Come inside.
“How?” He looks down at the rays of light separating it. It couldn’t be more than eight feet, but fuck, how that eight feet would burn and singe.
Through it.
He looks horrified, all wide eyed and open mouthed.
“Through it?”
Do you have a better idea?
Declan looks down at his hand and then at the pool of shrouding the doorway. My eyes wander toward the driveway and I remember what it was like, holding Diah back while Liz burned. It took so long for her because she was new. Even though Declan is a young vampire, it would hurt more; it would go quicker.
“Thanks for that,” he mumbles.
I’m sorry, but it’s true. The sun affects us differently the older we get.
“Ezra.”
Go quick, and I’ll be here.
Declan is half naked, and I wonder if his chest will scar.
“Would you stop it?” he snaps. I look at him, but there’s no anger in his eyes, just fear and the empty sadness in my chest blooms into something greater, something more compelling.
“Declan,” I whisper. “I need you.”
I close my eyes and picture the life we’ve had, the life we’ll have, the thousand lifetimes I’m sure we’ve somehow already shared. If this is the mate bond, it should be the most treasured prize in existence because my soul knows his like we were born together. I have no doubt in my heart we’ll die together, but not here, and not like this.
Declan cries out, and then his body slams into mine and we tumble onto the floor. There’s smoke in the air and he smells like burnt spices, and that’s ridiculous. His skin is hot as fire and he’s on me, and I’m on the floor, and my mate is in my arms.
“You’re hurt,” he whispers, burying his face against my neck.
I nod, running my palms over the blisters that have already surfaced on his back.
So are you.
“I’m fine,” he promises, dragging his mouth to mine. “I just need you.”
He crashes our mouths together and kisses me. He tastes like the promise of home in a way I’ve never really understood before. Before, he tasted like memories, he felt like ideas, but this…this is solid, this is a future I’ve already lived and will live again.
“I’m yours,” I rasp, and his hands are between our bodies, then our clothes are gone and he’s pushing at my rim for entrance. The head of his cock pops inside and he seats himself fully, his entire body trembling with every inch deeper he goes.
I’ve always had these feeling about him, but it’s amplified now, and I don’t know if the bond is stronger for being broken, or if we’re just more aware of it now, but with him inside of me, I feel whole for the first time in my life.
Our coupling is messy and short, and Declan comes inside of me with a strangled roar that sends me over the edge. My cock shoots, slicking our stomachs with streams of ejaculate that physically stick us together.
Declan reaches behind me and cradles my head in his hands, lifting me slightly off the floor. He presses my mouth against his neck and thinks,Please.
My fangs slip against his skin, and I worry about hurting him because of his burns, but he thinks it again, louder and more insistent, so I do what he asks. I’ll always do what he asks of me.
I puncture his neck.
The first drops of blood hit my tongue and slide into my throat and I gasp, wrapping my arms around him and holding our chests together. I drink from him until the urge to speak to him overtakes the urge to feast on him. I lick the holes I made in his neck, and his cock surges again inside of me, stretching and testing my tender channel.
“Don’t ever do that again,” I whisper, clearing my throat. “Don’t you ever think of leaving this life without me by your side.”
“I thought you were gone,” he apologizes.
