Page 81 of Vows Forged in Blood

Arwan Clayburn stands behind his daughters, smiling widely, his green eyes, so like Dahlia’s, shining with tears. He catches my eye and inclines his head and I return the gesture. I will never be able to properly thank this man for giving me the most precious thing in my life.

Dahlia finally breaks away from her sister, holding her at arms’ length to look her over for a moment before turning to her father. The two share a look before he gathers her up into his arms.

“Ah, I’ve missed ye, my wee firebrand,” he whispers into her hair.

Enid is still grinning but it falters slightly when she glances my way. She dips into a curtsey, bowing her head in respect. When she straightens, I incline my head and smile at her. Blood floods her cheeks, blushing just the way Dahlia does. They don’t look very much alike save that blush, but the girl is beautiful to be sure. Her eyes are a deep brown with striations of warm amber, her hair long and almost the same shade of chocolate as her eyes. She’s more pixie-like than Dahlia, her features more delicate. She has an overall gentler air about her than her sister, and I don’t know if that’s just her natural disposition, if it’s a residual effect of her bout of illness from her childhood, or if she chose to be more reserved to counteract Dahlia’s fiery personality. Perhaps I’ll learn during this visit.

The others come into the entry then, and Enid’s gaze slides from me to just over my left shoulder, her eyes lighting up in excitement.

“Wesley!?” she exclaims as the vampire sprints over and picks her up, twirling her around and making her laugh. Nova, Takara, Malcom, Viktor, and Cyrus walk over and a flurry of introductions happen all at once, everyone talking over each other.

Elias steps up beside me, having just come back into the room and hands me a glass.

“Thought you could use a?—”

He cuts off with a gasp and his glass slips from his fingers. I react far quicker than anyone else in the room could have thanks to all of Dahlia’s blood still running through my system, and catch it before it shatters. I straighten, brows furrowed.

“What the hells, Elias?” He’s staring as if he’s mesmerized, as a blind man might stare at a sunset for the first time after regaining his sight—directly at Enid. I look between him and Dahlia’s sister, listening to the thundering of his heart, see the lengthening of his fangs, and realization dawns. “No…” I breathe, incredulous.

Elias swallows hard, blinking rapidly as if trying to clear his vision, as if he thinks that what he’s seeing before him must surely be a lie.

“My gods, what is it about this fucking family?...” I mutter. Are human mates becoming common? Is it justthisparticular bloodline? Are the Clayburns special in some way that we don’t understand? Halfling children between vampires and humans are said to be impossible but…maybe that’s not completely true either. Maybe there was a vampire ancestor somewhere in Dahlia’s line.

I have no real answers, but I do know that there is no doubt that my best friend has just found his mate.

“I…I don’t…” Elias stammers. Fuckingstammers. I have never seen this man anything even approaching flustered in all of our almost four hundred years and now he looks down right panicked. He turns to me, wild-eyed. “What the fuck do I do, Alaric??”

Dahlia turns to me then, smiling through tears of happiness and I know she expects me to join in the celebration.

I turn to Elias and say quietly, “for now, we entertain our guests.” I squeeze his shoulder. “Focus on your control, brother. All will be well,” I say, smirking, repeating his words to me from all those months ago when he so casually insisted everything would turn out alright for Dahlia and me.

“Seven hells…” he says on a rough exhale, but I can see him calling on his training, on the quiet and often underestimated strength he possesses. He runs a hand through his hair and then we stride over to join in the introductions.

“Mate? You cannot be serious!”Dahlia says as she steps into the tub, a soft moan escaping her lips as she slides into the hot water. Steam and the scent of ice lilies fill the air, and I lock my muscles into place as I watch her sink beneath the soft layer of bubbles coating the surface of the bath. With all of the visitors and Dahlia wanting to spend much deserved time with her sister and father after so many months apart, we haven’t had much time together in days. It feels like years. Centuries. Eons. I don’t mind the time with our friends—because, yes, somehow they’ve become mine as well—and family, as strange a group as they are, but I’ve missed my mate desperately.

“Does the news bother you?” I ask, watching her like a hawk as she glides through the water towards me. Her hair is piled high on her head, soft droplets of water beading on her delicate, exposed throat. I clench my jaw and dig my claws into the stone back of the tub where my arms are spread wide.

She purses her lips, considering the question. “No, I suppose it doesn’t. I love Elias and I know for a fact that you lot can control yourselves around your mates now,” she says with a sultry grin, “but…” Her brow furrows.

“What is it?” I ask as she finally reaches me, settling on to the low submerged bench beside me and throwing her legs over my lap. I stroke her soft skin, and even this small contact sends shocks of pleasure rippling through my body. She shivers and I know that she hasn’t been unaffected by the break from our bed.

“Well, she’s practically engaged to another man, for starters, and Enid takes her promises very seriously. If she’s made them to Leland, it won’t be easy for her to break them…” Her lips curl up. “Though I have a feeling Elias can beveryconvincing when he wants to be.”

I laugh lightly. “You have no idea. He once convinced an entire blood house to…actually, you don’t want to know.”

She grins. “I'll have that story one day." Then she looks thoughtful. "If their bond is anything like ours, Enid must be feeling things towards Elias already as well…and if he makes her happy, then that's all that matters to me. She might have made promises to Leland, but between you and me, I know she was settling and doesn't particularly love the man."

"If their bond is anything like ours," I say, reaching out to brush a stray hair from her temple, "then he will stop at nothing to see her happy in all ways." She gives me a soft smile and then purses her lips.

“How will that even work? He can’t just run off to Astoria’s Keep and be with her, he has lots of responsibilities serving under a tyrannical warlord…” She yelps and giggles when I pull her over my lap, settling her thighs on either side of my hips. She hisses in a breath and wraps her arms around my shoulders.

“Tyrannical warlord, am I?” I demand, freeing her hair from its knot and wrapping the long strands around my wrist, using the hold to pull her head back, exposing her throat. I lean in and kiss her neck, licking and grazing my fangs along her skin, slowly teasing her until she’s digging her nails into my shoulders and gasping.

“Absolute slave driver, I’ve heard,” she whispers between soft, panting breaths.

“Hmm,” I rumble, reaching between us and quickly thrusting two fingers inside her. She moans loudly, bucking her hips against my hand, begging for me.

“Do you…think that…ah gods,don’t stop,” she rasps, “do you think that…Elias will be…as stubborn as you were…?” She slowly rocks her hips in time with the slow, deliberate thrusts of my fingers. A wicked idea has been brewing in my head for days and now it’s time to put it into motion.

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