Chapter 29

This is not what I had in mind when I thought of seducing my sweet mate mere days ago. I intended to ply her with her favorite meal, a spiced wine, and long, languid foreplay.

And now, I must convince her to bed me, if only to keep her safe.

This is not what I wanted at all, and guilt tears at my heart.

I tug the reins, the brambles thicker through this part of the forest, as though no Starbound has come this way in many, many years. Of course they haven’t, no one’s likely used this den since the blood drinkers took Avleim all those years ago. It’s too close to their seat of power, and our numbers have dwindled so…

I stop the familiar stream of negativity, inhaling Mina’s hair and centering myself.

We met the blood drinkers on our terms and left unscathed. I have my mate in my arms. Her sisters are safe and sound, and we are in the midst of reestablishing ties to the rest of the Starbound scions.

We will rebuild.

“Can you tell me now why the hell we’re riding so far away from everyone?” Mina sounds grumpy, but there’s a thread of fear in the question.

“Your sisters were correct,” I tell her, my voice quiet.

She shudders against me, and I’m immediately transported to the last time I held her. The morning of her kidnapping, when I made her shake just like this, as she came around my fingers.

“You will sicken if we do not head off the magic poisoning.”

“And how are we going to do that? Leeches? Are you going to let my blood?”

My eyebrows shoot up. “What? Let your blood? Why would I do that?”

“A long time ago, on Earth, you know, they used to think disease lived in the blood, and okay, that’s not far off for some viruses, but as a rule, that’s not how it works, and anyway, they thought if they opened up a vein and let all the bad blood out, that would solve the problem. But really, it just made people die a whole hell of a lot faster. Nasty business.”

“That is barbaric,” I say, absolutely astounded and completely thrown off what I was trying to lead her into gently. “No. No bloodletting. Stars, Mina, that is truly horrific.”

“Yeah.” She shakes her head, her hair whispering along my chest. “I learned some seriously gruesome stuff in my history of medicine classes I took back in undergrad.”

“I do not know what that means,” I say seriously. “But I would prefer not to hear about it.”

She laughs, but the sound cuts off quickly, and she sags against me. I huff out a breath, trying to figure out how to broach what we need to do.

“Mina, I do not want to force you to talk about what happened to you with the blood drinkers?—”

“It’s important to discuss trauma, but I appreciate the sentiment,” she interrupts.

Right. I push a branch out of the way, Mina ducking into my arm to avoid the tangle of leaves. The trees are so thick and night’s coming on so fast it’s difficult to see. I stifle a groan, trying to pick the best phrasing.

“You said—” I start again.

“No one touched me, not like that, if that’s what you’re worried about. They hinted they were thinking about it or planned to get me pregnant.” She sucks in a breath, and anger rips through me. I should have killed them all. “But they didn’t touch me. And honestly, how would that even work? I mean, on Earth, vampires are technically undead, so do they even have active sperm?”

“Sperm?” Bewildered, I pull the horse to a stop, sliding from his back before offering Mina a hand down. The forest is too dense here to keep riding, and we’re close enough to the cave I’m not worried about carrying Mina if I need to.

“Yeah, you know, ejaculate.” She makes a fist and shakes it, and I stare at her in the dim light, bewildered, until I realize she’s miming… well, that. “They shouldn’t be able to make babies. But—” She shrugs as I take a bag from the horse, slinging two over my shoulders. “I guess magic, or whatever.” She stops babbling, staring up at me with wide eyes.

“Mina,” I clear my throat. “That is not what I meant to ask, though I am glad to hear it.”

“I’m not hurt, either, I mean, I should probably cleanse this cut and get clean in general, but?—”

“Coruscant, I meant to ask—did you mean what you told me, back there?”

She blinks slow, her mouth dropping open, then snapping shut. “What, exactly?”

My shoulders bow. She doesn’t remember. I take her hand, the reins in my other, and begin leading her towards the cave entrance.

We walk in silence, the only sound the calling of night birds, the crunching of old leaves as a small animal runs around in the underbrush, and the snapping of twigs under our feet.

A tangle of vines covers the entrance to the cave, and I take the long, sharp knife Arietis had the foresight to hand me before I rode off with Mina and cut them away.

“What is this place?” Her voice is full of wonder, and satisfaction fills me.

I try to see it as she might, to look through her eyes at a world she never knew existed until a few weeks ago. Colorful symbols glow where they’re etched into the rock walls. They burn brighter as we walk further into the cave, and when the ward snaps in place behind us, sealing out intruders, I exhale in relief.

We’re safe now. I do not think any of the blood drinkers would follow us here, but we’re safer here than we would be at any camp. It is private, and our friends know where to look for us, should we not show up at the agreed upon time.

“What was that?” Mina asks. If she were a cat, all her hair would be standing on end.

I press my lips together to keep from laughing. “It was the ward. It acts as a magic barrier. We’re safer here than we would be anywhere else. And it is only you and I here, too.”

Her gaze slides from the cave entrance up to my eyes, and I finally make myself ask her the question I’ve fumbled several times now.

“In the dungeon, coruscant, you said you loved me. Did you mean it?”

I watch her closely, prepared to run her up to the village near the Alpha’s territory, where the witches their can?—

“Yes,” she breathes, her fingers wrapping more tightly around mine. “Yes, Hyadum. I love you. All I could think about the past few days was how much I loved you, and how sad I was that I was never going to be able to tell you that.”

Thank the stars.

“Mina, I love you. More than anything. You are all I have ever wanted. You are my future, my present, and I am grateful for everything in my past that has led me to you.” I pull her to me, and she makes a muffled grunt into my chest. A laugh rocks out of her, and she presses her palms against my torso, pulling back slightly.

“I was going to say something else.” She raises one eyebrow, her smile turning slightly wicked. “I was going to say I hugely, hugely regretted not getting to finally have sex with you.”

Relief is a cool breeze across my battered nerves.

Confusion pinches her brow. “I mean, yeah, I’m excited, too, but that seems like an odd thing to say right now.”

I press my fingers into the curve of her back. Her pupils dilate, and desire pulses through me.

“You wanted to know what the treatment is for your likely magic poisoning, yes?”

“Yes?” she drags out the word, tilting her head. I run my finger across her soft cheek, luxuriating in how soft she is everywhere, dying to lose myself in it, to sink deep and cleave to her for eternity.

“That is the treatment, coruscant. You mate me. I will steady your torrent of magic, and you mine. We make each other stronger by accepting the mate bond. By accepting the fate of the stars.”

“Fated by starlight…” she says thoughtfully. Her cheeks pink.

“Is the idea amenable to you?”

An adorable snort comes out of her, and she quirks an eyebrow. “Yes, Hyadum. It is amenable.” She shakes her head. “So formal.”

I want to jump up and down. I want to throw her back over my shoulder and run with her to the campsite deep in the cave. I want to push her pants down and fuck her right here, until she’s coming apart on my cock, boneless and needy.

“I think I need to wash up a little first, Hyadum.”

I clear my throat, trying to regain some control. “Right. Well, there’s a hot spring deeper in?—”

“A hot spring?” She shouts this, and her excitement makes me smile all over again. Stars, but I love this woman.

“Come,” I tell her, pulling her along.

I have a feeling it won’t be the last time I tell her that tonight.

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