the rolling chair in front of the desk, the dresser and flat-screen television, and finally the curtains covering the windows.
Varik’s scent grew stronger, more concentrated on this side of the room.
Alex paused and listened to the sounds around her. Elevator machinery whirred and beeped as the carriages passed different floors. Cars whizzed by on the street outside. Her heart beat out a stereo rhythm in the relative silence.
Excitement zinged through her as she narrowed her focus on the heartbeat. Her heart wasn’t beating twice but two hearts were beating in synch. A smile pulled the corners of her mouth and she whirled, her hands rising to press against the warm and familiar solidity of Varik’s bare torso. “Gotcha.”
“Are you sure of that?”
A thin chain circled her neck and a weight thumped against her chest. Frowning, Alex reached for it. Her fingers recognized the well-known edges of a faceted teardrop, flanked by two smaller drops, and the smoothness of a metal band still warm from where it had been nestled against his skin. It was the engagement ring she’d returned six years prior. “Why are you giving me this?”
“To illustrate a point,” Varik answered from her left. The sound of springs compressing under weight, the rustle of clothing, and the change in direction of his voice signaled he’d sat down. “Even when you believe you’ve cornered your opponent, you can’t let down your guard. He can still distract you and get away.”
She moved toward his voice, clutching the ring in one hand and searching for him with the other. Her fingers laced with his as he pulled her close. “I understand what you’re saying, and I know why you chose to use this as your demonstration but I can’t keep it.”
He stopped her when she raised her hand to remove the chained ring. “Listen to me.” He drew a breath. “I’ve lived my life surrounded by death. I’ve seen and done what many would consider to be terrible things, and there are few I regret.”
Alex waited as he gathered his thoughts before continuing. Varik rarely opened up to her about his past. Huge chunks of his life were a mystery to her while her past was openly debated in the public domain.
“Today, when we were separated in the Shadowlands, I thought I might truly lose you and it frightened me.”
The tremor in his voice felt like a knife twisting in her heart.
“My biggest regret is letting you walk away from me—from us. I know you’ve resisted talking to me about what happened because you’re afraid the Tribunal is going to find you guilty and we won’t have a future.”
“Varik—”
“I don’t care how long we have, Alex. Whether it’s weeks or centuries, it doesn’t matter to me. I want to know you feel the same way. I want to know you’re mine. I want to know you forgive me.”
Alex hesitated and then released her hold on the ring, letting it fall against her chest. Her free hand brushed his cheek and she was surprised to find it slick from tears. “I do forgive you, Varik.”
His arms encircled her waist. He buried his face against her stomach.
“And I am yours.”
A bone-weary sigh racked his body.
Her hands settled on his shoulders. “But I can’t wear—”
“No,” he whispered, tightening his hold and moving his head so she knew he was looking up at her. “Wear it. Just for tonight.”
“Varik—”
“Please. For me.”
Alex couldn’t speak as her throat closed with emotion and she nodded.
Varik slipped his hands up her spine and leaned back, pulling her down on top of him. Thank you, he whispered in her mind.
She shivered as the desire and longing he felt poured over the blood-bond. Any response she may have voiced was lost when his mouth closed over the scar on her neck, teasing her with the scrape of his fangs and the quick feathery strokes of his tongue.
Images flashed across the bond. Memories of their life together in Louisville. Dreams of a future that never came to be. With these came a fragile hope that the future they’d once envisioned could still be possible. The bond laid bare all the emotions and desires Varik couldn’t express in words.
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as her own desires for reconciliation echoed his. Years of bottled shame and anger exploded and burned within her, leaving only sorrow and regret. She closed her eyes in a vain attempt to keep her tears from showing.
“Don’t cry, baby.” Varik wiped each one away. “J’allais mourir