Page 20 of Bound

The vampire sighs impatiently. “That’s my point, asshole.You did everything right. It’s not your fault that it all went wrong. Meg savedyou.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” I ask, irritation rising.

“Then why did you treat her like crap?”

“It’s your fault,” I snarl, lying through my teeth. Maybe ifI piss my cousin off enough, Dante will go away and leave me alone. “You werethe one who was stupid enough to bring her into the arena.”

Dante stands. He walks to the water’s edge, proving he does,indeed, have a death wish. “It was the only way I could think of to salvage thesituation.”

“I can think of another,” I reply, narrowing my eyes inchallenge.

Dante throws his head back and groans. “I am not going toinject you with cold iron, asshole. Get over it. If you want to commit suicide,I’ll give you the needle, but I won’t push the plunger. I wouldn’t just bekilling you. I would be killing Cian, too, and I happen to like him. I like hima hell of a lot more than I like you right now. You had no right to treat herlike that.”

“I know.” My anger deflates and I’m left with the hollownessof guilt.

“She gave you everything she had and you tell her to coverup,” Dante complains. “No, ‘wow, baby, that was one hell of a blow job. You’vegot the sweetest mouth known to man.’ Just ‘cover up so no one sees my bitch.’”

Nope. Anger is still in there. My constant fuckingcompanion. “Hey, don’t you talk about her like that. She’s my wife.”

“Then why is she crying alone? I checked in on her, and shewas crying.”

My gut clenches at the thought. She’s crying, and I’m thebastard who caused her pain. “I won’t ever hurt her like that again. I can’ttake it back. I can only promise to treat her with respect from this point on.”

Dante rolls his eyes. “You’re such an idiot. You honestlythink that she’s upset because you fucked her? She’s heartbroken because youfucked her, bonded with her, and then dumped her ass. Seriously, you need totake lessons in how to woo a woman because they don’t like it when you use themand walk away. Even I know that.”

I go under one last time to wash the soap away and thenmarch out of the river, shaking the water off my skin. Dante has brought alonga towel, and he tosses it toward me. I wrap it around my waist. “I didn’t dumpher. I lost my fucking head. I treated her like a piece of meat. Can you blameher for not wanting to be near me?”

“Oh, cos, that wasn’t the problem,” the vampire says,bringing the attitude down a notch. “I was watching. Hell, I couldn’t take myeyes off it. I think she’s more perfect for you than you could have hoped. Sheenjoyed it.”

I twist my hair, trying to get the water out. “That was thebond. I flooded her with it. I pushed myself at her.”

“That is your nature,” Dante says quietly. “But I think youare underestimating her nature. She was happy afterward. She wasn’tashamed. You made her feel that.”

I point an accusatory finger at my cousin. “You don’tunderstand. Maybe vampires treat consorts with such blatant disrespect, but wedo not dishonor our bondmates in such a fashion.”

“We vampires make damn sure that our lovers are satisfied,and after they’re satisfied, we thank them and cuddle them. We find out whatthey need and give it to them. If what my lover needs runs counter to whatsociety or my father taught me was acceptable, then fuck society.” Dante has totalk around his fangs, letting me know how irritated he is.

“Don’t you talk about my father.” My father is always atouchy subject.

“Of course, it all comes back to your father. He was a goodman, but he wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t a perfect king, and he damn sure wasn’t aperfect father. He pushed you too hard, and he completely ignored Cian. Cianwas supposed to be king, too. He didn’t value Cian’s input, so he focused allhis time on you. No one could live up to his standards. Gods, Beck, when areyou going to be who you are and not who he thought you should be?”

“Get out.” I won’t listen to anyone talk about my fatherthis way. I wasn’t able to save my father, but I can damn sure preserve hismemory. “Get the fuck out of here. Go back to your cushy little plane and makeall the scandalous news you possibly can. Don’t come back. You won’t bewelcome.”

Dante drops his hands in defeat. “Fine. I’ll go, but I’monly going as far as your village. I’ll head out and make sure Cian doesn’tfade before you can get to him, but you would do well to listen to me. You’llmake yourself and that woman you married miserable if you deny who you are.”

Dante stalks off, his lanky body disappearing in the tall,thin trees that quake in the wind.

I sink to the ground. It’s a long time before I rise, andthe whole time I sit wondering if the vampire isn’t right.

Chapter Eight

Meg

I try not to feel anything. Cara’s small hands smooththe fabric over my shoulders. The gnome has to stand on a chair to reach me. Ishould be helping, but I feel so empty that I allow the gnome to dress me asshe would a doll. I merely answer the female’s softly spoken commands. Liftyour right leg. Lift your left leg. Bow your head so I can get the shirt on.Cara sings quietly while she works. Everything the gnome does is soothing, butI still feel dead inside.

I’m supposed to go with him. How can I do that?

In the mirror, I see I’m wearing suede pants, though godonly knows what kind of animal has actually given up its skin for them. Theshirt is a bit tight in the chest, so I immediately button the collar up to mythroat. It isn’t flattering. It looks much better unbuttoned. Unbuttoned, itshows off a creamy expanse of skin and a faint hint of round breast. It looksrather sexy. But Beck hasn’t found the sight of my naked body sexy at all. Carawraps a leather belt around my waist then helps me into a pair of knee-lengthboots. My hair has been braided and marigolds are woven into it.