Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“Since you know, you’re taking off jewelry.” I laughed with Miles. It was so easy to find belly-busting laughing fits with him. Even after an emotionally charged moment, I was still comfortable enough around him to crack dumbass jokes.
He shook his head. “No, not that.” He kissed me with a smile on his lips. “Something else.”
“Oh thank god, ‘cuz I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that.”
Miles chuckled as he stepped away from me. For a split second the idea of holy shit is he going to propose followed close on fisting’s tail.
I stood there and watched, confused as all hell but happy as well. The happiest I’d ever been, actually. My head was full of poison at the start of this run and now felt like it was in the clouds by the end of it.
Miles was my cure. And I was his.
He’s all I ever wanted.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
No Question
MILES
I flipped my hand over and pressed on the clasp that held the bracelet together. It clicked open. I took it off. Dylan cocked his head, looking curiously between the gold in my palm and the questions in my eyes.
I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with air. With Dylan’s scent—intoxicating, unraveling, addictive. A whole swirl of colors and emotions exploded inside me. I gazed into Dylan’s eyes and felt a piece of me float upward. Like my soul was trying to reach out to his. I’d never felt this type of attraction and bond before. As if we’d known each other in fifteen different past lives, all of them having us tied together.
The relief of meeting him again in this one and recognizing our connection was enough to drop me to my knees. Dylan’s eyebrows scrunched together. He appeared worried. I grabbed at his hands and locked eyes with my fated mate. It was as if an emotional tidal wave had been frozen directly above me and came crashing down the second the bracelet was off. I felt swept away in the waters of Dylan’s love. It was a validating and indescribable feeling. Like the universe couldn’t have been more correct in putting us together. Him and I against the world. It was a feeling I had been building up naturally for him but now that process was expedited by the supernatural connection that bonded us and wasn’t being blocked by dark magic. Like dumping fertilizer on a planter full of the most vibrant and fragrant red roses known to mankind.
“There’s no question,” I said, bowing my head. “You are my fated mate. I feel it now. Same as I did under the full moon. There’s no one else but you.” I got back onto my feet and pulled him back against me. “I feel what you felt that first night. Like lightning just hit me. My entire body is on fire, and it burns just for you.”
“That’s how I felt the night we first met.” Dylan’s smile grew. I could instantly tell this was what he needed to hear in order to vanquish any doubt that lingered inside him. It made me even happier, knowing that I’d said and done the right thing. All I wanted was to see Dylan smile, and to know that it was because of me only made that smile infinitely sweeter.
“I understand now, what you were talking about. It’s visceral. It’s undeniable and powerful.”
“But why… the bracelet?” Dylan began to put two and two together.
I nodded. I looked down at the seemingly benign piece of jewelry in my hand. I examined it a little closer and noticed there was an inscription on the inside of it. It was in a language I didn’t understand, but I knew it wasn’t anything to do with the original design of the bracelet. This was put on there after the fact.
“This is what was blocking this connection,” I said, the elation at feeling my fated pull becoming overshadowed by a toxic dread at the realization. I almost didn’t want it to be true. I wanted there to be another reason for this. Some kind of excuse that could explain away why I didn’t feel this connection when Dylan did. It was difficult to reconcile the truth with what I didn’t want to admit to myself. Because if my guess was right, then that would mean someone I loved and trusted for a large part of my life had a secretly sinister side that no one expected. A chill crawled down my spine. I glanced over my shoulder, suddenly wondering if there was a chance we’d been followed.
All it would take was a silver bullet to the chest…
“Who gave this to you?” Dylan asked.
“Emmy.”
“But there’s no way—”
“No, there isn’t. But Emmy wasn’t the one who originally bought it. His sister got it for him. And she got herself a matching one.”