He laughed, it was soft, beautiful, and most importantly, it was real.Hewas real.
“Thank you for distracting me,” he said his tone earnest. “I feel so powerless, but you somehow managed to make me laugh despite it.”
The pride I felt was almost enough to burst out of me. “It is no hardship, I can assure you of that. I took you in here for selfish reasons. I fear I like having your full attention too much to share you.” It was a big admission, but I had to trust I could be open about such things with Felix. He was my fated, after all. Mine to keep forever. The one person other than Peter who would never leave my side. Once bonded, he would live as long as I would.
He grinned at me. “Oh, what plans do you have for us, then?” he purred.
I knew what I really wanted, but I also knew that one kiss would never be enough with Felix. When I finally felt his lips on mine, I would devour him. One kiss could never sate my hunger for him. So,I tried to be good and answered instead, “I want to teach you about vampire bonds.”
“Huh?” he questioned, looking both disappointed and confused.
I laughed. Goddess above, he was too precious. “You wanted to learn more, yes?”
“Um, yeah. But we don’t have to do that now,” he muttered, sitting up and crossing his arms adorably.
I smirked,oh so pleasedI was not the only one affected by our bond.
“My heart, I wish for nothing more than to ravish your body until we are both sated into a slumber.” His eyes widened and a smile began forming on his lips. “But,” I quickly added and he pouted in response. “I cannot stop myself once we start, and your body needs time to heal after all the blood I took from you.”
He sighed, loudly. “Fiiiine, be all responsible and cute.”
Smiling, I grabbed his hand again, placing a tender kiss on the back of it. “I promise, as soon as I can, I will have you. All to myself. Without anyone disturbing us. I might even banish them from the castle, just so no one else has your attention for a while.” He seemed to like that thought, though he tried to hide his satisfied smile from me.
“I can accept that,” he said, acting unbothered.
I grinned. “I am glad,” I said, still smiling like the love sick fool that I now was. “Now, let me tell you about the bonds.”
We got comfortable against the headboard, me sitting up and leaning against it, while he lay down and snuggled into my side. His perfect scent surrounded me; a mix of his sweet blood, arousal, and the scent of my fated. I sighed, feeling truly at peace for the first time in my life.
Clearing my throat, I began, “So, as you probably know, we can share our blood with someone while having their blood in our system, making us bond them to us for eternity.” He nodded. “This is what most vampires do when they meet someone they fall in love with. Some do it because the blood of that certain human is just so good they want it forever. Then there are those, like me, who have been blessed with finding their fated. Our bond is not like theirs. If their bonded dies, then nothing happens to the vampire. Some even kill their own bonded if they desire a new one, because they can only have one bonded at a time.”
“Wait…” he said, sitting up. “They kill their bonded partners?”
“Yes,” I replied, my tone telling him how disgusted I was about it. “Vampires tend to get bored with their bonded after about one hundred years.”
“Assholes,” he muttered.
“I wholeheartedly agree. But many only do so when they find their fated. After all, their bonded is in the way of them claiming their forever person, the one they will not ever want to part from.”
“I mean, I sort of get that, but still.”
“I have not bonded to anyone myself, but Peter had one around six hundred years ago.”
His eyes were full of curiosity as he asked, “What happened to them?”
“He wished to die,” I replied simply. “Not many enjoy living forever, and Frederik—that was his name—had simply had enough of life. Peter could not do it himself, for he loved Frederik. So, Frederik found someone who would.”
“I know it was his choice and all, but it still sounds horrible.”
“He had lived for two hundred years,” I replied. “And he found that he had lived enough.”
We were silent for a bit before he asked, “What is the difference between their bonds and ours?”
“They can be apart for as long as they wish without either of them feeling pain. But the vampire can still locate their bonded, their bloodis like a beacon. They can never run away if the vampire does not allow it.”
“I have to be honest, the vampires don’t sound too good from your point of view,” he said, his tone so neutral, I laughed.
“I do not wish to hide anything from you. I simply tell it as it is. When vampires bond with a human, or witch, they can still feed from others, but no one else can feed from their bonded. Their blood is only for their vampire.”
