As I stood there, I was reminded of Spessa's End, when Kieran had been there when Casteel needed to feed. This was a lot like then.
Except we were all naked as the day we were born.
If I had thought it would be easier to ignore our nudity when I wasn’t able to see all the naughty bits, I’d been wrong. I seemed all the more aware of it now.
Casteel’s gaze flicked up and behind me. He nodded, and then Kieran’s chest touched mine. My breath caught at the feel of him, the skin that always ran hot—of the sudden feel of him against my lower back as he adjusted his stance.
“Sorry,” Kieran said in a voice rough and thick that tickled the back of my shoulder. “It’s just that you’re beautiful, and I’m, well…” He trailed off, and I’d never heard him so thoroughly rattled. “I’m trying to behave…appropriately.”
“It’s okay,” I told him, swallowing to ease the dryness in my throat as I made sure my senses were locked down. The last thing I needed was to connect with whatever Kieran may be feeling. That wouldn’t aid in anyone behaving. “Your…er, physical response is only natural,” I added, my face flaming.
Just as the shivery awareness of Kieran that centered on every part of our bodies that touched was just a natural reaction.
Casteel’s grin spread until that infuriating dimple in his left cheek became visible, and his stare turned downright wicked.
Kieran and I were attempting to behave appropriately. Apparently, Casteel wasn’t. He bit his lower lip, revealing a hint of fang.
His lack of behaving appropriately didn’t come as a shock.
At all.
Kieran sighed heavily. “No help whatsoever, man.”
Laughing under his breath, Casteel’s stare found and held mine. “You’ll drink first,” he reminded me in a soft voice. His stare held mine. “From my chest first, and then from Kieran’s throat. We’ll each drink from each other after you. Then, we will both drink from your throat. We will need to be in constant contact with each other once you start drinking and then through the whole thing.”
Feeling my cheeks heat even more, I nodded as I stopped my imagination from running wild. He’d explained all of this. Because a wolven could not take in blood like an Atlantian, a blade was used to draw the essence from the Atlantian, and the mark was made near the heart at the center of the chest, roughly where I felt the eather throbbing restlessly in mine. Blood was taken from the wolven’s throat because they were a conduit of sorts, the bridge designed to link the lifespan of the Atlantian to their mate. But in our case, to link his with ours—theirs with mine. Blood was then drawn at the same time from the strongest one—the one who would hold both life forces.
Me.
Casteel’s gaze still fastened on to mine, he brushed his fingers over the curve of my cheek. “You need to speak the words I told you,” he instructed softly.
I took a shallow breath, recalling them and what to do. “Do you, Casteel Da’Neer, enter this Joining freely and with will of your own, only your own?” I asked as I lifted my left hand. It trembled slightly.
“I enter this Joining freely and with will of only my own,” he said, taking my left hand in his.
The nightbirds fell silent.
I lifted my right hand. “Do you, Kieran Contou, enter this Joining freely and with will of your own, only your own?”
“I enter this Joining freely and with will of only my own.” Kieran’s warm right hand enveloped mine, and he brought our joined hands to the center of my chest where Casteel’s ring had once rested between my breasts.
The air stilled around us.
And with the last words needing to be spoken—it was only a handful, but the realm seemed to hear them—the Primal essence stirred even more as if it were waking up and listening.
“I love you, Penellaphe Da’Neer,” Casteel whispered, dipping his head to drag his lips over mine. “From this moment to your last moment.”
I shuddered at what he’d said. Those words had nothing to do with the Joining. They were just a reminder. “I love you, Casteel Da’Neer,” I whispered thickly. “From this moment to our last moment.”
The same shudder ran through his body as he brought the blade up. Without looking away, without flinching, he drew the sharp edge across his chest, slicing open his skin. Blood immediately welled, beading. Casteel tossed the blade aside and then stepped into me. The contact of his body against mine, with Kieran planted so firmly behind me, and the feel of Casteel rigid against my belly, was another stunning, sharp jolt to my system.