Aira couldn't sleep that night.
Kael lay beside her, protective as ever, one arm draped over her waist. But she stared at the ceiling, replaying the whisper over and over in her mind.
> "Time will take him again…"
Why?
Why was their love always punished by the universe?
Sliding carefully from the bed, she went to the hearth, pulling one of her grandmother's books from the stack.
She flipped through the yellowed pages until one phrase nearly glowed off the page:
> "Echo-Bond: When two souls meet again through lifetimes, they can bind through touch, thought… or desire."
She touched the sentence, and the page responded—shifting, revealing more text beneath.
> "…but if the bond is not completed, the Echo will shatter. One soul will remain anchored. The other will be lost to time."
Her breath caught.
"What are you reading?" came Kael's voice behind her.
He was shirtless again, hair slightly tousled, the sleepy concern on his face so beautiful it hurt.
"Kael," she whispered, "I think we've already been bonded in the past. But we never finished it. That's why we keep losing each other."
He came closer, voice husky. "And how do we complete it?"
She swallowed. "Through desire. Intention. Uninterrupted connection."
Kael's hand lifted to cup her cheek. "Then let's make sure time doesn't take me again."
Their lips met with new purpose—no urgency this time. Just intensity.
He lifted her effortlessly, setting her gently down near the fire. His hands traced her body like he was memorizing it. Their breath became shallow, eyes locked.
Aira wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in slowly. Their bodies moved in quiet rhythm, not chasing pleasure—but weaving something sacred.
Something eternal.
Kael whispered against her neck, "If this bonds us across lifetimes, then I want you to remember me like this. Always."
Aira moaned his name, soft and full of aching love.
And just as they both reached the edge, she felt it—
a pulse.
Not of climax… but of magic.
Time had felt it too.
And it had begun to shift.