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But she took it. “All right. Yes.”
Thank fuck. Relief shuddered through me, shocking in its strength.
“Now.” I drew her to her feet, then released her to text my companions. “Adrian and Nathan can be our witnesses.”
While we waited, I retrieved the bracelet from my bedroom and slipped it into my pocket. When I returned, Eden was still standing next to the couch. When she saw me, she ran her fingers through her hair and squared her shoulders.
The two dhampirs arrived, Rio in tow. They must’ve put the fear of God into him because he didn’t challenge me, just pulled Eden into a hug while giving me the side eye over her shoulder.
“Just remember, I got your back,” he said, not even trying to lower his voice.
“It’s okay.” She squeezed him back. “I…want to do this.”
It wasn’t a lie—her words tasted of truth—but that hesitation said a lot.
I pressed my lips together and extricated her from Rio.
And there in the opulent but impersonal suite of a Kral Syndicate hotel, we spoke the words that bound her permanently to me.
I went first, offering her my protection in return for the bond. Then it was Eden’s turn.
“I accept your blood bond, Talon of the Maritime Syndicate,” she said, her voice low and a little shaky, “and bind myself to you in return. To be yours, and yours only, for the rest—” she stumbled over the words—"for the rest of my life.”
I took out the gold cuff and, pushing up her sweater sleeve, snapped it around her left wrist. It was inlaid with lapis lazuli, five asymmetric pieces the same saturated blue of her eyes.
She fingered it, then glanced up at me, leaking sadness. “It’s…pretty.”
I gave her a hard kiss, then picked up her suede jacket and held it out for her. She tried to take it from me, but I shook my head at her.
“I’ll do it,” I said, emphasizing that her independence was something I could grant—or take away—at will.
She understood. She turned and allowed me to help her with it.
When the jacket was on, I remained behind her, my hands on her shoulders, and pressed a kiss to the sensitive spot below her ear. A quiver ran over her.
“Mine,” I whispered and closed my teeth around the cord of her neck—not hard, but enough to leave a faint red mark. I wanted her to feel my teeth on her all the way to Lilith Island.
Eden slept for most of the two-hour flight. I eased her out of her seat and onto my lap. She woke up enough to give me a startled blue-eyed look, before curling into me with an incoherent murmur.
I gathered her closer and brushed my lips over her silky temple, taking advantage of the fact that she was too sleepy to fight me.
Rio had roped Adrian and Nathan into playing poker with him. They were gathered around a round table at the other end of the cabin, and from what I could hear Rio was winning. The kid was smart. Bringing him with us had been the right move. For now, I wanted him where I could see him, not making trouble back in New York.
Besides, I remembered what it was to be young and fighting to survive. Not that I was Mother Teresa or anything—I expected Rio to work hard and keep his nose clean—but by the end of his contract, he’d have a nice chunk of cash.
Eden’s breath sighed out. She went boneless, deeply asleep.
I slipped a hand beneath her sweater and widened my fingers, taking in the size of her uterus, which extended from the tip of my thumb to my littlest finger. The surface rippled beneath my palm.
An overwhelming protectiveness hijacked my brain. I swallowed over what felt like a pack of razor blades.
A new being was growing in there, a spawn of my bloodline. For a young vampire like me, that was almost unheard of. We often went a century or more before siring our first offspring.
It shouldn’t have happened. We’d been careful. No condom, but like all thralls, Eden had received a yearly birth control shot.
I’d thought I didn’t want a spawn with human blood, but now I didn’t know what to think. I skated my palm over Eden’s abdomen, learning the new shape of it. Trying to wrap my mind around the idea that I—we—were going to have a child.
The flight attendant appeared, asking us to buckle up for the descent. Reluctantly, I eased Eden back into her own seat. She woke up, yawning and rubbing her eyes, looking barely older than a teenager herself.
