Page 51 of Taken By the Vampires
“Otherwise?” I asked. I knew there was a “but”. I needed to know how big that “but” would be.
“Otherwise all our souls will be lost forever. We will simply…cease to be,” Davon said.
“However, we will ensure that the sharing of blood will be a very…exciting…experience for you, Ella,” Xander said.
I glanced at his sensual lips, the peak of white just at the edges. His lips curved with a humorless, almost feral smile. A deep throb pulsed through me. I was scared out of my wits. Faced with an impossible decision, and yet…and yet I still responded to that smile.
I realized with a start that it was…sexy. That they all were sexy. That despite the shock of my life, I wanted them. I wanted them all.
If it were a simple decision, I might merely offer my vein and my blood. Set them free. I could end their curse. Right the wrong of my distant relation. But at what price?
I would be linked to them. Tethered to them for the rest of my life by a bond that was based on magic, a kind I had no idea about. But was that enough?
Despite the fact they were Vampires, we were largely strangers. This bond was “end-of-days” material. Could our lives be linked through nothing more than a magical bond and sexual compatibility? If I listened closely enough to my body, there was an underlying awareness of them. Need. Arousal.Desire. I tried to block out the fact that I wanted them, even now. My body yearned for their touch, their attention. That wewereindeed somehow connected and that I had acted on that connection, exploring that darker side of my sexuality based on it.
And I’d loved it.
But I had hopes that one day, one distant day, that I’d find a life with someone based on love. We’d settle down together and be happy to live our lives to the end based on that love. This bond would force us together. A loveless bond based on magic that would alter all of us.
“You feel us, Ella. You know how we’ve felt since the moment we first laid eyes on you,” Cassius said.
I focused and a simmering awareness flared with intent and…I didn’t know what. I couldn’t name it, but it made me want to weep and smile at the same time. Or maybe I was so traumatized that this could all be one big nightmare from which I couldn’t wake up. My emotions were all over the place. Up and down and inside out, tangled in one big mess.
My gaze bounced between all three of them. Unsure. So, so unsure.
“You feel us, Ella. We know you do. We can tell you how we feel about you, but the bond doesn’t lie. It is a soul connection, formed even before birth. It is a connection that is older and more ancient than time itself, created by the masters from which we are only children. It can only bind those who are right for each other down to the very molecules of their mind, bodies and souls.
“Our souls recognized yours because we knew for what we searched. Knew that you are our greatest joy. Our reason to live. Our purpose. Our dream come true.
“We share love. We already feel it, but you are so young. So new. You don’t know of our culture. Even though you are a witch, it’s clear things have been kept from you, whether you know that or not.
“You feel something that is unnamed, and that feeling is the deepest form of love. That is the love that builds worlds and makes civilizations great. And it’s yours, freely given and freely received. If only you would reach out and accept it.
“That is why you’re priceless. We would do anything...anything…to complete the bond. Not just to beak the curse, but because you would give us something much more precious.
“Once you do, you’ll know the bond in all its glory. You’ll know how much we love you. You’ll know that we were already deeply in love before we’d even met. Just meeting you has nothing to do with this type of connection. This is beyond being strangers. That we have just met is irrelevant. A soul connection doesn’t ever need an introduction. It is timeless. Beyond life and death. It justis.
“What we share is the rarest of gifts. You’ll understand everything, but right now you need to trust us, Ella. Trust us because it is true. It is real. It is here. All you have to do it say yes. Recognize it. Recognizeus.”
It was the longest speech Xander had given and there was power behind those words. Ifeltthem. They resonated with my soul and called to it on a level I never knew existed.
All I had to do was touch it and let myself feel it. Acknowledge it. I deeply inhaled a ragged breath but no answer came to mind.
I didn’t know if I could. I still didn’t understand. I liked them. I’d shared my body with them, and by God it had been the best experience I’d ever had in my life.
But to believe that the bond was more than love? People took years to meet someone, get to know them and fall in love. Even then, it was no guarantee things would work out. That mere strangers could commit themselves to each other until the end of time.
Did I trust them? Could I surrender to something that might be a total fable? Could I agree and throw away the rest of my life if things turned sour? This bond seemed a one-way proposition. Did I have faith in a higher power that might bestow something so tantalizing as never-ending love?
I didn’t know. I just didn’t know.
Chapter Thirty Six
They waited for me as my mind pin wheeled, grappling with some sort of logical argument to sort out the tangle of my mind.
They were Vampires. Stronger. Faster. Apparently my fated mates. Beings that could cure a human with a simple bite. Cursed by a witch who happened to be my distant relative.
They’d been coerced into curing a man with whom they had no connection. Their gift was astounding. They’d cured me.Savedme. They’d freely offered their blood. Wanted to help me.
