Page 49 of Across Shadowed Paths

“We should talk about what happened between us last night.”

Her eyes jumped up to find his fixated on her. Both of them had finally given into the explosive chemistry between them to share a day of blissful release, clutched in each other’s arms and finding physical comfort in their connection.

Even now, Blair wondered if it’d been a mistake.

Kaien stared at her blankly, the man’s obliviousness at her discomfort with the situation glaringly apparent. “What is there to speak of?”

“I don’t want you to get the wrong impression—“

The Raeth cut her off, confused. “We are mates. Why should intimacy give me the wrong impression?”

Exasperated, Blair let her honesty free. “Because I have no intention of becoming your bonded mate, Kaien. As I’ve said, I will never willingly submit myself to the control of another, not even you.”

Though the sentiment stung as she spoke it, nothing could wound her worse than the despondency that floated behind Kaien’s flawless features. His eyes held hers, blinking while he digested her latest rejection of him.

“Whoever said I wanted to control you?” Kaien asked into the quiet space between them, his voice nearly inaudible. “If anything, I only desire to remain close to you. I fell in love with you as you are, not the shadow of who you’d be if I were to put you under my thumb.”

Rendered speechless, Blair was unable to respond to the depth of what he was trying to convey to her.

And then he was looking away, his brow furrowed in such a way that it made him look boyish. Suddenly, all Blair wanted to do was reach out and grasp the strong lines of his jaw and pull his lips to hers, apologizing profusely for causing him such bitter distress.

Even as her hands reached up to claim him, he manifested a shirt onto his torso. Without looking at her, he sucked in a breath and exhaled.

“I’ll find Remmus and apologize.”

His hasty teleport left her bereft, tilting without her axis. Alone once more, she sunk into the comfort of his bed, her hands grasping desperately at the sheets. If this was what she wanted—freedom—why did her solitude suddenly sting? Why did his departure carve a hole in her chest that left her heart twisting at the loss?

Her shoulders sagged. For a vampire who prided herself on letting the wind carry her from destination to destination, Blair was doing a poor job of staying aloof.

She already missed him.

Chapter Nineteen

Kaienteleportedtothefront door of Remmus’ home, feeling oddly disconcerted after his talk with Blair. Though she’d never made secret of her intentions, he thought that something had changed between them—if not last night and this evening, sometime over the last few days.

Rubbing absently at the unsettling ache in his chest, he knocked twice before stepping back. Still wrapped up in thoughts of Blair, he didn’t listen for any approached footsteps and was surprised when the door jerked open to reveal a suspicious Remmus. Given his supernatural nature, all signs of his vicious beating this morning were long gone.

“If you’re here to beat my brains out, I’d prefer to lay down a tarp first,” Remmus jeered good-naturedly. “Grey matter is notoriously difficult to get out of the carpet.”

Kaien cringed, his features pulling together at the recollection of his no-holds-barred assault on the other man just yesterday. “I wanted to apologize.”

A sandy blond eyebrow shot up skeptically. “Well, I did happen to have my paws all over your girl. Which—by the way—I was completely in the dark about. When were you going to tell me you were mating?”

With a jerk of his chin, Remmus motioned him inside. Following the other man into the bachelor pad, he plopped down on the edge of the recliner and idly fiddled with the seam on the seating’s arm.

“It happened quickly.”

“Ya don’t say.” A bemused laugh as Remmus took a swing of coffee. “Do tell.”

Launching into a brief but detailed overview of what’d happened at the cabin and thereafter, Kaien watched as Remmus grew more and more entertained. When Kaien finished the tale, Remmus looked positively smug.

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”

Kaien rolled his eyes and sat back in the recliner, contrite. “I didn’t come here for your commentary, Remmus. I came to—”

“Apologize,” Remmus finished, then waved a hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah. What’s a beating between buds?” He leaned forward conspiratorially; a scheming smirk written across his lips. “When you gonna finish the bond?”

“Blair doesn’t want to finalize the bond.” The words were like gravel in his throat, choking him as they ground out of his mouth.

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