,” Onyx answered. He stepped toward me at the counter and, after a brief hesitation, reached for my face. His thumb ghosted my bottom lip. “If only we could’ve remained in that cave a little longer.”

A strangled sound left me before I buried my face against the base of his throat. Tears finally surged forward, the dam breaking inside of me.

“Dry your eyes, little bird.” Onyx cupped the back of my head. “I’m not worth these tears.”

Grief churned in my chest, deepening as I recalled that dream of Onyx from the willow. How he’d tenderly smiled down at me and said he never wanted to know another day without me by his side.

“You have the power to make it so.”

My body moved on impulse. I rose up on my tiptoes and captured his lips, kissing him as the heartache of what could’ve been clawed at my insides.

“Evan,” he rasped, curling his fingers in the back of my hair. “We… we shouldn’t…”

Onyx pressed me against the counter, pinning me in place as his mouth crashed back to mine. I whimpered against his lips and grabbed the front of his silk robe. Our bond was stronger than I realized. More intense than it’d ever been.

I clung onto his neck and returned his kisses, moaning as he teased my tongue with his. Electric fire spread through my body, burning white-hot. I felt like a man possessed, driven by the fated bond that connected us. It consumed me, body and soul.

With a rough sound tearing through his throat, Onyx broke from the kiss and stumbled backward, lifting a shaking hand to his lips.

I stared at him, shocked. Unsure what had just happened. “Onyx?”

“I…” He took another shaky step away from me. “Gods, Evan, please just—”

An agonized cry broke off his words, and he clutched his chest.

Concerned, I stepped toward him.

“Stay back!” he roared. His voice sounded off. A deep growl lingered beneath his smooth tone.

My entire body froze. Just stopped working. The breaths stilled in my lungs, and my mind whirred like an old TV that lost signal and was now stuck on that staticky black and white screen.

What didn’t stop?

My heart. It slammed against my ribs, the beats fast and hard.

His appearance had changed. Faint red and black shimmers covered his porcelain skin, reminding me of scales, and his features had sharpened. The top of his hair ruffled before two black horns grew from his scalp and curved back.