Neve walked beside Cael through the morning market and tried very hard not to think about last night.
He failed completely.
Every few steps his mind went back to it. The warmth. The hands. The voice against his ear. The way his own body had responded like it had been waiting for exactly that and hadn't told him about it beforehand.
He touched the mark on his neck without meaning to.
It was warm again. It was always warm. Like something living sitting just under the skin, reminding him constantly that it was there.
He dropped his hand.
'Stop thinking about it,' he told himself firmly. 'You don't even know who it was. You can't think about someone you don't know. That's not a thing people do.'
He thought about it again anyway.
His face went red.
"Does the bond hurt?"
