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“What is your future but a secret, Thea?” A cryptic smile danced on her face. “When you’re ready to learn the truth, find me.”
“What do you want? Why did you come back?” He angled his head to my ear. It was the only thing I had to give him and the last thing I should ever trust him with. “You,” he murmured. “I came back for my mate.”
“Let’s be clear.” She jammed a finger into my chest. “You aren’t my husband.” I nodded, then added, “Yet.”
“My blood. My body. It belongs to my mate. It belongs to you. Now claim it.”
“I think it means I belong to you,” he corrected me. His voice dropped so low that it scraped a red-hot line between my legs as he added, “Because my marks on you are the hottest thing I’ve seen in my nine hundred years.”
“I love watching you suck me off.” He traced a finger down my backside into my seam. Then slowly, he pushed it inside me. I gasped, the sound smothered. “You’re almost as wet now as you were when I had my fangs in you.”
began to softly clap. “You weren’t lying, MacLeod,” she said to my mentor. “She has a true gift.” The last word lingered on her tongue, and a warning thrill shot up my neck. I swallowed and pushed the unnerving sensation to the back of my mind. “Thank you. I’m honored.”
“I meant what I said.” Her nostrils flared slightly as she studied me. “Your performance was…magical.”
“Sorry. I have overly developed senses,” she said, not sounding apologetic in the least. “It helps with the music, but you already know that.” “What do I know?” I asked. Her eyes narrowed, and then she laughed softly. “That’s why I didn’t notice until you played. It’s all there, though. I can hear it singing in its sleep.” It took effort to force a response. I only managed a single word. “What?” Her answering smile terrified me.
“Maybe not.” She shrugged her leather tote higher onto her shoulder. “But there’s magic in you, and if there’s magic in you, it has to come out.” “I thought magic was gone.” “Yes. No. It’s not what it once was. True magic is rare, but it sleeps in the veins.”
“Human?” She giggled at me. “You’re not human, honey.” “But…I’m…not…a…witch.” I forced each word out. “You said…” “I said maybe not,” she corrected me. “You obviously have no magical ties, or you would know. Your mother would have told you. But I think you are right. I don’t think you’re a witch. It doesn’t feel right.”
“It’s possible you aren’t something new. Maybe you are something forgotten.”
I kept my hand on his chest, opening myself to him again, and I gave in. Not just to the magic but to the love, to the need, to the desire. I offered it all to him. I felt it spark and flare. “I am yours,” I whispered. “All of me. Claim me, Julian. Claim your mate.”
“And I am yours. I will protect you. I will serve you,” he promised. “You—my mate—above all others. It is my privilege to be your mate. It is my honor to love you.”
I reared away, her blood dripping from the corner of my mouth, and brought my lips to hers. Thea whimpered as the kiss deepened, each sound a quiet encouragement, urging me toward completion. Breaking the kiss, our eyes met, and I snarled, “You belong to me.” “Yes, yes, yes,” she repeated, her gaze never leaving mine. “And you belong to me, so I want to feel you spill inside me.” The final wicked request undid me, and I released with a thunderous groan, filling her over and over as she clung to me.
Lifting my head with the little strength I could muster, I discovered my mate at my side—and what made everyone pause. Power poured from Thea in a shimmering aura. Despite her size, she was poised to attack as her eyes darted around the room.
“Thea.” Her name was all I could manage as crimson sprayed past my lips. I reached for her as the world went sideways, and as she turned, I spotted her fangs.
“Thea, it might not mean—” “What?” she cut me off with a small sob. “We know what it means. Julian, I’m a vampire.”
But Julian beat me to it. “You aren’t a vampire.”
“What?” I blurted out. “You saw—” “Fangs,” he finished for me with a nod. “But that doesn’t mean you’re a vampire. Other creatures have fangs.”
“I chose you,” he repeated in a tone that brooked no further discussion. “I chose you, not just in that moment but for every lifetime. I chose you for eternity—and I will choose you every time.”
“I can never decide what I need most,” he said with a rasp that made me shiver, “my hands on you, my fangs in your neck, or”—he nudged my thighs wider with one knee and moved between my spread legs—“my cock inside you.” “Why choose?” I bit my lip as our fully dressed bodies fought the restrictions of our clothing. Tasting blood, I released it and hoped he would come back for seconds. Julian’s mouth curved into a wicked grin that made my heart do a somersault. “You have a very dirty mind for someone who was recently a virgin.”
“I want to feast on you.” Shadows danced in his eyes. “Now, bring that pretty little ass up here and sit on my face before I have to take matters into my own hands.”
“You are mine no matter what. I will never let you go. I will never stop wanting you. Nothing will change that. Our souls are bound together,”
“All I am, I give to you. I swear to be your protector, your lover, your best friend as long as we walk this earth. For over nine hundred years, I sought some meaning in this world, and now I’ve finally found it. You. You are the meaning. You are the reason. And you are the answer. I am honored to be your mate, I am honored to tether my soul to yours, and I am honored to become your husband.”
