Since I was a klutz and could not activate the Soul-bonding Command, nothing happened and the bands remained inert pieces of separated metal.
Nevertheless, it was a powerful enough action to take Corwin's breath away.
We remained rooted in one spot, with our bands touching but unactivated.
And then, in a choked voice as if he had forgotten to breathe and could no longer hold back the tide of emotions welling up within him, Corwin whispered the command.
"Lingyibanhueilai."
The metals obeyed his request, glowing with power and then joined together with a click. The bands were once again seamless.
I felt that sweet familiar jolt of joy coursing through my veins as my soul was reunited.
Beside me, I felt Corwin shaking with the intensity of his emotions.
He pulled me into his arms as the world receded away from my consciousness. I could no longer see the stars and the moon and the sea around me. I could only feel the power of his kiss.
"I've missed you so much," he mumbled into my neck, "so very much. Stay by my side, Nana. Don't abandon me. I need you so badly that it hurts when I am separated from you."
"I'm not going anywhere," I reassured him.
He pulled back to look at me, searching for that reassurance from my eyes. What he found caused him to seize me and crush me to him.
His lips again found mine in a fierce crushing kiss that hurt as much as it healed. He sought, with lips and teeth and tongue, tasting everything with a hunger that drove everything out of my mind.
Between the soul-bands bonding and the feel of his lips on mine, I could barely stay on my feet. It didn't matter anyway. He was holding me so tight, I couldn't fall if I tried.
Reaching out with the animal instincts I normally used for my flying scouts, I barely touched at the periphery of his consciousness and recoiled at the depth and breadth of his emotional intensity.
I could feel the strength of his physical arousal and I could feel the power of his emotional vortex, spinning in barely constrained control.
It made me cry.
This powerful wizard, who could manipulate energy and matter as if they were so many balls that he juggled with ease in the air, was holding back far more pain and tears than he ever showed.
Corwin noticed my tears immediately. His eyes were full of concern.
"What's wrong? I'm so sorry…did I hurt you?"
"No, no," I held out my hand, trying to keep him at arm's length so I could catch my breath.
"It's just…I never realized you were holding so much inside."
"I could feel your mental probing as soon as you touched me." He smiled as my eyes widened with embarrassment.
"No, no. It's ok. You were so delicate about it that if I wasn't trained so extensively in the protective magiks, I would have never noticed.
"Don't be afraid. I want you to start mentally touching me."
"But…" I blushed to the roots of my hair. Mentally probing Corwin seemed to violate him in some way which I could not put my finger to. But he seemed to read my mind, and hastened to reassure me.
"Nana, first of all, I am not a crow or a rat. I am a High Wizard First Class. I can certainly defend myself against any harmful mental attacks that anyone would dare to use.
You would not be able to breach my mental defenses if I did not want you to. But I left myself wide open for you every time we were together and you never tried to touch me, not even once. Not until now."
"I—it's very intrusive, and I only use it to talk to the animals who cannot verbally speak. It…it's very intimate and allows the other person to feel my emotions as well…"
"Yes, I do know that too, and I want you to share as much of yourself as you are willing to give to me. I also want to share all of me with you, or at least whatever you are willing to take from me.
I want for us to be able to open up to each other and touch, not just physically but also mentally and soulfully."
"Are you sure we are suited to be soul-bonded?" I asked.
He sighed. "Absolutely. We are destined soul mates, and by the ease at which our souls recognized each other, it seems as if we have been soul mates throughout countless lifetimes, and throughout the vast reaches of time itself."
"But as much as I want you, I am willing to wait until you are ready for me. You're like a rose bud, still so tightly closed that I am afraid to touch you too much because I don't want to bruise you and I don't want to overwhelm you."
I marveled that Corwin was saying, essentially the same thing that Connor had just said to me earlier—only with a bit more intensity.
"I don't want you to be scared off at such an early point in our relationship."
"I'm not scared!" I insisted even though I was quaking in my shoes.
"Liar," Corwin muttered with a gentle smile. He whispered the Command to Unbond our bands.
"Mashangzhurhu."
Immediately, I felt a sense of bereavement until his comfortable male aura returned and filled that tiny missing part of my soul again.
He touched my arms. "Let's go back and get you warmed up. Look at all these goosebumps. You're freezing."
I nodded and walked back to the hotel with him.
When we returned to the hotel, Connor had left and there was no one else around.
Since it was rather late, we parted ways at my door with the promise to meet up the next morning for breakfast.
I walked into the cool darkened room and let out a long steady breath.
It had been such a long day. What I really needed was a lengthy solitary stretch of time where I could just lie there and not think about anything.
I needed some quiet space to drift aimlessly, without any goals, or destinations, or troubling thoughts.
The heated pool.
I smiled to myself and grabbed my swimsuit out of the messenger bag. It was one of those school uniform swimsuits which did absolutely nothing to improve my looks, but it was quite modest and it was what I had.
I threw it on and slipped a large teeshirt over my head. If I was quiet, I might be able to slip past the guys' room unnoticed and go swimming by myself.
As luck would have it, the pool was empty of patrons.
I smiled in anticipation, pulled off my teeshirt, throwing it onto a lounger, and dived into the pool.
It had been so long since I swam that I had forgotten how much fun it was.
I frolicked for awhile, swimming like a fish under the water, and coming up for air only when I needed it.
It was at the point when I shot up out of the water like a porpoise that I saw I was not alone.
Connor was sitting cross-legged by the side of the pool wearing nothing but his swimming trunks and watching me with a smile on his face.
"Oh, it's you!" I greeted with a smile and a splash.
He ducked the water spout, but managed to get wet any way.
"Oh-it's-you? What kind of a greeting is that to someone who is here to make sure you don't drown?" He stared down at me with a pretend-frown on his face.
"Don't you know you're not suppose to swim without a buddy? Don't you know that if you get a cramp, you can drown?" He waggled a finger at me.
"I don't care how good a swimmer you are, next time you call me! I will be your lifeguard."
I grinned like a monkey. "I didn't want to bother anyone. I just needed to do something relaxing, and this worked out all the kinks of my muscles without hurting me."
"Hmmm. Yeah, you swim like a turtle!" He nodded, a begrudging admiration in his voice. "May I join you?"
Turtle in deed!
"Come on in! Water's warm." I waved him in.
Without waiting for another invitation, he dove into the pool, his form perfect, almost at stealth mode.
He disappeared under the water and then reappeared at the opposite end of the pool, his hair slicked back and his body glistening from the water.
"Wow! You're right. This pool is warm."
"Yeah, it's heated, even in mid-summer conditions, with a muggy sky and temperatures in the 80s." I laughed.
"The humans obviously like to go swimming in bath water condition so they don't shock their system."
Connor swam towards me, his movements, slow and languid. It was as if he was taking his time so that he could think about the next thing he wanted to say to me.
I broke his train of thought by spewing the first thing that came to my mind.
"Where's Corwin?"
He paused, gazing at me with a strange look in his eyes. "You were just with him. Do you miss him already?"
I licked my lips. This was not what I was expecting from Connor.
"It's not that. Just—you two are so close that usually, when I see you, he's somewhere nearby, and when I see him, you are also around. I just thought it was a bit strange to see only you down here at the pool area."
"We…came to an agreement to stay apart for tonight. I told him I wanted to talk with you and he agreed to give us some time alone."
"Really?" I asked, my eyes wide with astonishment. "That just doesn't sound like what Corwin would say to you."
"You're right, it's not."
Connor grinned sheepishly. "Corey and I had an all-out shouting match and after a bit of fist-bumping, I demanded my time alone with you."
"What, pray tell, is fist-bumping? You mean like a 'bro-greeting'?"
He scowled, looking a bit like a petulant child. "You and I were talking and he just came and snatched you away before we even had a chance to finish our conversation, so I told him it was rude and I demanded retribution."
"Retribution?" I raised my eyebrows.
Connor had the grace to look embarrassed. "I punched him."
"Connor." I groaned.
"Lightly…punched him." He glanced at me, peeved. "And you did say you were going to be right back, but you never returned."
And pouted, no doubt, I thought with a mental smile.
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I did come back after I finished talking to Corwin, but it took longer than I expected, and by then, you had cleared out."
I extended my hand out to him, bridging the last few feet of distance between us. "We're here now, and I'm all yours, so talk away."
Connor smiled and took my hand in his. "That's my girl." He moved closer, and with gentle motions, took me into his arms.
He slowly leaned his head towards me, hesitantly, as if silently asking permission. I smiled and met him half-way.
In a gentle lightly probing manner, his kiss was gentle and sweet, a heady wine which took my breath away.
I was not expecting that.
"Hold your breath," he whispered before taking my lips again.
And down we went, into the depths.
I opened my eyes, and through the shimmering veil of the water, I saw his merry dancing eyes looking at me, as he claimed my lips.
I stared in amazement because I always thought I was suppose to close my eyes when kissing someone.
But Connor was up close and his bright blue eyes were wide open, looking at me with so much joy as we kissed and twisted and tumbled through the silky water.