Page 122 of This Blood that Bonds Us

“I know. But I am. What if it hurts you somehow? What if . . .”

I stroked the hair growing longer behind his ear. “Tell me.”

“I don’t want things to change between us. You’ve given up so much for me. You changed, and I just . . . I’m afraid one day you’re going to realize that I’m the reason for everything bad in your life. You’ll see I corrupted you, and you’ll leave.”

“Corrupted?”

He’d used the word before, but it was only at that moment I realized what he meant.

He continued, “We both know this Thing inside us isn’t good. And you would never have taken It if it wasn’t for me. One day you might regret all the things you’ve done for me. All the things you’ve given up. Becoming like I am . . .”

I scooted closer, pulling him to me until we were face-to-face.

“Do you really believe that?”

“It’s just a fear. I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

“Aaron, you could never corrupt me. The Thing inside us—whatever it is—doesn’t matter. This is the only thing that matters.” I pulled his hand over my heart. “I didn’t fall in love with you because I was lonely or . . . because you were some mystical thing, I fell in love with how you make me feel. You make me feel so safe and special. And nothing can change that. Not even a little blood. I’ll choose you every time.”

His lips found mine, and I marinated in the smell of him and the feeling of him on my tongue. I wanted to show him I was his. That I wasn’t afraid of the thing inside of us. Because it would never matter with the love we shared. Blood was just blood. This was stronger.

“Okay . . . let’s try,” he whispered in my ear.

“You’re sure?”

He nodded, with his heart stuttering.

I grabbed his wrist and brought it up to my lips and kissed, and he watched me with careful concentration and soft eyes. The light illuminated the side of his face. With one gentle bite, I took in Aaron’s blood and braced for the taste, the disgust and the strangeness of it, but there was nothing but the growing urge to consume more. He was everywhere. Everything. How many ways could I tie myself to him? How far could I go?

He groaned as I drank deeper. Moving his hand to my neck, he threaded his fingers through my hair, silently urging me to keep going. His blood filled a dark place inside me I never knew existed, and now it was whole and bright. I looked up at him, with his blood in my mouth, and he watched me with soft, amber eyes. Completely entranced.

After a few more seconds, he rested his head on my shoulder, moved the hair from my shoulders, and sank his teeth into my neck. I didn’t stop. I didn’t want to.

Every second brought our hearts closer until we were one.

If his blood was poison, then I prayed it would kill me slowly. I wanted the pain to be long and torturous because then it would last. Like ink spilling to page, his blood became my blood. I wanted all the darkness in his veins, even if it knit its way into every cell of my body and left me a dull shade of mauve.

I pulled away, with heat in my cheeks and a burning in my stomach to keep going. “How do you feel?”

The flames of the candles flickered in his eyes, and he moved his thumb over the blood lingering on my lips.

“So unbelievably in love with you.”

I smiled, pulling him into an embrace. He was so warm, my own radiator in the cold night. In seconds, his shirt was off, and I traced the veins on his wrist and kissed his collarbone.

His breath deepened, and I followed that magnetic feeling of his skin on mine. A need burned in my chest for him. For nothing more than to be closer to him. It was a yearning that had been there for ages waiting to be awakened.

I needed him. In silent invitation, he offered me his other wrist. I let my desire burn, and my kiss turned into another bite. My bite compared to his was likely painful, but he didn’t pull away. He pulled me to his chest and threaded his fingers in my hair while I drank.

“Take all you want.” His breath left goose bumps on my skin.

I couldn’t get enough of the warmth filling my throat and finally understood that need.

The ravenous, insatiable beast within that yearned for him just as he did me. How did he ever stand it? How had I denied myself this feeling?

When I pulled away, I wiped the blood running down my chin and let our new reality set in. This is who we were. Together.

He kissed my neck before laying me back onto the sheets. I moaned as his hips pressed into me to give me the pressure I needed and hadn’t yet realized I wanted.