Page 60 of Eternally Bound
A scarlet haze clouded Declan’s vision as Ronan’s wrath reverberated within him. He blinked the cloud away, desperate to get his vision back, but Ronan’s emotions were too wild to be shoved away.
He wanted to reach out to someone, to grab them in order to stay grounded. Killean was out of the question unless he wanted to experience more anger. He couldn’t touch Kadence, not with Ronan so wound up. He settled for resting his fingers against the wall, if only to keep standing. It did nothing to wash away the red tide shading his eyes.
“Are you okay?”
Kadence’s voice filled his ears as her hand latched onto his arm. The red cloud intensified tenfold, causing his ears to hum and his head to throb. Ronan must have seen her grab him. “Let go!” he ordered and tried to shake off her hand.
“You don’t look so good.” She clung to him as her voice took on a frantic tone.
He didn’t feel so good. He was either going to pass out or his head was going to explode. He didn’t care which happened first as long as the awful haze stopped. It had been centuries since anyone had broken through his carefully constructed barriers this bad. He’d spent years armoring himself against others, but Ronan was far more out of control than he’d realized, and he was far more powerful than Declan’s walls.
“Let go of him!” Ronan snarled.
“But he looks ill,” Kadence protested.
“Let go!” Declan finally succeeded in getting her to release him. “Calm down, Ronan,” he managed to choke out.
He couldn’t see Ronan right now, but Declan knew his friend approached when the haze grew darker.Breathe, just breathe,he counseled himself. The deep inhalations helped him to piece his broken walls back together and the pressure inside him eased.
Gradually, the red haze faded until he saw parts of the foyer once more. He took in the shadows, the stairs, and then Ronan. His eyes widened on the vamp coming at them, and he wished he couldn’t see again.
CHAPTER 28
Kadence couldn’t stop the tremor that went through her as Ronan stalked across the room. His eyes were a shade of red she would have only thought possible in Hell before she saw him like this. They were so bright they lit the shadows around him as his attention remained focused on Killean.
She’d never seen the normally distant, often asshole vampire look at all ruffled. Now, Killean straightened away from the banister and fear flashed briefly across his face before his expression became void of all emotion. Declan took a hitching breath. His cheeks had regained some color, but he still had a blank look in his eyes that troubled her.
The anger Ronan radiated was impossible to ignore as it pulsated through the room like a living entity. The veins in his arms bulged, and every muscle through his chest and arms stood out. She didn’t know where they’d come from, but the pair of blue sweats he wore hung low on his hips. He looked ready to kill, yet his hand was gentle when he clasped her elbow and drew her closer to him.
Ever since he’d walked out of her room, she’d felt a strange sense of loss and an odd stretching of her skin, as if it didn’t fit her body right. It made no sense, but the second he touched her again, the sensation eased and she found herself able to breathe easier again.
Ronan pierced Killean with a look that would have made most men cower. Killean’s golden eyes filled with disbelief. The only reaction he showed to the hostility Ronan directed at him was a tensing of his fingers around his glass.
“You’re not to talk to her like that ever again,” Ronan said, the hint of his Irish accent more pronounced. “You’re not to do anything but treat her with respect and defend her life with yours. If I see or hear you doing anything disrespectful to her ever again, I’ll beat you to within an inch of your life, and when you heal, I’ll do it all over again.”
Kadence gasped at Ronan’s threat. She opened her mouth to deny his words, but Killean was already speaking. “You’re the boss.”
Ronan took a step toward Killean, who had the good sense to back away. Killean’s eyes darted toward her, but instead of his normal antipathy toward her, she sensed only curiosity.
“Don’t fuck with me on this, Killean,” Ronan stated.
“I have no intention of doing so,” Killean replied.
Kadence glanced over her shoulder as Ronan nudged her forward and started leading her up the steps. Killean stared blankly back at her as he took another sip of his drink, while Declan rubbed at his temples.
Turning away from them, she focused on Ronan. With every step they took, his eyes shifted back to that amazing burgundy color, but now that she knew the true depth of the brown in his eyes, she wanted to see more of it.
He pushed open the door to her room and stepped aside to let her enter first. She was instantly assailed with the lingering scent of their sex. Her heart kicked up a notch, and to her horror, she felt herself growing aroused again. After what had happened earlier, she’d been certain she’d never have sex with him again. She wanted answers about what had happened to him, but she would not be fooled twice. Unfortunately, her body seemed to have other ideas.
She couldn’t meet his gaze as he stepped into the room beside her. His fingers stroked briefly over her skin before he released her arm. He strode over to her bed and pulled the blanket back. Kadence’s jaw clenched as the sight of her blood staining the white sheets brought back the horrible events of him fleeing her room earlier. His hand stilled and his shoulders hunched up as if he were preparing himself for a blow when he looked at her over his shoulder.
“Did you not know I was a virgin?” she asked coldly when the stunned look didn’t leave his eyes.
“No, I knew you were,” he said. Turning away, he spoke so softly she barely heard his following words. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
Yanking the sheets from the bed, Ronan wadded them into a ball. He hadn’t thought it possible, but seeing her blood made him hate himself even more for the way he’d treated her tonight. Seeing her blood on the sheets slammed home the reality of what an asshole he was.
“I’ll get you some new sheets,” he said.
