Soul-Mate (Immortal Love 1) (19 page)

“Humor me so I can feel a bit more jealous of you,” Jessica dared her.

I liked her already. She really made my day. I was curious to know what Anna was going to tell her.

“Shane is sexy, gorgeous, sensitive, and funny. He is a great listener. He makes me feel safe and complete. He is also a great fighter, and everybody respects him. He’s a really nice person.” She had a soft smile on her lips and dreamy eyes while speaking about me. I was drooling like a fool at every word she used to describe me.

“Okay, fine, that’s enough. It’s like he brainwashed you!”

“What?” Anna asked, the spoon at her mouth.

“That bond stuff is serious mojo! But I’m so jealous! You were not even looking for your mate and you found him. And me, here all alone, eating ice with me ice cream and pie to drown my sorrow and lack of sex.”

“Hey! I’m here with you!”

“
Pfft
! You are here today. Tomorrow, you’ll be back in your mate’s arms, continuing to have endless sex.”

“Jesus! Stop talking about sex. You are getting paranoid!”

“And you just got all red! Guilty much?”

“Of what?” Anna’s eyes flew wide open, as though she had no idea what Jessica was accusing.

“Of never giving me any details,” she explained, lowering her voice. Anna just rolled her eyes, and Jessica pouted, knowing that her friend was not going to indulge her.

Anna sighed, grabbed her phone, and stared at the screen. I hadn’t texted her or phoned again that night. I was following her, and she would most probably feel neglected by me. I had told her I was in a meeting, so she didn’t try to call me back, either, even when she stared quietly at the phone like she wanted to. I was just not calling and texting her all time because I was there, next to her, listening to her words and deciphering her sighs and long stares at the phone.

“Anna,” Jessica called, finding her absent stare strange. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes. Everything is… fine.”

“How long have you been away from him?”

“Since this morning.”

“Wow! That is some scary shit!”

Anna frowned, as though surprised by her language just as I was. I was also intrigued by her words.

“Mate bond is like a powerful drug,” she explained. “I’ve been reading about it in my ancestors’ grimoire
.
It’s a witch book of shadows,” she clarified.

“I know what that is. You are my best friend and a witch. I’m bound to know what a grimoire is!”

“Fine, now let me finish. There it says that a mate bond works like a drug. The more you use it, the more you need it. And you’ve been there, like, forever so—I’m just saying.”

“I’m not following you at all,” Anna complained, pressing her finger to her forehead. She was probably feeling a headache coming on. It was not normal for her to be like that. She looked pale and distracted.

“Gosh, Anna! You are feeling all weird and sad because you have been away from him for a couple of hours, and you didn’t even drink from him. Imagine what will happen when you do! Not to mention what the sex will be like—wow! Fireworks and an out-of-body experience!”

Jessica seemed excited and happy about that, giggling as she stared at Anna with mischievous eyes and smile.

“It’s already like that,” Anna declared, pulling the plate of pie to her, eating it alone, and making Jessica complain. I smiled at her answer, proud of making her feel like that. She made me feel like that, too. It was perfect, even without sharing my blood with her; even if we hadn’t marked each other yet.

“If it’s that good, why are you like that?”

“Like what?”

“All grumpy and moody! It’s like you aren’t getting any!”

“Oh, trust me, I’m getting plenty.”

“Five-minutes plenty?”

“No, of course not. More like whole nights and barely having time to rest.”

“Oh, that sounds fun! Are you catching up on everything you didn’t do while you were a monk?”

“Do you want to keep breathing?” Anna menaced, and I almost chuckled out loud. Eavesdropping was fun, especially for a supernatural with super-hearing. But Anna would kill me if she found out.

“See what I mean? You are touchy and grumpy! You can’t handle a joke.”

“I can handle a joke just fine. I’m just hungry,” she explained, eating pie.

“Do you want to go out and find us some evil vampire to smack?” Jessie proposed with a wicked smile, making Anna laugh and cover her mouth.

“Don’t tempt me. I really need to sleep tonight.”

“Oh right, because you aren’t sleeping when you are with your mate. Just rub it in my face, will you?”

“I’m almost regretting coming to find you and spending some time with you,” Anna declared, making Jessie pout. “You really are in a terrible mood.”

“No, I’m not. I’m just teasing you and trying to get you to tell me the dirty details. Or maybe all that blood loss from the vampire feeding on me left me grumpy and hungry. Do you want to order another ice cream? We could share.” She seemed excited. I had no idea what was it with women and ice cream.

“Can we just go home? I need to rest. I’m feeling tired.”

“If you want. It’s not as if you seem happy to be here with me.”

“Don’t be like that. I’m just… feeling different tonight. But we’ll have plenty of other nights to go out and have long conversations about our mates.”

“Don’t try to humor me. I’m actually really happy you found Shane. You look much happier and calmer. Shane makes you really happy. I’m sure I’m going to like him a lot and give him a reward for taming you, so—” She didn’t finish her sentence because Anna threw a piece of pie at her face. Jessica blew some cream from her mouth and, with the napkin, cleaned the rest from her nose and left eye. “Not funny!”

But Anna was laughing at her friend’s face and then added, “He didn’t tame me. I’m going to the bathroom and then we leave.”

That was my cue to get up, put the money on the table, and leave the diner. I had to get going to talk to my master. I needed to get back to town as soon as possible. Anna would go back to her fortress home, and I would have to unfold some pending mysteries. And for that I also needed to talk to James. He had something that I needed to show the king.

SUNDAY MORNING,
I woke up early, grabbed my stuff, and went back as fast as I could to Shane’s house. I also had to attend the training at three o’clock, so I had to get back there anyway. However, I was missing Shane and feeling miserable because he hadn’t phoned or texted me back all night.

When I got back home, Shane wasn’t there, and our bed was untouched. He hadn’t slept at home. He wasn’t answering his phone, either. It went directly to his voicemail, trying not to worry. There could be a perfect plausible explanation for all of that. He would come back home soon, so, while I waited, I spent my time cleaning and haunting the house like a ghost.

Training hour arrived and still no word from Shane. I left for the training ground where the others were already warming up; I joined in and practiced the fighting techniques. I was a bit distracted and also feeling weaker than normal. I should have fed before coming there, but I didn’t and was regretting it. There were some asshole vampires in training. I would normally win without breaking a sweat, though they wouldn’t like it much, but I was weaker that day. Duncan and Samuel were there so Shane should also have been there, but he wasn’t. I was getting upset and worried, because either Duncan or Samuel always knew were Shane was. They hadn’t seen him all weekend, though, which was undeniably weird.

I was a bit off in the last fight. The vampire I was fighting got mad each time he lost. But I was not expecting him to play dirty after I won again. He didn’t take his loss well and, as a result, grabbed some dirt from the floor, blinding me so he could throw a punch and make me fall to the ground. It hurt when I bumped my head, and then I felt his hands on my neck. Meanwhile, his body pressed on my stomach, making it hard to move or breathe. I was being choked, and, before I fainted, I heard a loud sound like a crashing body against a tree that made it fall. I opened my watering eyes and witnessed Shane grabbing the vampire by the neck—wolf teeth and claws out—growling at the scared (he’d probably pissed in his pants!) vampire.

“I will bite your neck off the next time you try a stunt like that on my mate,” he growled, scary and serious, making my heart beat faster with love. I felt like crying, because he cared, he’d protected me, and I loved him. I’d missed him terribly! And I was an emotional wreck!

Other wolves and vampires surrounded Shane so he would let go of Peter, the vampire who’d played dirty. He eventually let go in order to come to my side and pick me up in his arms. Then he took me inside a little cabin nearby, away from prying eyes. The cabin was used as storage for all sorts of training materials; he set me down on some training mattresses inside. By then, he was already back to his human form, no wolf teeth or claws in sight. He looked at me as if I was some sort of precious thing. My heart could have just stopped beating right there. I was mesmerized by his ocean-blue eyes and gorgeous face.

“Are you okay?” he asked, after caressing the hair off my face. My eyes were already clean from dirt, but he used a cloth to clean them better and wipe out the tears.

“I’m okay.” But I was not. I was feeling all shaky and weak, all in love and silly.

“You look pale, and you are cold and shivering.”

“I’ll be okay.”

“Anna—” He paused, apparently unsure if he should say or not say something. I waited patiently. “You should feed.”

“I ate before coming here.”

“Not like that, darling. You need blood.”

Then it was my turn to pause and stare at him without saying a word. I felt embarrassed.

“You are a vampire. You need blood, sweetie.”

“I… can’t.”

“You look pale and weak. That vampire was no match for you, but you were unable to take him down. You need blood. You can drink from me. Please, drink from me. You won’t have to harm anybody, and you won’t harm me. My blood will be better for you. You are my mate. You won’t need to feed from anyone else.”

I almost opened my mouth in shock and surprise. I was still trying to understand his words, his pleading tone. He looked so worried.
Did I really look that bad
?

“I won’t need to drink from anyone else?”

“No.”

“But, won’t you get weak if I feed from you every day?”

“You won’t need to feed daily. Wolf blood is different. You will just need small amounts of it.”

“But… but… I shouldn’t drink from the source,” I explained. Besides, drinking from him would mean that I would mark him. And then I realized that I
wanted
to mark him and make him mine forever, just mine. I was tired of all the secrets; maybe sharing memories and thoughts wouldn’t be that bad.

“I can shut out all my thoughts from you, if you want,” Shane said.

I was surprised by that. I didn’t know that was possible, nor that he knew how to do that, but then he used to date a pureblood vampire princess. I shouldn’t look so surprised. “Would you do that with Sasha? Didn’t she have access to your memories?” I was feeling jealous about them but also relieved. It meant that she didn’t have any part of Shane inside her mind and soul.

“She didn’t have access to my thoughts. Besides, I was not her mate, nor was I her blood bag. I will just be yours, because you are my mate. I know you don’t want to hurt anyone. I love you, and I want you to be strong and happy.”

I think tears fell from my eyes, but I was not sure. My eyes were still hurting from the dirt. Shane kissed my eyes and made me stare at him, waiting for an answer.

“Will you let me feed you? Or do I have to get you some blood so you can get better?”

“Is it true?” I asked, feeling extremely happy about his concerned voice and eyes.

“What, honey?”

“That the sex is even better if I bite you?”

“Oh, Anna!” he said with a big smile on his lips, kissing my forehead and making my stomach bubble of happiness. “For me, it’s already the best.”

“Will you bite me back?”

“If you want.”

“I want.”

“We should probably go home then,” he whispered with a husky, sexy voice, and I felt my cheeks turn red. His eyes were promising me a lot of love making and a bonding experience that would make my heart explode with happiness. I was probably spending my last shreds of energy blushing about my sexual fantasies, but it was worth it just to see Shane’s smile and feel the softness of his lips against mine. “This isn’t the place to mark you. I will take you home and take care of you.” He grabbed me in his arms again, and we got out of there.

***

I think I dozed off while he was taking me to our home. It felt like home, so I was calling it our home. I had just opened my eyes when he lay me on the bed and gave me a soft peck.

"I'm going to run a hot bath for you. You need to warm up."

All I was able to answer was “Okay” in a feeble whisper. All I could hear next was Shane in the bathroom, running the water. He filled the huge bathtub we rarely used, as we normally used the shower. A warm bath sounded nice to me if I could keep myself conscious. I was so hungry! Tired and hungry was a really bad combination, especially if I was planning to bite and mark my mate and then have a long and amazing romantic and sexual experience with him.

"Let's get you out of these clothes," Shane whispered, helping me sit up.

"You shouldn’t take advantage of me when I'm like this," I tried to joke. I won a smile and a kiss. I sighed with lust as he lifted me from the bed. I wrapped myself around him and he carried me to the bathroom. "I love you so much, Shane," I said, feeling emotional and more vulnerable than usual, probably because of the hunger. At the same time, though, I felt safe. I trusted him completely.

"I love you too, honey," he replied. "You'll feel better in a moment. After you bite me."

I breathed, barely conscious, sensing us entering the bathtub. When my body was submerged in the hot water, I shivered on contact. It was then that I finally noticed how cold I really was.