Chapter 27 · Forbidden Resonance

"Don't touch me like I'm some broken toy, Sloane." Kaelen's voice was a low rasp, vibrating against the small of her back. He had her pinned against the heavy oak workbench, the scent of ozone and dried blood clinging to his skin like a second skin.

Sloane didn't flinch. She leaned back, her shoulder blades pressing into the cold wood, and looked up at him. His eyes weren't just eyes anymore; they were swirling vortices of gold and void, the mark of a god who had forgotten how to be human.

"You're not a toy," she snapped, her fingers still gripping the edge of the workbench. "You're a disaster waiting to happen. Now hold still, or I can't stabilize the link."

"Stabilize it?" Kaelen let out a sharp, jagged laugh. He shifted, his chest brushing against her breasts through the thin fabric of her tunic. The heat coming off him was unnatural, like a furnace door left open. "You think this is about stability? You can feel it, can't you? The way it screams every time you breathe."

Sloane felt her pulse hammering in her throat.