Page 48 of Eternally Yours

And then? That was a good question. Before the attack, I honestly thought we would be safe in the cabin, at least for a while. I should’ve thought about searching her body for the tracker. And under different circumstances, it would have been the first thing I would’ve done before even leaving the city, but Loren had my mind all screwed up.

When I was around her, I couldn’t think straight. And that was the problem. Our bond had compromised me. It exposed my vulnerabilities. How could I protect her when my instincts weren’t sharp? When I was thinking with my heart and my fucking cock instead of my goddamn head.

It scraped my insides to even contemplate what I was about to tell her, but I had no other option. There was no way to outrun the Order. Not on our own. “I don’t think I can protect you, Loren. Not from the Order. We need to seek refuge inside my coven.”

Her body stiffened, her eyes growing wide. “But you said your father would want us both dead.”

I pushed to my feet and dusted the dirt off my bare legs. “What other choice do we have?” I said. “You’ve seen what those wolves can do. As long as they have our scent, we’re not safe anywhere.”

Loren paced, fists clenched. “How can you be certain your coven will even accept us? Your family will kill you for siring me. You said so yourself. Siring outside the selection process is punishable by death.”

She was right on all accounts, but there was one way to win their favor. I turned from Loren, futilely thinking I could protect her from the dread that clamped down on my heart. “There is one way.”

She sensed it because she rushed toward me and spun me around. “There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t, Loren. The coven has resources I don’t. You think I want this?”

Her mouth opened to argue, but she had nothing to say. As much as she didn’t like the situation we were in, she knew it was the only option we had now. “They’ll never accept me,” she finally said, looking away from me. “I wasn’t supposed to be one of you.”

Stepping forward, I took her into my arms. “They will. If I offer to come back and be the rightful heir in exchange for your safety, they will have no choice but to protect you.”

She looked up, her eyes wet with the onset of tears, heartbreak cracking through our bloodbond. “You’ll have to take another as a bloodmate.”

I held her gaze, wanting her to know I felt the same splintering pain. But I had no other alternative. To save Loren, I’d have to accept the DeLorenzo family princess, Mariellena, as my mate. My father had arranged the union before I was reborn as a vampire.

The DeLorenzo family was humiliated when I refused to be mated to their daughter. And when I brought Elizabeth home instead, the uproar rattled through both covens.

But if there was one thing I was certain of, it was my family’s devotion to tradition and their ancient rituals. A century was no more than the blink of an eye for a vampire. The arrangement was still binding, and uniting two of the most powerful covens in the world would make the families unstoppable.

She cupped my cheek, her soft hand pulling me from the dark abyss of my thoughts. “You don’t have to do this, Nic. I can take the next plane out of here. We’re not far from the Canada border. I can live there until I figure out what to do next with my life.”

“If they found us here, it will only be a matter of time before they track us there.” I pulled away from her, my back muscles spun tight with anger for not being able to protect her. I was a complete failure, and now I had to run back home and beg my father for his help.

The soft touch of her hands on my back sent a balming current through my body, placating the ire stoking inside. “If saving me means I’d lose you to another,” she said, “then I don’t want to live.”

I turned around and found the red glow of her transformed eyes shining brightly. She inched closer. “I want you, Nic. More than your blood or your body.” She placed a palm against my beating heart. “This invisible tether that tugs at me with such force, it connects me to you here. Can you feel it?”

My chest filled with a profound breath, my heart thundering like a raging storm. “Beastie,” I said, caressing her cheek. “I felt it from the moment you saved my life back in that alley.”

After taking her blood, not only had the link between us grown stronger, but the next set of gears had been set in motion. Our bodies wouldn’t find rest until we completed the union. She knew it too. The red glow of her eyes deepened, her desire for me perfuming the air around us.

Resisting her back in the cabin had been a colossal undertaking. Now? Resisting her would be like telling my lungs not to breathe or my heart to stop beating.

She pressed her body close to mine and feathered her lips across my chest, the feel of her soft breasts igniting my male instincts.

“Nic,” she breathed. “This is our moment. Regardless of what happens once we leave this place, no one will be able to take this away from us.”

Her words broke through my defenses, and my resolve faltered. I wrapped my arms around her, my embrace telling her that no matter what, she’d always have me. My heart couldn’t belong to anyone else. I kissed her, my tongue sweeping inside her mouth, feeling the electric flurry circulating between us.

There was no turning back now.

Her body fit perfectly against mine, warm and comforting. I never wanted to let her go. Pulling back slightly, I lifted her shirt up over her head and took in the beauty of her naked breasts. Remembering the nasty bite she’d taken from the wolf, I touched her shoulder.

Soft skin.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, noting the awed expression on my face.

“Nothing. You’re just… remarkable.”

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