Beloved LifeMate: Song of the Sídhí #1 (6 page)

“You’re shivering,” he said worriedly. “I shouldn’t have brought you this close to the windows. I thought you’d enjoy the sun.” He sighed, shaking his head before I could speak. “Yes, I know vampires aren't thrilled with the sun. Plain and simple, I wanted to hold you.”

I pulled my arm from under the luxuriously soft blanket and reached for his hand.

He willingly wrapped his large hand around mine.

“In my world, the decision to bond is made to together. Just like all the decisions in a bonded couple’s life are made together.”
I nodded my head and winced as my swollen jaw hit the edge of the hard collar, before I could continue he reached for the silver collar and snapped it off.

“Thank you,”
I said. I couldn’t reach his cheek, so I softly kissed his hand in thanks.

“You’re welcome,” he sighed and smiled at me; his eyes gleamed with unspoken emotion. “I didn’t want to put it on you, but after you ported away the first time, I was worried you would try it again or maybe call your sister.” A shudder raced through his body. “I can still feel the terror of coming back with the healer and realizing you were gone. Then I was terrified I might not find you in time.”

“Sorry, I thought the monst… Mirk was going to eat me,”
I apologized.

“Hush, my beloved, it is I who must apologize. I nearly killed you.” He kissed my forehead and I saw the pain in his eyes. “After we came through the gateway and I found-out your sister was Chi’Kehra, I knew she would come for you. I didn’t want to kill you, but I felt I had no choice. I had no idea how powerful your sister was. My first thought was she could kill everyone in the entire valley. I threw you against the stone wall hard enough to stop you from calling her. Then you ported. I swear I reacted on instinct. I turned and struck before I had time to think.” He shuddered and groaned. “Then the synth song roared through my blood.”

He gritted his teeth and continued in a choked voice, “Once the synth sang, my love for you was instant and overwhelming and…”

“Enough,”
I said firmly, cutting him off.
“It’s in the past and that’s where we will leave it.”

He looked stunned at my words. I was tired of guessing what my lifeMate was feeling. I wanted him and he acted like he cared for me; I wanted us mentally bonded.

“Would you come back to the sofa?”
I felt my face turn slightly pink as I admitted,
“I miss having you next to me.”

“Ah, my beloved, you are definitely from a different world. Very, very few women here would admit something like that. Not when it could be used against her,” he said carefully, measuring each word.

When I didn't comment, he sighed and raised my legs slowly.

I tried, but I couldn’t hold back the moan of pain as he slid my legs over his lap.

“Forgive me,” he said, recapturing my hand.

“It’s okay,”
I said and tried swallowing another whimper as he shifted.

He snapped his teeth together. “It’s not okay. You’re white as a sheet. The healer left some pain medicine, but she said not to give you any for another two hours. I'll call my guards to bring her.”

“No, please.”
I wrapped both my hands around his and tugged him closer.
“I can handle the pain, but I can’t handle not being next to you. If the healer comes, she'll put me out.”

“Mia Cara, you shouldn't admit things like that.” The frown creasing his forehead told me he came to a decision he didn’t like. “Until you can learn our ways, perhaps it would be best if we were not together.”

“What? One minute you call me beloved, and the next you threaten to leave. Do you want me or not?”
I growled; his eyes grew wide at the rumbling sound.
“We wouldn’t have these misunderstandings if we would just bond. Is your world so much different that we can’t just bond?”
I demanded with growing frustration.

A multitude of expressions crossed his face. He finally sighed and said, “I want nothing more than to bond with you this very minute, but I’m afraid you would eventually hate me.”

He shook his head at me when I tried interrupting. “You weren’t raised here to have these things explained. By rights, I should have my brother’s lifeMate explain them to you, but I will try to do it myself.”

“During the Great War…”

My laughter interrupted him and he reminded me of a big-eyed owl when he blinked at me.

“Do we need to go back four thousand years?”
I asked through my laughter.

“Yes, for you to fully understand. I think we do.” His lips twitched into a huge smile and he sighed; his face softened into a look I could only describe as adoring. “You are beautiful, but do you know exactly how exquisite you are when you laugh?” He didn’t wait for my answer he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on my cheek.

His eyes never left mine as he continued, “During the war, the streets of every town ran red with the blood of lifeMates who either killed themselves after their bonded lifeMate died on the battlefield or dropped dead from a brain aneurysm. The written accounts of that time are filled with horrific detail. I think it mentally damaged the children and every un-bonded person during that time.”

“Those poor kids, they got hit with double misery. Not just a father, but their mother died as well,”
I said, trying to imagine the pain of growing up in a time like that, but I couldn’t.

“It was pure chaos after the old Chi’Kehra died along with the disappearance of over half of all the people, plants, and animals. It took hundreds of years for the survivors to gather together in small communities. Nobody trusted anyone. The survivors created new laws, one of the first enacted was Women’s Choice. When the synth music sings, naming a lifeMate, it's up to the woman to bond or not.” He grimaced and squeezed the hand he held in my lap.

“I was born three thousand years ago.” He stopped and chuckled at my gasp.

I groaned.
“I just turned seventeen. Talk about an age gap. I don’t even know your name yet. I’m Miranda Michelle Trellick. Most people call me Miranda,”
I said.

“It’s a beautiful name. My name, on the other hand, is longer than you could ever imagine. I am Colin Andrew Smithton Allen Drametri Theodus Malichins,” he said with a twist of his lips.

“We aren’t going to label our children with a name that long,”
I said emphatically, then groaned when I realized what I had just said. Without looking up, I sort of apologized.
“Now that I’ve totally stuck my foot in it, do you have a preference?”

Gently pushing up my chin, he kissed my temple. “I can’t resist kissing you when you blush like that.” He chuckled. A smile entered his eyes making them twinkle with pleasure. “Are you asking my preference of what we shall name our first child or what I prefer to be called?”

I groaned and his chuckle turned into laughter, while he continued raining small kisses across my hotly blushing face.

“Whatever you decide is fine. No one, not even my parents, ever used my name. From the first day, I’ve been called Chi’Kehra,” he said with little emotion.

I was still wrapping my mind around that absurd comment when he hesitantly began speaking.

“You speak as if you want a child. Most women make the man beg for a child,” he said with a frown.

“That’s not normal. Of course, I want to have children. Um, I mean, uh,”
I groaned in utter embarrassment,
“after we’re married. Anyway, why would any woman make her lifeMate beg? That’s just horrid.”

“For people on Sídhí that is life. I need to finish explaining about Women’s Choice. By the time I was born, most women refused to form a lifeBond with their lifeMate.” He quickly pressed a finger to my lip. “Save your questions and ask after.” To soften his order he gently kissed the corner of my lips.

“That is the single law women have. They have twisted its use to create a powerful position for themselves. They can, and do, eventually make their lifeMate do anything they demand.” He snarled. “The women in my family are some of the worst.”

“From your expression you don’t understand,” he said with a questioning look.

I sighed, shaking my head and slightly winced at the movement. I was really starting to hurt, but I didn’t want to give up my time with Colin.
“I’m sorry, my love. I honestly don’t understand. Are you saying, women are basically property, but they have the power of the owner?”
I frowned at his face-splitting grin.
“Don’t you dare tell me that you own me and you find that funny.”

“Never.” He leaned closer to me and gently wrapped his arms around me. He caressed my lips with his, but before I could respond he rubbed his cheek against mine and held me with – what I knew – was restrained strength. His body was trembling.

“Colin?”
I asked, prodding him for an answer.

He rained kisses across my cheek and leaned back with a self-satisfied smile. “You called me ‘my love.’ I hope and pray you never become like the women of this world. Anyone of my sisters or female cousins would make their lifeMate wait months or possibly years before they gave any form of endearment to their mate.”

“They aren’t bonded, are they?”
I asked in a horrified voice.

“There is only one, among all of my relatives that bonded,” he said and gently leaned his forehead against mine. “Not even my parents are bonded.”

I'm glad he held me, because this was too much to believe. But, I needed more than his arms around me. I needed to bond with my lifeMate. Whether he knew it or not, I believed, he needed it just as bad.

“Will you bond with me?”
I asked him.

“My love, I want nothing more, but we should wait. You need time to heal and you need time to understand how things work here.” He groaned, cupping my hand in his large hand. “I'm not rejecting you. I desperately want you as my lifeMate, but not until you understand your rights.”

“From what you’ve told me about the women here, well, I could never treat you like that. Not ever,”
I said emphatically then added with just as much fervor,
“Colin, you're my lifeMate, I love you too much.”
At this point, I didn't care if it was the synth that made me love him, or if it was love at first sight, or if I had fallen in love with the adoring look on his face while he held me with such extraordinary care.

I didn’t wait for his answer; I was tired of arguing. I looked into his dark green eyes and opened my end of the lifeBond. His eyes jerked wide open, the pupils dilated, and with a shocked gasp, he opened his end of the lifeBond.

The combined synth in our blood sang, whipping through us as the ends of two lifeBonds intertwined and twisted together. The closing of our bond created a shimmering solid union between the two of us. I felt it briefly glow burning hot. Cooling, it pulled us irrevocably together. Once bonded, our emotions flowed into the other.

I felt his love crash through me and I grinned with joy. He actually did love me as much as I loved him.

“My beloved, thank you,” he kissed my cheek, “no greater treasure could anyone give me.”

I opened my surface thoughts to him and tried scooting closer to him. The pain stopped me. The pain had been growing gradually worse. I had been trying to ignore it.

“I know I stink, I can smell the blood still in my hair, but I need you to hold me and…”

“Shush,” he said and carefully slipped his arms under me, pulling me onto his lap.

Pain swept through me and I fainted.

I woke-up cradled in his arms. My head was in the crook of his neck. His worry and fear pulsed into me; I felt his hands trembling as he held me.

I sent him my love and the words just in case he missed my gratitude.
“Thank you.”

I felt his disbelief at my words. “I hurt you,” he said in a growl that sounded more vampire-ish than elvish.

“The pain was inevitable. I needed you to hold me,”
I said and gently kissed his neck.

I began relaxing to the sound of his heartbeat and felt myself drifting off. I was surprised he had been able to tolerate holding me for so long. I blinked awake as I felt his shock flow through me.

“My bonded lifeMate, if you’ll let me, I’ll hold you forever,” he said fervently; I felt the sincerity of his words flow through me.

I nuzzled his neck and gently kissed him again.
“I stink. As a vampire mix, I know my sense of smell is better than yours is, but holding me so close has to be horrid for you. I really stink.”

“I hurt you so badly. I nearly lost you.” His words sounded halfway calm, but the pain of exactly how he felt ripped through our bond. He was in agony over nearly killing me.

“Stop that,”
I demanded.

I felt his shock and then his chest gently vibrated with his laughter. His pain lessened; it was still there, but I felt his humor flow around it.

He gently kissed the top of my head. “For three-thousand years, I have dreaded the day I found my lifeMate.” He chuckled. “For the first time in my entire life, I feel complete. Our emotions are so intertwined I can’t tell if the joy I feel is yours, mine, or both of ours combined.”

I nuzzled his pulsing neck and kissed him yet again; I simply loved touching him
. “I don’t know. I’ve read books and heard people discussing the lifeBond. The current theory is an immortal is not whole until they bond with their lifeMate. Other than the pain, I certainly feel better than I ever have.”

Time passed and it grew dusky outside, while we talked about our family and how different the two worlds were. Sídhí remained without technology as I understood it. It would be a big change for me and for him. He told me his people had already thrown a fit over my impure blood tainting the elvish monarchy.

Deep down, I fretted over the worry my family was going through. I didn't try contacting Sarah, I was afraid she'd hurt Colin before I could explain.

Everything finally came to a grinding halt. Some things in life simply took precedence.
“Colin, I really hate to mention this, but my bladder is about to burst. I’ve got to go to the bathroom.”
I groaned as I realized my beloved lived in a medieval castle.
“Please, please tell me you have indoor plumbing.”