Page 73 of Eternally Bound
“This mate thing?”
“This mate thing,” he confirmed.
Taking a deep breath, she gripped the edges of the mattress. “Tell me about it.”
“I can’t let you go again. I need you to stay here, with me.”
She didn’t understand the raw need she saw in his eyes, but it touched something primal inside her. Rising, she rested her hands against his cheeks and met the red of his eyes as she pulled him down to her.
The minute his lips touched hers, she knew what the awful tightening of her skin had been—her need forhim. Her heart swelled, and her body rejoiced as heat pooled through her limbs and she relaxed into his kiss.
It didn’t matter what the future held; she never wanted to leave him again either.
His arms wrapped around her. Kadence’s fingers slid through his hair to draw him closer. His hands swept over her back, bunching her shirt in his grasp and lifting it up her sides.
He pulled back suddenly, breaking the kiss. Kadence couldn’t catch her breath as she gazed at him while he clasped her cheeks in his palms. He stared wordlessly down at her, his face harsh with his barely leashed restraint.
“We cannot do this, not right now.” His voice was hoarse and his accent more noticeable again. “I could hurt you if this continues.”
“No, you couldn’t.”
He exhaled loudly. “Icanhurt you, and it’s a chance I’m not willing to take.”
“Then I think it’s time you fully explain this mate thing to me.”
He reluctantly released her and moved as far away from her as he could. Leaning against the wall, he stared at the shuddered window as he spoke. “Sometimes a vampire discovers what is known as their mate. We don’t know why it happens, why some of us find them while others don’t, but it is most likely tied in with the demon part of us.
“When a vampire encounters their mate, they experience an instantaneous connection to whoever their mate is. The vampire may not realize it is the mate bond at first, I didn’t, but I was drawn to you from the second I saw you. When the bond between mates is completed, it can only be severed by death. And if it is severed by death, the remaining mate will either die or go mad. When vampires find their mates, the consequences can be volatile until the bond is completed, especially if one of them is mortal.”
She folded her hands in front of her when he started pacing before the window. “And what happens if one of them is mortal?”
“They must be turned into a vampire. There is no other option. It is the only way to calm the vampire again, and it is necessary to seal the bond between them.”
“And how is the bond sealed?”
“One of the steps is through sex, which is what escalated the mating bond within me and brought it to the forefront.”
“Oh,” she murmured, unable to keep the blush from her cheeks. “That’s why you reacted like you did afterward.”
“Yes. Not only did I want to feed from you, but I also wanted to change you, right then.”
Kadence gulped at his words and clenched her hands tighter as she realized how close he’d been to hurting her as Joseph had.
“If both mates are vampires, then they will exchange blood during sex. That will finish creating the bond and opening the pathways between their minds, which will allow them to communicate with each other,” Ronan continued. “It will also unify them for as long as they live.”
“What if the mortal doesn’t want to be turned?”
His eyes swung toward her and she found herself staring at the vampire who had been in the library with her last night. The muscles in his arms and chest stood starkly out as his lips skimmed back. In amazement, Kadence watched his fangs descend. She’d seen them before, but she’d never seen the lengthening of his canines in such a way.
“Then the vampire will go mad, turn Savage, and have to be killed.”
“And what happens to the vampire when the bond is completed and the mortal becomes immortal?”
“They regain control of themselves, for the most part, but if their mate is ever threatened, there is no control.”
Kadence imagined he’d be Hell on earth in such a scenario.
“The mating bond also makes both the vampires stronger,” he continued. “Most likely because, not only does at least one of them continue to feed on humans, but also because they are both feeding from another vampire on a consistent basis. Plus, many mates are deeply in love with each other, and I’ve been told there isn’t anything one won’t do for love whether they are vampire or human.”
