Page 28 of Vampire Visions

He stalked forward and shut the door behind him with a bit more force than necessary. When he turned back to face me, he was still staring and not talking. Well, I could add him to my being weird list. “Is everything okay?” I cautiously asked.

“What the fuck is going on in your head right now?” Concern twisted his words and softened his eyes.

I was confused, though. I should have said a ton of shit or why would you ask that? Or do you know what’s up with Palmer? Instead, I blurted, “What?”

“You’ve been thinking in the same circles for,” he paused to look down at his wrist. His wrist with no watch on it. “Six hours. I can hear you, you know.” He said the last words very slowly, tapping his temple, and it all clicked into place.

I groaned, “It’s nothing.”

“Oh, it’s something,” he assured me as he nodded his head. “Talk to me.” It wasn’t quite a request, but it wasn’t quite a demand either. It was on some neutral ground in between. He tugged me to the purple couch pushed against the wall in my small living room turned office space.

“There’s not much to talk about if you heard all my thoughts.”

“I heard you call me easy,” he admitted, pulling me into his lap.

“That’s not what I-” I stopped and rubbed at my mouth. “You know what? Sure. That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“Yeah. No, it wasn’t.” He gave me a knowing grin. “You’re worried about everything that’s going on, with good reason. You’re stressed about having six mates, and who wouldn’t be? We only have one to think about. Two of those mates are being dicks, one has just walked back into your life, and two of the others aren’t really making it easy to get to know them. I don’t mind being the easy one in this situation. I know what you meant.” He cupped my cheek and made me look at him.

His eyes were so sincere that it was hard to not tell him he was right. “I wouldn’t call them dicks, but yeah. That’s some of it.”

Novak tucked my hair behind my ears, sighing to himself. “I wish I could help you figure out what’s going on with Palmer and Vaughn, but I don’t know that I can. Vaughn will tell you why he’s acting like he is when he’s ready. He needs time to work his shit out before he talks about it sometimes. Stone should start opening up soon, and Briggs won’t be far behind him. You’re kinda on your own with Palmer and York. Though, I can say that if you want to know what’s up with Palmer then you should go to Briggs. He’s closer to the mage than the rest of us.”

“I think I’ll just go straight to the sources,” I admitted, shrugging one shoulder. “At least that way they’ll know that I see a change in their behavior.”

“What else is bothering you?” he whispered in my ear.

I finally relaxed into his touch, thinking about how easy it was before wondering if it should be. I barely knew him, but this felt so… right. “Do you think we’re rushing into sealing our bond? I want to do it because we want to, not because we have to.”

“I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I didn’t want to do it, Sloane. I know that it feels quick, but I wouldn’t call it rushed. I want to know everything about you. We have infinite amounts of time for that, though. I don’t need to know it all by noon tomorrow.” He gave me a saccharine smile. “There’s no deadline, no pressure to be with each other. Just an urge to want to be near you, some invisible thread that links us together. That’s not something that’s going to go away, and I’m okay with that. I’m more than okay with that.”

He looked away and chuckled to himself. “The guys always tease Briggs about wearing his heart on his sleeve, but I think I may fall just as fast as he does,” he whispered his confession. “I’ve never been in love, so I have nothing to compare it to. This, though?” He bounced his fingers between us. “I’ve never wanted to do this with anyone except you. Never cuddled on the couch or curled up after sex. Never wanted to introduce anyone to my family.” He shook his head. “Never let anyone just sit with their head on my shoulder, and I’ve definitely never panicked the way I did yesterday. That put all the feelings I have into a category that I’m unfamiliar with. It’s more than lust, but I’m also not quite ready to call it love.”

“So,” I started, not sure what to address first. “What are you calling it? This thing between us.”

“For now? I think I’ll just call you my girlfriend. Mate sounds so animalistic, and I’m not an animal. You are, but I’m not.” He grinned at me. “We gonna seal this bond or what?”

“Yeah,” I replied, happy with the way he felt about me. That was one less thing for my thoughts to warp as I stressed over everything else.

He gave me an impatient look. “Then let’s do it.”

“Right now?” I asked him, needing the clarification.

“Right now,” he agreed.

I flashed him an excited smile and jumped up from his lap. Grabbing the small, ornate knife from my bottom desk drawer, I held it out for him to see. “Do you know what to do?”

He laughed. “Nope. I thought we sealed it with sex.” I rolled my eyes at him. Of course he did. Novak had a one track mind most of the time.

“A cut below the left elbow joint, drain our blood together in a cup, say the magic words... then sex.” Okay, that was the short explanation. It was a bit more intimate than that.

He raised a pierced brow at me. “You make it sound so simple. What are the magic words?”

I shrugged. “Please and thank you?”

“You don’t know?” His shock was evident in his question.

“No,” I slowly drawled. “They’re different for everyone. Father says the blood magic is supposed to lead us. You say what you feel, or some shit like that. I don’t know that the words are as important as the intent of the promise. It’s why vampires tend to be so romanticized. Speaking from the heart, promising forever… I’m pretty sure you could promise to get me pizza once a month for as long as we live and it would work, as long as your heart is open and ready to be bound to mine.”