Page 66 of Barbi and the Villain

I squeeze my eyes shut, thinking he’s going to hurt me again to prove a point.

But there is no pain. There is only the sound of material ripping as he pulls on the top of my gown until it tears.

I gasp, instinctively wrapping my arms around myself to keep my top from falling and leaving me naked from the waist up.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I demand sharply.

He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he pulls on his own shirt, buttons flying everywhere as he tears it open to reveal his naked chest.

There, over his heart, is a dark mark that looks as if it has been carved into his flesh with a hot iron. It’s an intricate design comprised mostly of straight lines and sharp angles.

I don’t know what prompts me to lower my arms and look down at my own chest. An identical mark is over my heart, right above my breast. It has the same patterns and the same dark color as if it had been burned into my skin.

And it had, hadn’t it?

The site of the mark has been burning viciously for some time now, but I’d been too caught up in my feelings to investigate.

“What is this?” I whisper, swaying on my feet and feeling a little lightheaded.

“A mating mark,” he responds slowly, angrily.

“A what?”

“It means you are my mate, Barbi. Whether I want it or not, we are bound together now.”

12

“Say that again?” I gawk at him.

“We are?—”

“Stop.” I put my hand up. “You’re not making sense. How would we be mated? Why? I don’t understand. In books, people had to at least sleep together for a mating bond to be triggered, or they had to say some magic words that bound them to someone forever. We did neither. So how the hell are we mated, Nykander?” I demand, throwing my hands in the air.

He grinds his teeth.

“I can assure you this is not what I would have willingly chosen for myself,” he mutters drily.

“Gee, thank you, Nykander. Glad to hear I wasn’t even on your radar.”

“You do not need to take offense. It is simply the truth.” He shrugs.

“But how? How did this happen then?”

“Blood bond.” He purses his lips.

I frown.

“I fed from you in the dungeon, and after you passed out yesterday, you injured yourself, so I gave you a few drops of my blood to heal you. The blood exchange must have triggered the bond,” he explains.

“And does this regularly happen when you exchange blood with someone?”

“No,” he answers darkly. “As a matter of fact, it only happens once in a lifetime, and it is supposed to be a joyous event since very few people are fortunate to find their mate in this vast universe.”

“I am not feeling overly joyous,” I mumble drily.

“Oh, trust me. I am far from joyous either.”

“What do we do then? How can we…unbond?”

---