Page 60 of Bound in Blood

“Come here.” His tone is low and commanding, and if not for the fact that he appears more serene than I recall ever seeing him, I would be convinced I’m in some kind of trouble.

I obey him without question, and he spins on his stool so when I reach him, I’m standing in front of him. “Closer,” he orders.

I step between his spread thighs, and the sides of my bare knees brush against the linen pants he’s wearing. He must have rustled them up from one of the closets. My heart is hammering against my ribcage, and adrenaline courses through my veins.He’s going to put our bond back in place, and I’m excited and nervous in a way I’m not used to. So much so, my entire body is trembling in anticipation.

“A kitchen is not the ideal place for this. Would you like to go somewhere more private?”

I shake my head, eager to get this done with so we can get back to the way we were before. I’m not entirely myself when he’s not a part of me. Our bond was—no,isa huge part of who I am. Without it, I am somehow less whole. “Here is good.”

His lips curve into a smile. “You are always so sure of me, Malachi.” He traces a fingertip over the pulse in my neck. “The most sensitive soul I have ever turned.”

My instinctive growl surprises me, but it makes his smile grow wider. “That is not the insult you believe it to be. My daughter Alyria was sweet and sensitive too. She loved horses. Would rather spend time with them than most people she knew. I saw her in you the day I found you.”

Sadness and shame form a thick knot in my throat. I had my service revolver and one bullet with me, and I rode out of town on Mabel, my beloved mare, intending to go to the woods where there would be nobody to stop me from taking my own life. Plagued by memories of my fallen comrades being blown to pieces, of the pleas in their dying eyes as they clung to me, I couldn’t stand to live a day longer. Until Mabel stepped in a hole and broke her leg.

Her pained whinnies as she lay on the ground tore a hole in my heart, and I couldn’t bear to leave her to suffer. So I offered her all I had left to give—my single bullet. When he found me, I was weeping over her still-warm corpse.

“That is nothing to feel ashamed of, Malachi.” His voice is gentle and soothing, and I close my eyes, letting it wash over me. “Horses are loyal creatures. They have served man, vampire,witch, and demon for as long as anyone can recall. Perhaps she gave her life so that I might find you.”

That thought brings me comfort. “So you could save me?”

He skims my throat with his fangs, and a shiver runs down my spine. “Or perhaps so that you could save me.”

Before I can ask him what he means, his teeth pierce my skin and I’m hit by a blinding, breath-stealing wave of pure ecstasy. My knees buckle, but he holds me up, enveloped in his tight embrace. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and cling to him. I’m lost to the whole moment, aware that I’m whimpering like a puppy but unable to care. And right as the euphoria hits its peak, then comes the lightning. Raw and powerful, it races through my bloodstream, lighting me up from the inside. And I feel invincible. A wolf instead of a puppy now, I tip my head back and roar his name.

Yes, Malachi. Take back what is yours.His voice resounds within my head, and I sag in his arms, relief and the last flickering embers of ecstasy fizzling through me.

When he’s done feeding, he gently suckles the wound on my neck until it’s fully healed.

I missed you so much, I tell him.

He cradles me in his arms, the same way he did he when he found me over a century ago.I missed you too. More than you will ever know.

After I open my eyes, I find the strength to stand on my own two feet again. “What did you mean before, about me saving you?”

His eyes narrow, and he brushes the backs of his knuckles over my cheek. “I always loved Xavier and Axl in my own way, Malachi. But it was not until I found and turned you, a boy who sacrificed the only thing he had to end the suffering of his beloved horse, that I was able to recall that such pure selflessness exists in this world. You allowed that part of myheart to beat again, Malachi. Even if it did not beat with the strength it should, it was you who reminded me it was still there. You are one of the most incredible souls I have ever known, and I thank all the stars in the universe and all the demons in the netherworld that I found you.”

Fuck, I’m gonna cry. In fact, I already am. He brushes away the tear that drips down my cheek.

“Shit!” Xavier’s voice is a welcome reprieve from the intensity of the moment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was?—”

“It is okay, Xavier. Malachi and I have recemented our bond.”

Xavier flashes me a smile that makes his blue eyes sparkle. “Yeah?”

I mirror his grin and step out of the professor’s embrace. “Yeah. Get over here.”

He saunters over, flicking his dark hair out of his eyes, and wraps me in a bear hug. He smells of sex and Ophelia. And Alexandros. A slightly surprising, if not entirely unexpected, development. The sexual tension between those two had to give at some point.

Xavier slides his hand into my boxers and squeezes my ass hard as he trails his lips over my neck. Goosebumps skitter along my forearms, and I groan. He’s such a fucking tease.

Alexandros pushes back his stool. “Do either of you know where Axl is?”

I shake my head. “Haven’t seen him since he dropped the groceries off a little while ago.”

Hey, bro, where are you?Xavier asks.Alexandros is looking for you.

Outis his clipped reply.

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