Chapter 25

The Kiss Before the Storm

For the next twenty-four hours, Evelynn avoided Kael with the determination of someone fleeing a natural disaster.

Unfortunately, the natural disaster lived inside her head now.

Every time she looked at the black markings curling around her wrist, she heard Malek’s voice again.

A mating bond.

Absolutely horrifying.

Evelynn spent most of the following day hiding in the eastern library pretending to read while internally spiraling. None of the books helped. Ancient dragon texts were somehow all equally unhelpful and emotionally threatening.

One chapter literally began with:

When the dragon chooses its soulmate, kingdoms tremble.

Very normal species.

By evening, a storm rolled across Black Citadel hard enough to shake the palace windows. Rain hammered against the black towers while distant thunder echoed through the mountains.

Evelynn sat curled beside the library fireplace with her sleeve pulled halfway over the markings on her wrist when the bond suddenly tightened sharply.

Kael.

Close.

Too close.

The sensation hit her chest like heat spreading beneath skin.

Then his voice came from the doorway.

“You’ve been hiding.”

Evelynn closed her eyes briefly.

Of course he noticed.

Kael stood at the entrance to the library dressed entirely in black again, rainwater still clinging to his coat from outside. Stormlight flickered behind him through tall windows while dragonfire cast gold across sharp cheekbones and tired eyes.

He looked unfairly dramatic.

Evelynn hated that.

“I wasn’t hiding,” she muttered.

Kael glanced around the completely empty library. “You are in the oldest isolated section of the palace.”

“…I enjoy books.”

“You are holding one upside down.”

Traitorous observation.

Evelynn immediately flipped the book over. “Leave me alone.”

Kael stepped fully into the library instead.

The bond reacted instantly.

Warmth spread low through Evelynn’s chest while the dragonfire along the walls flickered brighter in response.

Everything reacted to him now.

Or to them.

Deeply irritating.

Kael stopped beside the fireplace across from her chair. “Malek upset you.”

“Malek informed me that my life has apparently become mythological nonsense.”

“That is not inaccurate.”

Evelynn stared at him flatly. “You are taking this surprisingly calmly.”

That almost made him laugh.

Almost.

Kael leaned one shoulder against the stone wall beside the fire. “No, Evelynn. I am suppressing panic.”

Well.

That was unfortunately honest.

The storm outside intensified, rain slamming harder against the library windows while thunder rolled through the mountains. Shadows flickered across the shelves around them beneath restless dragonfire.

Neither spoke for several seconds.

Then quietly, Kael asked:

“Are you afraid of me now?”

The question hit harder than she expected.

Not because of the words.

Because of how carefully he asked them.

Like he genuinely wanted to know.

Evelynn looked down at the black markings on her wrist before answering.

“I’m trying very hard not to be.”

Silence.

Kael’s jaw tightened slightly.

The bond pulsed with something sharp and painful before he shoved it back down again.

Guilt.

Always guilt.

Evelynn suddenly became tired of it.

Tired of the distance. The restraint. The constant way he looked at her like caring too much might destroy the world.

Maybe it would.

But the world already seemed determined to burn anyway.

She stood abruptly from the chair.

Kael straightened immediately. “Evelynn—”

“You know what’s frustrating?” she interrupted.

His expression shifted carefully. “Many things.”

“That everyone keeps deciding things for me.”

Thunder cracked violently outside.

Evelynn stepped closer before she could rethink it.

“The human kingdom lied to me my entire life. Your council keeps hiding information. Malek speaks entirely in prophecies like an emotionally damaged wizard.”

That actually startled a faint huff of laughter from Kael.

Tiny victory.

Evelynn stopped directly in front of him now.

Close enough to feel warmth rolling constantly from his skin.

Close enough that the bond turned heavy and electric between them.

“And you,” she continued more quietly, “keep looking at me like I’m something dangerous.”

Kael held her gaze steadily.

“You are.”

The honesty in his voice stole breath from her lungs for a second.

Not because it sounded cruel.

Because it sounded terrified.

The storm outside raged harder around the library towers while dragonfire climbed slowly higher across the walls.

Evelynn’s pulse quickened.

Kael noticed instantly.

Of course he did.

His eyes darkened slightly.

“You should not stand this close to me while upset.”

“There you go again.”

“What?”

“Talking like you’re one bad moment away from eating people.”

Kael looked genuinely offended. “Dragons do not randomly eat people.”

“That is somehow the least comforting version of that sentence.”

Another near-smile flickered briefly across his mouth before disappearing again.

But the tension remained.

Heavy.

Pulling tighter.

The bond pulsed sharply between them.

Evelynn could feel his control slipping around the edges now. Not violently. Something worse.

Desire.

Warm and dangerous and impossible to separate from her own emotions anymore.

Kael noticed that too.

His breathing slowed deliberately.

“Evelynn.”

Warning again.

Always warnings.

But this time she ignored it.

Because she was tired of fear deciding everything between them.

“You know what I think?” she asked softly.

Kael’s eyes remained fixed on her. “That is usually dangerous.”

“I think you’ve spent so long being afraid of yourself that you forgot how to want anything.”

The words landed hard.

She felt it through the bond immediately.

Kael went completely still.

The dragonfire surged sharply upward around the room.

Then slowly, dangerously, he stepped closer.

Now there was almost no space left between them.

Evelynn’s heart hammered painfully.

Kael’s gaze dropped briefly toward her mouth before snapping back to her eyes like he hated himself for it.

Too late.

She noticed.

The storm roared around the library towers while heat coiled heavily through the bond between them.

Kael’s voice lowered.

“You do not understand what this bond is doing to me.”

“Then explain it.”

His jaw tightened.

“When dragons bond…” He stopped briefly. “Everything becomes instinct.”

The way he said instinct made warmth rush immediately into Evelynn’s face.

Oh.

Oh no.

Kael saw the realization happen.

That somehow made things worse.

The dragonfire exploded brighter.

Kael closed his eyes briefly like he was physically suffering through restraint.

“Tell me to leave,” he said quietly.

Evelynn should have.

Instead she asked:

“Do you want to?”

Kael opened his eyes again slowly.

Gold burned there now.

Not violent.

Hungry.

And for the first time since meeting him—

he stopped pulling away.

“I haven’t wanted you to leave since the moment you walked into my throne room.”

The confession shattered something between them.

Evelynn kissed him before fear could stop her.

The reaction was immediate.

Dragonfire roared through the library walls.

Heat slammed through the bond hard enough to steal breath from both of them while Kael froze for one impossible second beneath her hands.

Then instinct won.

His hand caught her waist instantly, pulling her sharply against him as he kissed her back with all the restraint of someone losing a war against himself.

Warmth exploded everywhere.

Through the bond.

Through her chest.

Through the black markings burning gold beneath her sleeve.

Evelynn felt dragonfire respond throughout the palace like the entire mountain sensed it happening.

Kael kissed her like he was starving.

Like centuries of loneliness had finally broken open all at once.

And underneath the heat and danger and impossible bond between them—

Evelynn felt something else through him.

Relief.

Terrible, aching relief.

Like some part of the Dragon King had been waiting for her long before either of them understood why.