The Symphony of Shadow

11: Pt.1 'One Thousand Different Dreams'

Author's note: Hey, sorry for the late update but this chapter was WAY LONGER than I expected it to be. So, I decided to break it up into 2 parts, thus why there is two updates. This chapter is an emotional roller coaster though, and towards the end (kind of) is a steamy scene, which may or may not involve a kiss...

- S T A R T    O F    P A R T    T W O -

G W Y N

When Gwyn drifted out from her sleep that morning, the first thing she noticed was the intolerable dryness in her mouth, and the harsh dehydration making it discomforting to stay in bed, even if it was the thing her body craved.

Groaning as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she reached for the jug of water that was kept on the desk beside her bed. There was no need, however, as she was met with the sight of a glass of water already poured for her. Strange, she hadn't done that the previous night.

In fact, there were several minor changes within her room which Gwyn could confidently say she wasn't responsible for, even in her grungy state. The curtains covering the glamour window were drawn, which she hadn't done; her clothes from last night were still on, when she always slept in her black silk pyjamas; and a photograph had also been left on her desk.

And that's when it all came back to her. Well, in a manner of speaking. It wasn't as though she had forgotten last night, just a little distracted by her current state.

She remembered the dessert, the screaming couple, those men in the street whom had looked at her, resulting from anger from Azriel she had only witnessed once before. She remembered their conversation about sex – which had been surprisingly comforting – the photo they had taken without realising, the drinking, the flirting, the touching, the dancing in the street...

Something that was neither regret nor embarrassment flooded through her. Last night had been fun, yes, and she knew Azriel would never judge her, but she probably shouldn't have been begging to flirt or touching him all night, wrapping her arms around him and... Fuck.

Her eyes widened in panic. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

She'd given him the lime for one of his shots. She'd been drunk, and stupid, and had wanted to put the lime to his mouth herself, had wanted to feel his lips with her thumb, see if they were as soft as she'd imagined.

They had been... but that was beside the point.

The point being, that she had given Azriel lime... food. Gwyn scoured her brain for anything and everything she'd ever read about mating bonds. Was food required to actually snap the bond in place, or was that the sex? Or did it have to be both?

Did sucking lime even count of food? Technically, the lime juice was a drink, she thought, desperate for any way of explanation. Did she actually feed him? Or did she simply give him something to drink?- A drink fresh from the source that was...

Deciding that the loophole was good enough for now, her panic ceased a little. Surely the next time she saw Azriel, she would know if their mating bond had snapped on his end, the mating bond he still hadn't been made aware of.

In the two, almost three years Gwyn had been aware of the bond, most of that time had been spent happily ignoring it, because for most of that time, the thought of any male repulsed her, even if he was her mate.

When she'd formally met him for the first time, she'd thought him beautiful, yes. And although, thanks to Cassian, her attitude to some males had been lessened slightly, she still hadn't held any interest towards being mated.