Page 32 of Crimson Bond

“What do you mean?” He huffed a quiet laugh. “Wanting to save your life isn’t enough?”

“Well... I wondered if maybe... I hoped...” I had to stop and take a fortifying breath before continuing. “I hoped that maybe you also wanted to be with me, to spend time together.”

“Abbi...” Reece’s voice held a warning note.

I ignored it.

“Reece—I missed you. So much. The whole time I was away, I could never manage tostopmissing you. I thought of you all the time. I kept thinking I saw you in different places around LA, even though I knew it couldn’t possibly be you. I could never manage the least bit of interest in another guy because I was still so caught up in you.”

“You left easily enough,” he grumbled.

He thought it had been easy for me to leave? I was stunned.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I didn’t want to be separated from you. But Icouldn’tstay—not when you were bound to Imogen for eternity. It hurt too much to see you every day and not be with you. And seeing you with her was...”

The memories were so sickening I couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“I told you I was never with her that way,” he said quietly.

“I know. I know. And selfishly, I’m glad,” I admitted. “But you were never going to be with me that way either—at least not for a few millennia. By that time, I would have gone mad. Being constantly close to you and yet so far removed would have killed me day by day until there was nothing left of me when our time finally came.

“I thought putting physical distance between us would help, but it didn’t. Reece... I loved you too much to stay. I still love you.”

Rustling from the other bed told me he was no longer lying under the sheets but sitting up. In the dimness of the room, I could see him sitting on the edge of his bed, facing me.

“You don’t love me,” he insisted. “Youcan’t.”

16

Not Even You

Reece

My heart thrashed inside my chest, thrown into a frenzy by Abbi’s sweet, terrible confession.

“You can’t love me. I’m Bloodbound.”

“That doesn’t change how I feel,” she insisted.

She’d moved to sit up, staying in her own bed, thank God, but facing me only feet away. I could literally feel her enticing warmth and passion from here.

“It was the pendant—my blood,” I suggested. “I should never have given that to you.”

“That did make me feel close to you—and it saved my life after I was shot—but it’s not what I’m talking about. I do love you. I always have.”

Inappropriate joy warred with justified shame inside me. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew everything I’ve done. You wouldn’t love me—you’d hate me.”

“Are you talking about the people you bit? About turning your family?” she asked. “Reece, I already told you that doesn’t matter to me. No one who understands what it’s like to turn could blame you for that—me least of all.”

She scooted even closer until our knees were nearly touching. “Not only did I turn Josiah, my actions resulted in him wiping out his family. So technically, I’m worse than you are.”

I closed my eyes, letting out a heavy exhale. “That’s not true.”

“Itis.”

She came off the bed and reached for me. I stood, catching her hand in the air, preventing her from touching me or coming any closer. If she did, I’d never be able to get through this.

“No, Abbi. It’s not. You’re not the one to blame for those people’s deaths... I am.”

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