Chapter 33 · Golden Resonance

"Stop fighting it." Kael's hand clamped around my wrist before I could rip the sensor off my throat.

"Get off me," I snapped. "I'm not one of your lab rats you can tune like a radio."

His fingers didn't move. Warm. Too warm. And that was the problem.

The golden light under my skin pulsed once. Twice. In sync with his.

"You're spiking," he said, voice low. "You fight the frequency and it hurts more. You know that."

"Yeah? And whose fault is that?" I jerked, but he held me against the edge of the med-bay table. Forced proximity. Again. His chest was a breath away. His suit jacket was gone, sleeves pushed up, veins lit faint gold up his forearms. Same as mine. "You did this. You synced us."

"I kept you alive," he said.

"You leashed me."

His eyes dropped to my neck. To the mark that wasn't a mark, just light moving under skin. His thumb brushed the side of my wrist, right over my pulse. My pulse jumped. Traitor.

"Say it," he murmured. "You feel it when I get close. Don't lie."

"I feel nauseous when you get close," I said.