A rush of heat flooded through me, starting from my chest and spreading everywhere.
Llewellyn's eyes widened. "What—"
My body arched up involuntarily and Llewellyn's grip on my wrists tightened as he let out a shuddering breath.
"Fuck," I gasped out, staring up at him. "Is this normal?"
Llewellyn's pupils were blown wide. "I don't know."
"System," Llewellyn said, voice strained. "What's happening?"
[System Notification: Bond synchronization in progress! Enhanced physical sensitivity is temporary but normal during initial bonding.]
"For how long?" I asked, breathing hard.
[Estimated duration: Three days.]
What!!!
[System Notification: Time can be reduced to 20-30 minutes through physical consummation.]
I let out a noise.
Trust the System to come up with a scheme like this!
Well, obviously, this wasn't even a question. I couldn't stay like this for three days!
Llewellyn stared down at me, his face flushed.
My heartbeat was going crazy.
I tested his grip on my wrists and let out another groan.
"Just come here," I said.
"Yeah?" Llewellyn said. "What would you do if I don't?"
I lifted off the bed and crashed our lips together.
Llewellyn made a noise into my mouth, and followed me down. His hips pressed down involuntarily and we both groaned.
A second later, he let go of my wrists, pulled my shirt off and made quick work of the rest of our clothes, before immediately pressing me back down again, skin to skin this time.
There was some sort of magic flowing between us—his flowing into me and mine flowing into him.
It felt insane.
"Can't—" I started, but he bit down and my words faded into a moan.
Llewellyn pulled back to look at me, his breathing uneven. "Can't what?"
"Can't take too long. We ordered food. The delivery person will be here soon."
Llewellyn cursed and checked his watch.
"Better get started immediately then," he said, kissing my throat then moving lower, pressing kisses down my chest.
My hands fisted in his hair and Llewellyn made a low, guttural sound against my skin.
A second later I watched him take three familiar vials out of his inventory and open the first before pressing in.
I moaned.
***
…Well, that had been amazing. I wanted more time, but we were on a time crunch.
We'd only just cleaned ourselves up when the doorbell rang.
Just in time.
While I put my clothes back on, Llewellyn equipped a concealment artifact and went to open the door. It looked like this was something he did often to avoid giving away his identity. I didn't know how to feel about it.
We sat at the kitchen table to eat. The bond had calmed down, but whatever magic was still passing between us kept sending goosebumps and sudden waves of heat through my body.
With every magic spike, I really just wanted to press Llewellyn against the table and—
Anyway. We had something important to discuss.
"I think our plan about not getting dragged into this has gone down the drain," I said with a sigh, reaching for some water. "What do you think we should do? Clearly, the Alliance is not going to leave you alone, and it seems like we might have to investigate how to solve the Knot problem at its root after all."
I really wished this wasn't the case and that we could stay out of it, but clearly, these people's killing intent was unmistakable now—and it wasn't just one rogue actor.
Llewellyn set down his chopsticks. "We need to figure out how they're getting these artifacts. There haven't been Distorted Realms in Innishae since before you started working with me, and generally the local authorities check the area for Destabilized Artifacts after we're gone. So where are these coming from?"
"Corrupted law enforcement?" I asked.
"Could be," Llewellyn said. "But Distorted Realms rarely appear in the same country twice in a row, so this would mean law enforcement from multiple countries is involved."
I rubbed my eyes. That would absolutely suck.
Something else occurred to me.
"What do you make of Gilded now?"
Llewellyn sighed. "We should probably thank him," he said. "His fighting technique is useless, but he did save your life."
Yeah. My thoughts precisely.
"I was thinking we should try to have a proper conversation with him," I said. "Once he's recovered. I'm still not convinced we can trust him, but at least he doesn't seem to be with the Alliance. And he did buy only crystals at the auction after all. Unless he put up a front for us at the last moment when he saw we were there, he didn't seem to have lied about that either."
Llewellyn nodded. "TAPESTRY will probably keep an eye on him for now. We can check in tomorrow."
We also had his phone number, so it shouldn't be too difficult to set this up, right?
We kept eating and chatting lightly.
The magic exchange between us kept flowing. Every time Llewellyn's eyes landed on me, I could feel this warm… awareness or something sweeping through me. It felt amazing, like knowing where the sun was even with your eyes closed, but also a bit disconcerting.
Penguin, who was on the table inspecting all the food, chirped again in front of one of the dishes. I grinned and scooped a bit more kimchi fried rice for him, putting it in his small bowl.
Penguin went back to peck at it, chirping happily, while Lumos stood on hind legs, tapping Llewellyn's thigh for some food.
"I can't give you this," Llewellyn said. "It's not good for you. Give me a few moments and I'll get something for you."
Lumos whined.
It suddenly occurred to me that I'd left my phone in my coat and excused myself to go and retrieve it quickly.
I swiped and—
Shit. 35 messages and 93 missed calls?!
Ninety-three?!!
I scrolled down, appalled.
All the calls were from Niamh, as were most of the messages—although Altan and Opal's names also came up quite a bit.
Fucking hell.
I sat down and opened Niamh's texts.
…
Niamh: Why do I have a video of you and Llewellyn kissing all over my feed?!!!
Niamh: SINCE WHEN?
Niamh: Does Emma know?!!!
Niamh: The team is going bonkers
Niamh: Is this official?!
Niamh: I just watched it again
Niamh: In a CUPBOARD OF A FIVE-STAR HOTEL?!!! What's up with that??
Niamh: RYO
Niamh: Why didn't you TELL ME
Niamh: I'm your manager!!!
Niamh: And your FRIEND
Niamh: Altan keeps texting me
Niamh: He thinks it's hilarious btw
Niamh: The comments are INSANE
Niamh: The video has 2 million views
Niamh: TWO MILLION
Niamh: This is a PR nightmare
Niamh: Or a PR dream actually, the engagement is mental
Niamh: Wait, are you actually together together or was this just a thing
Niamh: Please tell me you didn't just fake-hook up with Llewellyn in a hotel cupboard!!!
Niamh: Actually no don't tell me that
Niamh: Just call me back
Niamh: How long has this been going on???
Niamh: The ballroom was destroyed?????? Are you okay??????
Niamh: RYO
-
I rubbed my eyes.
"What?" Llewellyn said.
I passed him my phone and watched him scroll through the conversation.
The corners of Llewellyn's mouth ticked up.