TimeBound (Time Tells #1) (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty Five

"Alanna." He says again, from inside the pool while I step out and walk past him along the floor.

He appears in front of me before I can blink and I knock straight into him. I'm so shocked I don't step away, my front plastered against his.

Heat swamps me, emanating from his skin. I tilt my head back, eyes widening.

He looks down at me and I see something else join the angry light in his eyes. And this didn't light his eyes up, it darkened them, widening the pupils. Breath stuttering out of me, I start to jerk away. He catches me fast with a single hand splayed against my back. I'm brought flush back to his front and my eyes go impossibly wider.

A single droplet of water slides down his chin and onto my skin.

I close my eyes and attempt to wrench my heart under control.

"Alanna."

I press my eyes further closed because for the first time he says my name with an intimacy to it that's lifetimes in the making.

"Kri," I say, my eyes still closed, "I'll be fine. Just let me go now."

"If I wasn't going to take care of you, I wouldn't have married you."

I snap my eyes open. Then seeing the tender look in his eyes, I can take it no more, I reach behind and grab the fingers of his hand and tug. He searches for something in my gaze as I tug at the hold he has on me.

I know he lets me, because I feel the strength of his arms as he yields to my wish.

I take a step away from him. Then, I smile at him to the best of my ability.

"I just need some space." I tell him, "I'll be fine."

I start around him and he takes a single step, blocking my way.

His jaw is clenched and his fingers are curled into his palm. I look up at him. I see the struggle in his eyes, the war.

I just shake my head, "Don't." I whisper, "Don't make yourself give me something you're not ready for."

"Alanna," he says and I see the decision he steels himself up for in his eyes before he starts towards me.

I take a step back this time, holding one palm up.

I shake my head strongly this time, "It defeats the purpose." I tell him, letting him see and hear how strongly I feel about what I am about to say, "This is a marriage. You come to me freely and I do the same with you."

He just keeps looking at me, his jaw still tight.

"Consent," I whisper, choosing that word because I understood the depth of the surrender—one that came from love and deep trust in your partner.

"Is really important to me." I say.

He shakes his head, something entering his eyes and he starts toward me.

I step back again, cutting him off before he can speak. "No. You were right to say that." I tell him.

I'm shaking a little from the cold that seeps into my bones, both from the water sticking to my skin and the strange loneliness that seeped in along with the water.

"I'm not angry." I say, smiling, despite my cloudy gaze, "And I'm not playing you."

"I'm just..." I look up at the ceiling that dances with the blue reflecting off the pool. And it reminded me of him. God, he was standing before me. And yet I miss him with a pain that's a deep ache in my soul.