“The night I realized you were my mate, Iwoke from sleep and went to my window to discover you sneaking outof the house and running toward the stairs leading to the ocean.Your hair billowed behind you like a black banner, and you werewearing cutoff shorts and a T-shirt. You hadn’t bothered withshoes.
“I dressed quickly and followed to find youwalking the beach. When you turned and saw me, you started to cry.I opened my arms to you, and you didn’t say a word as you came intothem, wrapped your arms around my waist, and rested your head on mychest.
“Holding you, I vowed I’d kill anyone whotried to take you from me. We didn’t speak as we settled on thesand and watched the tide until you fell asleep. When you woke, youlifted your head to smile at me, and I knew I’d never be the sameagain.”
A lump formed in her throat as she recalledthat night. They spent a lot of nights together, but that was theonly night where she couldn’t speak to him at all. She rememberedfeeling so safe nestled in his arms that, when she finally sleptagain, she dreamed of him.
“But if I’m your mate, then how could youleave?” she asked. “I thought mates couldn’t be apart from eachother.”
“I wasn’t fully matured then, and we’re notfull mates yet; the bond isn’t complete between us. No matter whatthey say about the bond driving a vampire mad if it isn’tcompleted, you have to know that your happiness isthemostimportant thing to me. If I didn’t believe I was doing the bestthing for you by walking away, I never could have left. Walkingaway from you was the hardest fucking thing I’ve ever done.”
“I understand.” And shedidunderstand. For years, she’d been angry and hurt, but he alsosuffered while they were apart. “I still had nightmares after youleft; did you sense those?”
“No, but I think it might be a distancething. The further I am from you, the less I sense things. It wouldbe different if we were mated, but though there’s a bond betweenus, it’s not as strong.”
“You still should have told me instead ofleaving,” she said.
“I wasnotgoing to put that kind ofpressure on you or take your dreams away from you.”
She kissed the tip of his nose. “You’re astubborn, foolish man, and I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“From now on, we decide our futures together.We can’t change the past, but we are going to decide our futuretogether, or we won’t have one. That means no more thinking becauseyou’re the big, bad vamp you don’t have to consult me on things. Ilove you, but I won’t stay with you if you make decisionsconcerning me withoutmeagain. Understood?”
“Understood,” he said and gave her a goofygrin.
“What’s so funny?”
“You think I’m a big, bad vamp.”
“Ugh,” she said and threw her hands in theair.
She went to climb off the bed, but heenveloped her in his arms and pulled her back. Aida squealed withlaughter when he tickled her.
CHAPTER 29
Aida tried not to look at her watch as she strolledthe gallery, but she swore the damn thing moved backward. She wasready for this night to be over so she could go home and nestleinto Julian’s arms again.
Stay focused on your job.
Normally, that wasn’t a difficult thing to doas she loved what she did, but thoughts of Julian kept intruding.She had to get it together. Nicolette was already annoyed becauseshe’d been right on time tonight.
Usually, she was at least ten minutes early,but she arrived just as Nicolette did. She gave her boss abreathless hello while Nicolette scowled at her before eyeingJulian, who stood behind her shoulder. He’d insisted on walking herto work.
When the door opened, Aida’s eyes flew to it,but her excitement vanished when an unfamiliar man entered. She’dtold Julian to stay away tonight; he might have appeased Nicolettewhen he bought a painting yesterday, but she wouldn’t appreciate itif he came back tonight.
Still, like a dog waiting for its master tocome home, she perked up every time the door opened. She beratedherself for acting like an idiot as she slipped into the bathroomand closed the door before approaching the mirror.
She inspected her reflection and turned herhead back and forth to make sure the marks on her neck were stillcovered. The turtleneck hid most of them, but the shadow of afingerprint marked the skin near her ear.
Digging into her pocket, she pulled out theconcealer she’d stashed there. Dabbing some onto her finger, sherubbed it over her skin until nothing of the bruise remained. Sheturned on the water and washed her hands before leaving.
She stopped by the champagne glasses in thecenter of the room. Unlike the first night, the caterers weren’toffering food, but the alcohol still flowed freely. Nicolette was abig believer in pumping potential buyers full of alcohol. She saidit made things look prettier while loosening the purse strings.
Aida had worked here long enough to realizeNicolette had a point. She’d seen some pretty unattractive worksbecomeintriguingto people after a bottle of champagne.Turning away from the glasses, she spotted Nicolette and Owenstanding by one of his few remaining paintings.
They were speaking with a woman Aidarecognized from a small art magazine and blog. The woman wasbusting her ass to expand her business, and its reach was growing,as she’d gained a reputation for her knowledge and amazing eye. Itwouldn’t be long before she was making or breaking the careers offuture artists.
