Page 172 of Fractured Fate

When she nodded her agreement, he moved to sit next to her, gauging if she felt uncomfortable about it. She didn’t react negatively, so he took it as a win.

“It’s peaceful out here,” she said. “I’ve always looked at the academy’s surrounding woods from down in the plaza and wondered what it was like around the campus. I like how it feels separated from the hustle-and-bustle of town.”

He took a moment to study her while she talked. She seemed relaxed now that she had gotten a break from him. Her bare legs were curled beneath her, hiding the cute sandals tied at her ankles that he liked so much. Her denim shorts riding high on her legs showed off the small beauty mark at the top of her thigh. A navy-blue blouse hugged her body, with a neckline high enough to not expose too much of her cleavage. He wasn’t sure if that disappointed him or not. While he didn’t want others to look, he couldn’t deny his fascination with her breasts. He didn’t even know he was a breast guy until her.

Shaking his head to rid himself of his thoughts before he derailed his purpose for being out here, he said, “I’m sorry.” When she looked up at him, he elaborated. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

She pulled her hair up high on her head, clipping it in place. The heat wasn’t as bad in the forest, but he imagined having dense curls down one’s back would make anyone hot. “I’m sorry if it seemed like I don’t believe you care. I do. I just…” Her lips tightened in a frown as if she were trying to think of how to word her thoughts. “I just feel like if you need to hide things from me when I’ve already witnessed so much—experienced so much, then what else could you hide from me? What else would you hide from me?”

He cursed. She was right.

“I didn’t think of it like that. That was a mistake on my part. I understand where you would draw that conclusion, though. I probably would too.” He rested his head back against the tree trunk. “I want you to know you can trust me. I thought I was protecting you, but now I understand I was only isolating you further when you’re already so different in our world.”

“Which isolates me enough as it is.”

“You’re right.” He rubbed a hand over his thigh, the feel of the denim scraping his palm distracting him from focusing on his emotions too much. “I planned to talk to you about the letter after I helped calm you down when we found it, but things went sideways, and you went to shower. You were already asleep when I got back from the canteen… I didn’t get the chance.” He closed his hand into a fist. “I called them while you were showering. I wanted them to know what we were facing, too. I should have consulted with you first. But I did it to protect you. Everything I’ve done has been with your protection in mind.”

He met her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I promise it won’t happen again. If I discover anything, I will tell you everything I know.” He turned toward her, lifting a hand to brush his thumb over her cheek as he cupped her jaw. “I do care about you. I want you to try to not give up on me. I know this whole Korrena thing is a foreign concept to you, and I’m not asking you to commit to sealing the bond and completing the bonding ritual, but I want you to consider what life might be like with me. Give me the chance to show you.”

Charlotte’s brows rose, and the way her lips parted distracted him. “What’s a bonding ritual?”

“We’ve already done most of it,” he said with a shake of his head, unable to hide the smile it brought to his face. “To make the bond permanent—which would make our marks permanent like you’ve seen on Lukas and Blaire’s neck—we have to have sex.”

“Which we’ve had. And you’ve tasted my blood before,” she added confidently, as if she knew the steps to sealing a bond.

He couldn’t hide the full body shudder the memory of the taste evoked. Nothing on this planet compared to the silky, sweet taste of her lifeblood.

“The headmistress said we almost sealed it, but I didn’t get a chance to find out what the other step was. What is it?”

This was the point he would know for sure if she could handle being with him. She’d witnessed him kill and didn’t falter. Could she do the thing it took to complete their bond? Even if their life would be short together, he wanted whatever time fate would allow him.

“You need to drink my blood too.”

Her head raised; bewilderment, and a hint of curiosity took over her features. “I do?”

“We share blood. I drink yours, and you drink mine. At the same time.”

“The same time?”

“It has to be an exchange of our life essence flowing between each other without interruption. It’s kind of like a link. My blood entering you, and yours entering me concurrently. While also being . . . connected.”

“Connected? What do you mean?” Her head angled, her mouth working as if she were talking to herself. She looked back at him. “I mean, wouldn’t we have a connection through blood and biting?”

“Sex,” he said, smirking at the way her brows climbed. “When we share blood and make love at the same moment, the bond locks into place. It’s the ultimate connection we could ever have with one another. It has to happen all at once.” His gaze dropped to her mouth when her tongue peeked out over her lips. He wondered if she realized she was doing it. “It binds you to me, and me to you.” Their gazes connected. “You’ll own me for as long as I live,” he whispered.

“You mean as long as I live, right? I won’t live hundreds of years.”

The flicker of sadness in his chest he knew didn’t belong to him made a spark of hope light in his heart. Did she want something more? It killed him to know he couldn’t give that to her.

“When you’re… gone,” he started, swallowing when his voice cracked as he forced the last word out. “there will never be another for me. I’ll always belong to you.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek, stealing the tear that rolled over her fair skin. Leaning in, he stole a tender kiss from her lips.

It surprised him when her arms came around his neck, chasing his retreat. She deepened the kiss, pivoting her body to swing a leg over his lap, straddling him.

“Hello,” he said, chuckling.

“Hi.”