Page 19 of Bound

I stare down at the gnome. I was raised to be a king, andthough I am no longer that man, there are times I expect to be obeyed withoutquestion. It is bred into my character. A king never explains his actions, evenwhen they are wrong. I’m sure Cian would have knelt and explained himself tothe small woman, but then Cian would never be in this mess in the first place.Cian would never screw up so badly with a woman that she couldn’t stand to lookat him.

“If you have a problem with it, I’ll take her now,” I saysoftly.

The gnome holds her ground, but I can see it costs her. “No,Sire. I will make sure she is ready for the long and arduous journey.”

I stride to the door. I need a bath, but I won’t disturbMeg’s. If things went as planned, I would have cleaned her up myself. I wouldhave shown her how tender I can be. I would have eased into the hot tub withher, kissed her, and washed her hair. I would have bonded with her.

“If she runs, I’ll hold you and yours personallyresponsible,” I growl. I’m somewhat satisfied by her nervous nod.

I know I’m being what my cousin would call an asshole, but Ican’t help it.

The waning sunlight is still hot on my skin. That willchange. By nightfall the forest will be cold. If I take her out there, she’llhave no choice. She’ll have to cling to me for warmth and protection.

Perhaps out in the forest she’ll begin to learn to trust me.

I stride through the market, ignoring those who call outgreetings. I don’t want to hear about my soon-to-be-legendary victory. The damnbards will be singing about it soon enough. They have no idea how close thatvictory came to being a bloodbath. Only Meg’s sweet hand stayed me, and shepaid for her interference. I leave orders with the stable boy to get my horseready then make my way to the river that runs near the marketplace. I toss myshirt, boots, and trousers on the grass and dive in where I know the water isdeep and cold.

The chill hits my system like a bloody winter blast. I gritmy teeth against the bite of pain along my skin. I dive deep, refusing to comeup for air or warmth. My lungs can handle it. I wrap my hands around the strongreeds, anchoring myself to the bottom. It’s quiet here. There’s no incessantchatter. There’s no one to constantly remind me of duties that are no longermine. They don’t understand. I have been the deposed King of the Seelie foralmost half my life now. Can’t they leave me be?

I watch a small school of fish swim by. The river isremarkably clear and lovely. It reminds me of the river that runs by the whitepalace in Tír na nÒg. Mother would take me, Cian, and our sister Bronwyn down,and she would sit with her ladies while we swam. Cian would splash our sisterand tease her mercilessly, but I wasn’t allowed to join their fun. I wasexpected to act the king always.

“Eyes are always on you, son,” my father would say.“They expect Cian to act the fool, but you must be the warrior king everyminute of your life.”

What would my father have thought of my actions on this day?Would he understand that life had dealt me a horrible set of cards and I playedthem the only way that made sense? Or would he turn away from me in shame?

I rather think it might be the latter.

All of my life I was trained to ruthlessly hide the beastthat lives inside me. My mother always told me that symbiotic twins wereconsidered powerful, but everyone knew they were difficult to raise. Thewarrior half requires balance to stop his violent nature from running wild. Theintellectual half needs grounding or he spends his life in daydreams. It’s onlythrough bonding with a proper mate that the two halves can truly live balancedlives.

The bonding is a sacred act. It’s a gift from the bondmateto her husbands. It is to be treasured and revered.

I forced it on her when she doesn’t even understand whatshe’s accepting.

Finally my lungs burn, and I allow myself to float towardthe light. I break the surface, taking a deep breath.

“I was wondering if you were going to put in an appearanceor if you would allow the kelpies to take you.” Dante sits against a largetree, his long legs spread out in front of him. He has his tablet out. Likemany vampires, Dante is almost constantly attached to his computer. He’s alwayslooking for downloads, better known as DLs. DLs consist of everything fromentertainment to education.

“There aren’t any kelpies here.” I smooth my long black hairback and hope it doesn’t tangle too much. “There are some in the forest, butnone this close to a village.”

The forest where I’m about to take my Meg is considered abit dangerous. It’s full of all sorts of nasty creatures.

Dante tosses me a bar of soap. It’s pink. The vampireprobably stole it from the females’ tent. Still, it will take the stink ofbattle off me. I soap up, grateful for the cold. It’s the first time sincemeeting Meg that I’m not uncomfortably hard.

Not true. There was that moment after Meg swallowed me down.Her throat closed around my cock, and she took every drop I gave her. Evenafter I was done, she was sweet and submissive. I wanted nothing more than topraise her for her gift. I wanted to haul her into my arms and fuck that sweetpussy of hers. She wouldn’t have said no. She would have spread her legs andwelcomed me.

But she was under the influence of our connection.

If she was in her right mind, she would have been terriblyinsulted. She’s a lady, a bondmate. She deserves respect. My wants and needsare perverse. She’ll help me overcome them. Once Cian and I have properlybonded with her, the overwhelming need I feel to dominate my lovers during sexwill go away.

It has to.

“I don’t understand you, cos,” Dante admits. The light isfading now. The vampire doesn’t need the hood of his shirt. He sits negligentlyin the shade, but then everything Dante Dellacourt does has an air ofprivileged negligence about it.

“I don’t expect you to.” I work the soap into my hair. Itshould have been Meg’s job. Washing her husband’s hair is the responsibility ofa Fae woman. I gave up the right when I treated her like a piece of trash.

“You’re tearing yourself apart over what happened out there,and I’m not sure which part is killing you. You aren’t responsible for the factthat you’re losing control. You should have been bonded five years ago. If Irecall, your parents had already betrothed the two of you to a nice royalgirl.”

I snort at the thought. Of course I remember Maris. Howcould I forget? I knew since I was very young that she was our future bondmate.She was a cool blonde and aware of her position, even as a young teen. If shewas with me in the arena, she would have slapped me silly. “I don’t think myuncle intends to allow that contract to be fulfilled.”