Page 73 of Blade's Battle
Chapter Twelve
ANNA
The past few days had been long, and Anna was exhausted. Blade collapsed onto the bed, without even bothering to remove his boots. His face, tight and pale, gave nothing away.
“Can we discuss this?” she asked, drawing near the bed but hesitating to get too close.
“There’s nothing to discuss. I won’t blood-bond you.”
“But you haven’t explained why. Is it because you’re close to going feral like Damien said?”
“As long as I’m in control, it’s safe to blood-bond. Even for a human. Damien knows this, but he doesn’t believe I can maintain control.”
“Then you still want me?” she asked, afraid to hear the answer.
He pinned her with soft brown eyes. “Oh, Angel. How can you even question that? You’re perfect for me, in every way.”
“Then why turn down the blood-bond? It’s what you want.”
“But not what you want.”
The space between them, all of three feet, felt like an entire universe separating them.
“You’re right. I don’t want that again,” she confessed.
“With me, or with anyone? Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked that.” Blade thrust his hands through his hair as he shot off the bed and paced.
“I care about you,” she said.
He winced. What had she said wrong now?
“How can you be so sure about me, aboutus?” she asked.
He froze in place, only a few feet from her, the fire in his eyes sending a shiver through her.
“From the moment I met you, I was lost,” he began, as he took one decisive step toward her. Her heart sped up.
“Suddenly I had visions of home again, past and future. You calmed me and my wolf, and it felt right, the idea of a future with you. A family to call my own one day. I was caught up in my life, my needs, how blood-bonding you would affect me. But I never once considered how it would affectyou.”
He was upon her now, his hand trailing down her neck to her shoulder, where he ran a finger along her collar bone as if he were entranced. “I never truly understood what you went through with Kurt’s death. I never even stopped to ask you what you feel about the idea of blood-bonding again. Or to find out what you felt for me.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand, and I’m trying to move past it. I really—”
His finger on her lips silenced her. “This is not your world. You don’t belong here any more than I belong in the city. And yet I can’t help but be selfish. I don’t want to lose you, but I won’t put you in danger. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She didn’t, but she wasn’t ready to walk away from him either. Though from what she wasn’t sure. The blood-bond put him at risk, not her.
“I’ll always protect you, Anna,” he said as he claimed her mouth. The kiss was unexpected and decadent. Warm, sultry, and the type of kiss that let a girl lose herself in the sheer feeling of being desired, loved.
“You’re hard to resist,” Blade said as he broke the kiss.
“I never said you needed to resist.”
“Really?” his eyes lit up.
“A little innocent fun is okay.” Yes, she was skirting the issue. Whatever this was between them, it wasn’t love. It couldn’t be. Even if he did love her, she couldn’t love him back. A release of tension. A chance to not feel so alone for a bit. A break from the constant loneliness. Blade was as lonely as her. He’d just said as much.
Her hands glided along his muscular chest even as she sank into the warmth of his arms. His scent, earthy and masculine, pushed past her defenses all-too-easily.
