Page 109 of Paramour of Sin

I could dwell on it. I could grovel. But I’d spoken my piece. Now it was time for Guinevere to utter hers.

It was her turn to choose.

Her turn to take control.

Her turn to either forgive us or move on.

Just because she loved us didn’t mean she’d want to stay with us.

I respected that as much as I knew Zebulon did.

“What’ll it be, Gwen?” I asked her softly. “Will you accept us or reject us?” I might not have the ability to form a blood bond with her like Zebulon, but his power would forever join us together. Just as her heart would forever be the core of our connection. She was the love we didn’t know we needed. While we were the strength she’d always craved.

But it was up to her to take it.

Chapter Thirty

Gwen

Is this the afterlife?I wondered.Did Lord Zebulon kill me and send my spirit to some twisted realm where all my dreams come true?

Zane and Zebulon both stared down at me expectantly. I sensed their hesitation in the air, could taste their need on my tongue, and could feel their anticipation.

Lord Zebulon had just offered to finish our bond. His energy sizzled over me, taunting my spirit as he stroked me back to life with a vengeance with his intensity.

I’d felt it mending every bruise, soothing every ache, and holding me on the precipice of consciousness just long enough to hear everything they had to say before drawing me into complete awareness.

Every word had held a dreamy quality to it, making me doubt my reality.

Zane had apologized. And I’dfeltthat apology to my very soul. Then his comments about what he should have done… those admissions had nearly brought me to my knees. Not that I could move with them on either side of me. Not that Iwantedto move. They were warm, and beautiful, andmine.

Oh, demons… they want to be mine!

Assuming this was real.

I pinched my side, something Lord Zebulon caught with his too-observant gaze. He rested on his elbow beside me, propping his head up on his hand while his opposite palm rested lazily on his naked thigh.

Zane followed suit, the two of them continuing to wait for me to speak.

“I…” I cleared my throat, then winced at the dull ache there from beingstrangled.

Zebulon immediately shifted his palm to my neck, his thumb drawing a sizzling line down the center. He frowned and leaned forward to trail his lips along the same path, setting my blood on fire.

Oh, umm, yes, more of that please.

“I’m sorry, Guinevere,” he whispered, kissing me with the words, repeating them softly as he drew his lips to my ear. “I should have known it was you. Had I bonded you before, Iwouldhave known it was you.”

“Is that why…?” I trailed off, swallowing another wince. “Why you want to… bond?”

“Partially, yes,” he admitted, his words causing my heart to thump uncomfortably in my chest. “Almost killing you made me realize how much I don’t want to lose you,” he continued. “That sounds harsh, but it’s true. Realizing how close I came to destroying this”—he cupped my cheek, then glanced up at Zane—“us… it snapped my life into perspective.”

His obsidian irises returned to mine, the fervor flaring inside them enough to singe my very soul.

“I want this, Guinevere. I want you. I want toprotectyou. So yes, realizing how close I came to hurting you makes me want to enable a bond so nothing like that can ever happen to you again. It’s not about ensuring I don’t harm you, it’s about ensuringno onecan harm you.” His thumb traced a soft path along my cheekbone, his gaze intense. “I want you to be mine to protect, Guinevere.”

“Ours,” Zane interjected. “Oursto protect.”

Zebulon looked at him. “You’re mine to protect, too.”