I woke slowly to a tickling sensation on my shoulder, and it took me a moment to recognize it as Nightfall’s hair. I turned and looked up at him blearily, blinking the sleep out of my eyes.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” he murmured, brushing his long hair over his shoulder, and dipping down to plant a kiss on my lips.

“How are you feeling?” I asked him, stretching my arms out to take him into an embrace. He nestled into me, resting his head on the pillow next to me. His smile was wide and easy, and he looked more relaxed than I’d ever seen him.

“I feel warm,” he said with emphasis. “Warmer than I have ever felt in my life. I don’t know what you did to me, but it… Emma, I love you.”

I looked at him in surprise. He was warm. His whole body was pressed up against mine and was radiating warmth.

“Are you… you have body heat,” I said in surprise, but then his other words caught up with me. “And I love you too, of course.”

He grinned at me, and my heart skipped a beat. I’d wanted to see him smile like this since the day I met him.

“It’s magic. Your magic,” he said, and kissed me again.

I melted into it and took several minutes before my frazzled brain could recover. My extra Intelligence points must be doing something though, because I felt like all the loose connections in my brain were finally matching up.

“It’s my slime,” I realized. “It… it’s got life magic in it.”

In any other situation I would have laughed hysterically at the idea that my magical lady-parts had saved the day again, especially as it was a kind of magic my idiotic boyfriend James had written into this world… but seeing the effect it had on Nightfall… The fact he felt warm and fulfilled and alive for the first time in his life… I couldn’t help but be grateful.

“You are amazing,” Nightfall stroked my fringe out of my face and worshiped my face with affectionate little kisses. Even the look in his eyes was warm and I felt my heart melting as he adored me.

“I love you, Nightfall,” I whispered again.

“You mentioned a blood pact,” Nightfall said. “I will gladly perform one, but I have a favour to beg of you.”

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“What is it?” I asked. I would give him just about anything he wanted in this moment.

“I want to bond with you. I want to join your harem and be bound to you for the duration of my life.”

“I…” I didn’t know what to say to that. “I haven’t done any bonding ceremonies before. Not even with Brick and Bruiser. I… I didn’t expect this to come up with you so soon, either.”

“I will happily be your first,” he said solemnly.

I sat up, and he mirrored me, waiting for my answer.

“You know I’m not from this world,” I said, and took his hands in mine lightly. “In my world I… we have a kind of relationship bonding, I guess you’d call it. Marriage.”

“Yes. I want to marry you.”

“So, you know what it is,” I chewed my lip. “The thing is… I never really believed in marriage.”

“You won’t then?” Nightfall asked, looking crestfallen.

“My mum got married four times,” I said, feeling brittle. “It’s… it’s something I prefer not to talk about, but I want you to understand. My father left us because he wasn’t a family guy. My mum started dating again, and the guys she went out with were always nice when they were in that honeymoon phase, but after marriage, they kind of… changed. Stuff got awful. The divorces were messy and awful. It’s why I never wanted to marry James either, I guess… I’m scared of things changing and then not being able to get out.”

“My poor Emma,” Nightfall said, wiping away a tear I hadn’t even known had escaped. “I will never hurt you, I promise. I will be in debt to you forever for what you have given me, and I want to devote my life to seeing you happy. You have had terrible experiences, and I would kill those men for causing you pain if they were not a world away, but I swear to you it will not be like that for us.”

“Why do you need a bond?” I asked him. “Why can’t we just be… together? You should know I don’t see you as in debt to me. We’re equals. Friends. Lovers. We should be able to give and take without keeping score.”

“Which makes me love you all the more,” he said. “I want to bind myself to you because I want our destiny tied together by a cord that cannot be broken. I fear what I would become without you, my love. But with you? I do not feel afraid. I feel entirely different. I want you there to safeguard my heart. To be my sun and make sure I do not fall into darkness again.”

His words moved me, and I felt tempted to surrender, but I still feared it was premature. If I bonded with Nightfall, should I then bond myself to Brick and Bruiser as well? It felt like a spiderweb of complexity that I wasn’t ready to face.

“Can we let things settle between us first?” I asked. “I know this is important to you, but… I need to be sure.”

“Of course,” he agreed. “I will remain next to you until you wish to claim me, my darling. Whether or not you are ready to call yourself mine, I am yours. Utterly, completely, and irreversibly yours.”

My heart lurched at his declaration and I let out a sigh of relief, grateful for his patience.

“I had another epiphany while you were sleeping,” Nightfall murmured. “For our next degrees, we can take several classes at a time and complete the assignments in batches. We should be complete in a couple of days instead of a week.”

“You’ll attend them with me? You’ll have your stats maxed out before I do. Are you sure you won’t mind?”

“I take my oaths seriously, my Emma. I will be at your side for whatever you need.”