The Opal Witch: Prophecy (Book Two)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Declan

The room was quiet except for the grumblings of the heat as it would turn off and on, never quite holding its set temperature for more than a few minutes. The beige curtains turned the golden sunlight streaming through them, a brassy orange that reached every corner of the room, highlighting all the imperfections. The chips on the furniture. The patched walls. The messily repaired tear in the faded bed scarf, which now lay in a crumpled heap on the threadbare carpet. There was no pretending this room was anything but what it was: a cheap hotel in a rural southern town.

And Declan had never felt more comfortable or content in his entire life.

He had been awake for at least thirty minutes, a goofy smile spreading across his face as he absentmindedly ran a hand through Lux's dark, tangled hair while she rested peacefully with her cheek pressed against his bare chest and one arm slung across his abdomen. Sleeping is what he should have been doing as well, with only an hour before they needed to leave, but he didn't want to lose a single second of this moment.

Closing his eyes, he recalled last night, wishing there was some spell he could cast to make it so the memory stayed crystal clear. A blush heated his cheeks. Not for the physical elements, though they had been wonderful, but for the words and looks they shared in dark, quiet spaces between the passion- the trust they offered and accepted from the other before coming together and cementing the bond.

He wondered how couples experienced this without that tangible thread tying them together. Because even if it didn't exist, Declan didn't think he could walk away from Lux afterwards. It hadn't just been the barrier of their clothes they'd removed, but the secrets and insecurities they carried. Hers belonged to him, and his to hers.

The stone on his chest had been growing steadily warmer, and a low vibration rumbled through his chest. It was easy to recognize it for what it was. As a sorcerer, he could sense magical energy in objects, and as Lux's soulmate, her signature stood out to him above everything else. Her essence flooded through their shared stone and now through his own body.

One with no ending or beginning.

Yet... He frowned. There wasn't much written about the type of soul bond they shared. Soulmates, while rare, were well documented; however, the previous sanctions against sorcerers and witches being together meant no one studied mates who bonded across both souls. What little he read hinted that the final merging should be intense and all-consuming. One cheeky author said that the couple she studied hadn't emerged from their room for a week.

Not that he was complaining. As nice as it would be, a week of seclusion wasn't practical right now, and they had a lifetime to explore this new part of their relationship. But what if... another blush bloomed, and he was grateful Lux remained asleep. What if the bond was weak because he'd done something wrong?

Inhaling deeply, he forced the intrusive thought away and carefully moved Lux so he could get out of bed. A shower would clear his mind, and there was no point in continuing to waste the morning. This had been a welcome reprieve from the craziness of the last few days- really the last year- but he meant it when he told Kitty they didn't have time to waste.

By the time he stepped into the shower, steam fogged the room, and Declan stood motionless beneath the forceful spray, letting the hot water soothe away the tension in his muscles. He didn't register the curtain sliding open or Lux's presence until her hands slid up his back, her nails raking across his shoulders and down his arms while she pressed her breasts into him.

"Somehow it's appropriate we'd end up here," she whispered, her hands now having moved onto his stomach, drifting lower at a tortuously slow pace.