Page 71 of Dark Flame
I have a billion and one arguments to that statement, but I hold them in, knowing it’ll accomplish nothing.
“Still, this could all be in your head.”
Suddenly, he’s right there, his chest against mine, his fists coming up on either side of my head to trap me in. “I wish it were, but it’s not. The moment I drank more than a few sips, my every thought attuned to you.”
The memories of earlier flit through my mind. The way he went from drinking to throwing himself against a tree and demanding I run away. “That’s why you freaked out.”
“Wouldn’t you?” He turns his face, his nose trailing up my neck as he inhales. My thighs clamp together, logic taking a backseat to desire. “I couldn’t believe what my body was telling me. Still can’t. I was stuck between wanting to rip your head off and wanting to keep you close.”
“You told me to run.”
He lifts his head, seeming almost apologetic when he utters, “I wouldn’t have been able to let you go.”
Well, you will one day.
“You said you wouldn’t hurt me when you almost…you didn’t rape me.”
Flat black meets me, as though offended by the statement. “We’re wired to protect our Brides, but we’re also driven to claim them. Blood and sex, I’ve told you, are key, especially to mates. Sex left my scent all over you so other males know to either stay away or risk death.”
Yeah, that we’ll be getting back to later. A possessive vampire boyfriend isn’t what I signed up for.
“But if you didn’t want it, and I forced you, it would have hurt you, and to hurt you would be like tearing my own head off. It was the loophole you could have used.”
My gaze finds the bed behind him. “You seriously wouldn’t have forced me?”
He shakes his head, his lips thinning into an unsatisfied line.
“What would have happened if we didn’t fuck?”
“Once we find our Bride, we’re compelled to claim them. If we don’t, we’ll go mad until we do.”
“And if I always denied you?”
“Then I would have gone crazy until finally succumbing to death. Waiting would have weakened me. It’d be a slow, painful process, probably taking decades, but at some point, my body would give up.”
Oh.“’Kay, but how do you know all this if Brides are so uncommon? I’m getting the sense you don’t have a handbook on all this.”
Exasperation lines his face, and in this moment, he seems more human than ever. “When you’re around as long as I am, one hears things. Learns things.”
Hm. Well, ideally he learned incorrectly. “And if I don’t want to be your Bride?”
He smiles, but it reminds me of his predatory one from the forest. It’s not friendly or kind. It’s the smile of a winner before snatching his prize. “That’s too bad. When I said you fucked up, I meant it. If you never ran away, I wouldn’t have had to chase, and I wouldn’t have bitten you. I would never have known.”
Is he serious?I cross my arms, pushing them into his rigid chest, trying to gain a few inches of space—and failing. “You’re seriously blamingmefor this? Let’s not victim-blame here, and don’t bite me next time!”
Ignoring my point, he murmurs, “You know how impressed I was when I saw the broken window? Pissed as hell—still am—but impressed. You were inventive, and I’m truly shocked you managed to get to the ground without harming yourself.”
I won’t be telling him that, somehow, magick helped.
He scans my body clinically, ending at my feet before a determined set of his jaw has him saying, “Speaking of, you’re exhausted. Your body went through way too much for someone who’s no stronger than a human.”
Abruptly, the air changes and the door at my back is replaced with the bed again as Alec rests me on it, tucking the blanket over me. There’s a different edge in his eyes, one that solidifies everything he just told me. His movements are gentle, his touch caring. The complete opposite of everything he seemed in the conversation.
Oh, Goddess, help me.I think…I think he’s telling the truth.
“What happens now?” I whisper as he pulls away.
“You stay.”
