AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What is this to you, Elias?” My throat was raw, and my words came out husky and filled with need. When my legs began to tighten and spasm, it was hard to hold myself up. I rubbed my fingers against my palms, sliding over the sweat-slicked skin.
“Choice, Danni. Not fate. You chose me before this bond, and you wanted to tell me. I chose you, but I was so scared of losing you when Jordan made a threat on your life?—”
“Who?” I asked, a crease forming between my brows.
He shook his head. “There is so much I didn’t tell you. And that’s my fault. I want the chance to tell you everything. When I got your note . . .” Elias paused, swallowing thickly, his eyes darting away.
“Tell me,” I said quietly. “Whatever it is, please say it this time. Don’t shut me out.”
Sad eyes met mine, and he nodded softly. “I wanted to come to you immediately, but Ysa had just told me things about my past—your past—and I was spiraling out of control, thinking you’d never forgive me.” He took a sharp breath, as though he were having second thoughts. I urged him on, inclining my head toward him while I pressed my lips together in anticipation. “I had just learned who your father really was, and that Mathis killed him. The war . . . I started it. My actions spurred the Great Sacrifice. Scott’s death was my fault . . .”
Images of Mathis standing over me in the alley flashed through my mind. His confession resounded in my ears. “I know what he did,” I told him, and he gave a slight headshake, but I spoke before he could interrupt me. “You can’t take that blame. No matter what happened. No matter the cause of the war. Mathis killed my dad for power. You didn’t do that.”
He huffed a forced breath in shock. “I should have just come straight to you. I just wanted to know what to say. So I wrote it all down, but the words weren’t right. It’s still in my office. You can see for yourself. When Nova’s howl woke me up, I thought it was a dream.”
“What do you mean, her howl woke you up?” I narrowed my eyes. This wasn’t the story I’d heard.
“I hadn’t slept for days. I watched you every night, with the words we’d said to each other playing in my head like a broken record. The pain and guilt ate at me. I fell asleep on my desk.”
“Was this before or after you saw Katie?”
He shook his head. “I never saw Katie. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” When I said nothing, he studied my face. “You’ve said her name twice. Why?”
I shook my head, snorting a humorless laugh. I’d fallen into a trap of lies. How stupid could I be? Tall tales of a jealous ex-lover. Was anything she said even true? “I came looking for you. She mentioned you were elsewhere. Getting laid.”
“She what?” he growled, taking several deep breaths as he seethed. “I’ll deal with her later, but none of that is true. Danni, I nearly lost my mind when you were gone.” His eyes turned dark, flashing with unnamed emotions. “I came apart at the seams. I shut down the borders. Sent guards to our waterfall just to see if you were there. I had a witch make a portal so I could get to you. I made Ysa cut out my fucking eyeball for the spell.” He pointed to his face, then gestured wildly around the room. “You were on the brink of death, and the fear of that happening consumed me. The doctors couldn’t save you. So I gave you my blood. I changed you. I’ve never made anyone before. I need you to know that. But I am not willing to live in a world where you don’t exist.” Elias’s jaw clenched, and he stared at me with hunger . . . and truth.
Tears filled my eyes, spilling over the edge and falling down my cheeks. Heat coursed through me, lighting up my insides, calling to him. My body knew he was the one who had made me. More than that, my heart knew he was the one made for me—and every part of me knew it. I opened my mouth, lips parting, but my breath hitched.
“I can’t take back what you are now.” Elias’s eyes blazed, catching the light of the fireplace, giving him a devilish appearance. I pressed my thighs together, feeling the heat pulse at the apex of my thighs. “But I would do it all over again just to save you, even if that means I end up losing you.”
“Then why did you reject me?” The words tried to suffocate me. I didn’t want that. I just wanted him—more than anything—but forming coherent sentences evaded me.
“To prove to you that what’s between us isn’t a bond determined by fate. It’s determined by us. I need you to understand this is real. If you reject me in return, I don’t care. You are still the one for me. I choose you, Danni. I will always choose you.”
A passionate thirst unlike any I’d ever known flared in my veins. Without thinking, I ran across the room toward Elias, letting the blanket fall to the floor. His eyes widened at my approach, and I threw my arms around him, bouncing off my toes and wrapping my legs around his waist as I crashed into him. He caught me, his hands splayed across my back as I pressed my lips to his, inhaling sharply and nodding against him.
He growled against me, then pulled back slightly, his eyes searching mine. I smiled, and heat filled me to the very core.
“Elias Laskaris, I choose you.”
CHAPTER 30
Elias
My hands burrowed in her hair, snagging on the tangles and knots. Danni didn’t seem to care as she kissed me with wild abandon. Her fangs roughly scraped against my bottom lip, breaking the skin. She gasped, pulling back a fraction.
“I’m sorry . . .” Her pupils narrowed, shrinking to pinpricks. Her tongue traced the edge of her teeth.
“Sharing blood between mates is powerful,” I breathed, leaning in to press my lip to hers and letting it smear. I’d give her a drop, but nothing more. “You need more control before we play.”
She groaned, her eyes shuttering at the taste of me. I wanted to see that look again, except with my come on her lips instead. I stiffened, my already hard cock turning heavy and painful. The bond was bad enough, drawing us together like magnets that refused to be apart. But Dannika wasn’t overly experienced in this realm. I needed to know where her boundaries were.
It was going to kill me if this was a repeat of her heat.
I’d survive, but the restraint I possessed was already incredibly thin.
“What do you want, Danni?” I said, leaning in to run my tongue up the column of her throat. She tasted of salt, oranges, and peppermint. I wanted to bite her, but I was serious about her needing control. Blood was a drug to our kind. One we needed to survive, but vampire blood? It was the greatest hit she’d ever experienced. Ecstasy like no other.
