Fractured Moonlight

Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Cian had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Even as he thought this to himself, he still increased the pressure of his lips against Kai's. Just as he had imagined, kissing Kai was like drinking water after being stuck in a dessert for days. He ran his tongue along Kai's bottom lip, hoping to have some kind of reaction from the younger man. But, not much to his surprise, there was none.

Pulling away, he looked down at Kai and froze. Those two piercing different colored eyes were wide open from shock, like a deer caught in the middle of a forest. Even his breathing had frozen.

Is he that terrified? Cian thought to himself. He didn't want to scare Kai, he didn't even know what had caused him to lean down and initiate the kiss anyway. Cian blamed it on that feeling in the back of his head that echoed with every breath, claim, claim, claim.

Cian had once heard about a second nature feeling such as this from his grandmother. As a fully grown male from the Golden Winged Leopard family, Cian knew that there were old wives tales that circulated throughout his clan. His grandmother would tell him such stories as a child.

Once in a blue moon, a leopard from the clan would find something that could only be considered 'fate.' This fate was a soul bound mate. Essentially this meant that the two souls were bound by fate, their lives intertwined. Cian's grandmother had such a relationship with his grandfather, and she claimed it was the most wonderous feeling, something nothing could describe.

However, as Cian looked down at the frozen Kai, he wondered if this feeling that had been bothering him since their first meeting was the same feeling him grandmother had. Kai was, after all, another male, how would it make sense for two males to be bound together?

The only way that two males could be bound together in such a way was if...

Cian's eyes widened in astonishment. "No," he breathed. "No way."

His jade green eyes locked onto Kai's bright ones and for more seconds then they realized, the two stood there staring at each other with their mouths dropped open.

Eventually, Kai was the first one to respond. His face flushed a deep red and he reached out, slapping Cian hard across the face as if he was a teenage girl. Embarrassment flooding through him, Kai leapt up and ran out of the small cottage, his face aflame.

On the other hand, Cian hasn't even registered the slap from the younger man. His mind was in a distorted mess that was becoming increasingly messier.

"He can't be," Cian muttered to himself, staring at the spot Kai once was. "They should be extinct. Didn't the last one die over a hundred thousand years ago? How? How is this possible?"

Every single second Cian spent with Kai was like discovering a rare, lost treasure. But, this new theory, everything else paled in comparison. If he was correct, this would be something that could turn the world upside down. Flashes of Kai's memory being sealed, his magic having manifested into such a rare form... Every piece began to connect.

~~~

Kai looked around the forest he was standing in. After being kissed by Cian, he had ran as far and fast as he was able, but now, surrounded by nothing but large thickets of bamboo, he felt lost. The main reason he had darted was because he was embarrassed. But, if he was being truthful, that wasn't the real reason.

There was something almost terrifying about being alone with Cian. He felt it on several occasions but had never pinpointed the reason. Slowly, Kai brought his hand up to his lower lip and grazed his fingertips across it. That kiss triggered something in the farthest part of his mind.