Page 22 of Blood Red Rage

Before I can finish, he interrupts me, “But not alone,” he states. “Not unguarded, and not without me knowing where you are every second. Because if you vanish…” His arms tightened, his voice turned rough. “I will lose my fucking shit.” He confesses in a low growl.

My eyes stung, but something about the way he said it… wasn’t control for control’s sake, but fear of losing me.

“I don’t understand any of this,” I whispered into his chest.

“I know,” he said, kissing the top of my head. “I’ll explain it until you do.”

I pulled back slightly, enough to look up at him. His gaze searched my face like he was starving for every reaction. “How long?” I asked shakily.

His brow furrowed. “How long what?”

“How long am I… yours?” I forced out, voice bitter. “Until you get bored?”

His expression turned so dark it stole my breath. “I don’t get bored,” he said. “And mates don’t end.”

My stomach dropped. “So, I’m stuck with you forever.”

His mouth twitched like he almost smiled, but his eyes didn’t. “You’re not stuck,” he said. “You’re bound.”

I think he meant that to sound better, but it didn’t. “I’m scared,” I admitted, and the words tasted like weakness, like surrender.

His hand came up, thumb stroking my cheek. “If it makes you feel better so am I,” he said.

I blinked, stunned. “You?” I whispered.

His jaw tightened. “Do you think I want to hurt you? Do you think I want you to look at me like I’m a monster?”

A tear slipped free and I hated myself for it, but Viking’s thumb caught it, wiping it away like it mattered. “Fuck Angel, don’t cry. You make me want to kill someone when I see you hurting. I’ve never had anything I couldn’t protect,” he whispered. “And I’m sure as fuck not starting with you.”

The confession hit me in the ribs, because I felt like I could feel it too, the desperate intensity behind all of him. Like I was his salvation and his weakness, and that was terrifying.

“What do you want from me?” I asked softly.

He leaned his forehead to mine. “I want you to listen to what I tell you, so I can make sure I keep you alive,” he said. “I want you safe.”

His voice dropped lower. “And I want you with me, you are now mine.”

I breathed out shakily. “You can’t just demand that.”

“I’m not demanding,” he said. “I’m telling you the truth.”

Silence wrapped around us. I stared at him, trying to sense a lie but deep down I knew he was telling me the truth, I felt it right down to my soul. My anger dulled into something heavier. Grief, maybe. Or the slow, sick realization that my old life really was gone.

“I feel like I don’t know who I am anymore,” I admitted.

His mouth brushed mine, barely a kiss. More like a promise. “Then I’ll help you find out,” he said.

I swallowed, voice breaking. “And what if I still want to leave?”

His eyes flashed, I could see his temper stir but he kept it leashed. “Then we’ll fight,” he said quietly. “And you’ll more than likely scream at me. And I’ll most probably deserve it.”

I almost laughed through the tears. “You’re… unbelievable.”

“Yes,” he agreed, and this time his mouth curved properly, faint and dangerous. Then it faded.

“And Bryn?” he said, voice rough again.

“What?”