Leo began stalking towards her, his light reaching out to encircle her, pushing Cullen and the others away from her in a possessive, protective display that dazzled her. She backed up, her eyes wide as he kept pace with her, his glowing gaze never leaving her face.
“I vow that from this day forward you shall not walk alone.”
“NO, Leo!” Cullen’s voice cut across the wind, surprisingly clear. “Kaitlynn—”
“My strength is your protection, my heart is your shelter, and my arms are your home.” Leo ignored the Malmayne patriarch, his eyes only for his mate, the hint of Irish brogue telling her exactly how upset he was. “I shall serve you in all of those ways that you require. I pledge to you my living and my dying, each equally in your care.” Ruby could feel his power wrapping around her, leaving her breathless. The warm caress of it was like sunlight on a summer’s day. He reached out with one hand to cup her cheek, his power wrapping around her like a familiar, comforting blanket. That was when she realized it wouldn’t hurt her.
“Yours is the name I whisper at the close of each day and the eyes into which I stare each morning.”
“Stop it, Leo!” Ruby looked to see who had yelled and saw Kaitlynn, her big gray eyes swimming with tears. “You are promised to me!”
Leo ignored the other woman, his gaze never leaving Ruby’s face. “I give you all that is mine to give.
My heart and my soul I pledge to you.” He lifted his other hand to cradle her face between them. “You are my Chosen One.” Kaitlynn cried out, the sound full of despair. “You are my Mate, and you are bound to me for eternity.”
The bands of light surrounding Leo reared back, then speared into Ruby’s body in a rush so dizzying she felt faint. She could feel the joining of their souls as Leo’s magic filled every cell in her body. The rush of power tingled along every part of her, pushing her into one of the most intense orgasms of her life. She
www.samhainpublishing.com
71
Dana Marie Bell
shuddered in his arms, too breathless to scream. When he kissed her it merely added another dimension to the already painful pleasure coursing through her. Darkness washed over her in a rippling tide, pulling her under. The magic gradually left her body, and with it, consciousness.
Leo caught her before she fell very far, scooping her limp form up into his arms with a worried frown.
“Mom!”
“Give her to me, son.” Sean held his arms out and Leo handed his truebond over, knowing his father would die himself before allowing his daughter-in-law to come to harm. He watched his father carry Ruby into the house, ignoring the Malmaynes until the door shut behind them.
With the remnants of the Bonding power still whipping around him he turned to face the Malmaynes.
His slow smile of satisfaction was cold as he and Cullen faced one another. “The ritual is complete, and it’s True. Not even Oberon himself could set it aside.”
He watched Cullen take a deep, shaken breath. Such a powerful bonding was impossible for the other Sidhe lord to deny. “So it would seem.” Cullen turned to Kaitlynn, who hadn’t moved since her aborted attempt to halt Leo’s bonding. “My dear, perhaps you should reconsider Shane.”
Her damp blue eyes turned to her father. “I want Leo.”
Cullen sighed. “Kaitlynn, I’m afraid that’s no longer possible.”
“But I want Leo.”
Leo frowned at the quiet desperation in her voice. Though he didn’t know Kaitlynn well, he did know her. Did she harbor feelings for him he was unaware of? If so, he pitied her. His body, heart, and soul were currently in his parents’ house being tended to by his father.
“Leo is unavailable, obviously.” Cullen ran his hand down her arm, trying to soothe his daughter.
“Shane is not unattractive.”
She yanked her arm away from him. “Shane is a freak. I don’t want Shane. I want Leo.”
Leo bristled at hearing his brother labeled a freak. “Then perhaps you’d be so kind as to return him to us?” He could still hear the brogue in his voice and deliberately coarsened it, thickened it until it rivaled his father’s.
Kaitlynn looked at him, her expression turning to sly calculation. “There are situations in which a truebond and an alliance marriage have been co-arranged. Perhaps we should consider that.”
“No.”
Kaitlynn flinched at the hard finality of his tone. “Why not? It would solve the problem of the marriage contract and give us both what we want.”
“I am bonded already, Kaitlynn. Even if I wished to, my body is bound to Ruby’s. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”
“Unless she wanted you to.”
72
www.samhainpublishing.com
Dare to Believe
Leo stared at her, wondering what in hell was going through her mind now. Ruby would never be willing to share him, even if he was willing to allow it.