Hybrid

THIRTY-FIVE

⫷ ARIA ⫸

"Aria," he mumbles against my lips, but my control has slipped through my fingers. My fingers dip slightly in his back as I feel him slowly start to kiss me back.

Then, my back hits the wall with a thud. The sudden movement causes me to gasp and, before my mind can catch up with the situation, James' arms loop around my waist, drawing me closer to him. My fingers trail up his back, feeling each muscle bulge between under the tips of my touch. They trail up to the curve of his neck, then tangle in with his hair.

James' lips mold against mine, and I lose myself in the warmth emanating from his body. It feels right. Despite all the hell breaking lose, I want to be in his arms.

His hands dig into the small of my back, teasingly lifting the hem of my shirt to feel my flushed skin. James moves his hands to my thighs and hoists me up, pressing me firmer against the wall. Breaking away from the kiss, he leans his forehead against mine with his eyes fluttered close. Both of us were breathing in the same air.

"What..." James breathes in. "Was that?"

With a sudden burst of confidence, I lower my hands from his hair and hold his face in my hands, causing his eyes to open. For a few seconds, we merely stare at one another, allowing silence to speak for us.

"I don't know," I finally whisper in reply. "Was it bad?"

"No," he replies without hesitation. Slowly, a smirk curves on his lips. "I wouldn't mind doing it again. Maybe all night. Maybe on our bed."

I raise an eyebrow. "Our bed, huh?"

James' thumb rubs circles on my thighs, dreamily so. "Yep. It's always been ours." He pecks me on the cheek. "Always will be."

My hands fall down to his shoulders, and I'm still unable to break contact. Gulping, I suddenly feel nervous in our position, yet it seems as though James has no intentions of letting me go. "Is it the mate bond?" I suddenly ask. "Is that why I feel the need to jump you all the time?"

James' smile fades as he sets me down. Turning around, he heads back into the bathroom, where I trail close behind him. His back is still facing me; even so, I can tell he's tense. "It's not the bond," he murmurs.

"No?" I take a tentative step toward him. "Um... why not? Kasey told me that we are... uh... mated, or whatever it is."

"We were."

The word 'were' hangs in the air, bouncing against the walls and slapping me in the face repeatedly. I fold my arms across my chest in question. Even then, he does not turn around. His eyes are on the moon and his mind is a million miles from the bedroom. So I wait. I wait for him to muster up enough strength to tell me whatever is weighing down on his heart.

All I can hope is that it doesn't also weigh down on my heart.

"Our bond is broken," he states in a low voice. "When you overused your magic to save me, you went into a comatose state. It was stressful on your body, enough to break our bond. We're just two people now with nothing to bring us back together."

I narrow my eyes at his back, praying he will turn around to face me. Although his words feel true, I can't help but shake this feeling that's gnawing at my heart. "So... what does that mean?"

Spinning around, what I see has my heart split in two. His eyes are slightly red, with tears threatening to fall. Seconds pass, and he holds them back. "It means you can leave me and I can't hold you back."

"Who says I'm leaving?"

He pauses, clearly not expecting me to say that. "That's not what you were thinking a few weeks ago."