Page 45 of Don't Tempt Me (Nora Jacobs 4)

Rook and I lie in bedtogether for a long time—neither of us sleeping, both just relaxing and enjoying the feel of one another. “How does it work?” I ask when I’m finally ready to break the silence. “When Marie bit me, it nearly killed me. Why was tonight different?”

Rook absently runs his fingers up and down my back. “I wasn’t in wolf form,” he says. “It’s only the wolf saliva that is poisonous. In our human form, without the poison overpowering it, the shifter magic is able to do its job.”

I run my fingers over his washboard abs. Even relaxed, his body is firm. “And what, exactly, does it do? I swear I can feel your heart beating in sync with mine.”

“That’s because it is. The magic fused our souls together. It created a bond only breakable by death. We may be two separate people, but now we are also one.”

I take a moment to process this. We share a soul. It’s almost impossible to wrap my mind around, and yet, I can feel exactly what he means.

Rook breaks the silence with a question of his own. “How does it feel to you? I mean, you already have a fey mate. Can you feel Charlie anymore? Do you feel us both?”

I rub my hand over my chest. “Yes. I feel you both. I have a physical connection to Charlie. It’s like we’re linked. I feel him—his emotions, his physical presence. For instance, I’m pretty sure he’s sitting right outside our door.”

“What?”Rook sits up, glaring at the door. He throws the blankets off us like he’s about to storm across the room and slam open the door.

I laugh and pull him back down. “Relax.”

“That’s creepy.”

I laugh again. “I don’t think he means to be creepy. He can just feel how content I am. How happy. It makes him want to be near me. But he’s giving us our privacy, and he’s being patient.”

Rook grumbles, but he relaxes and pulls me against him again. He tangles his fingers in my hair.

“I feel you differently,” I continue, closing my eyes as he massages my scalp. It feels so good I barely suppress a moan.

“Different how?”

I sigh, content. “My link to Charlie is physical, but my bond with you is different. I feel you not physically, but on a soul deep level. I can’t separate us anymore. You just feel like…part of me.”

Rook thinks for a moment. He glances toward the bedroom door and then sighs. “I guess I can live with that.”

I smile and give him a soft kiss. “Thank you. I know this isn’t the relationship you wanted, but I promise I am always yours. I might be theirs, too, but I am still yours. Always. Forever.”

Rook sighs. “I’ll learn to deal with it. My wolf has already settled down a ton thanks to the bond. He doesn’t fear losing you to them. He can feel that you’re ours.”

“Good.”

Rook squeezes me in a tight hug and rests his cheek on top of my head. “And even having to share you, being with you is worth it. I’m complete again. I never imagined that would be possible.”

“How do you mean?” I ask.

“Think about how you feel right now. How you can’t really tell where you end and I begin. Imagine if our bond was broken and I was suddenly ripped apart from you.”

When he puts it like that, I’m horrified. “I can’t imagine it.”

Rook grips me tightly again. “It was as bad as you’re thinking when I lost Lily,” he admits in a far away voice. “Most wolves don’t survive it. Physically, they do, but they can’t live without their mates and never last long after losing them.”

I swallow back a huge lump in my throat and hold Rook just a little tighter. “How did you manage it?”

“Wulf,” he admits. “My brother needed me. We lost our parents in that same battle. I was all he had left, and I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him all alone. I went through a horrible depression, but Wulf got me through it, and I somehow managed to learn to live my life without her. But it was a hollow life. A part of me was always just going through the motions. Until I met you. It happened gradually, but it was like you slowly woke my wolf up. You gave me purpose again.” His voice cracks, becomes husky with emotion. “I will take you however I can get you, and I will be happy. You have my word on that.”

His promise lifts a weight off my chest that I didn’t realize I was carrying. “Thank you, Rook.”

“I love you, Nora. With everything I have in me.”

“Me too, Rook. I love you with all my heart.”

Just then, the door opens and both Charlie and Ren come bursting into the room.

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