The Bite That Binds (The Deep In Your Veins #2) (40 page)

“Where will you be getting ready for the ceremony?”

“My old apartment. My suit and the stuff I need are already there, waiting.” Ready to leave, I hesitated. “Call Dexter and let him lie in bed with you.”

“Why would I do that?”

“It’ll make me feel better.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

“Just do it, you stubborn bitch.” Smiling at the irritation on her face, I quickly smacked a kiss on her lips and teleported out of there – I wasn’t stupid.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

(Sam)

I’d had absolutely no idea about the pre-nuptial rituals for Binding ceremonies until Fletcher turned up at my apartment with half a dozen female Kejas. First I’d been covered in exotic-smelling oils and massaged from head to toe. Then there had been a spicy wrap, which I hadn’t been very fond of. Thirdly there had been a milk bath, which I had to admit I’d quite liked. And then my hands and feet had been painted with a strange, glistening ink; the intricate knot and vine patterns perfectly complimented my
Swarovski Manicure and Pedicure.

While waiting for the weird paint to dry – which hadn’t taken long – I sat very still as my hair was slightly curled and then put into some kind of elaborate hairdo, leaving tendrils hanging here and there. I wasn’t a very patient person, so I got kind of restless. At least I hadn’t had to continue to sit there as they applied make-up. If the natural allure that came with vampirism hadn’t cancelled out the need for it, my new Keja allure would have.

Following all that, I was helped into lacy, raunchy underwear that Fletcher had chosen. The bloke knew no boundaries! Lastly, my dress and shoes were carefully slipped on and fastened.

“Go on, have a look,” urged Fletcher, giving me a gentle shove toward the mirror.

Hesitant – I wasn’t sure why, maybe it was all the anticipation – I walked toward the mirror. My reflection startled the living shit out of me. It wasn’t that I didn’t look like me. I did. But I’d never really thought of myself as girly. Never been one of those kids who dressed up like a princess or played ‘weddings’. As such, I’d never seen myself look elegant and ‘voguish’ as Fletcher kept saying.

“I am a genius,” declared Fletcher.

“No humility in you, is there.”

“Radiant and elegant, but also sexy without being distasteful. Happy?”

“I will be when it’s time to go.”

“Then you’ll be delighted to hear that they’re ready when you are,” announced Norm as he entered. He smiled affectionately. “Oh look at you!”

“Gorgeous, isn’t she,” said Fletcher.

Norm kissed my cheek. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.” His eyes twinkled as he added, “Jared looks hot as hell, by the way.” That made me more eager to see him.

Fletcher offered me his arm. “Ready?”

Taking a deep breath, I threaded my arm through his and allowed him to lead me out of the bedroom. The female Kejas all showered me with compliments – all of which made me uncomfortable as I simply wasn’t used to them – and wished me good luck. I was going to need it if I had any hope of not tripping in these high-heeled shoes.

Somehow I managed to make it down the stairs without breaking my neck – that might have been a lot to do with having Fletcher on one side of me and Norm on the other. I got a bit of a shock when I stepped out of my apartment building to find all the residents of The Hollow gathered around, smiling. Although most of them wouldn’t be at the ceremony itself, they would be attending the after party.

Feeling awkward about all the attention, I merely waved and returned their smiles as I walked through the path between the hordes. When we finally made it through the front door of Antonio’s mansion, we found him and his guards waiting. Vampires didn’t do the whole ‘giving the bride away’ thing, but for him to escort me to Jared would be a symbol that he approved of, and blessed, the Binding. He gave me a fatherly smile. “Sam, you look—”

“Don’t do it. The compliments are making me uncomfortable.” He didn’t look surprised by my words. I kissed Fletcher on the cheek. “Thanks for everything, you camp sod.”

Fletcher laughed delightedly. “You’re welcome, luv. Now go make him faint.”

Winking at me, Norm followed Fletcher as they hurried down the hallway.

Antonio sighed, shaking his head. “You look almost as edgy as Jared. I will say to you what I have been saying to him for the past few hours. Relax. This is your Binding. Enjoy it.”

“All right Yoda, enough with the wise words; let’s do this.”

Arm in arm, we walked down the hallway and took a right turn when we reached the open doors that led to the bat pool. As we stepped out into the warm night, I gasped. A trail of pink and red rose petals, bordered with tiki torches, marked the walkway to the floral arch on the beach up ahead. Standing there with the Prelate − who was basically a vampire minister − was Jared looking striking, enticing, and absolutely edible in a white open-necked shirt and a tan linen suit.

On either side of the walkway, the guests rose from the chairs that had been adorned in white ruffled covers and aqua bows. All of the guests – even Moaning Marcia – smiled. I could hear all the whispered compliments even from here, and was glad when soft music began to play and drown them out.

When Antonio and I came to the fringe of the beach, I removed my high-heeled shoes and kicked them aside. They wouldn’t get me very far on sand. I was so focused on Jared that I almost didn’t notice the huge object near the walkway. Realising what it was, I gaped. “The Tower of London.” The seven-foot high sand sculpture was so unbelievably detailed, it was absolutely amazing.

“I thought you might like to have a bit of ‘home’ at your ceremony.” Antonio swept a hand, gesturing for me to look around.

When I did, I gasped again. Dotted around the walkway and bordering the chairs were several sand sculptures of London monuments. Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The London Eye, the 02 Arena, the Royal Albert Hall, Globe Theatre, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the Eros Statue.

“A friend of mine has an affinity to sand,” Antonio told me. “He is very difficult to track down, as he is very much a loner. But eventually I managed to find him and I had him create these especially for you. Think of them as my Binding gift to you.”

Surprising him a little, I hugged him. He might be a big, bad, powerful vampire, but he was all squishy on the inside. “Thank you. I love them.”

Locking eyes with Jared, I began to cover the distance left between us. On the way, I caught sight of my squad. They each gave me a beaming grin, and then opened their jackets. Pinned to each of their shirts was a sign that said ‘Run’. Squashing my amused smile, I rolled my eyes at their immaturity. Of course Jared hadn’t missed their little joke and he shot them all a playful scowl that they appeared to find hilarious.

With each step I took toward him, the knot in my stomach went tighter and tighter. Not with dread, but with excitement. It was the same excitement that I could sense in him. Finally reaching him, I placed my hand in the one he offered me, accepting Antonio’s peck on the cheek. The powerful Keja went to sit between Luther and Evan on the front row. My very-soon-to-be-brother-in-law gave me a wink, while Luther gave me a respectful nod.

Turning my attention back to Jared again, I smiled one of those idiotic Barbie-like smiles. I seriously couldn’t stop smiling, and the more I tried to drop it, the wider it got.

You look absolutely stunning
, Jared told me.

Ah, bless him. I knew he wasn’t great with compliments.
You look absolutely edible.

His grin widened. Ready, we then turned to face the Prelate. Hearing a series of laughs behind us, I swerved around, curious. Fletcher, shaking with laughter, pointed at Jared. It was only then that I realised a piece of paper had been stuck to his back that said ‘Help Me’. No prizes for guessing who was responsible for that − particularly since all ten of them were looking everywhere but at me, even as they laughed.

Snatching it from his blazer, I gestured for Evan to grab it. He quickly came forward and took it, fighting to shrink his smile. It didn’t work. Fighting my own smile, I turned back to the Prelate.

I’ll get the assholes back for that
. Jared sounded close to laughing himself.

Just then, the Prelate − who didn’t look impressed − began to speak. Not that I understood a word. What I’d learned from Luther in advance was that the entire thing would be spoken in Latin. Basically, the Prelate said a ritual speech before the vows. Apparently, the general gist was that our death as a human was not the end for us, as vampires, but the beginning of something new; that to find someone to spend our immortal lives with was a special thing that should not be overlooked or taken for granted, but welcomed and valued above all else. It was sort of sweet, actually.

And the great thing about Binding ceremonies – well, great for people like me who didn’t like cheesy stuff − was that you didn’t have to recite a string of vows. After the Prelate asked in Latin if you agreed to love, protect, treasure, comfort, support, laugh with, and forsake all others, in good times and in bad, you simply answered, “ita vero”, which was Latin’s roundabout way of saying ‘yes’.

So Jared and I remained quiet as the Prelate spoke. Despite not understanding him, I was quite enjoying listening to the flow of Latin. When he gestured for Jared and me to join hands, we did as Luther had previously instructed; we joined our palms together and then
spread our fingers so that we could thread them through each other’s. Rather than close our fingers, we kept them pointing upwards, so that we had created a ‘V’.

Finally, he then began addressing Jared, who responded, “ita vero”.

Well thank bloody God for that. I wasn’t too proud to say that I’d still had my worries that he might back out.

As if he’d sensed that, he said,
Never
.

When it came time for me to respond to the Prelate, I said, “ita vero”. I could have been mistaken, but it looked like Jared breathed a sigh of relief.

Only the fact that the Prelate was holding our wrists in place stopped me from wrapping my arms around Jared when his mouth met mine, giving me a drugging kiss followed by a sharp bite to my bottom lip. He took only one sip of blood before pulling back, giving me a chance to return the bite and take a sip of his own blood.

If the Prelate hadn’t still been holding our hands in place, I most likely would have backed away, on guard, when a breeze suddenly began to build around us.

It’s okay, it’s supposed to happen
.

It would have been nice if Luther had mentioned this part. Trusting Jared, I remained still and quashed my anxiety. As if that cleared the mental pathway, the psychic connection suddenly snapped into place. I’d expected it to be similar to the link I’d had with my Sire; for Jared to be a small presence in the back of my mind. But it wasn’t like that at all. It was almost like I now had an extra sense, and that sense was totally focused on Jared − on his mood, his welfare, his whereabouts, his emotions, hell, even his vitals.

Pulling me from my musings, heat suddenly spread along my third finger. I had to resist the urge to snatch my hand back at the sensation of someone scraping at the base of my finger with a sharp nail. Then, where a wedding ring might have been, was a black, intricate, beautiful, and almost Celtic-like knot around my finger. The exact same one circled Jared’s ring finger. Touching mine, I realised that although it was much like a tattoo, it was also bumpy. Like brail.

Knots are different for each couple,
Jared told me.
Yours won’t match anyone’s but mine, and vice versa.

Now I understood why Luther hadn’t told me. He’d known I’d find this kind of nice, and he’d wanted me to have the surprise. Happily accepting Jared’s kiss, I said,
I love it
.

Good, because it will never come off, never fade, never alter in any way.

As the Prelate then made some sort of gesture, the guests rose from their seats and clapped. Oh. It was over.

“And now for the feast,” announced Antonio.

(Jared)

The Binding feast was taking place in the grand garden of Antonio’s mansion. The numerous tables circled the space that had been designated to be the ‘dance floor’. Seated with Sam and I on what was the main table were Antonio, Evan, Luther, Sebastian, Wes, and Lena. Although the garden had been decorated beautifully with torches, candles, butterfly lights, and a huge banner, I was too distracted by Sam to truly appreciate any of it.

She was absolutely enchanting, and that was nothing to do with her new Keja allure. It was because she was the most amazing creature ever. I’d felt connected to her before, but now I was linked to her on a whole other level. This new sense I had was totally attuned to her and only her. I couldn’t just feel her emotions, I could feel
her
− her heartbeat, her general mood, her thirst level, her energy level, and − best of all − I’d always know exactly where she was. No one could steal and hide her from me again. Not ever.