Seraphina stirred beneath silk sheets, the air still scented with the warmth of him.
Ravon.
Her fingers curled into the place where his body had been, still warm—his presence lingering like a shadow that kissed instead of consumed. She blinked her eyes open slowly. His chambers were awash in a soft violet glow, morning light in the Eclipsed Plane—a sunless realm, yet somehow, it knew how to offer gentleness.
Then she felt it.
A hand trailing slowly along her spine.
"You're awake," came his low voice, tinged with something softer than mischief, deeper than desire.
"I wasn't sure it was real," she whispered, her cheek against the pillow. "Last night felt like a dream."
Ravon leaned down, brushing a kiss to her bare shoulder. "If it was a dream… I never want to wake up."
She turned to face him, and for a moment they just looked at each other. No words. Just breath, silence, and the shared echo of what they'd become.
"You didn't vanish into smoke this time," she teased, running a lazy finger across his chest, where ancient tattoos shimmered like starlight under his skin.
He gave a quiet chuckle. "I told you… you anchor me, Seraphina. You're the only reason I remember how to be flesh."
She smiled, then sighed, her eyes soft. "So what now? Do we pretend this didn't happen? Or… does it change everything?"
He took her hand, pressing it to his chest where his heart beat steady beneath her palm.
"No more pretending. You've marked me. Whether you meant to or not."
"Marked you?" she asked, raising a brow.
He nodded slowly. "A demon's bond isn't just physical. When we… when this happens, our soul becomes entangled. It's why I feel you more deeply now. Your thoughts. Your emotions. Even now, your heartbeat is… inside me."
Seraphina's breath caught. Not out of fear—but awe.
"I feel… full," she whispered. "Like there's something glowing inside me."
He smiled faintly, but there was reverence in his gaze. "That's the bond. Or maybe… it's already more."
She blinked. "More?"
He didn't answer, just brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her forehead.
Then—
Her stomach gave a loud rumble.
Seraphina groaned and buried her face into his chest. "Perfect. The first magical moment of my life and my body chooses now to beg for food."
Ravon's laugh rumbled deep and genuine. "Stay here. I'll have breakfast brought in. Something sweet, maybe fruit from the Flame Orchards."
"Do they serve mortal food?" she asked, peeking up at him.
"They do now," he said, already slipping from the bed, wrapping a robe of obsidian silk around his waist. "For you, they will."
He glanced back over his shoulder with a playful smirk.
"And if you want, I'll feed you myself."
Seraphina flushed scarlet. "You wouldn't."
"I absolutely would."
She threw a pillow at him, laughing, and he caught it midair with a flare of his hand. His crimson eyes glowed—no longer dangerous, but warm. She watched him as he moved across the room, confident, powerful, hers.
For the first time in a long time, she didn't feel like a girl thrown into darkness.
She felt like a queen being crowned by it.