Kael inhaled slowly, the air thick in his lungs.
"Then I order you to let me go."
"No."
Kael clenched his jaw, frustration bubbling up. "You're my maid. You have to obey."
"I'm your maid," Lital replied, calm as ever, "who doesn't listen to you."
Kael closed his eyes, sighing deeply, the fight draining out of him for the moment as exhaustion settled in.
He didn't bother resisting this time, his body going slack against hers.
Her shadows pulsed faintly around his limbs, not painful, not threatening.
Just… constant, a gentle hum of restraint that wrapped him in warmth despite the chill they carried.
It wasn't the kiss or the restraints or the laughter that finally gave it away, piercing through the haze of confusion.
It was the silence that followed, heavy and revealing.
The tension in her embrace, the way her arm clung just a fraction too tightly, like she feared he'd slip away if she loosened even an inch.
