AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I angled my neck for her. "Jab me already so you can go and get your food."
"Hold still." I saw her coming at me with the needle.
I felt the tiny bite of cold metal as it entered, followed by a rush of stinging liquid in my veins.
Harper stepped back with the now empty syringe. "All done. How’s it feel?"
"Like I'm being attacked by thousands of enraged bees."
"Spectacular. It’s working." She dropped the syringe into her pocket. "For a moment, I worried the extract wouldn’t be as potent since I found the moth heart just hanging out on a ledge."
I rubbed my neck. "A ledge?"
"That’s right. A ledge over a graveyard. Well, it wasn’t exactly a graveyard, more like a plot."
I stopped focusing on the angry bees. "What else do I need to know about you going off into the wilderness alone?"
"I wasn’t alone. Maagda was with me." She put her hand behind her back and rocked back and forth. "We may have had to deal with an attempted sneak attack from one of Isath’s scouts."
I reached for her arms. "Are you two hurt?"
"We’re fine."
"Don’t ever do that again."
"I don’t intend to because you had the final serum dose."
I took her hands in mine. "Thank you for everything. I owe you a debt."
"You owe me nothing." She reminded me in a singsong voice. I liked how she could be tough and uncompromising one minute and playful the next.
"I can at least offer you a bowl of your beloved ingreberg stew."
"I was only kidding before. Don’t get me wrong. It’s good, but you’re more important to me than grabbing a bowl of stew."
A breeze drifted by, bringing that mysterious and wonderful scent of her hair to my nose. This time, I indulged myself and lowered my head to bury my face in it. "You’re important to me, too. More than you realize."
She slid her hands up past my shoulders. "I realize and notice quite a bit." She laced her fingers behind my neck. "I may not know everything about the bonding instinct, but I want to be close to you."
I lowered my head to touch her brow with mine. My wings enfolded us. "How close?"
She kissed me in response. Her gesture was so sweet and true. I wanted to savor it, while also craving to hold her, join my body with hers and have her cling to me while we both rode out our pleasure.
I couldn’t do it. In that instant, I realized the fear that held me from bonding with her. What if the serum didn’t work?
I unfolded my wings from around her, allowing the dry rush of evening air to invade our private cocoon. "We can’t do this. You know what happened to me, who I am."
"I like who you are."
I believed she meant what she said. As much as I wanted to take solace in that, I couldn’t. "I’m capable of becoming wild again."
"You’re already wild. The supply closet confirmed it. It confirmed it for me as well, so that makes two of us."
"I’m not joking this time, Harper. I don’t know what the future holds. I can’t let you get close anymore without putting you in danger."
She frowned, a mix of anger and hurt that tore at me. "Varus, if you’re going to kiss me, hold me, just to reject me, then I can’t do this, either."
"Harper, that’s not what I'm doing. Wait."
