Of course.
He stood at the end of the aisle, steel hair glinting in the dim lights. His posture was impossibly perfect, the lines of his polished white-and-gold armor unyielding. He didn’t look up immediately, but he knew I was there. I could feel it in the sudden surge beneath my skin, like molten metal answering the call of a smith’s hammer.
“Of course it would be you,” he said, echoing my mental words when he finally lifted his gaze to meet mine. His voice was quiet, sharp enough to pierce armor. “Can’t seem to avoid you lately.”
I crossed my arms, fighting to keep my breath steady. “Funny. I was about to say the same thing.”
He closed the book in his hand with deliberate care, its thud echoing softly between the shelves. “Do you even understand what you’ve done?”
“I took back what was mine. Last I checked, that’s called winning.”
He stepped closer, frustration tightening the perfect line of his jaw. “You didn’t just take the scrap. You sparked something between us, Garnexis. Something neither of us asked for.”
There it was. The thing I refused to name. It pulsed quietly, a tether humming between us, alive and waiting.
I hated it.
“I’m not interested in what some ancient magic tells me I should want,” I said, chin raised. “I don’t need fate to pick my path, or my partner.”
He flinched slightly, as if the honesty of the words cut deeper than he expected. His eyes, those calm, green-gold eyes, betrayed the storm beneath. “You think I like this?”
His honesty threw me off-balance. “Then fight it.”
“I’ve been fighting it since last year.”
At my consternation, he laughed. “I’ve known since Halven introduced us. And I hate that it’s you. Of all the possible matches, it had to be someone who challenges every rule I’ve ever known.”
My heart twisted sharply. “Then why aren’t you staying away from me?”
“Why aren’t you?”
Something hot rose in my chest, fierce and defiant. “What’s worse, Orivian? Being with someone because fate says so, or being too afraid to admit you want it?”
Did that mean I wanted it?
No! Not if fate told me who to love.
He didn’t answer immediately. His fingers tightened on the edge of the shelf, tension coiling in his posture. “I found something. Something about Halven.”
My pulse quickened. “What?”
“I’ll tell you, if you agree to work together. No more fighting me every step, which means following the rules.”
I hesitated, looking away. The rune on my wrist flared faintly, as though sensing proximity to its twin on his skin. I hated the vulnerability it created, hated the need.
“But the bond...” I whispered.
Fated fae bonds grew stronger with close proximity. If we really wanted to fight this, we needed to stay away from each other. Only that would allows us to deny what the cosmos wanted for us.
That noble brow of his furrowed, and through this godsdamn connection I knew what he was thinking by the emotions flittering through to me.
Halven matters more.
He swallowed, eyes locked with mine. “Whatever Halven was investigating, it’s tied to Wintermere Lake. That’s what brought him here, to the Library of Seasons. And here is the last place anyone saw him.”
My voice dropped to a cautious whisper. “And you think you can trust me with this information?”
“I don’t have a choice,” he replied sharply, “and neither do you.”
I glared at him, heart pounding unevenly. He was too close, the space between us charged, pulling tighter like a wire ready to snap. Any anger, any defense against this thing melted into something molten, impossible to ignore. I didn’t want to kiss because something in the universe told me I was supposed. I wanted to kiss a boy because I chose it.
But he was too certain, and it was infuriating. I couldn’t step away. Didn’t want to. “You don’t know a godsforsaken thing about what choices I have.”
“Then tell me I’m wrong.” He moved even closer, his cool breath grazing my cheek. A contrast to the heat sparked between us, simmering under my skin.
My hands lifted instinctively to push him back, but I hesitated. His nearness was dizzying, intoxicating. I could feel the bond vibrating between us, tightening with each heartbeat, an invisible tether that pulled me inexorably closer.
“You think I’m afraid?” I whispered, defiant even as my voice trembled slightly.
“No,” he said, softer, almost regretful. “I think you’re brave enough to fight destiny and foolish enough to think you’ll win.”
I wasn’t sure who closed the final distance, but suddenly his lips were on mine, fierce, possessive, and utterly irresistible. There was nothing gentle about it. No tenderness. No caution. Just heat and hunger and something deeper, a magnetic force neither of us could deny. His hand found my waist, pulling me sharply against him. His other tangled roughly in my hair, holding me exactly where he wanted me.
With a moan, I opened for him, anger and longing mixing together until I could hardly breathe. The kiss deepened, turning wild and reckless. Heat ignited along my veins, matching the surge of magic that flowed between us. His armor pressed hard against me, the cold metal against my chest grounding and exciting at once. I gripped his arms, felt his strength, his struggle, and something beyond either of our control.
The bond flared like a forge-fire between us, undeniable and overwhelming.
I broke away first, breathing raggedly, lips still hovering close enough to share breath. My heart raced like a trapped thing.
“We’re still not bonded mates,” I managed to say, voice hoarse.
He didn’t step back, didn’t release me immediately. His eyes blazed, molten green-gold meeting mine, just as breathless, just as conflicted. His lips curved faintly, bitterly. “Then stop kissing me like one.”
We stood in tense silence, the air vibrating between us with everything we wouldn’t say aloud. Finally, I pulled away, the lingering taste of him still burning on my lips, my pride just strong enough to keep me moving.
But even as I walked away, I knew we’d crossed a line we couldn’t erase. Fate had marked us both.
Whether we wanted it or not.
A Private Encounter
