Bonded

Chapter Eight

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India

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With how they all stared at me I almost had not been able to continue speaking... What little did come out of my mouth completely incoherent as I panicked over the intense staring from all three of the other men in the room... Their stares noticing the way I had begun to swoon just in time to find me here... Held within two careful sets of arms while I try to recover enough strength to stand... Tough, stiffened leather pressing against me as my face is set aflame as I find my hair being stroked by two different hands, the gentle affection making it nearly impossible to come back to myself nearly as completely as I know I should... 

And yet still... When I found my head guided down to rest on the chest of the one slightly taller... No hesitation is found within me... The gentlest, "There we go..." leaking from the freckled one's lips as his hand seems to grow fonder of me while it continues to tangle itself in my hair, the smallest step forward being taken while a rough knuckle raises itself to caress my cheek and cause a shiver... The hand belonging to the man cradling my head so tenderly as Master Qiao watches us with utter fascination... My new suitors acting so very strangely as they take a moment to cherish me in a way I've not ever experienced before...

"India... Maybe it is best that you take a rest...  I can escort you back to your chamber if you wish me to." With the way, he phrases his words I still feel so very unable to answer the Master Scholar... Not when the eyes watching me are full of the warmth of the fires I feel radiating from the bellies of the men holding me... And certainly not when those eyes are filled with such concern... Master Qiao seeming both to want to assist me... But also like he might be thinking of holding Jian looking over us like he currently is... His voice sounding both melancholy and hopeful at the very same time...

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Kavya

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I dare say... That I've never seen anything that makes me feel quite so happy on the inside than to see sweet India trapped between us and leaning on my Ronin... The striking way his hair seems to dance in the light cast from the lit candles and fireplace so enchanting that I cannot seem to stop touching the silken strands as he blushes and takes comfort from the two of us... 

His near-fainting had spurred us both into action... My hands being the ones to originally catch our stunning maiden in the process of his collapse... It had been frightening to watch his delicate frame fold under the weight of answering our unexpected question... But he had come to so very quickly... 

Even so... The thought of leaving him makes me so very nervous when he already seems impossibly precious to me... To both of us... My heart wanting us all to stay right where we are so that I might stretch this moment in time so that our first memory of the three of us all holding each other might burn itself into my mind as something I shall never forget... His answer to his Master one that begs me to lean down and claim one of those beautifully blushing cheeks of his with the stamp of my lips against the smooth even skin to be found there...

 "I... I am not tired, I swear it... Just... Just overwhelmed..." His voice seems so unsteady, the shivers of his body making the softness quiver just before they land ever gracefully in my ear... His hand noticed as it finds a grip on my uniform... Not to push me away... But as if to make sure that I stay close to him and do not find myself drifting away, not that I think it would be possible to move away from our delicate captured beauty... Especially if I am already trying to figure out how to escape the shift we must attend to so that we might be blessed with more time with our beautiful scholar... 

The thoughts on Ronin's mind likely of the same nature by judging the set of his jaw as he stares down at the dragon he had felt so connected to while we were fetching my ink... His scheming mind likely coming up with something very much akin to burning that damned field to get my attention, though I do not think we shall have to resort to such theatrics to impress India... We'd likely get further showing him our base of knowledge and skill than the brightness of our flames... Though I do wonder if his beast might be pleased with knowing that Ronin will likely find something to try and endearingly show off with strength or flame wise just as mine was and still is over the power he possesses. 

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Ronin

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"Are you sure, India? We could walk you... Make sure you get there safely..." The voice that drifts into my ears is that of my Kavya's... And it only adds to the strange spell that I find cast over me once more, the very same disturbance of my soul that had happened in the library when our eyes had locked, this draft so much more potent than it was before, the scent of ink and raw scrolls filling my nose as India rests himself against me... The tips of his fingers where he keeps a hold on Kavya's belt stained with ink from writing in the most endearing way... His eyes scanning over us as though he cannot seem to figure out what he is doing here leaning his head against my chest or making sure to hold Kavya so very closely to himself... 

"I-I don't even know your names..." His voice is so shakey... So nervous... But also incredibly pleasant as it washes over me...

Our answers to him not taking hardly any time at all as we give our names to our tender new beauty... His face getting hidden in my chest as he shivers over the sound of our answers... His precious mouth repeating them back ever so softly. Our hold on him only growing closer as those lovely lips dance around the pattern that is Kavya's graceful name... A knot of emotion forming in the back of my throat when I spot India's fingers abandoning my future husband's belt in favor of seeking out his hand... My name tumbling from him next as he curls into me... 

The three of us... 

Together. 

Courting... 

But together.