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By the time I finished the question, that sneaky shit had made its way back to my internal safe. I yanked it back into place as B answered.
“Well, I can’t say from experience, but from what I understand, most mates develop a mental link that grows stronger as they move through each of the stages.”
“And is it two-way?”
The compulsion shuddered, seeming to want to slide back but I held it down tight.
“Yeah. That’d be kind of weird, only one person hearing the other’s thoughts, right?”
Yeah. It would be.
Except I’d never once heard any of Julian’s thoughts.
As I thought of the reasons that might be, the compulsion almost made it back to the safe. I caught it just in time.
“Could a mate potentially shield the other from that? Like what I’m doing now with my heartbeat and stuff, but with their mind?”
B thought about it a moment, before his posture changed, He stood straighter, face blanked to neutral.
Damnit, I’d hit on something I wasn’t supposed to ask.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“I didn’t say a word.”
“I know, I know. And Julian won’t hear any different.”
At that, B relaxed.
“One last question.”
“Yeah?” he said, stiffening warily once again.
“Do you know how much time should be between each of the stages of the mating bond?”
B’s posture relaxed. Apparently that question didn’t fall into something Julian had expressly said not to talk about. “I believe it should be forty-eight hours between each stage to make sure the bond sticks.”
I chewed on my cheek, doing the math. I fed from him last night, Saturday. That meant Monday night we could do the mark, and Wednesday night we could finally bone.
Just the thought turned me on, and I was grateful I’d been able to hold on to the compulsion so BBD didn’t know just how turned on I was.
“Thanks, B. You’ve been a big help.” I said, a plan formulating in my head. One that I hoped Julian would agree to.
“Good. So, just keep practicing with the cloak, and I’ll see ya tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”
“Sounds good,” I said and BDD made his way up the metal steps, leaving me to my safes.
I plodded through the next safe while also trying to keep my cloak in place. Safecracking required more concentration than simple conversation and so the cloak kept wiggling around.
The way it was going, I wasn’t sure I’d have it down by Friday. But I had to try my best.
Eventually, I got another text from Julian inviting me to dinner, and I used it as an excuse to clock out for the day.
Cracking the safes while keeping that damn cloak in place had exhausted me and I was half tempted to decline Julian’s offer. That was, until I remembered that I could drink a sip or two of his blood and feel totally refreshed.
I rushed upstairs to shower and change into different jeans and a different halter, glad not to find another dress on the bed. Picking out my clothes for an important event like the incursion was one thing, but doing it every night? That would have been weird.
Julian met me in the great hall, dressed in his ever-present dark gray suit. He took my hand as I descended the last few steps. “And that’s exactly how you’ll enter the incursion in the courtyard.”
