"For how long?" I whisper.
"Centuries.” The corner of his lip tips up in a half smile. “Until I sensed you."
His eyes meet mine and they're filled with such intensity, such longing it sends chills through me. "What do you mean?"
"I have been searching for you for a year." He says, in a voice that feels like a caress across my skin.
He’s been looking for me for a year? My hands shake. "But why?"
He clasps his hands together, squeezing them. "My kind can see souls, their light, their essence. Most are dim, some—when corrupted—are pitch black, but yours burned so brightly, so radiantly, that I needed to find you."
He saw my soul and it was... bright? I can’t fathom what he saw in me but to know it was enough for him to dedicate so much time and effort to me, a complete stranger, brings tears to my eyes.
He pauses, then takes a deep breath. "You woke me. You drew me across this city night after night."
I gasp. "That's why you were in that alley?"
"Yes." He leans closer and I have to fight the urge to close the distance. "And then I almost lost you. When I saw you in danger and what that man had done to you, I couldn't stop myself. You are..." His hands clench into fists.
"I'm?"
"Mine." He growls, the word raw, possessive, his eyes glowing from within. "You are my mate. My blessing and I will never let anyone hurt you ever again."
His body trembles with barely contained rage. The fear of almost losing me is etched on every inch of his skin.
Without thinking, I crawl over to him and place my hand over his clenched fist. "But you didn't lose me. You saved me. I'm here. I'm safe."
I feel connected to him in a way that’s indescribable. I don’t believe he’d hurt me for a minute, in fact, I think if he ever did, he’d take it harder than I would.
He goes completely still. His eyes drop to where my small hand attempts to cover his large one. And when he looks back up at me, his rage has softened into something else, wonder, maybe, or disbelief.
His hand unclenches beneath mine, slowly turning to interlace our fingers, the warmth of his palm seeping into me.
"What does that mean?" My voice comes out soft, breathy. "Being your mate? And I know you saved me. But how did you save me? I know I was dying."
His expression grows serious. "Yes,” he hisses, his voice raw, filled with anger and sorrow. “You were dying and the only way I could save you was to bite you. Because you are my mate, doing so would save your life, but it also..." he pauses, seeming to search for the right word. "Started something between us."
"Started what?"
"The mate bond." His voice drops as he stares at our interlaced hands. "For my kind, it's... everything. An absolute recognition in my soul. But there’s an order to a mate bond and by biting you first, I broke it.”
I shake my head. “How?”
He squeezes my hand. “Normally, once we’ve found one another we would... consummate the bond, then I would bite you to cement it. But because I bit you first, the bond is incomplete and demanding that be rectified by?—”
“Having sex,” I breathe.
“Yes,” he purrs.
His eyes begin to glow as the air charges between us once again.
Heat spirals through my body. My core grows wet, my pussy clenching. But as badly as I want to, as I ache to, I can’t give into him, not when all of this might not be real. “Are you saying that everything I’m feeling is artificial?”
“No,” he says so sharply I jump.
He cups my hand, and his warmth seeps into me further. “No,” he says again, softer this time. “The bond can’t create something that’s not there. It only amplifies what we’re feeling.”
I lick my lips and his gaze flickers down to my mouth.
