“If I die—”
“You won’t die, because not only will you be more in control, but the bond will make you stronger, and you will fight harder to return to me.”
“What about Aida?”
“She said I couldn’t use her as an excuse to push this off, so you definitely can’t use her.”
“The change is excruciating, Mollie. You will endure a lot of pain as your body transitions from mortal to immortal.”
“Birth is always painful, or so I’m told, but I will get through it.”
Mike groaned as her words melted his resolve to keep his distance from her.
“And when you return, we’ll have an eternity ahead of us,” she whispered as she stepped closer.
“Mollie—”
“But you have to give me the chance to have that eternity with you first.”
When his mouth descended on hers, Mollie knew she would get her chance.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Pleasure consumedher as Mike filled every part of her. His body had possession of hers while his blood slid down her throat and his fangs pierced her neck. His wrist against her mouth blocked her cries of ecstasy while his joy suffused her.
“We’ll be able to mentally communicate with each other when the bond is complete,” he’d told her before they started this.
She couldn’t read or sense his thoughts yet, but his emotions swirled through her as if they were hers while his sweat-slickened skin moved against hers. They were so wholly together that she couldn’t tell where he started and she stopped.
One. They were one, and they would always be one. Mollie’s fingers dug deeper into his back when his next thrust pushed her over the edge. Her back bowed beneath the heavy weight of his body as pleasure crashed through her.
Mollie released her bite on his wrist to gasp out her next words. “Come inside me.”
Mike was helpless to disobey as her ongoing orgasm caused the tight muscles of her sheath to constrict around his cock.
Tears filled Mollie’s eyes when she felt the pulsations of his release within her. She locked her legs around his waist and dug her heels into his ass to keep him inside her though he didn’t show any signs of withdrawing while he continued to feed on her.
Weakness spread through her limbs. She should be frightened of it, but she couldn’t find any fear in the euphoria surrounding her. Somehow, his wrist was against her mouth again, and his blood was trickling into her; she didn’t recall how it had gotten there, and she didn’t care as her heartbeat stuttered.
“Mike.” She couldn’t be sure if she’d spoken the word or not. She didn’t know if she were still clinging to him or floating through space as the room and everything else slipped away from her.
And then, she knew pain.
A scream rose and caught in her throat as she arched off the bed. Her entire body was nothing but one giant charley horse, but no matter how much she tried to straighten out and ease the cramp, it would not let up. Whimpering, animalistic sounds came from somewhere; it took her a while to realize they were coming fromher.
“I’m here, Mollie. I’m here. It won’t be much longer. I love you.”
The words were whispered in her ear, but when she turned her head, she saw only darkness. “Mike?”
Again, she didn’t know if she’d spoken his name or not.
Mike wiped the hair back from Mollie’s sweaty forehead and dabbed it with the damp washcloth he’d retrieved from the bathroom. He’d give anything to make her agony his own, but the only thing he could do was hold her as his blood twisted her body into something different.
Self-hatred and hope warred inside him as she whimpered again, and her eyes flew open. Their gazes locked, but her eyes remained unseeing as she whispered his name.
“I’m here, love,” he assured her.
Then her eyes closed, her hands eased their grip on the sheets, and she collapsed onto the bed. Leaning over her, Mike anxiously searched for a pulse and found it racing on the side of her neck. But as his fingers pressed against her vein, the rapid beat of her heart eased. The worst of the change had ravaged its way through her body. Now she would rest before waking, and then she would feed, fromhim.
