A Bond so Fierce and Fragile (Compelling Fates #3)

by Sophia St. Germain

She laughed then. A cracked, rough, harsh laugh, and it might have been the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.

The entire time she worked on him, he whispered the two words he never wanted her to forget. “You and me.”

He wouldn’t—it wasn’t like he could order her to do anything anymore. As soon as her eyes met his, it was all over. She held his heart. His soul.

There was one spot, just above where his hip bone jutted out, where she’d carved Elessia.

Then his eyes traveled over the other words she’d etched onto his body. Love. Freedom. Peace. Children. Unity. Acceptance. Friendship. Family. Choice. Future.

On the left side of his chest, right over his heart, she’d carved the one thing she longed for the most. Time.

“For only in their ultimate sacrifice can a new world be born—the world they have dreamed of, battled for, and wept over,” Lessia whispered as she rested her cheek against his back.

His eyes flew open. He couldn’t say no to her. He couldn’t even fucking argue with her. You love her because of how selfless she is.

“Besides, the plans I have for you…” He leaned down to whisper against her ear, savoring the hair rising on her neck in response. “They include forever.”

Like freedom. Like the dreams he’d had when he was younger. The dreams he’d never spoken to anyone about but which included a warm room, a soft voice calling his name, food, and always, always a bed to sleep

“This is all you,” he murmured against her breasts. “You, your perfect fucking body, your soft skin, and your sweet fucking scent drive me insane.”

“I want to fuck you until my name is the only thing you can remember.”

But he didn’t know she was always looking. She needed to memorize every line of his sharp features, his broad shoulders, his tall and muscular body, before it was too late.

Merrick’s eyes shut for a second as he blew out a breath through his nose, and when they opened, his face softened—at least to her trained eyes.

“Always.” Merrick held her gaze until she couldn’t bear it, until she realized there was no way he’d live on and

It’s enough for now, my little fighter. She blinked at the light again, and Merrick’s love brushed her skin, replacing the powerful heat with his scorching one.

“She wields it with more care than you could ever imagine. She just needed you to fucking listen instead of doing whatever it was you were doing.”

“I’ve never said I think it’s all a joke.” Raine’s voice rumbled through her as it echoed in his chest. “It’s no joke to me, little Rantzier.”

“Oh, fuck. I think I might need two drinks because this seems to be my mate.”

“You appear to be the only one in need of saving, Mr. Brooding Overprotective Soldier Man,” with Zaddock’s quick response following: “If you’re the one doing it, I’ll put myself in harm’s way every day.”

He’d fought the smile tugging at his lips as he stalked up to her, trying hard to keep the scowl that used to feel natural, but that, whenever Lessia was in the room, was impossible to wear for long.

He didn’t kneel to anyone but her. He never had and never would. “Where. Is. She?”

You fear you will die alone. That you won’t find love or friendship, or experience any of the things you’ve read about. You fear no one aside from your family will ever care for you. You fear that you’ll never feel desire or passion or pain that comes with life.

“Little Rantzier,” he whispered, his voice gravelly. “You sure?” Something

He closed his eyes for a moment, committing that sentence to memory. I’m yours, Merrick. He fucking loved it when she said his name.

Leaning his forehead on hers, he whispered, “I love you. I love you so fucking much.”

“I love you too,” she said against his lips. “I love you with all the broken pieces I have.”

Lessia started shaking again, but as her eyelids fluttered, he ordered, “Eyes on me.”

“Eyes on me when I fuck you,” Merrick rasped again, and Lessia’s golden ones flew open, colliding with his in the way that always had his stomach heat.

Fuck, it should have been illegal to love someone like he loved her. It was as if his heart wanted to burst out of his body, take over the entire world, drive everything and everyone else away.

“Who are you, woman?” Kerym seemed almost mesmerized, his blues shining when Pellie turned back toward him.

“I don’t care who or what you are, but the fact that you made my crude brother blush…” Thissian had to gasp for air. “That… I’ll always love you for.”

“It nearly killed him. But he would have let her go. If she’d chosen you, he would have let her go.” Loche shook his head. Merrick was a better man than he would ever be.

“To see him blush like today? To see him smile and laugh and maybe even feel something again? It’s worth all the damned pain in the world.”

He was giving her what she’d wished for: time, love, friendship, acceptance. And he was clearly trying to give her the one thing she knew he couldn’t… a future.

“I thought…” Raine kissed her again. “I thought you’d never fucking come.”

Today is about you. I want you to be ready when I fuck you. Because I will definitely not be gentle.

Merrick was… She couldn’t help the smile breaking out across her face as she thought of the Death Whisperer, the Fae everyone feared, who was grumpy and broody and sharp but who stared at her like she was his sun, his only reason for waking up every day. The Fae who drove her mad with desire every time his fingers found a bit of her naked skin.

“If you continue to tire yourself from riding her all day, I might begin to get jealous. I’d much prefer to be the one you have those beautiful legs wrapped around.”

“I just need you.” Zaddock grinned, his brows rising in challenge when Amalise stumbled.

“Save a man’s life once and somehow he thinks you’re in love with him” before the door shut behind them. “She is in love with me,” Zaddock said with a broader grin. “She just doesn’t want to admit it yet.”

“A while ago,” Raine responded, his voice also lowering. “You’re not the only one who wants to keep her alive, you know.”

As if Merrick would let Lessia leave his side. There was a way to save her, and it was up to him to fucking find it—to ensure he made that promise of future a reality.

Merrick bared his teeth at his friend. “Her life comes first. I am not leaving her.”

“I. Will. Not. Leave. Her. There is nothing, fucking nothing, that can stop me from being right by her side.”

“I have said it before. I don’t give one shit about this damned world. Or about the people down there. Fuck, I don’t give a shit about any of it. The only thing I care about is sitting right next to me.”

“I’m not living without you!” Merrick glared so hard at the horizon that it blurred. “I don’t care that the others can do it, that they might be stronger than I ever will be. That they might even find some light once in a while. My purpose in this life was to find you, and I believe also to keep you alive, so that’s the one damned thing I am going to do. This is my fucking choice.”

“What did you say?” He had to face her now; he couldn’t not do it, couldn’t not allow himself to savor every moment, every second with her.

“Because I don’t want to live without you either.”

Merrick’s heart pounded so hard in his chest that he was sure Lessia could hear it.