Page 48 of A Memory Not Mine (Sanguis Amantium #1)

Chapter forty-six

Bastien

H er image had come to him, a stabbing vision where he could feel her.

The look on her face, hungry with need for Baird, the all-consuming desire that only intensified with every passing second.

But beneath that longing, there was something else written on her face—confusion and doubt.

And he was certain it had nothing to do with Baird being a vampire.

He felt deep in his bones it was Agnes that haunted Mira.

Stupid, silly girl.

Ignoring what was right in front of her.

But in addition to the strange connection he had to Mira, his maker’s bond to Baird was also strong, and it was upon this connection he felt it. He knew the moment it happened. He recognized the signs. The Sanguis Amantium—the blood bond of lovers. A connection as old as their kind.

And Baird? Baird was still a virgin to it, in every sense that mattered.

Bastien felt a swell of twisted pride. His child— of sorts —was finally tasting the brilliant pull of power, that intoxicating force he had spent centuries denying himself.

The universe had broken Baird’s will at last, dragging him down into the grip of the very monster he’d fought so hard to suppress .

And unless Baird was willing to let that monster win—with Mira—he would never know the full extent of it: the deepest pleasure, the rapture that hovered just beyond reach. All he had to do was surrender. Reach out. Take it. Follow the path laid before him.

The Sanguis Amantium was the path.