Valkhara
The walk back to the castle was slower than it needed to be.
Not because of the distance, but because of the tension. The kind that wrapped around your ankles and dragged every step into something… heavier. Wilder. Unspoken.
Azric walked on my left, Sevrin on my right like I needed a full escort just to make it through the forest. Their silence wasn't comfortable. It was loaded.
Sevrin's gaze kept flicking to me like he was waiting for me to bolt again. Azric's hands stayed in his pockets, but his thoughts?
Oh, I could feel them pressing at the edge of my mind like they were waiting to be let in again.
I ignored them both.
Mostly.
"You know," I said after a long stretch of silence, "you two could've just sent a raven. Or a guard. Or literally anyone not obsessed with marking me."
Sevrin snorted. "You think we'd trust anyone else with you now?"
"That's not flattering. That's prison."
"It's protection."
"It's control."
Azric spoke up finally. "It's the bond. And you know it."
I didn't answer. Because he was right. And I hated that.
The forest grew thinner. The path widened. We crossed through the outer gates and into the Court grounds stone walls, high towers, and all the haunted looks of power desperate to stay balanced.
And waiting just beyond the grand entry?
A butler. With a bowed head and a scroll in his hand.
"Lady Valkhara," he said with a bow. "Your quarters have been prepared. Please follow me."
I blinked. "My quarters?"
Azric and Sevrin exchanged a look.
A guilty look.
The butler led us up a private staircase, away from the combatant wing. We turned down a polished stone hall and stopped in front of a pair of double doors that looked entirely too regal.
I stared at them. "This isn't my room."
Sevrin avoided my gaze.
Azric smiled faintly. "It is now."
"You moved me?"
"To the bonded suite," Sevrin said.
"You mean your suite."
"Our suite," Azric corrected.
I glared at them. "And I didn't get a say?"
"You disappeared into the woods naked after getting double-marked," Sevrin said. "We weren't about to let you bunk next to an assassin or a council spy."
"So instead I get to room with you two?"
Azric leaned in slightly, his voice silk. "You don't like it?"
I shoved open the door before I could throw something.
The room was massive. Warm lighting. Carved fireplaces. Two beds joined. Not separate. Lush fur blankets. Weapons mounted on the walls beside art older than the empire.
Everything screamed bonded mates.
I walked in and stopped cold.
Because I could feel them again.
The bond threads thrumming. The air charged.
And Azric?
He stepped in behind me.
And the moment his feet crossed the threshold, his voice slid into my mind like a knife dipped in honey.
So this is where you pretend not to want us.
I spun to face him. "Get out of my head."
He smirked. "Then stop thinking about how good it felt when I bit you."
Sevrin stiffened.
Azric kept going.
Or how you liked the way he held your throat while he fucked you.
My cheeks burned. I hated that I couldn't stop it. The thoughts weren't words, they were flashes. Memories. Sensations.
Sevrin growling against my skin.
Azric's tongue dragging between my thighs.
You're not as cold as you act, Valkhara.
"I said get out," I snapped.
Azric backed off barely. "You bonded with me. This is the cost."
"Then I'll find a way to un-bond you."
Sevrin growled low. "Don't say that."
"Why not?"
"Because I can feel how much you don't mean it," he said, voice thick.
And gods help me…
He was right.
So I did the only thing I could do without blowing up the suite.
I stormed into the bathing room and slammed the door.
Steam filled the air as I stripped and slid into the massive stone tub. The water was hot. Fragrant. Infused with lavender, mint, and something that made my muscles sigh.
I sank in deeper, hiding under the water like it might drown the shame in my bloodstream.
But the bond?
It didn't give a fuck.
And neither did Azric.
He was quiet. For about three minutes.
Then—
She's imagining riding you.
My eyes snapped open.
No, not like that— Azric continued, —like full-on thighs spread, knees planted, head thrown back, using you like a throne.
I sat bolt upright in the tub.
Oh. And she thinks I'd be the one who'd choke her while you watched.
"AZRIC!" I screamed.
I heard Sevrin say "What the fuck?" right as I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around my soaking body, and flung the door open like a banshee on fire.
They were both standing near the hearth Azric smirking like the devil, Sevrin looking completely scandalized and very turned on.
"You little psychic prick!" I snapped.
Azric's grin widened. "You weren't exactly thinking of flowers and peace treaties, sweetheart."
Sevrin's jaw was clenched. His eyes had gone nearly black. His fists were at his sides.
"You're both insane," I hissed. "And if either of you so much as thinks about touching me tonight—"
Too late, Azric whispered.
Sevrin stepped forward.
I stepped back and my towel dropped.
All three of us froze.
Azric's nostrils flared.
Sevrin's gaze dragged down and then back up like it was the first breath he'd taken in hours.
The bond snapped. A wave of heat crashed through me, and suddenly I wasn't running anymore.
I was burning.
Azric growled, low and unholy. "Fuck it."
Sevrin moved first catching me around the waist and slamming me against the wall with enough force to shake the paintings.
And gods help me…
I let him.