Page 158 of Kingly Bitten

But that inspired an interesting question.Do I want to live for an eternity tied to an unfaithful mate?

“You’ve not once asked if I want to be faithful,” Jace said after a beat, the water continuing to rain down around us as my ears popped from the jet’s increased altitude. “You just assume I won’t be.”

“You’ve not given me a reason to believe otherwise,” I pointed out. “And I can hear your mind, Jace. I know what you want.”

“You know what I’m questioning,” he corrected. “That I’m trying to determine my desires just as much as you are.”

I nodded. “You’re afforded the opportunity of choice. I am not.”

He released my chin, his fingers tracing my jaw up to my hair, where he removed my ponytail with a swift tug. My neck arched a little in response, causing his gaze to drop to my exposed throat before slowly returning upward to my eyes. “Do you want me to turn you? To make us equals?”

“No,” I answered immediately. “My blood sustains you. If you turn me, you’ll lose that.”

I also didn’t want to be a vampire. I preferred my current state of being. My solitary concern was about our future, not the present.

It was just a habit of my mind to always plan, to understand where we were heading so I could make the appropriate adjustments to my mental process to accept the inevitable.

Which, in this case, seemed to be Jace straying.

And for whatever reason, I found myself having a hard time accepting that eventuality.

“You don’t trust me to remain faithful,” he said, his gaze searching as he listened to me reason through our bond and the potentials that lay ahead.

“I’m not sure you’ll want to be faithful,” I corrected him. “And I don’t like the idea of forcing you to be someone you’re not.” It wouldn’t suit either of us. He would end up hating me for it, just like I would despise him if he ever forced me into a permanent submissive role. That wasn’t me at all, similar to how him being in a relationship didn’t fit his preferences.

“You’re failing to understand something important, Calina,” he said softly, his fingers combing through my wet hair as his opposite palm went to my lower back to pull me closer to him. “You’ve already changed me.”

His lips whispered across mine, his fingers knotting in my damp strands as he held me to him.

“I’m not sure how it happened, or really when, but you’re inside me now,” he murmured against my mouth. “I don’t want to lose that or you. I don’t want to share you, either. The very thought of it makes me murderous.”

He allowed me to see that inside his mind, the fury he’d felt when Lajos had touched me, and his later vow never to let another do it again.

“So I understand your desire not to share me, too. But if I’m honest, I’m not sure anyone else will ever intrigue me again. I haven’t looked away from you once, Calina. I haven’t even considered the possibility. You’re all I can see.” He cupped my cheek as he pulled back to stare into my eyes. “This is all very new to me. And it’s not that I don’t fancy monogamy, darling. No one has ever given me reason to consider it. Until you.”

He kissed me again, this time with more intent, his emotions warming through our bond and enchanting my very soul.

Because I felt the truth of his words like an arrow through my heart.

Neither of us knew what the future held for us, but we were tied together forever now. We would tackle the obstacles as they presented themselves to us.

However, there was one certainty inside Jace that made me weak in the knees.

He wanted me long-term. Not short-term. Not right now. But forever.

And he would do whatever he needed to do to ensure I always remembered that.

This wasn’t about his former proclivities but about his new desires—his desire forme. HisErosita. His mate. His mental equal.

He saw me as the part of his soul that he never knew he’d been missing, and there was no way he intended to lose me now.

With his mouth, he whispered promises of forever. And with his mind, he proved that he was already mine.

No one knew him better than I did because he’d never connected to anyone on this intimate level. He gave me free access to every thought and memory, holding nothing back. He even showed me how easy it would be to shut me out, to block me from his mind entirely.

Yet he’d not once even considered doing that to me. Not even when he’d thought it might be best for my protection.

No. He’d embraced me more with each passing second, his mind marrying mine in a manner few others ever experienced.