Page 173 of Vampires of Eden

He rubs his eyes as the words spill out. “But then everything with Oliver came crashing down and I met you again, here, and all those feelings bubbled back up to the surface—but you hated me, which made me feel even more crazy and ashamed and I just—I never thought that you’d really… Notreally, you know? Maybe some? Like—you said I had pretty eyes and that I was nice to talk to. Which was enough for me! I was happy about that if nothing else. But I didn’t think you’dloveme. Not like this!”

He drops his hands and when he looks at me, there are tears in his eyes.

Feeling sheepish for my unquestionable hand in the history of his internal torment, I gently rest a palm on his thigh. “Well, I do. Love you like this—enough to be bonded with you. To be your mate… Is this why everyone at the estate knew about me?”

“Yes,” he breathes, wiping his eyes. “I didn’t know how to deal with the feelings so I just talked about you to anyone and everyone who’d listen. The running joke was that Oliver was actually my second choice and you were my first. But once my mother got wind of that, she shut itdown. Nobody was allowed to even say your name again—especially not me.”

Well, Lady Victoria Kendrick is not a fan of me. Duly noted.

Lazily caressing his thigh as I sit between his knees, I speaksoftly. “I apologize for making you more insecure about your feelings.”

He shakes his head against the pillow and lifts a hand, waving it dismissively. “We’ve already talked about that, you’re fine. You spent six years in hell with Josefina. It’s a miracle that you didn’t go on a purebred murdering spree in retaliation.”

He’s joking and it does indeed make me smile, but I shift to lie atop his firm body once more. His hands drift up to my lower back in response. I want him to take in and focus on the moment. The bigger picture, so to speak.

“Rabbit?”

“Mm.”

“I’m your mate. Do you get that? Our natures are entwined. Your energy is inside of me, and mine in you. Can you feel it?” The words and truth of our situation sends an electric thrill through me, and as if on cue, a gentle burn resonates behind my irises. I feel them glow and alight as I stare down at my partner. This beautiful purebred that I trust with my heart, mind and essence. My blood, body and safety.

Alexander’s lips part as he inhales, captivated. His eyes alight too, but they’re glassy. Golden and subtly swirled with lilac. Like the radiant and ethereal shift just between night and sunrise.

“Can you feel me?” I ask once more, leaning down and touching my forehead to his.

He blinks and another tear glides from his eye, but he smiles. “I can,” he says. “I do.” One palm strokes up to the center of my back while the other rests at my hip.

Alexander stills and the atmosphere becomes tranquil. The staticky frisson settles between us—comforting and warm and wonderful. It reminds me of a freshly baked cake, all heat and sugar and butter, resting after being removed from an oven.

Quietly, Alexander lifts a hand to brush my hair away from my face as he stares at me, searching. “You said yes to me,” he whispers.

“I did.”

“Your eyes are beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you alright? How do you feel?”

“Excellent,” I say, assessing inwardly. “But it’ll take some time to know for sure, I think.”

He nods, serious. “Okay… if you need to feed, just tell me. I’ll come to you—it doesn’t matter what time it is… Jesus. How—It usually takesmonthsto bond. Sometimes years! How did we… It happened so fast. And we weren’t even trying, were we?”

This baffled vocalized stream of consciousness tickles me. “I was thinking about it,” I say honestly. “I wanted it. When I fed from you, I pulled with intention and your nature responded to me. Rabbit, it isn’t about you just feeding and taking care of me. You have to feed from me now, too. We have to take care of each other.”

Alexander blinks in revelation. “Ah right. Shit. Yeah, of course… Danny?”

“Yes?”

“How the hell are we going to do this?”

With my fingertips, I trace the shape of his lips. The handsome line of his jaw. “It’s already done. We’ll find a way.” We’ve come this far, so I have to believe that this will work. It’s obviously meant to be. I refuse to doubt it.

Our night together was spent in what I’ll forever recall as newly bonded bliss. Once Alexander knew my mind, it was as if something inside of him came undone—a resistance he’d been wrestling with just… slipped away.

We didn’t talk. Somehow, though, we communicated intensely and in a way we never had before. Through unwavering eye contact and subtle, tentative touches and strokes. A soft caress down my thigh was like a question. The arching of my lower spine a response. His kisses felt like periods or commas and my gaspsenthusiastic exclamation points. Our natures sang and twisted together in ecstasy, taking hold and ravaging us until we collapsed over and over again in a sticky and tangled heap.

In the hazy hours of first daylight, we showered together. Sensual and fluidly—gently touching and exploring.