After we finished eating, Llewellyn shooed me off while he cleared the table and I sighed and called Niamh.
I could feel Llewellyn's presence through the bond, like basking in the sun. It was slightly disconcerting, but it felt insanely good.
I tried not to focus on it too much.
"RYO," Niamh said, practically as soon as the phone started ringing. "Thank goodness. Are you safe? Please tell me you're somewhere safe. I've watched all the videos forty-seven times and I'm going to explode."
...What did she mean 'all the videos'?!
"There is more than one?!"
"Yes!" Niamh said. "There's the one with you two making out, and then there are several clips of the fight uploaded by various users. A new one of you screaming at a couple with a child was posted just three minutes ago. Not sure about the reaction yet."
Screaming at a…?
Wait, was it those people I'd tried to save? That was how they were going to spin it?!
"Anyway," Niamh said, before I could explain. "Let's go back to the important stuff."
"Which is?"
"The kissing video! The one where you're snogging Llewellyn in front of the whole Internet? Good for you, absolutely brilliant, but also WHAT?!"
I rubbed my eyes.
"So… um," I said. I glanced toward the kitchen where Llewellyn was loading the dishwasher. I didn't know what he was getting through the bond, but I caught a flicker of amusement from him. "Yeah, we're… together. I think."
Niamh made a sound like a tea kettle.
"What do you mean 'you think'?!"
"Err… We haven't exactly… talked about it? But we've been… um. Yeah."
I mean, we'd just bonded! That must mean this wasn't casual, right?
Or did Llewellyn want casual?!
"You should know," Niamh said, "that half the Internet keeps saying they called it, the other half is in shock, and pretty much everyone is losing their absolute minds."
I sat down heavily on Llewellyn's sofa. "How bad?"
Even though I couldn't see her, I could tell that Niamh was grinning.
"The shipping threads have exploded. The first few seconds of that kissing clip, right before you're interrupted by the guards, have been looped with romantic music, spicy music, dramatic music, slowed down, sped up, completed with AI tools... Some results are marriage proposals, others are full-on porn—"
Uh.
Um.
Would it be weird if I asked her to send me all those?
"—and those are just the videos! You should see the stills, edits, and all the images generated. A user has started a whole manhwa-style webcomic that already has 12k subscribers. There's also a massive thread dissecting Llewellyn's 'protective body language' toward you in various clips."
I made a mental note to look those up too.
"Also, the hate comments have dropped by about sixty percent."
What?
"Wait, really?"
I'd actually thought the opposite would be the case.
Niamh hummed. "Considering the day, I think people were just too delighted. And now they're too busy speculating about how it happened, when it started, and the rest. The cohort who've been shipping Llewellyn with Queen Seolene seem devastated that he's not straight, but I didn't see anything more vicious than usual."
Oh, I'd forgotten about those people.
I rubbed my forehead.
"Have you spoken with Emma?" I asked. She must have tried to contact Llewellyn, but he hadn't even looked at his phone.
"Yes," Niamh said. "She was very pleased."
Uh…?
"What do you mean, 'very pleased'?"
Did I need to worry?
"She said something about 'deterrent' and 'romance of the century' and… I honestly stopped listening after that because Emma in a good mood is scarier than Emma in a bad mood—"
I snorted. She had a point.
"—but I think she's mostly dealing with the TV stuff. Ah, I need to go," Niamh said. "I have a meeting in three minutes. Are you with Llewellyn?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Stay off the Internet. I'll let you know if anything concerning comes up."
Before I could get another word in, she said goodbye and hung up.
I dropped my head back against the sofa cushion and closed my eyes. This was really a lot, but maybe it wasn't about to change things too much. As long as I kept avoiding people, I could pretend nothing was going on.
From where I was sitting, I could hear Llewellyn in the kitchen. This felt nice.
A few moments later, I heard Llewellyn's voice right at my ear, as if he only had to lean in to take my earlobe between his teeth: "How are you feeling?"
I jerked upright so fast I nearly launched off the sofa.
I hadn't heard his footsteps at all!
I turned around but… there was no one there.
Uh?
I looked toward the kitchen.
Llewellyn was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, looking extremely pleased with himself.
What the—
"Telepathy," Llewellyn said, looking smug. "Thought I'd test it."
This absolute…!
I narrowed my eyes at him. I supposed I could try it back.
"Like this?" I said, once I figured out how to do it.
It wasn't too difficult.
Right there in front of me, I saw Llewellyn shiver.
Uh.
…This was suddenly opening a lot of possibilities.
Llewellyn walked over and sat down next to me, his thigh pressed against mine. I could feel amusement rolling off him in waves.
…He must have felt that his reaction to my telepathy attempt had suddenly turned me on.
Damn it.
Couldn't I even be horny in secret now?!
Though… well. That opened more possibilities too.
"So you heard all of that," I said, not looking at him.
"Not really. I could just feel how your emotions changed throughout your conversation." He looked at me. "However, I did hear that, 'We're together, I think'."
Ah, damn it.
Should I have not said it?!
I was suddenly very flustered, which Llewellyn could feel through the bond, judging from his expression.
"What do you mean, 'I think'?" Llewellyn asked, eyes narrowed.
Huh? Wait. That was the part he was hung up on?
"Well…" I said. "We haven't really talked. I mean, we've bonded now, so I'm assuming this isn't casual, but maybe you want—"
Llewellyn leapt and tackled me down on the sofa.
I made an undignified squawk.
"Really?" he said, looking at me with an unimpressed expression. "Does anything about what we've been doing spell out 'casual' to you?"
Um. No?
How would I know if he didn't say?!
Whatever Llewellyn got through the bond must have been satisfying enough because he leaned down and kissed me. I melted under him as we made out, my hand finding his hair.
"I don't do casual," Llewellyn said, pulling back to look down at me. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then leaned in to kiss down my throat. "I suppose I could agree to it with you, if you—"
"I don't want casual!" I blurted out quickly. "Don't even think about it. I'll fight you."
Llewellyn's mouth quirked up. He bit down gently.
"Then we're on the same page," he said, sliding a hand under my shirt.
I let out a noise.
Fuck, this was getting too much.
The flow through the bond was so strong every touch made me moan.
Llewellyn moved up to kiss me again and…
Wait a moment.
This was just how we'd been an hour ago!
"System," I panted, trapped under Llewellyn, and so turned on that I was losing my mind. How had we gone from 10 to 10,000 in less than five seconds?! "I thought you said this would be solved in half an hour if we had sex!"
There was a pause.
[System Notification: Bond synchronization in progress. Need for physical contact is enhanced by Users' own desires. Recalculating...]
Llewellyn was still kissing down my throat.
The System pinged again.
[Estimated duration: Three days.]
What did it mean, three days!
"So you lied?!" I moaned, arching up.
It had said that the bond situation would have been solved 'through physical consummation'! Instead, it had just come back full force not even an hour later!
"Are you saying we'll just have to keep going until this is done?!"
[System Notification: Prior estimate invalidated by Users' sex drive.]
Uh?!
"What do you mean?"
[System Notification: Users' sex drive exceeds projected range. One round of physical consummation might not be sufficient. However, Users' libido might exhaust itself naturally during this time.]
…In what universe?
And with this enhanced physical sensitivity too!
I closed the System notification while Llewellyn's mouth worked a mark at the base of my throat.
Through the bond, I could feel how turned on he also was, which was driving me insane.
"The System says there's a chance our libido might exhaust itself naturally."
Llewellyn snorted against my skin. "Doubtful."
Exactly.
"As far as I'm concerned, this is quite convenient."
"Convenient for who?"
"Me," Llewellyn said, lifting my shirt and taking it off, before pinning me down again, looking down at me. "I was wondering how to convince you to stay in bed with me for the next seventy-two hours."
"Uh… Just ask?" He pressed down on top of me and I groaned. "Also… we're on your sofa, not the bed."
"Good point," Llewellyn said—and teleported us onto his bed.
My head fell back onto his pillow and I let out a noise.
Llewellyn's hand slipped under my waistband. "Was that a complaint?"
Couldn't he tell through the bond?
"Clearly not," I said.
Llewellyn hummed.
"Good." He kissed my jaw. "Because I have plans."
"…"
Plans?!