Microsoft Word - Blood and Sex from CE.rtf (25 page)

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She loved him and her heart was exploding with the emotion.

She’d bonded them.

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“We’ve got to get out of the shower,” Blane said slowly, not wanting to let go of her.

She started to pull away, but he pulled her back, giving her another soft, slow kiss. He knew it was done. They’d bonded when she finished the circle of blood exchange, but it didn’t change the fact that now he had the overwhelming need to touch her or even to stare at her beautiful face.

Christiana pulled back. “I need to lie down. I’m a little dizzy.”

He climbed to his feet, a little dizzy himself, then scooped her off the floor.

“What are you doing?” She laughed, grabbing his neck.

“You said you were dizzy.”

She laughed again. “Yeah, but we’re wet.”

He grabbed a towel from the shelf as they passed, then turned sideways to get them through the bathroom door. In the bedroom, he let her slide down his body so slowly that he could feel every glorious inch of her. Before, she’d been beautiful, but now she was breathtaking. Yeah, it was the blood magic, but just looking at her made his heart swell. Was this what Michael and Jonas felt? It would sure explain why they acted like such idiots around their
compagnas
.

“What?” She glanced around nervously. “Is my hair standing up or something?”

“No. You’re beautiful.” He bent to kiss her cheek, and wrapped the towel around her back.

“You feel it too, then?”

“Mm-hmm.” He kissed her neck, reaching to dry her back as he went. “You bonded us.”

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“Aren’t you scared?”

“Should I be?”

She pulled back, taking the towel with her. “Khalil’s going to kill me. Or us.”

“Don’t worry about it right now.” He closed the distance, grabbing her shoulders. “We’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

She smiled, then shook her head quickly. “No. I mean, we can’t be stupid. He’s already promised me to someone else. I’ll make him look like a fool.”

Blane blinked at that. She was right. What the fuck was wrong with him? “I’ve gotta call Jonas.”

“Why?”

“Something’s wrong.” He grabbed his phone from the dresser, then went into the bathroom for privacy.

Jonas answered on the first ring. “Yeah?”

“Dude, I so fucked up.”

“What happened?”

“She bonded us.”

“Oooohh.” Jonas let out a sadistic laugh that sounded more like Luciano. “You’re fucked.

She was promised to Maximilliano.”

“I know!”

“Couldn’t keep it in your pants?” He laughed again.

“This isn’t funny.”

“From here it is. Mr. I’m-Never-Getting-Bonded is in the mother of all fucked-up relationships. And you thought I was an idiot?”

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He cringed. He had given Jonas a hard time when he couldn’t stop hitting on Tori and an even harder time when he’d bonded with Elena. “Yeah. Well, now we’re bonded but something’s wrong. I can’t even think.”

The smart ass actually laughed again. “So.”

“No. This isn’t like what you and Michael are like. I didn’t even remember she was promised to someone else. And I can’t stop staring at her like some jackass.”

It took a painful few moments of laughing to get another answer from Jonas. “For a genius, you really are thick sometimes. Don’t you get it?”

“What?”

“It’s different for all of us. It’s what we need.”

“You’re telling me I needed to be in puppy love?”

“Maybe. Or maybe it’s just the first time you’ve been in love.”

Ouch. Point taken.

“You were young when you went to war. Had you ever been in love?”

“No. I guess not.”

“And I know you haven’t since then.”

“Fuck.”

He could imagine the smirk that came along with Jonas’s grunt. “Plus, she’s older and has Khalil’s blood. So a bond with her should be stronger.”

“When the sun goes down, we’re coming straight to you. You’ve got to—”

“Sorry. There’s nothing I can do. It’s all between you two now.” He laughed again. “And Michael and Khalil.”

“Why is this so damned funny to you?”

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“Because it’s not me. They like you too much to kill you, and Khalil can’t have a scandal.

It’s too messy. But I have no fucking idea how you’re going to get out of this.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

Elena’s voice came into the background, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying.

Jonas simply added, “Uh...I’ve gotta go, Blane. Duty calls.”

The phone went almost as dead as he felt. It was the equivalent of knocking up some teenager whose dad happened to be the fucking president.

Christiana knocked on the door. “Blane, come on. The sun’s coming up. We’ll talk before we fall asleep.”

Yeah. And as soon as he laid eyes on her, he wouldn’t give a damn about any of them. He wouldn’t want to talk about it, either. He’d only want to make love to her until the sun came up.

He had to get control of himself. Blane took a deep breath, then opened the door.

* * * *

So she smiled and took his hand. “Just lie down with me. I don’t think it will be that bad.”

Immediately, he let out the breath and began to relax. “Michael is going to kill me. He gave me this assignment because he thought I wouldn’t do this with you.”

She led him toward the little queen-sized bed in the corner. “Just tell them I seduced

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you.”

He laughed and tackled her, suddenly throwing both of them onto the bed. It bounced and rattled the wall a little, but she giggled and let him hold her down. The bond really must have had a strong effect on him. His emotions were bounding between panic, fear, possession, and heart-melting love. It was that last one that made her want to kiss him each time he felt it.

And it was that love that felt so like how she was feeling.

“You realize this is all magic. We shouldn’t be feeling this,” he said.

She dodged a kiss. “You didn’t feel even a little of this before?”

“Yeah.” He kissed her cheek.

“The bond only strengthens and makes the tie unbreakable. What you’re feeling is your own...just amplified.”

“I didn’t feel this before.” He kissed his way down to her neck. Lust coursed through him suddenly. “But I felt this before.”

“We can’t do that again tonight.”

He stopped. “Why?”

“Haven’t we already done enough damage for one night?”

He went down to her collarbone. “If we’re going to break the rules, we’re breaking all of them, right?”

She smiled as her words came back to haunt her. “Yeah.”

“Then hush. We don’t have much time.”

Jonas bent his head down to her breast, and as soon as his breath hit her skin, all the other cares melted away.

* * * *

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Blane pulled on his pants and headed down the hallway toward the front desk while Christiana was in the shower. The driver had delivered their clothes for the ball.

“Mr. Simon,” the lady behind the desk said in Italian, smiling. “I have your clothes. You surprise me with green hair and fancy clothes. Are you a rock star?”

He smiled and shook his head. “No.” Nosy old battle-axe. “Thank you,” he said, taking the clothes from the hooks on the wall.

“Opposites attract.”

He stopped, but didn’t turn. Instead, he moved back down the hallway toward the room.

That’s how they saw it, wasn’t it? A big, mean-looking guy with green hair walking with a woman who looked like royalty. Yeah, that’s what it felt like from his end, too.

Khalil would probably see it the same way. Of course, he wanted more for his daughter than a
vampiro
black marketeer for her. Blane couldn’t blame him. He’d spent most of his time trying to outsmart them all, playing the part of the halfwit thug. But now he needed to look like the smart, capable person he’d been hiding. He needed the respect to keep Christiana from looking like she’d been slumming in America.