Bonded

Chapter Twenty Eight

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India

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With how taken aback I find myself suddenly being swept up in Kavya's arms so that he might both greet me and hold me still I find that I am stunned into simply blinking at him as he smiles so sweetly at me... The beginning of my day suddenly impossibly sweeter than it was when I first woke... The feel of his arms as he holds me so strong and stable that I know that even if I were to faint from the shock of his sudden boldness that he would not let any harm to come to me... I would not hit the floor nor would I be dropped so strong is his grasp... And knowing that gives both of us confidence...

It gives him the confidence to step up and take such a liberty with me... And it gives me the confidence to let him... A gasp leaving me when he pulls me just the tiniest bit closer so that he might whisper to me, "Good morning, my Love... We were starting to wonder if you were alright..."

His words are hushed and faint... And I find myself straining to make them out against the sound of the palace finally starting to wake and rumble... But before I find a way to respond to him and apologize for dragging my feet I become so very vividly aware of where Ronin is... His body behind mine as he closes the space between us so that he might hold me from behind just as Kavya is holding me from the front... His mouth ready with his words so much sooner than I am able to really understand how to properly spur my tongue into action, "We brought you something special this morning... Maybe that shall energize you..."

His voice is so much deeper than mine... Deeper even than Kavya's... Rough and almost strained when he speaks loud enough for both of us to hear him as if he's unused to actually being heard by more than just Kavya himself... And hearing it gives me shivers... Especially in such close proximity... The feel of his breath as it lands on my shoulder shudder-inducing as we stand here so improperly in the middle of the hall...

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Kavya

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Seeing India react to Ronin is so stunning that I find myself stunned and unable to move... Barely able to utter a single word as India's cheeks fill with such a brilliant heat... His dragon's fire causing heat to finally start to radiate from his body... His robes becoming warm to the touch as color fills his face... His eyes averting themselves as he turns his reddened face just ever so slightly so that he might acknowledge our future husband's presence... A hesitant nod finally making itself known as we wait so very patiently for him to make up his mind after digesting how we've chosen to greet him this morning... His words said on the tail end of a breath, "Some... Something special?"

He almost sounds confused... But he makes no move to turn... And I'm almost willing to bet that he feels just the same as I do at the moment with all of us standing so dangerously close to each other out here in the openness that is the hall, "W-What do you mean?"

There is such a sweet hesitance to him... And I dare say that it is something that both Ronin and I find charming beyond belief with how innocent and shy that it makes India seem... It brings out such a rare protective streak in us both... I can see it in the way that Ronin stares at him and I can feel it in the way my entire being fills with the desire to pull him close to me and hold him every time he is near my person and so very often even when he is not...

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Ronin

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"Indeed... Something special for someone special... It only seemed appropriate..." Kavya has such joy in his voice when speaks... The way his voice sounds so very much like he wishes he could pull our mutual Beloved closer so that he might lean in and capture his lips, "Might we give it to you?"

It is so very beautiful that I find it impossible not to smile and be wooed by the entire scene unfolding before me with my own participation... It feels so very illicitly special that I understand the rawness that I'm hearing in Kavya's voice... And I understand what he meant when he said he wishes we could wake up to the sight of India's sweet sleeping face because I feel the same exact way...

Everything about this feels so right... All of the insecurities and hesitations that have been trying so very hard to crop up in my mind when I had been wondering about just how to properly court India successfully get wiped away the minute I see his beautiful face... Seeing him... Holding him...

It gives me a confidence that I cannot and do not want to shake... And it's easy enough to see that India also has a similar effect on my partner as well with how cocky Kavya seems to get the minute he's within arms reach of our blushing scholar...

"What... What might you have brought me?" India sounds so strikingly delicate when he whispers back to us... His eyelashes quivering as he struggles not to let his eyes explore our persons to try and figure out what we possibly might have brought him if only to put a smile on his face...

Instead of answering him aloud my sweet Kavya finds it humorous to pull him just the tiniest bit closer before lifting the hand that holds the flower he himself picked for our Beauty... The smallest but most delighted gasp leaving India as he beams at us... My hands taking that as the go ahead to swiftly and gently tangle the stems of my own handful into the loose plait that he's managed to pull his hair into today, all of them spaced half-hazardly to a stunning effect... The rushing of it somehow making his hair look that much more beautiful with how a careful few of them have surrendered petals to tangle themselves so freely in his strands...

He looks enchanting... And as he turns and finally understands what I've done... I know that he knows it... His fingers catching his plait so that he might hold it in front of him over his shoulder so that he might see my handiwork and appreciate it... The smile on his face so precious...