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He’d made it abundantly clear how important our bond was to him, so I knew he wasn’t avoiding me because he was having doubts.
But that didn’t take away my disappointment.
I stomped upstairs to grab another cup of blood and stomped back downstairs. Better to make myself useful and stay busy than pine over Julian.
At midnight, I finally headed to bed, crankier than the day before. I showered off the day’s gear grease and got into bed where I tossed and turned and managed to make myself angrier about the situation.
He didn’t even have the nerve to send the message himself.
I let out a huff. I was trying to be rational. We still had Wednesday and we could make Friday work if we had to.
Unable to stand it, I threw the covers off me and stormed out of my room, across the hall and into Julian’s suite.
“Are you in here?” I yelled as I busted through the double doors.
Julian sat in a leather chair at the foot of his bed reading what appeared to be a romance novel from the study.
“What game are you playing?” I asked, closing the distance between us to snatch the book from him. “You’d rather be up here reading smutty books than marking me?”
Julian swallowed.
Hard.
His gaze trailing over my body.
Mynudebody.
Yep. I’d stormed over here, all heated about being stood up, and completely forgot that I went to bed in the buff.
Fantastic.
Julian cleared his throat, dragging his gaze to meet mine. “The mark must be initiated by the one in the pair with the most reservations.”
What? Was that why…?
I let out a long breath, counted to ten, and took in another slow breath. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me? Why you made Sunny text me? So that I had to initiate the mark stage?”
Julian nodded, eyes swimming in desire as he held my gaze.
I glared down at him and pulled him up by the front of his shirt. “I told you no more secrets, Julian. You should have told me. I should have known about this. I would have if I were any other properly trained vampire. Wouldn’t I?”
Julian’s gaze went to the ground as I held him in the air. “Put me down, Eden.”
Hm. B was right about accessing a strong emotion to get a boost in powers.
“You know what, I think I like you better like this.”
In a flash, Julian ripped himself from my grip, spun me around and had my front pressed to the far wall.
“I had to be sure,” he rumbled in my ear.
A rumble which only spurred my anger. I braced against the wall, and pushed off as hard as I could until I’d smashed him against the opposite wall.
I spun to face him, hand over his throat, pinning him like he’d pinned me, only more aggressive by half. “Don’t lie to me, Julian. That’s the only thing I asked and you did it anyway.”
“I told you,” he said from between gritted teeth, “I had to be sure.” He wedged his hands beneath my arms and pulled my hands away from his neck so fast, I didn’t know it happened until he had my hands pinned to the wall.
He was inches from my face, eyes full dark. Fangs extended deliciously.
