Bokkan shivered at my touch. A smug smile curved his lips. “You branded me. Our mating bond is complete.”
I froze at his words. “It wasn’t complete before?”
He shook his head. “Not without your brand on me.”
“Is that why I can feel you now?”
He nodded.
“Can you feel what I feel, too?” I asked.
“Yes,” he purred, his body stretching beneath me.
“How?”
“I do not know. I can only assume your body absorbed enough magic in this realm to trigger the mating bond. I had hoped it would happen.”
“What if it didn’t?” I asked. “What would have happened?”
“Nothing would have changed. You are my mate. Whether you could return the brand or not was irrelevant.”
“But would that have been bad for you?”
“I do not know. But it does not matter. All that matters is our mating bond is complete, and I finally belong to you, body and soul.”
My hand moved from his throat to cup his cheek. This daemon was so unexpected. He was everything I’d ever wanted or needed yet never had from a human man.
I had my own personal monster, and I was keeping him forever.
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
Bokkan
Every muscle in my body was strung tightly. I should never have agreed to this. It was too dangerous.
The room around us was dark, with only the dim light of the crescent moon shining through the window. My mate sat in the chair in front of me, utterly still and silent. Though I knew she could feel my nerves, she did not respond.
All I could sense from her was serenity.
Despite our purpose here, she was fully at peace with it. That was the only reason I was not dragging her out of this room and house at this very moment. As she pointed out, this was hers. Her retribution. Her safety.
A door slammed downstairs, and I knew our quarry would arrive shortly. I was confident that Guldan and my soldiers could handle any of the males if the alarm was raised. Though I did not think it would be. Arrogance was the hallmark of our prey. It would never occur to them that they would need help.
The energy in the bedchamber changed. The air fairly crackled with anticipation.
We waited in silence for a while. Footsteps were audible from downstairs. Going from one room to another before stopping fora bit. It took a little more time before I heard the sound of boot treads on the stairs.
A few moments later, the door to the bedchamber opened, and our quarry was silhouetted in the doorway. The horn that Leda had broken a month ago had been repaired with a metal sheath. The female entered the room, shut and barred the door, and walked straight to the fireplace.
The spells we wore to disguise our scents were clearly working, because she did not seem to notice our presence at all.
Once the fire was lit, she moved to the lamp by the bed and used her magic to light it, a soft glow illuminating the space.
Venna turned, but she stopped short when she saw my mate seated in the chair in the corner with me looming behind her.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Venna growled, her hand dropping to the sword hanging from her belt.
