Darkness Everlasting (Guardians of Eternity #3)(72)

Wrapping her arms around her waist, she regarded him with troubled green eyes.

"Okay, let me get this straight I have this... thing on my arm and now we're mates?"

"I am bonded to you as your mate," he explained cautiously.

"And that means what?"

"It means that I belong to you and you alone for all eternity. There will never be another for me."

She blinked, as if stunned by his frank confession. "Yow."

His lips twisted. "That is one way of putting it."

"And what about me? Do I belong to you?"

A dark emotion flared to life within Styx.

Of course she belonged to him. He would kill anyone who tried to take her away.

With an effort he struggled to control the savage desire to yank her into his arms and warn her that he would never let her go.

He had made enough mistakes with Darcy. He wouldn't force or manipulate her into becoming his mate, no matter how desperately he wanted her.

"You must willingly offer yourself, as I took your blood to become mated."

"But... I have offered myself willingly on more than one occasion."

"Not your body, Darcy." He sought for words to explain the mystical union. "You must offer your heart and your soul. Your very essence."

She considered for a long moment. "What happens if I don't?"

His teeth ground together. "You remain unbound."

"I could just walk away and you would still be mated to me?"

"Yes," he growled, his brows snapping together as she covered her face with her hands and he heard the unmistakable sound of laughter. "You find that amusing?"

Her hands slowly lowered, and Styx discovered his anger melting as he realized her cheeks were damp with tears. Damn.

"Well, even you have to admit that there's a certain irony in the situation," she said as she shakily reached for a tissue to dry her tears. "You were the one to take me captive and hold me against my will. Now it seems you are the captive."

"It does seem so indeed," he murmured, moving forward to stand directly before her. With deliberately slow motions, he reached up to cup her face in his hands, his thumbs gently tracing the lingering dampness on her cheeks. "What are you thinking"

She made no move to pull from his touch as she regarded him with an aching vulnerability.

"Did you know this was a possibility?"

Impulsively he leaned his forehead against her own, uncertain how to offer the comfort she needed.

"That you might be my true mate?"

"Yes."

His lips touched her brow. "I think I've known that it was a possibility from the moment I captured you. I have never been so... aware of a woman in my very long life."

She pulled back to regard him with a wry expression. "You mean you wanted me in your bed?"

"In my bed, on the floor, on the kitchen table, in the solarium ..."

She smacked his chest. "Styx."

His hands tightened on her face. How could she not feel the emotions that burned within him? How could she doubt for even a moment that his entire existence was now dedicated to her happiness?

"You have no need to ask such a ridiculous question, angel," he said with a fierce urgency. "You know quite well that you have plagued me far beyond the bedroom. There does not seem to be a moment when you are not in my thoughts, even when I wished it otherwise. You have become a necessary part of me."

A charming blush touched her pale cheeks and Styx smiled as her hands fluttered in confusion.

She would never entirely lose that sweet innocence he found so fascinating.

Drawing in a deep breath, she carefully considered her words. "You don't seem . . ."

"I don't seem what?" he prompted.

"Nearly as upset as you should be."

"I agree."

She hesitated at his ready response. "You do?"

"Of course. A vampire mates but once in his existence. It is a moment that binds his life with another for all eternity, and it is considered one of our most sacred ceremonies." His smile held an unconscious hint of longing. "Now I am mated to a woman who might very well walk away from me. At the very least I should be troubled."

"But you're not?"

"I can't deny that there's a part of me that desperately wishes to bind you to me, but beyond that there is a measure of. . ." Styx sought the name for the sensations that filled him. "Of peace."

"Styx..."

He pressed a finger to her lips. He could sense the panic that still simmered deep within her.

Not precisely flattering, but hardly unexpected.

"We will discuss this later," he said firmly, his finger absently outlining her full lips. "First, I wish to know what Salvatore said to you."

"How do you know..." she began only to cut off her words with a deep sigh. "Never mind."

"Will you tell me?"

She reached up to grab his hand, as if his light caress was distracting her. He hid a sudden smile. He liked the thought of distracting this woman. In fact, he intended to distract her a great deal more before this night was over.

"He said that the woman in the picture is my mother."

Styx studied her closely. "And you believed him?"