I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I cast a glance around me as if searching for the unspoken answer.
I had called Lena earlier, but she’d been busy with her store and only had time to scold me for acting impulsively. Lena had used some pretty colorful language to describe our actions. “Loss of control is your undoing every time. It’s all about security, Alexa, mental shields. I can’t stress that enough.”
Lena added that the real problem wasn’t the power itself. We’d bonded. We’d joined on a metaphysical level, which could last forever or until one of us was dead.
“What do you mean bonded?” Arys’s reply sounded similar to the one that I’d given Lena.
“We didn’t just call power. We bonded our own personal powers which created something else entirely. Some of this is never going away.” Why did I feel so insulted by the suspicious look he wore?
“How bad is it really?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged and cast a glance around his country-style kitchen. It didn’t look lived in enough. “I guess we find out.”
“Well damn. I bet you could take down a lot of vampires with that tactic.”
“What the hell are you saying, Arys? That I did this on purpose?” I took a step toward him, and he stood his ground.
Staring down his nose at me with those steely blue eyes, I remained unflinching under his predatory stare. It was my stare.
“The thought crossed my mind,” he admitted. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for you forever and this is just too good to be true. I still want you though.”
His admission was shocking. I went on as if he hadn’t said that, but the pressure inside me was beginning to strip away my control. I couldn’t be here. I had a meeting.
“There is a plus side to this,” I stammered. “Lena said we should be able to call on each other’s power now, like vampires can when they create a blood bond.”
A vampire formed a blood bond at siring, by draining a human to the point of death then feeding the dark blood in return. However, two totally unrelated vampires could share blood. The bond would let them access one another’s thoughts and power whether together or apart. Vampires never created a blood bond lightly.
“We didn’t exchange blood. I took yours, you didn’t take mine.” His gaze dropped to my throat, and I felt my breath catch. My stomach knotted at the memory. He licked his lips, and I knew he was remembering the taste of me.
“I know, but I still took your power.” My head began to cloud with the energy surrounding us. “I’ve got to get out of here. I have a meeting I’m going to be late for.”
I turned to go, and his hand on my arm made me pause. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer: Please, no temptation. The need to writhe naked in his arms was overpowering me.
“Will I see you tonight?” His hypnotic gaze stared into me, and my knees went weak. I knew what he was really asking. But, it was just power. There was no love behind it.
“Why did you tell Shaz?” The words spilled out of my mouth before I could catch them. I hadn’t really meant to ask.
“How could I not? He found me eating a dog on the side of the road.” Point for him, he had me there. I was just pissed about Shaz finding out from somebody else.
“Just forget it. It doesn’t matter.” I turned to go before he could lure me any farther into the house. “Did you get cleaned up, ok?”
Arys ignored my attempt at casual conversation. He reached around me and opened the front door. Before I could escape, he drew me into a warm embrace and just held me for a long moment.
I feared it would stoke the fire between us, but it didn’t. The embrace was a need that my wolf could not deny.
Arys had a renewed sense of loss and longing that had not been there before. Gently, I disengaged myself from him and touched his cheek. With the barest touch of my lips on his, I turned to go.
After I left Arys’s place, an unexpected flow of hot, guilt ridden tears seized me. I wiped my eyes and knew my mascara had run down my face. Son of a bitch. The last thing I wanted to do was walk into the office all cry–eyed. I’d either get questioned or comforted, or both. I dreaded the thought.
I had this nagging guilt that I couldn’t shake. I had to put my personal life aside. This was time to be professional. Or, as professional as one can be when getting paid to hunt and kill things.
Jez got out of her Jeep as I pulled into the small parking lot. She paused and waited for me to park. Her gold curls were tied up in a high ponytail atop her head, and she wore little makeup. She didn’t need much. She was stunning. I was momentarily envious of how great her long legs looked in blue jeans.
“How’s it going?” She greeted me as she puffed quickly on a cigarette.
“That shit will kill you,” I replied, sounding more like Kale than myself.
“So I hear.” She ground the butt into the driveway with her heel and followed me inside.