Page 33 of Eternally Yours

“Relax, Beastie. I’m messing with you. I have your clothes right here.” He pulled out the bag he’d been hiding behind his back. “Hurry up. We need to talk.”

I ripped the thing out of his grasp and waited for his footsteps to recede before throwing on the first things I could grab. The thong went on. A pair of plaid pajama pants and a tank top came next. Thank you, Cat. Comfy PJs were just what I needed. Now if only there was mint chocolate chip ice-cream in that fridge... Although now that I was a vampire, would I ever enjoy ice-cream again?

I sighed, mentally adding mint chocolate chip ice-cream to the list of things I could never have.

Toweling off my hair, I walked out into the living room. Nic knelt by the fire, which was now roaring to life. The heat caressed my frigid skin, and I almost moaned out loud from the feel of my bones defrosting.

As he threw in another log, he must’ve sensed my presence and turned around. When his gaze settled over me, the heat of the fire was snuffed by the one blazing in his eyes. Was that a twinkle of lust I saw sparkling in those beautiful green pools? Seemed I wasn’t the only one feeling all sorts of unintended emotions. And I didn’t need some magic trick to sense his masculine awareness. I wasn’t wearing a bra, and I was certain he could see the outline of my nipples through my shirt.

Two could play this seduction game.

“What do you need to talk to me about?” I asked with slight trepidation, unsure I could take much more bad news. Without invitation, I moved closer to the hearth, my body reveling in the warmth. Or was it my nearness to Nic that raised my body’s temperature?

His gaze latched onto mine, and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. I giggled internally, secretly enjoying how hard he was trying to avoid looking at my chest.

“Talk to you. About what?” he asked, stammering through his words.

When I raised an eyebrow, silently reminding him he’d summoned me from my shower, he shook his head, and said, “Oh, right. Sorry. Just a bit,” he coughed, “distracted. Anyway.” He sat on the leather sofa facing the fireplace and offered me a seat next to him.

“If we’re going to hang low for a while,” he continued, “we need to establish some ground rules. First, I need you to wear this.” He pulled out a fancy looking digital watch from his pocket. “It’s programmed with the sunrise and sunset for the next few weeks. It’s important you keep this on you at all times. It alerts you every fifteen minutes for the hour leading up to sunrise or sundown.” Taking my wrist, he strapped on the watch and held on as he said, “Loren, you understand what I’m telling you, right? This is life or death I’m talking about.”

I fought rolling my eyes. He was always so intense. Glancing down at the watch, I said, “I already know about the sun hurting me. You really think a watch is going to help?”

“You’re new. Humans don’t normally track sunrise and sunset as part of their daily routine. You may think you don’t need the watch, but the last thing I’d want is for you to get caught out in the wilderness. Lost. Before you know it, the sun starts to rise and you’re without shelter. That’s why you need it. And that’s why you’re keeping it on and never taking it off.” He eyed me with a gaze sharp as blades. It wasn’t a request. “Understand?”

I closed my eyes and shrugged. Did I truly have a choice with this guy? Would he have chained me to the bed if I’d said no?

Never mind that visual.

“Loren.”

“Yes, okay. I understand.” Geez. Pushy much?

“Good,” he said, as if talking to a child. God, I hated when he did that. “Rule number two. You are never to go wandering the woods alone.”

I sprung another mental eye roll. How many different times and ways did he need to say it? He wanted me here, with him, at all times. Could we get on with the rest of his rules?

“How long do we have to stay here?” I asked. “We can’t just hide out forever.”

He sat back on the couch and crossed an ankle over a knee. “Until I can figure this mess out. The Order is after you, and I need to know what they have planned. And when my father gets wind that I sired you, he’s going to want explanations.”

“And what about me?” Before the Order had tried to kidnap me, my only problem had been the bloodlust. Now I also had some kind of genetic mutation to worry about.

“My plan to bring you up here was to protect you from, well, more like protect humans from you. Right now, it’s too dangerous for you to be around mortals. I want to teach you how to control the cravings. How to feed from the bag for sustenance. And how to hunt big game when you can’t stave off the hunger for warm blood.”

I licked my lips, my gaze dropping to the place on his neck where I'd sunk my fangs in before, and my stomach clenched with hunger for what ran through his arteries. And forhim. “We can't just… feed off each other? Like before?” I asked without thinking.

What the heck was wrong with me? Why did I ask that? It was too late to take back, but the pained look on his face made me wish I could.

Eyes shutting, he shook his head. “What we did back at my apartment can’t happen again,” he said, his voice grim. “I should’ve never let you feed from me.”

I blinked to try and mask the wound caused by his words. Despite all his warnings about the bloodbond, he’d seemed to have enjoyed what happened between us. In more than one way, too. I didn't understand.

“That doesn't really answer my question,” I replied, my bruised ego clipping my words.

Pushing to his feet, he ran a nervous hand through his golden-brown hair. “Loren, listen.” He paused, his eyes averting mine. Nic walked to the hearth and leaned an arm against the stonework. “What we did back there was dangerous. Feeding from another vampire is very intimate. It triggers certain feelings. A connection reserved only for those selected to become mated pairs.”

He waited for me to understand the meaning of his words. I tried, but I still couldn’t understand what the big deal was. Even if we did end up mating, what was so wrong with it? Two people could fuck without entanglements. We lived in the 21st century, not the middle ages.

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