Page 23
My mate bonds feel different here than they do in the Vale. Distant, like I’m reaching across a chasm. But they’re not broken. This magic didn’t come from Castletree. It was born in our own hearts.
Rare happiness flickers in my chest. The magic of our mate bonds has been unaffected.
I run a hand down his neck, then over his arms. He’s wearing short sleeves. Have I ever seen him in anything but his favored billowing shirts? It’s a black T-shirt with a local fishing guide’s logo on the breast. Not one of Papa’s. Did he pilfer it? Buy it with Wrenley’s wages? His long legs are clad in black jeans.
Caspian. Wearing jeans.
In another world, I imagine myself looking at him and laughing, “Oh, how the mighty have fallen!”
But all I see is how hard he’s trying. For all of us. These last few months, he’s been the one keeping us alive. Fighting for us to fight for ourselves.
I can’t stop myself. One of my hands weaves through his hair, the other clasps the back of his neck, and I pull him to me. Our lips collide, wild and desperate. His body is over mine in less than a second, pushing me back against the log. He clutches my jaw tight, our tongues dancing, breath becoming one.
And I breathe him in like oxygen. I need him just as much. Who was I before I met Caspian? I picture him as I first saw him, clad in shadows and briars. Dramatic. Cunning. Wounded. The things I would learn about him. The things he would teach me about myself.
Memories flood through our bond, and I realize Caspian’s doing the same thing I am: looking back as if reading a love letter of our lives together.
I see him swooping down the stairs at the Winter ball and, from his view, myself staring up at him, clad in Keldarion’s mother’s jewels. He’d trusted me with secrets then, even when I couldn’t trust myself. The clatter of metal and smell of ice and blood fills my senses as I’m back at the Battle of Coppershire. My bond led me straight to him. I’d deceived him with the promise of a kiss…something I’ve more than made up for at this point.
Oh, I’m collecting interest, Princess, Caspian purrs in my mind then captures my mouth in a bruising kiss.
My mind’s eye is surrounded by darkness, that space between the realms, where Caspian took me so we would be alone. Was that the first moment I knew him, truly knew him? Trusted him as only one soul-bonded could trust?
Sensations roar through my blood. Kel and Caspian sharing me. Watching the scars of their love heal. The bonds of kinship that grew between him, Ez, Dayton, and Fare. The chill of the Green Flame as Caspian fought for his family, for himself, and won.
I slip from the log and twist until I’m flat on my back. Caspian hovers above me, strands of hair framing his beautiful face. He looks at me tentatively. Waiting.
Now, with everything stripped away—my home, my magic—I understand. He is my North Star. Our family’s North Star. Guiding us from the darkness, never wavering, never dimming, even when we turned from him. He’s the only one who could. He’s lived in the shadows for so long, it’s like a second skin. He’s survived it.
And knew we could too.
“Rosalina,” Caspian whispers.
I reach up, running a hand over the rough stubble of his jaw before caressing the point of his ear. “Caspian.” For the first time since I’ve returned to the human realm, there’s certainty to my words. “I need to feel something.”
His eyes flash, dangerous and protective all at once. Then he moves, grabbing my hips and lifting me so I straddle his waist. He wraps his arms around my back, supporting me. His kiss is fire, hot and fast, and I’m desperate for more. Sparks shoot up my body from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. All the dark places inside me see light for the first time in so long.
His lips wander, teeth nipping at my earlobe, then my collarbone. “I love you.”
I throw my head back, offering him my neck. “I love you too. Always have.”
“I know.”
“You know?” I jerk away so I can level him with a glare. “How have you always known?”
A devious smile appears on his face as his hands drift to the hem of my sundress. “A lucky guess. And I’ve discovered something.”
“Oh?” I breathe, trembling against his touch.
“I’m a very lucky man.”
He says it in that theatrical, purring way of his. But there’s something else there too. He believes it. He believes he’s lucky, despite everything this world has thrown at him.
“I guess I’m lucky too,” I whisper.
In one swift movement, Caspian whips off my dress. I pull off my sandals, and then I’m only wearing a pair of panties below. The late summer air is still warm, but the slight breeze pebbles my nipples.
“Perfection,” Caspian growls.
