CHAPTER 162
CHAPTER 162
SELENE
We barely made it back to the cave before the tension between us snapped like a live wire.
Darius had me against the wall the moment the entrance sealed behind us, his mouth claiming mine in a kiss that was all hunger, relief, and barely-leashed need.
I melted into it instantly, fingers threading through his hair and pulling him closer, desperate for more.
The kiss deepened fast—filthy and frantic. His hands roamed down my body, gripping my hips hard enough to bruise as he ground against me, letting me feel exactly how much he wanted this. How much he wanted me.
“Fuck, Selene,” he growled against my lips, voice rough with days of pent-up frustration.
“I’ve been thinking about this since the moment you walked into that battlefield and exploded that rogue. It was so fucking hot. I’ve been thinking about spreading you open and burying myself so deep inside you that you forget every name but mine.”
I whimpered into his mouth, heat flooding through me like wildfire.
“Then stop talking and do it.”
The kiss turned filthier in seconds. His mouth moved to my neck, sucking hard enough to leave marks while one hand shoved my shirt up, palming my breast and pinching the nipple until I arched and moaned.
I ground down on the hard length of him through our clothes, chasing friction, whimpering when he rocked up to meet me.
He lifted me effortlessly, my legs wrapping around his waist as he carried me to the furs.
Clothes came off in a frantic rush—his shirt torn over his head, my dress shoved up and yanked off. His mouth was everywhere: my neck, my breasts, sucking hard on a nipple until I cried out and tangled my fingers in his hair.
His hand slid between my thighs, fingers stroking through my slick folds, teasing my entrance before pushing two thick fingers inside me, curling perfectly.
“So wet already,” he rasped, thrusting them deeper.
“This greedy little cunt is dripping for me. Been waiting all day, haven’t you?”
“Yes—Darius, please—”
I reached for his cock, stroking the hard, veiny length, loving the way he hissed and thrust into my fist.
We were frantic, grinding, kissing like the world might end tomorrow—because for all we knew, it might.
Then everything went wrong.
The bond detonated.
What had felt like harmony last night now felt like open war.
My inner light surged violently, clashing against the deep, endless dark of his nature like oil meeting fire.
One second I was lost in pleasure, the next a crushing pressure slammed into my chest. Darkness swallowed me—suffocating, cold, endless night trying to drown my spark.
My power reacted on pure instinct, exploding outward in a wild burst of fae energy.
Darius was thrown across the cave like a ragdoll.
He hit the far wall hard enough to crack stone, sliding down with a grunt of surprise and pain.
I sat up, gasping, horror replacing the heat in my veins.
“Fuck Darius!”
He pushed himself up slowly, shaking his head, a wry, pained smirk already forming on his lips despite the dust on his shoulders.
“Fuck. If you didn’t want me to fuck you, you could have just said so.”
I stared at him, still breathless and shaking.
“I have no idea what just happened. One minute I was ready to bone you into next week, the next I felt like I was surrounded in darkness. I felt suffocated—like the light in me was being swallowed whole. Then… I don’t know. It just pushed.”
Darius stood, brushing dust from his shoulders, but his expression had turned serious. The bond between us felt raw and unsteady, like two opposing storms grinding against each other.
“It’s not you,” he said quietly, starting to pace the length of the cave.
“It’s the bond,” he continued, letting out a short, humorless breath.
“It’s starting to reject itself. Your fae light and my vampire darkness…” His mouth twisted slightly, like he could already hear how ridiculous it sounded, “are apparently beginning to clash.”
He glanced at me then, one brow lifting faintly.
“And shockingly,” he added dryly,
“that combination doesn’t seem to be on speaking terms.”
He resumed pacing, faster now.
“One more night before the Eclipse Binding. If that doesn’t work…” He stopped abruptly, dragging a hand through his hair in frustration, jaw tightening.
“Then congratulations. We officially become a cosmic disaster with commitment issues.”
I pulled the furs around myself and stood on shaky legs, crossing to him.
My skin still tingled with leftover magic, and the bond throbbed like a fresh bruise.
I reached for his hand without thinking—maybe I just needed the reassurance, maybe I needed proof that after everything, something as simple as touching him still worked.
My fingers brushed the top of his.
Instantly, pain shot through me like lightning.
“Jesus Christ!”
I jerked back like I’d grabbed a live wire.
The bond between us snapped back to life, flaring violently.
My magic surged hard and fast beneath my skin, bright and untamed, like it was trying to break free all over again.
At the same time, his darkness rose to meet it—not gently, not peacefully.
It collided.
For one horrible second, it felt like my power was trying to burn him out of existence while his shadows wrapped around mine, determined to smother every spark.
The pain hit straight through my chest—sharp, violent, enough to steal my breath. I stumbled back, clutching at my sternum.
“What the fuck?” I gasped.
“I can’t even touch you now? Great. Fantastic. First I find out I’m some ancient magical disaster waiting to happen. Now apparently my soulmate comes with an electric fence.”
Darius immediately stepped forward, concern flashing across his face.
I took another automatic step back, fear winning out.
“Sorry,” I blurted, voice cracking.
“I didn’t mean to— What if it gets worse? What if I actually hurt you this time?”
Something raw flickered in his eyes for a heartbeat—hurt, quickly buried beneath that stubborn determination that made me want to kiss him and strangle him in equal measure.
Before I could retreat further, he closed the distance and grabbed my hand firmly, lacing our fingers together before I could pull away. His grip was cool, steady, and unyielding.
Pain flared instantly—bright and biting, like lightning crackling where our skin met. I hissed through my teeth, trying to wrench free.
“Darius—”
“No,” he said, voice low and rough with resolve.
“We fight this. If the bond wants to tear us apart? Then we tell it to fuck off. I’m not letting some ancient magical bullshit decide whether I can hold my mate.”
The clash intensified for several agonizing seconds.
My spark pushed hard against his shadows, light trying to scorch night, chaos clawing at stillness.
The pain was sharp and electric, snapping through my chest and down my arm like a live wire had been dragged through my bones.
Fuck.
I let out a broken sound, my knees threatening to give way, but Darius tightened his grip instantly, refusing to let me slip even an inch away from him.
Then—slowly. Infuriatingly slowly—the surge began to ease.
Not gone.
Not kind.
Just… less violent.
The bond didn’t settle. It just stopped actively trying to destroy us.
Our energies still pushed and pulled, restless and wrong, but they held—barely.
I sagged into him on a shaky breath, fingers still locked with his.
"This fucking sucks.” I muttered, voice rough.
Darius exhaled shakily, resting his forehead against mine like he was trying to convince himself we were still in one piece.
His hand slid to the back of my neck, thumb moving in slow, grounding circles—steady, deliberate, like he could physically force the chaos to behave.
“I know....I feel it too,” he murmured.
“Like my darkness is trying to consume your light… and your light is burning me alive for it. But I’m not letting go, Selene. Not now. Not ever.”
A breathless laugh escaped me—thin, shaky, half hysterical with relief.
“Great,” I said softly.
“So we’ve established the bond is unstable, violent, and actively hates us.”
My fingers tightened slightly against his sleeve.
“Very romantic,” I continued, dry now despite the tremor in my voice.
“Nothing says ‘soulmates’ like two cosmic disasters holding hands while our souls try to murder each other. Really gives ‘relationship goals’ a whole new meaning.”
A beat.
‘Let the volatile forces of nature fight it out while we hold hands and hope we don’t explode.’ Honestly, 10/10. Would get doomed again.
And people say romance is dead.”
My fingers tightened slightly against his sleeve, despite myself.
The pain continued for several long seconds, flaring every time one of us shifted, but it kept dulling—manageable now, like a deep bruise instead of an open wound. Progress. Small, painful progress.
I squeezed his hand.
“It’s fucking crazy,” I muttered, still catching my breath. “One minute I can’t keep my hands off you, and the next I’m one accidental finger brush away from getting spiritually electrocuted.”
I let out a short, disbelieving laugh, shaking my head.
“So basically,” I added, gesturing between us, “we’ve upgraded from ‘toxic romance’ to ‘hazardous materials—do not touch under any circumstances.’ Very classy. Very us.”
Darius’s grip tightened, refusing to let me pull away even an inch.
His free hand slid up to cup the back of my neck, thumb stroking gently along my skin as if daring the bond to try and stop him.
“I hate it too,” he murmured, voice low and rough, threaded with centuries of frustration and fierce love.
“I’ve waited lifetimes to feel this—to have you, to touch you, to lose myself in you—and now some ancient curse is trying to rip it away from me? Fuck that. I’ve stolen you from death, from my own darkness, from Eron himself. I’m not letting an unstable bond win when it’s the one thing that finally made me feel alive.”
He tilted my chin up so our eyes met, his gaze burning with possessive fire and something deeper, almost desperate.
“We’re going to make it through this. The binding tomorrow tonight will stabilize us. It has to. Because the alternative—losing you, watching this bond destroy the best thing that’s ever happened to me—isn’t something I’m willing to accept. You’re mine, light and chaos and all. And I’m yours, shadows and hunger and every broken piece. We fight this together.”
His fingers tightened slightly on my neck, possessive and grounding all at once.
“You’re mine, Selene. Light, chaos, power and all. If the bond wants to fight us every time I kiss you, then we’ll fight back harder. I’d rather burn with you than live without you. So touch me. Kiss me. Break me if you have to. I’m not letting go.”
The bond flared again—sharp and warning—but Darius didn’t flinch. He held me tighter, shadows curling protectively around us even as my spark pushed back. The clash hurt, but beneath it was the steady, unbreakable thread of us.
I rose onto my toes and kissed him softly, carefully, tasting the promise and the fear on his lips. He kissed me back like a vow—slow, deep, and unyielding.
We would face the eclipse tonight.
We would bind this fractured thing between us.
And no matter how violently light and dark clashed, we would not let it tear us apart.