Page 77 of Eternally Bound
Declan’s feet hit the floor as he spun to face Ronan. “How could younottell her that?”
Ronan scowled at him. “I wasn’t going to reveal everything to her, and then I just… forgot.”
“You should go tell her before she decides she likes the sun more than you. Which, she might,” Lucien said.
Turning on his heel, Ronan stalked out of the security office where he’d been meeting with the others about their next step in trying to locate Joseph. He cursed himself with every step he took to the front door. The sun’s rays hit him as soon as he opened the door, and the cool air brushed over his skin as he strode forward.
Kadence no longer stood by the fountain, but he followed her scent down a trail leading through the privet hedges lining the seashell walkway. At the end of the privet was a far larger garden. It covered at least three acres of land, though there was little to see now except for some heather, lavender, and fountain grasses.
He stopped short when he found her at the end of the walkway, gazing at the remains of the gardens. Seeming to sense him, she turned and her face lit with a smile. Her hand was stretching toward him when it fell back to her side and her mouth dropped open. Her gaze ran over him as if she expected him to burst into flames at any second, and she most likely did.
“Ronan?” she squeaked.
He strode toward her, took her hand, and bent to kiss her. Her eyes remained on his as their lips touched and her breath rushed out of her.
“How is this possible?” she inquired when he rose away from her.
“Only the Savages can’t go out in the sun,” he told her as her eyes ran over him again and then again. “With each kill, they become stronger, yet they also become weaker.”
“But… but… you can be out in the sun?”
“I can,” he replied. “There was a time, after I killed those hunters, that it was more difficult for me, but that time has passed. I no longer experience any ill effect from the sun’s rays.”
“We were so wrong,” she murmured, her skin paler than normal and her lower lip trembling. “I don’t have to give up the sun if I become a vampire?”
“You don’t,” he assured her.
“Youhaveto let me tell Nathan about this, let me talk to him. The two of you should meet. I will arrange it.”
“I doubt your brother would want to see me again, Kadydid. We didn’t exactly part on good terms.”
“I can help to fix that; let me do this.”
He pondered her words as he ran his fingers over her cheek, savoring every detail of her. “Why don’t we do one thing at a time and figure us out first?” he suggested.
“I’ve figured that out,” she said and stepped closer to him. Her arms slid around his waist as she rested her head on his chest. “Whatever this is between us scares me, but I won’t lose you. You have to agree to let me speak with my brother though when this is done.”
“Kadence,” he breathed, kissing her neck as he held her to him. “I will not deny you that.”
“You also have to promise you won’t lock me away. I realize we can’t go traveling all over the world right now, but I won’t be confined again. I want to help hunt Joseph and stop this growing threat.”
“You are not ready for a fight like that.”
“You will keep training me,” she insisted. “And as a vampire, I will probably be faster and stronger. You also said, as a mated vampire, I would be stronger than other vamps. Don’t cage me, Ronan. It will ruin us if you try to lock me away. I am a hunter, and I will hunt.”
“The last thing I want to do is ruin us or make you unhappy,” he admitted as he ran his lips down the slender column of her throat. “But you will agree to listen to me when it comes to Joseph and the Savages.”
“I will,” she promised.
He lifted her against him, and she snuggled closer to his chest as he carried her across the property toward the house. His heart hammered with every step, his cock swelling with its need to be inside her made walking difficult, but he didn’t slow.
He shoved the front door open and stalked across the foyer to the stairs. He took them three at a time to the top and sped down the hall to his room.
CHAPTER 34
Kadence lifted her head from his shoulder to study the angles of his face. She sensed the demon simmering just beneath his surface.
She should be afraid. She wasn’t. She’d made her choice; Ronan was her destiny. She wouldn’t go back, and she wouldn’t dread what was to come. He would protect her, and she would love him.
