The females scattered, carrying Daena with them as they raced away. The echo of their hurried footsteps faded, leaving me alone with Gabriel. Fear licked up my spine as I studiedhim, his body taut with unspent rage. The most primal part of me understood I was in the presence of a predator, and even though I could feel my magic once more, I knew from past encounters that I was outmatched.
“Fuck,” Gabriel breathed, squatting to my level. I shrank back on instinct, pressing my lips together to contain the whimper that threatened to escape. His eyes softened, worry creasing his brow. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
I flinched as he reached for me. Gabriel went still, horror flashing in his eyes. The sight of his horrified expression caused a twinge in my chest, and my body swayed toward him. My body collapsed under the weight of the movement, but before my face could hit the stones, he’d swept me into his arms. He stood carefully and let his eyes take in my tattered uniform and blood-soaked skin.
“I should have killed them,” he muttered, drawing a whimper from my throat. “Fuck, you need a healer, but if I take you to the infirmary, those worthless females will get exactly what they want.”
I shifted in his hold, letting out a pained groan. Darkness was encroaching on my vision, and my body ached too badly to care that I was now at the mercy of a male who’d made it his mission to hurt me. I gave in to the strange pull, too tired and injured to fight it, and let my body go lax against him. Gabriel’s gaze moved to my face, and I barely made out the determined expression he wore.
“I’m going to fix this, Bechora,” he murmured. “As long as you’ll let me.”
I didn’t bother responding. There wasn’t anything I could say. As if my silence were all he needed, Gabriel put on a burst of vampiric speed and carried me across campus to Daemonium House. For a moment, I thought he was taking me to Zypher, but then he carried me into a room I wasn’t familiar with.
Gabriel’s scent filled my nose as I lifted my head and looked around. It became obvious by the disarray that he’d taken meto his room. Unlike the room I shared with Shadrie, his held a lone bed, a desk, and a small living area with a loveseat all in the same space. It was almost like what I’d imagined a human college dorm would look like. Gabriel muttered to himself as he carried me toward his bed and gently placed me on it. I whimpered, not sure if it was from the pain or the sudden absence of his arms.
“You have to take my blood, Bechora,” Gabriel said, stepping back from the bed. “It’s the only way to heal you without taking you to the infirmary. Selir knows if I take you there, Daena will find a way to get word around the school about what she and her little band of deviants did to you.” He paced at the foot of the bed, one hand raking through the curls at the top of his head. “She’ll have someone from the infirmary confirm that you were treated, and it will only lend credence to her words. More will try to hurt you if I let that happen. I can’t let that happen, do you understand?”
He froze, turning toward me with his face twisted in agony. I could only nod as that strange pull tightened its grip on me.
“This will change everything,” he whispered. “I need you to understand that. My… my brother found something that told him as much and he passed the information on to me.” My eyes stayed pinned on the vampire as he continued to ramble. “If you take my blood, our bond will be complete. That’s what he said. But it’s the only option, and Selir, I’m so tired of fighting this. You haunt my every moment, making me ache for you. Every bit of coldness I’ve thrown at you has only served to rip me apart. I shouldn’t want this, shouldn’t give in, not when I know what my father will do when he finds out, but Gods! I can’t deny you anymore. Not after…”
Something came over me as Gabriel laid himself bare. Maybe it was that strange pull that drew me to him, whether I wanted it or not, maybe it was the desperation in his tone. Or maybe it was sheer insanity. Whatever it was didn’t matter as his words struck a chord deep within me. I forced myself upright, my body trembling from the pain as I reached my hands out forthe male who’d wasted so much time shifting between hot and cold toward me.
“Heal me, Gabriel.” The words were thick with pain as I spoke. “Whatever comes next, we will figure it out. Together.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Bechora
Gabriel went still, his face morphing from disbelief to awe before he moved toward me. There was an air of caution to his movements as he settled onto his bed next to me and brought his wrist to his lips. My eyes never left him as he bit down hard enough to draw blood and offered his arm to me. I expected to feel revulsion at the thought of wrapping my lips around the wound, but instead, a sense of rightness settled deep into place.
My lips brushed his skin, and my tongue darted out, tentative at first before the copper tang of his blood filled my mouth. Heat surged through me, searing and alive, flooding every nerve ending like a lightning strike. Gabriel hissed sharply, but his other hand moved to cradle the back of my head, anchoring me to him. The world narrowed to that single connection. The heat spread outward in a wave and slammed into the invisible tether between us. The pull I’d been fighting for months roared to life, no longer something I could ignore.
With each draw of his blood into my mouth, the pain in my body ebbed. Whatever magic his blood held washed over me in a warm, healing embrace, filling me with renewed strength. I felt it settle deep in my well, nestled next to the power I’d gained from Zypher and the flames that constantly flowed from my pendant. I tore my mouth from his wrist with a gasp as the weight of our new bond settled into my chest. I suddenly understood why I’d never truly been able to refuse the pull toward him, why I unconsciously sought him out even at his cruelest. This male was mine. He’d always been mine.
Gabriel’s forehead pressed against mine, his breathing ragged. His lips parted as though words were impossible, pupils blown wide, hunger and reverence warring in his expression. “Mine,” he whispered, his voice raw and broken. The word was a vow, binding us together for eternity.
Need pulsed through me, the bond driving me to claim my mate fully. Without thought, my lips crashed against his in a ravenous kiss. Gabriel’s lips met mine with equal ferocity, a hungry edge to the kiss that set my entire body on fire. His hands found my waist, pulling me closer until our bodies pressed flush against each other. The heat of him seared through my tattered clothing, causing the bond to thrum happily between us. My fingers tugged at his hair roughly, and he growled against my mouth.
“He broke the kiss only to trail his tongue down my jaw, lapping up the blood left behind from my now-healed injuries. “Bechora,” he murmured against my skin. “Gods, why did I deny myself this for so long?”
My hands roamed his chest, trailing down his taut abdomen as he continued to clean the blood from my body with his tongue. Impatience gripped me, and I reached for the hem of his shirt, forcing him back as I ripped it over his head and tossed it away. He mirrored the motion, tearing away the tattered fabric of my ruined uniform shirt and unhooking my bra before tossing it aside. His gaze raked over my bare chest, dark and reverent, as though I were a sacred thing that only he was allowed to worship.
My hands moved to the waistband of his pants, and he captured them, forcing me to be still. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice rough with the same overwhelming need roaring in my veins.
I leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss against his jaw before pulling back to look him in the eye. “Yes,” I whispered. My certainty was absolute, leaving no more room for doubt.
That was all he needed. In seconds, the rest of our clothes were gone, discarded in a frenzy of need. His hands exploredevery inch of me, worshipping, claiming, as he lay me back against the bed. The sheets were cool against my heated skin, but Gabriel was a furnace above me, his body a perfect weight as he settled between my thighs. His lips found mine again, softer this time, a tender counterpoint to the fire building between us.
When he finally moved, it was slow and deliberate, every motion stoking the inferno inside me. The bond flared brighter, weaving us together until I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began. My nails dug into his back, urging him closer, faster, and he obliged, his rhythm building to match the frantic pulse of our connection. Pleasure coiled tight in my core, each thrust pushing me closer to the edge until I shattered, crying out his name as the bond burned white-hot in my chest.
Gabriel followed moments later, his own release a guttural groan against my neck, his arms trembling as he held himself above me. We stayed like that, tangled together as the bond settled into a warm, steady hum. He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead, then my lips, his eyes glowing with a quiet intensity as we worked to catch our breath.
Angry pounding shattered the peaceful aftermath of our completed bond. “Dreadgrave, what have you done to my Dilectus?” Zypher’s enraged voice came through the door to Gabriel’s dorm.
I realized then that the bond between my demon mate and me was still muted, and guilt coiled heavy in my stomach, threatening to make me sick. Gabriel carefully peeled himself from my body, covering me with his sheet before he pulled on his discarded slacks.
“If you’ve harmed her, I swear to the gods, I will end you,” Zypher bellowed, still pounding on the door.
