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“It isn’t taking your choice from you if you’ve already chosen the tether.”
“Why are you saying that? I never said I chose to bond with you.” I squirmed again, and this time, he released me.
“No. But do you want the tether broken?”
I froze, unable to answer him right away.
Everything he said and did confused me. I’d thought he wanted to break any tie Fate created between us, but he seemed adamant about holding onto it, claiming his father had nothing to do with it.
But why?
I’d given him the chance to tell me he wanted the bond, and he’d said nothing.
He’d even said he’d never complete our bond.
But he was right… I didn’t want to sever our connection.
That didn’t mean he got to make that decision for me. If I wanted to break our tether, I should have that choice, just as I should have the choice to keep it.
That was the whole point of me coming to him in the first place.
I wanted to give him a choice, not have him take mine away.
I wanted the tether to stay.
Without it, I wouldn’t understand what little I knew about the man in front of me.
Like now, his woodsy lavender scent smelled both burnt and rich, as if he were upset and aroused at the same time.
I didn’t want to let that go.
Looking up into his eyes, I sighed. “No.”
It was as if my confession reset something in him.
His expression hardened, and his tone returned to that commanding sharpness I knew well, all traces of anger or seduction gone. “Then don’t come to me with your weak attempts at selflessness claiming you wish to unlock chains I never asked you to free me from.”
“You’re such an asshole.” I moved to push around him, but he blocked my retreat.
“I’m merely refusing to waste both of our time with pointless conversation when nothing has changed from the moment you came into this room to now.”
“Oh, it has.”
His gaze swept over my body. “Enlighten me.”
“I now understand stressing over how you feel and whether being connected to me made you unhappy was pointless.”
“You were worried about me?”
I paused at the sudden softness of his tone. Had I caught him off guard?
“Not anymore,” I said, refusing to let myself give in only to get hurt when he shut down again.
His jaw tightened. “Good. Don’t waste your time on pointless endeavors.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I hissed, pushing around him.
“The next time you decide to fuck your Nyriths in this house, shut the bedroom door. The scent and noise keep me awake.”
