Chương 79: Chapter 78- A New Necklace

A pained grunt followed by a soft whine startled Elias into the present from the soft loving cradle of warmth and love he found himself in. As they drifted apart Astra drew back with an angry growl, the grimace on her face breaking as she saw the concern in his." Oh Eli, I am not mad at you, just at my Abyss damned ribs." She growled again and gave a deep unsatisfied grunt, " This is not, how I imagined this would go when I met my twin."

Eli chuckled and cupped her cheek while pressing his forehead to hers, " Hey, I will never hold it against you, and I promise that I will be happy to spend the rest of my life getting to know you." At that statement Astra's growl grew loud and positively feral, " You Ancient's damned tease, how could I possibly ever let you go now?" Eli laughed, giving her one more kiss before sitting back and gazing into her eyes, " Easy. All you have to do is ask, and I will be in your arms before you can complete your sentence."

Astra sat back with a happy but complicated look on her face, before sighing with a smirk, " Fine, but I expect regular reassurances Mr Mercer." Eli leaned forward to give her another lingering kiss, " Any time you ask Ms Emberholdt." Astra bit her lip for a moment, " Very well, just do not make promises you can not fulfill." She took a sip of her drink before leaning forward and propping her chin on one hand, " Very well Mr Mercer."

She thought for a moment before speaking, " The song is different for everyone, my song is a literal song, a voice singing in my heart, do you mind if I ask what is yours?" Eli was surprised by the question, " Drums, like a whole line of people at the back of the formation, playing a beat only I can hear."

She shot upward, leaned across the table until, in the blink of an eye, she was before him, practically nose to nose, " I knew it, I thought that maybe it was just the thumping of my own heart, but in my mind I knew." Eli chuckled, the fire and certainty in her eyes bringing a smile to his lips.

As she leaned in the scent of sweat, blood, and the warm scent of wildflowers joined in a heady mix that filled his senses, Eli hummed and she tilted her head to look at him with a question in her eyes and she sinuously slumped back into her seat. Eli shrugged, pointedly ignoring the things that the previous motion had stirred in his body now that she was in such close proximity, " It's probably nothing, but I was just wondering exactly what we can send through the tether between us.

During the battle I could practically see out of your eyes." He smiled at her, wrapping her hand in his, " Not that I do not appreciate the value otherwise, just curious what else I can share with you." She closed her eyes, and a few moments ticked by until, a wave of energy crested down the bond between them. A jumbled flash of images shot into his mind, mostly of himself.

Eli dropping out of a tree covered in mud and grinning wide, Eli smiling across a fire and offering a bag of jerky, Eli whistling at a posing Astra in armor, an Eli without a smile this time but speaking low and comforting while rubbing soot into an arm.

He stopped for a second looking back at Astra as another set of images flashed through his mind, a face grinning as it offered a hand, another as it picked him up, another as it plunged from a tree, a body swinging behind it, another as it offered a plate of food, another as she swung a wooden blade, a wooden poleaxe, a hand in friendship, a back when tired, a shoulder when sad, a blade in anger, a meal when happy, a necklace in love, a river of blood in vengeance, a pile of bodies before a drop of blood, a wall of iron determination to never yield….

Eli writhed gasping at the intensity of the images, as Astra looked at him in concern, he took a deep breath and got his breathing under control before giving her a smile, " Sorry just a little more intense than I expected." Astra laughed, " I would imagine, you have that effect on most people." She gave him a shy grin, " Would you mind showing me your thoughts?" Eli smiled and replied, " Of course." Unbeknownst to her, Eli swore to himself to show Astra herself at her best.

He focused on all of his favorites, Astra talking about her first fight, Astra showing off her armor for the first time, Her smile as they killed the bandits, her laugh after they freed Mira, her smile the morning she saved him, the smile she wore the first time she met Tia, the first time he saw her without armor, the time they almost died, the time she told him she loved him, the time she told him she loved him, the time she told him she loved him, the time she told him she loved him.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. As he pulled his mind out of the connection, he realized with a bit of chagrin that he was a little bit biased, but as he looked down at her happy smile and the tears in her eyes, he was pretty sure he made the right decision. He gave her a moment to recover, and after she settled back into her chair with a happy sigh, he relaxed and just held her hand for the moment, languishing in the joy of her presence.

After a few minutes of sitting together, bathing in the bliss of each other's company and the newfound joy of their connection, Eli shook himself awake realizing that he almost fell asleep with Astra at the table. While he definitely would not have minded this, he was keenly aware of how new the change in their relationship was, and also how little anyone other than them would grasp the depth of the changes.

As much as he cared for her and wished to stay in this moment for as long as he could, he knew that it would not be in her best interest. Jostling her shoulder for a moment, Eli spoke, " Hey Astra, it's getting late." She grumbled unhappily for a moment before opening an eye, squirming to try and find a more comfortable position, before glaring in his direction, " Aye, and your point?" He arched his brow, " As much as I would love for you to spend the night, it probably wouldn't be very appropriate would it?"

She gave a long sigh, " Aye, you are right." After a moment she squirmed in excitement before, practically bouncing in her chair, " Oh my I almost forgot!" Sitting up excitedly she scooted to the edge of her chair and leaned in close, leaning forward eyes lidded as she spoke to Eli with a husky purr, " I almost forgot you had a gift for me, before that abysmal interruption." Eli barked out a laugh at her terrible pun, before pulling a familiar necklace with a pendant from his pocket.

She gave a happy squeal, squirming in her seat for a moment before leaning forward across the table, " So do you remember where we were?" Eli smiled and leaned forward as well, drifting forward to give her a soft lingering kiss before separating, propping his chin on a palm across from her with a wink, " Maybe but I wouldn't mind if you refreshed my memory." Astra bit her lip for a moment, darting forward for one more quick kiss before settling back in her chair with a sigh, " All right, but no more teasing."

She darted forward to give Eli one more very heated kiss, before settling back again with a satisfied sigh, " All right, now, no more teasing." Eli laughed, " Happy to oblige your ladyship, now you never told me if you liked the necklace or not?" Astra smirked blushing slightly before continuing, " Well that was because I was trying to explain the cultural significance, while trying not to get distracted by the thought of what a lucky girl I was to get such lavish attention from a handsome man."

Eli chuckled at the buffeting of emotion through their bond, " You don't have to keep buttering me up princess, I'm already at your beck and call." Astra rolled her eyes, but with a smile, " Ok you dunce, I was just trying to show you my feelings at the time. You were so excited to give me the necklace, and since you did not know the meaning it was very cute."

She leaned forward with a smirk on her face, " Any chance you have a guess why you only saw women wearing this style of necklace, and only especially happy women wearing the engraved version that had not been bejeweled yet?" Eli racked his brain for a moment, flipping through his memories, but the combination of the amorous emotions trickling through the bond followed by a couple of memories of women being congratulated by other women upon noticing that their necklace was engraved shot through his mind.

Eli sat upright and looked over at Astra with a stunned look as she laughed at his expression, " Put the pieces of the puzzle together, have you?" He swallowed thickly while nodding, " Yeah, I guess so, and you are sure you wanted one from me? Even before we bonded?" Astra smiled, " Aye, the necklace is a courting gift, a sign to others that you are involved with another. Engraved upon betrothal and bejeweled when the pact is sealed."

She licked her lips before smirking again, " Also aye, I would not have accepted jewels, but I would have most definitely accepted the necklace as long as you knew what it meant." She leaned forward to whisper in his ear, " I may have even accepted the engraving if you played your hand well."

He shivered as her breath washed over his ear, and again at the thought of Astra being unequivocally his, he was never the possessive sort, and maybe it was the new bond talking, but the thought of her being bound to him made his heart sing in a way he never would have expected. Eli had never expected to be a family guy, or a doting partner, and maybe it was just some strange otherworld magic, but something in his body just called out for and desired her in a way he had never experienced before.

Elias shook himself to clear his mind, and as he looked back at Astra, he almost laughed at her clear satisfaction of derailing his train of thought. He leaned in a dopey grin spreading across his face to match her smug smile." So. What will it take to get a yes from such a lovely young lady?" Astra smiled and darted in for another kiss before pulling back and sighing happily, "She looked back into his eyes." Easy, you just have to wear my mark too."

Eli chuckled, " I already told you, a pretty gift from a pretty girl, you don't even have to ask." Astra leaned in idly dancing a finger across the back of her hand, " And if a pretty girl does ask?" Eli grinned as he leaned in, " Well, that would be impossible since she would have to be prettier than you."