Jade
“You’re not going to run away again, are you?” Zade’s voice broke the silence, rough and quiet, like a warning wrapped in a question.
I could feel my pulse racing, my heart slamming against my chest so hard I was sure he could hear it. The room felt smaller now, the air thick with something I couldn’t ignore. The scent of rain hung heavily outside, but inside, the heat from the day still clung to everything—fogging the windows, trapping the weight of the moment between us.
Zade stood by the door, his gaze never leaving mine. There was a stillness in the way he watched me, the kind of stillness that made the room feel charged, like everything was hanging by a thread. Waiting. Expecting.
I shifted on the edge of his bed, fighting the urge to look away. I’d spent so long resisting this pull between us, drowning in fear and doubt, trying to control something that felt too big for me. But now, with his eyes on me, everything felt different. The decision inside me wasn’t born from the bond or some external pressure—it was something I had chosen. Something I wanted.
I could hear his breath, steady and waiting, as he asked again, quieter this time, “What are you going to do, Jade?”
It wasn’t reckless. It wasn’t some impulse born from the bond. It was mine. Every inch of me ached for him. Needed him. Not because fate said so, but because I chose it.
Without thinking, I stood, crossing the room until I was standing in front of him. There was no turning back now. “I’m not running,” I whispered, my voice breaking the distance between us. “Not anymore.”
I stood slowly, my legs trembling, not from fear this time but from anticipation. Zade’s gaze darkened as I crossed the room, each step a silent promise. When I stopped in front of him, I reached up and placed my hands on his chest, feeling the wild, steady thud of his heartbeat beneath my palms. He didn’t move. He let me touch him, let me lead, his body taut with restrained desire, his eyes searching mine as if he needed to be absolutely certain I knew what I was doing.
“I want this,” I said, my voice low and steady despite the chaos in my chest. “I want you.”
For a moment, neither of us moved.
His hands hovered just at my sides, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off his skin—but not touching. Not yet. Like he was giving me one final chance to step back, to say no, to run.
I didn’t.
Instead, I leaned in, just enough for our bodies to brush. Just enough to let the heat of him wrap around me like a promise.
Zade let out a breath—ragged, shuddering, like it had been trapped in his chest for too long. It wasn’t just a sigh. It sounded like a prayer.
His hands finally touched me, settling on my hips, steady and warm. Strong. Grounding. Anchoring me to something real, something solid.
He leaned down, his face burying into the curve of my neck. His nose brushed lightly along my skin, and then—he breathed me in. Deeply. As if he could memorize the scent of me, as if I were something he had waited a lifetime to find.
“Jade,” he whispered.
My name—just one word—came out like a vow. Rough. Reverent.
It made my knees go weak.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice barely audible, as if speaking too loudly might break the moment.
I didn’t answer with words.
Instead, I tilted my head back slowly, offering him the vulnerable line of my throat. An answer. A yes. Silent, but undeniable.
His groan vibrated against my skin—low, guttural, completely unguarded.
Then he kissed me.
And it wasn’t soft.
It was deep. Consuming. Like he was pouring every unspoken thing between us into that moment. Like he wanted to burn his memory into every corner of me. My lungs forgot how to work. My heart forgot how to beat without him.
Clothes came off in slow, reverent movements. No rush. No desperation. Just the careful unwrapping of something sacred. Every brush of skin against skin made my breath catch, made me ache deeper.
When he lifted me into his arms, I didn’t hesitate.
I held on.
Like he was the only real thing left in the world.
The bed creaked softly beneath us as he laid me down, but the rest of the world faded. The past, the future—it didn’t matter. There was only this.
Only him.
This time, the intimacy was different.
It wasn’t rushed or wild. It was slow. Intentional. Full of whispered words and quiet gasps. His hands explored me like I was something to be worshipped, not just wanted. His mouth followed, pressing into every inch of me with aching care.
And I gave myself to him the same way.
Completely. Freely. Like I was claiming him with every touch, every breath.
When it was over—when we were nothing but tangled limbs, sweat-slick skin, and pounding hearts—I shifted closer. Pressed my lips to the warm skin at the base of his throat.
He tensed.
Just a little.
But he didn’t pull away.
Instead, he tilted his head—quiet, offering, surrendering.
My chest tightened with something sharp, something wild and soft all at once.
Love.
And something deeper.
I opened my mouth and bit down gently, sucking until the skin bruised, leaving a deep, dark mark just above his collarbone. When I pulled back to admire my work, a flush of satisfaction bloomed inside me. My mark. My claim.
Zade’s hand cupped the back of my head, tugging me close until our foreheads touched. His voice was a rough whisper against my lips. “Mine,” he murmured, the word vibrating through my entire body.
I smiled, a slow, lazy thing that felt almost dangerous, and whispered back, “Yours.”
He rolled us so I was beneath him again, his mouth finding the hollow of my shoulder, his teeth scraping lightly against my skin before he pressed a kiss there, sealing the promise between us.
We stayed like that for a long time, the world outside fading into nothing, the bond between us humming with a steady, content rhythm that felt like a heartbeat. My fingers traced lazy patterns across his back, memorizing the feel of him, the solidity, the strength, the way he held me without hesitation or fear.
There was no more running, no more questioning. I had chosen him, fully and without reservation. And he had chosen me just as fiercely, just as completely.
As we drifted together into a quiet, shared peace, I knew that whatever storms waited for us beyond this room, we would face them as one.
We were no longer just bonded by fate.
We had claimed each other by choice.