Page 84 of Bonded By Blood

“Brianna?” Joe called her name quietly, carefully, as she pulled him into her room and shut the door.

Brianna said nothing until she’d tugged him down beside her on the sofa along the far side of her room. She kept hold of his hand, laced his fingers with hers, and bowed her head as she searched for words. How was she supposed to ask this question? She’d given up, for so long—

Joe tipped her chin up with his free hand and offered her a gentle smile. “What can I do?”

Her throat constricted and her heart swelled. “Tell me,” she said on a whisper. “Tell me you meant it.”

He stared at her for a second. His Adam’s apple bobbed with a swallow. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers in a slow, firm kiss. When he pulled back, his hand on her cheek, he said, “I’m sorry it came out like that. I never imagined that’d be how I declare my feelings for a woman, but life does enjoy its curve balls, I guess.” His lips kicked up at the edges and he bumped his forehead against hers. “I did mean it, Brianna. I do mean it. I’ve fallen in love with you.”

Tears burned behind her eyes. Twice—he’d said it twice. She smiled. “I thought I’d given up,” she said. “On love, on romance, on all of it.” She pulled her hand from his and buried her fingers in his thick, dark hair. “I need you to understand, Joe, it’s always gone bad for me. I think I find that thing that people talk about, and then instead, at the crucial moment, he tries to kill me. Or betrays me some other way. I’ve never really been more than some meaningless lay or a path to power.”

His eyes flashed, but he didn’t yell when he spoke. He cupped her face and held her gaze, and though he spoke with intensity, his voice was quiet. “Listen to me, Brianna. If I didn’t care, I would’ve just run away tonight and not looked back. If I wanted power, well, hell, Tobias helped me out with that, didn’t he? I’m immortal now, thanks to him, and I didn’t have to ask you for anything.” He wasn’t wrong on either point, and since he obviously knew that, he didn’t wait for her to respond. “I don’t need you to give me an answer tonight. Take time if you need time.” His expression softened. “Of course, I’ve actually only got two weeks, but hopefully that’s enough.”

Amusement bubbled inside her and Brianna felt her lips twitch. She removed her hands from his hair, pulled his from her face, and sat a little straighter. “I don’t need time to know how I feel.” She felt nerves build up inside her that she hadn’t felt in a long time. It wasn’t the same kind of nervous energy as what she’d felt earlier, when she’d been worried for his and Kendall’s survival. She hadn’t been worried for herself then. She licked her lips and squeezed his hands. “What I need,” she said, hoping the words would come out properly, “is to know how you feel about … Bonding?”

Joe stared at her. “Bonding?” He repeated the word with surprise, not unfamiliarity. Surely, in all his queries into their world, he’d learned of the concept. He grinned at her. “I suppose I’ve always thought the concept was … beautiful. In the abstract, intangible way I imagine most girls feel about fairytales.”

Brianna giggled, bowing her head for a moment to let her laughter linger.

“But,” Joe said, “if you’re asking me if I’m interested, or opposed, well, I don’t think that’s fair. Since you won’t even tell me how you feel about me yet.”

Brianna let out a breath and lifted her head properly. He was right. She’d wanted to protect herself, as much as she could, and skip the part where she made herself vulnerable until she knew whether or not it would hurt. But after everything he’d done, and all the trust he’d shown her, that wasn’t fair of her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “You didn’t deserve that.”

He pulled his hands from her loose hold and wrapped his arms around her, pressing his lips into her hair. “All’s fair in love and war, right?”

“That’s not actually true, you know,” she murmured against his shoulder. She wound her arms around his neck and let herself stay there. “I do love you, Joseph Pearce. Please know that.”

He brushed his lips against the exposed curve of her throat, his arms tightening around her. His lips and tongue trailed up to the edge of her jaw before he spoke again. “I’ll stay, if I get to stay with you. I want to spend my new immortal life with you, Brianna.”

A tear slipped down her cheek and she closed her eyes. The scent of him filled her, reminding her that he probably wouldn’t mind a clean change of clothes. It’d been such a chaotic night, and now, to end it with this conversation of all things. She couldn’t believe the turn of events. But the words slipped from her lips all the same. “Will you Bond with me, Joe?”

Vampires could marry, it was true, and those marriages were about as successful in any way as the typical human marriage. They were also about as binding. Perhaps even less, considering the average vampire’s dislike for paperwork.

A Bond was so much more. A Bond was something that could only be forged between two consenting vampires, and, as the word implied, it bound them. For eternity. Or at least, for their eternity. They could not outlive each other, nor could they lose each other. An incentive on every vampire’s part to behave, or risk their enemy taking a terrible revenge. Bonds were sacred among the vampire community, and not offered lightly. The idea of being bound forever to another, and to know that no matter where in the world one went, their Bond-mate could always find them, was a heavy thing. So heavy that some—many, even—had simply forsworn the notion altogether.

Brianna held her breath as her question hung in the air.

“Bri … are you sure?” Joe leaned back as he spoke and looked into her eyes again, searching.

She couldn’t blame him for his surprise. So she smiled softly and held his gaze as she said, “I’m certain. You make me happy, and my life feels so much fuller with you in it. I’ve lived a long time, Joe, and I’ve learned it’s astoundingly hard to find that combination in one person. Particularly in one willing romantic partner.”

He chuckled quietly, his shoulders shaking, and his expression softened. “Are you even allowed to Bond?”

He might have been joking, but Brianna opted to answer him anyway. In case he wasn’t. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do have that freedom.” She curled her fingers into the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer. “Mother and I agreed long ago not to interfere with each other, if one of us believed we found the right partner. She gave me her word.”

Joe smiled and brushed a whisper of a kiss over her lips. “Then let’s put it to the test. I accept.”

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