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His fucking voice sent me over the edge.
I flailed under him, body completely out of my control. I probably made some more embarrassing noises, too, but I was too lost in it to notice, thank the fucking Lord.
When I finally came back to earth—and the sofa, since I’d been supporting myself with just my toes and the crown of my head—Julian’s gaze had cleared back to its lovely hazel shade.
He pulled me close, off the sofa and into his lap and pressed his forehead to mind. We stayed like that for a few moments before pulling away.
I was close enough to see that his eyes weren’t just hazel. They were multicolored, green outlining grayish-blue with a golden middle. “I didn’t know your eyes were so many colors,” I said thickly.
Julian smiled and pulled me against his chest once more, taking a deep breath of me as he nuzzled my neck.
I settled against him, totally sated and completely in awe of how wonderful being close to him felt. “It’s my turn to return the favor.” I scooted back and went to work on his belt.
Julian’s large, warm hands stopped me.
“We can’t.”
I looked at him like he’d grown a dick in the center of his forehead. “Why the fuck not?”
He chuckled under his breath. “There’s a process, Eden. I don’t want to skip steps and move too quickly. I won’t risk the bond not taking. It’s too important.”
Not taking? That was an option? “I thought the mate bond was a done deal. What’s not to take?”
“Ah, right. I forget you had an absentee maker.”
“Actually, Odette wasn’t absent by choice. She was beheaded by yourfriendTitus.” My words came out exactly as bitter as his comment made me.
Julian stilled beneath me, each of his muscles locking tight for a moment. When he met my eyes, I flinched, recoiling from the tides of darkness churning in his gaze. Hatred and pure murderous rage crashed into each other like waves as his eyes went full dark. Fangs erupted from his mouth, and I blurred out of his lap and across the study faster than a bachelorette party orders tequila shots.
“Your maker was Odette Laurent?” How he could talk around those saber teeth, I’d never know.
My voice wouldn’t work. I couldn’t say,yeah, so quit bringing it up, jackass. I could only stare at his beautifully scary face and nod.
He looked every bit a vampire king like that. Shirtless, tousled hair, and four-inch fangs curving over his bottom lip.
In fact, I was kinda turned on.
Scared, yeah, but also ready for round two.
Nineteen
“Why didn’t you tell me?”His voice thrummed through me and I braced myself against the wall as it zinged every erogenous zone I had.
I dragged in a breath and forced my voice to work. “It’s none of your business who my maker is,” I said stubbornly. I even managed to take a step toward him.
I shouldn’t have bothered. He blurred to me, inches from my face as he twisted a hand in my hair and pulled my head to the side. His hot breath kissed my neck and I hated that I liked what he was doing so much.
His lips brushed the outside of my ear and my whole goddamn body shuddered. “Everything about you, everything you do, think, or want is my business, Eden. Your past, present, and future are all mine. You are mine.”
I put both hands on his chest and pushed him away with all my might.
He flew clear across the study, stopping himself just before he slammed into the bookcase and I played it off like I knew I was that strong. I did not. I was probably more surprised than he was. “Uh-uh. Nope. I belong to me. That possessive thing isn’t a turn-on, Julian.”
“And you keeping secrets isn’t a turn-on, either,” he growled.
“Oh, like you’re one to talk.”
He stalked closer once again, but I blurred to the other side of the study, intent on keeping as much space between us as possible.
