Page 81 of Bound in Blood

OPHELIA

“You smell so good, princess.” Axl trails his lips down my neck as he pins my wrists on either side of my head.

I giggle, squirming against his grip, trapped between him and the floor. “You’re supposed to be teaching me to fight.”

My protest was feeble at best, and his hand snakes under the hem of my sundress. “So fight me, princess.”

“Ophelia.” Alexandros’s deep voice makes Axl and me bolt upright. Am I in trouble?

He sounds mad, I say to Axl, who mumbles his agreement as we both quickly jump to our feet.

Alexandros arches an eyebrow. “I can hear you.”

I press my lips together and watch him stride purposefully through the room before he takes a seat, and we do the same. “Where are Xavier and Malachi?”

“Hunting,” Axl replies.

Alexandros hums, sucking on his top lip. “I suppose we will tell them later.”

I scooch off Axl’s lap and sink onto the sofa cushion beside him. “Tell them what?”

His dark eyes narrow on my face. “Have you ever met Lucian before you saw him in the cave that day?”

I shake my head. “No.”

He frowns. “Think carefully, Ophelia. This is important.”

“I don’t need to think. I have never met him. I mean, I think I’d remember if I did. He’s kind of…” I chew on my lip.

“If you say he’s hot, I will spank your ass, princess.” Axl’s growl contains only a hint of playfulness.

I roll my eyes. “I was going to say he’s intense.”

“Can we focus, children?” Alexandros barks, and Axl and I turn our attention back to him. I sink farther into the sofa. What have I done to make him think I’m hiding something about Lucian?

He pinches the spot between his brows and sighs. “I am sorry. But I spoke with Lucian a moment ago, and he told me you and he have met many times before.”

“I really don’t remember if we did. Maybe I was too young to remember?” I offer. But why would Lucian lie about that, and why does Alexandros seem so mad at me because of it?

“He also said he tasted your blood.”

The room falls awkwardly silent, and both Axl and Alexandros stare at me. “He has never tasted my blood, I swear!”

Axl snarls. “Fucker.”

Alexandros runs a hand over his beard. “It is possible he made you forget afterward, but I am sure I would have detected his scent if he had ever bitten you before, no matter how long ago it was.”

“And wouldn’t he have had to bond with Ophelia? Or he would’ve gotten sick like I did, right?” Axl asks.

“Not if he tasted Ophelia’s blood before her first menstrual cycle. Elementai cannot be bonded with until they come of age. An evolutionary tactic to prevent babies and children from being bonded for life.”

Ugh! I was twelve when I got my first period. Hardly of age. But I have more pressing matters to deal with. I feel confused and angry and like I’m being accused of something I didn’t do. “I have no idea what the hell he did to me or whether he used his vampire Jedi mind tricks on me afterward, but I am telling you that as far as I am aware, the first time I met him was in that cave in Peru!” I seethe, my breathing growing heavier.

Alexandros walks around the coffee table and sits beside me. After taking my hand in his, he dusts his lips over my knuckles. “I am not accusing you of anything, little one. Nor am I angry with you. But it is an alarming development.”

“Can’t believe he fucking tasted you,” Axl grumbles.

I shove him in the arm. “Hey, jerkwad. It wasn’t like I asked him to.”

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