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"I don't understand," she murmured. "You didn't kill Nathan. The vision was wrong."
"No," he said. "The blow I delivered should have killed him - it would have, if his collar had not been disabled. That was the thing I didn't know, the thing the vision had not revealed to me. I didn't realize until the moment it was happening that the strike I made against your son was meant to save his life, not take it away."
"Thank God," Corinne whispered, curling herself into the shelter of his embrace. "But Nathan is gone anyway. I've lost him, just the same."
"We will find him," Hunter said, his deep voice rumbling from all around her, low and soothing, as strong as his protective arms. "I give you my vow on this, Corinne. No matter how long it takes, or how far I must go to see it through. I will do this ... I do it for you. Everything for you."
She turned her head to gaze up at him, moved by his promise.
"I love you," he told her. "My life now and for the rest of my years is committed to your happiness."
"Oh, Hunter," she sighed, emotion catching in her throat. "I love you so much. You've already shown me happiness I didn't think possible for a very long time."
He bent and dropped a kiss on her brow. "And I have never known any of the things you've made me feel in our brief time together. You have made me want to experience everything in life. I want to experience it all with you at my side ... as my mate, if you deem me worthy."
"I don't want to live a day without you either," she confessed. "You are a part of me now."
"I want that," he said, catching her lips in a sensual, passionate joining of their mouths. When he drew back a moment later, his eyes were glowing bright as coals. His fangs gleamed, the sharp points extending even farther as he gazed at her. "I can't help but desire you. I want to taste you again. This feeling I have for you is more than intense," he said roughly. "It is a possessive thing, greedy. I look at you, Corinne Bishop, and all I can think is that you are mine. "
"I am yours," she confirmed, stroking the proud jaw and muscled cheek of the male she wanted beside her eternally. "I am yours alone, Hunter. Yours forever."
With a growl, he pulled her into another, deeper kiss. "I want you to belong to me," he murmured against her mouth. "I want to know my blood lives inside you, as a part of you."
"Yes," she gasped, thrilling to the idea of binding herself to him now and for always. Their eyes locked together, he raised his wrist to his mouth and sank his long fangs into the flesh. He brought it to her, the most precious gift he could give her. Corinne put her lips to his opened vein and drew the first taste of him into her mouth.
His blood hit her tongue like wildfire.
Thick and strong and roaring with power, it was the very essence of all Hunter was. And now that vitality was feeding her, enriching her cells, filling her senses ... weaving into every fiber of her being. She felt the bond take hold, a radiant, glorious connection. She grabbed on to it and let it wrap around her, reveling in the total saturation of joy that engulfed her as she continued to drink from Hunter.
His blood obliterated the horror of all she'd been through. The torture was swept away, the degradation lifted, all of it scattering like dust under the power of the bond that was now growing, intensifying between them.
As she drew from Hunter's vein, she watched her magnificent mate's eyes blaze with passion and possession ... with a love so intense it stole her breath. She was on fire for him now, her own need amplified by the intoxicating power of his blood.
She could hardly stand the wait as he carefully withdrew his wrist and sealed the wounds closed with his tongue. She was trembling as he undressed her, his own clothes gone in the next instant.
He covered her with his body and made love to her, sweetly, thoroughly ... an ecstasy that burned as brightly as their love.
And while this moment of commitment and completion filled her beyond measure, there was still a corner of her heart that she knew would ache as long as her son was gone. But Hunter's promise to stand by her until they found him gave her faith. Perhaps he wasn't lost to her forever. Not yet.
With Hunter's love, and the blood bond that flowed through her, stronger than any storm, everything seemed possible.
A heavy rain had swept into the area by the time dusk finally settled. Hunter shrugged into his leather trench coat, preparing to head back out to search for Nathan one last time before pushing on to New England. Based on his quick check-in with the Order a short while ago, things were going from bad to worse at the compound. As much as he hated to leave without Corinne's son, Hunter also could not ignore his duty to his fellow warriors. More than even that, he needed to ensure that Corinne was somewhere safe and protected while he carried out all of his duties, not left to wait for him in the back of an unsecured delivery truck.
"I will be fine," she told him, reading his concern with an ease that should have unsettled him.
It didn't unsettle, however. It was reassuring how well she'd come to know him. Incredible how visceral their bond was now, solidified by their mingling blood. He caressed her beautiful, brave face. "I'll be gone only for a couple of hours. I can cover the entire area near the river and the state park around it in that time."
"Thank you," she said, turning a kiss into his palm. "Whatever happens - whether you find him out there tonight or not, just know that I'm grateful you're willing to try."
"Nathan is your family. That means he's my family too."
She gave a wobbly nod as he gathered her close. As Hunter gazed into her trusting eyes, he knew a deep wish to build a larger family with her - to give her more sons to love, once Nathan was safe.
Together they walked to the doors of the truck. Hunter opened them into the hiss of the steadily pouring rain.
Nathan stood outside in the deluge.
He was drenched, barefoot and half dressed in just the gray sweatpants he'd been wearing when he'd bolted earlier that day. Water sluiced off his shaved head and down the lean muscled plates of his dermaglyph- covered chest. His hands hung loosely at his sides, fingers dripping water into the mud beneath his feet.
