Beyond the Bond

Lorcan’s hands leave my waist, and he takes a small step back.

It isn’t a great distance. Barely a few inches.

Yet it feels as though he has suddenly placed an entire ocean between us.

His expression does not harden or turn cold the way it usually does when something bothers him. Nor does he try to hide what he feels behind the cold mask he always wears. For the second time since I arrived at this