Chapter Eight

Kuronue gently kissed Kerima's forehead after she was silent for a few moments. "It can't be that bad," he said, a flirtatious smile on his face. "We're already connected, which has been no hardship."

Kerima frowned at him. "It is not as simple as our existing connection. Right now we share sensations, but if I bind you, that will increase. Now only the more extreme sensations are shared. Once we're bound, the less intense ones will be shared. Because of our connection you are already attached to me and you have a desire to protect me as long as I am nearby. If I bind you, you won't be able to go too far from me."

The bat demon laughed, finding the idea amusing. Did she really think she could do something like that to him? He was far too strong for something like that to affect him. "What, we'll be tied together with a magic cord, so I can only go so far?"

She shook her head, grey eyes serious. "It's not like that. You won't want to go far away. Where I go, you will want to follow, and the desire will be too strong for you to resist." She sighed, feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted. She really did not want to bind Kuronue to her. "You'll want to protect me and everything I care about, which is why the elders want me to bind you. They want to make sure you'll stay here and protect the village, since this is the place I live."

Kuronue felt her try to move out of his hold, but he kept her firmly in his lap. He was sure there was more to the whole binding thing. "I can see why your village needs protection. Everyone here is rather weak, but there's something else to this binding, isn't there?"

"Yes," Kerima admitted. "But I can't give you anything definite. Each binding is a little different, or at least my grandmother says so. It could be anything from sharing thoughts to being able to tap into each others powers. I can't say for sure what will happen, but if I do bind you, this extra feature could take a day or two to develop."

He looked at her for a few moments, thinking everything through. All in all, the binding did not seem too bad. He already didn't have much of a desire to go to far away from her, and he did already want to protect her. His little healer was so helpless when it came to keeping herself safe. Of course, he did doubt that he would ever want to protect the village, and he was sure she was over exaggerating on some of the side effects of the binding. There was no way someone as weak as her could actually be able to change his emotions or desires so much.

"Is that really all there is to it?" he asked her. For all her protests and fighting against doing the whole process, it seemed like a rather small thing.

Kerima nodded her head. She wasn't sure what to think. He actually seemed to be sincerely considering letting her bind him. She couldn't decide if she was happy or sad. "That's all that I know. There could be something else to it, as it has been a little while since anyone has actually done a binding, but that should be everything."

Kuronue thought everything through, considering his options. He could leave the village now, and his little healer would be alone with no one to protect her. She obviously had some kind of plan to stop the eminent threat, but he had a bad feeling about it. The look in her gray eyes was bleak, and that worried him. What could her plan be if he left?

No, he would not leave her. He would stay and protect her, and if that meant being bound tighter to her, so be it. The binding did not sound too bad, even if she wasn't over exaggerating, and she probably was.

Looking at her, Kuronue nodded his head. "Very well, bind me."

A storm of emotions swept through Kerima. She was happy that he had chosen to stay with her, but she was scared for him if he stayed. She was worried what might happen to him as a result of the binding, but she was thrilled that he was alright with the idea of being bound to her.

Kerima took a deep breath, slowly letting it out as she attempted to calm her heart. "Are you sure?" She had to give him one more chance to change his mind. "Once I do this, there is no going back. You'll be stuck with me."

Kuronue smiled gently, his eyes serious. "I'm sure."

She studied him for a moment, and then nodded her head. "Alright." She moved out of his lap and sat in front of him, legs folded beneath her. She placed her right hand on his chest and then took his right hand and placed it on her own chest.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she reached out with her power to the magical cord that bound her to Kuronue. It was thin but unbreakable, and with her power she could see it shining brightly. She added to the strength of the cord, thickening it as well as anchoring it deeper inside both of her and the bat demon.

Kuronue felt her power dance between them, and he realized that he had been wrong to call her weak. Kerima was not weak at all; her power was merely subtle and hard to sense. She had no offensive abilities, but he could finally feel her immense power that gave her the ability to heal.

He sensed that same power enter him, and it seemed to pull a part of him closer to Kerima. Instead of her being just a part of his world, the magic moved her so that she was the center of his world. Kerima became one of the most important things to him, and while he knew that he should mind the change, he couldn't bring himself to care. He had asked for her to bind him, and a part of him liked her being so important to him.

Kerima gasped as she finished the binding, wanting to run away in a blind panic. She felt her own magic twist inside her body, connecting her to Kuronue even stronger than she had thought. No one had told her that the binding would affect her too. Her grandmother had never warned her that if she completed the binding that her own desires would change. She no longer wanted Kuronue to leave, even for his own safety. She wanted to be with him always.

She knew that she should be running as far away from him as she could get, but the desire to stay with him was too strong. She wanted to panic, knowing that when Kuronue went to another woman it would destroy her. With the magic having finished, she knew that Kuronue could ask her for anything, and she would be hard-pressed to deny him. However, she was so thrilled he was sitting in front of her she couldn't bring herself to mind at the moment. The change really worried her, or at least she knew it should worry her.

Kuronue felt the magic end, and he realized that the binding was complete. He certainly felt the changes, but they were not bad. He certainly felt more strongly about protecting her, but she had been wrong in one thing—he had no desire to protect the village. In fact, he wanted to raze the thing to the ground. So many in the village were a threat to his little healer, and he didn't want her to ever hurt again.

The bat demon watched the black-haired female carefully, and he realized that she was healed. The damage caused by the elders had vanished, and Kerima looked happy. He wanted her to always look at him with such an expression on her face.

Without thinking, Kuronue leaned forward and kissed her. He was minutely surprised when she responded without hesitation, so he pulled her into his lap. He wanted her to be happy, but he also realized that he wanted her to be his. The possessive feeling roared inside of him, demanding.

He dimly remembered something Grandmother had said, and a part of him realized that he needed to be slow and gentle with his little healer. He didn't want to scare her off; he wanted her to stay with him always. So he forced the possessive feeling down, and advanced slowly with Kerima.

It was hard though not to touch to everywhere, so he gave in. His hand on the center of her chest wandered to her breast, and his other hand slipped under her clothing to caress the skin on her back.

With every step Kuronue took, Kerima responded in kind, and soon they were on the pile of furs in her home, making love.