Page 66 of Bound

Meg’s eyes are suspiciously bright as she nods.

“You feel fine?” I ask, looking my younger brother over.

“I feel fantastic,” Cian replies seriously. “The bond,goddess, Beck, it’s amazing. She’s always with me. I can sense her moods whenshe’s not hiding them. She’s perfect.”

Cian looks back at our wife, and she practically glows underhis praise. It makes me remember the errand I went on before leaving theVampire plane. I reach down into my pack and pull out the gift I bought for ourwife.

“I got you a present, Meggie,” I say, holding it out to her.

I feel like an idiot standing there hoping she likes what Ibrought her. It takes her a moment, but finally she accepts the small packagefrom me and looks it over.

“This is A Tale of Two Cities,” she says, lookingat the old book with a growing smile. “Is it a vampire version? Does SydneyCarton eat the French Revolutionaries at the end? That would be cool.”

I frown and shake my head. Sometimes I don’t understand herhumor. “No. It’s from the human plane. They promised me it was very rare. Ithought you would like having something from your home. You said you likedbooks.”

She touches the cover reverently. “This is one of myfavorite books.”

She stops, some unnamed emotion choking her words. Cianreaches out and tangles his hand with hers. It annoys me that Cian can calmher. It’s a selfish feeling and I try to ignore it.

“Do you like it?” I searched for hours trying to findsomething to remind her of the world she came from. “I could get something elseif it displeases you.”

She shakes her head. “No, Beck, I appreciate it very much.It’s a lovely gift.” She sighs as though making a decision. “Thank you.”

She walks up and kisses me on the cheek.

It’s a start. My hands circle her waist. I hold her to mefor a precious moment. I look down at her uncertain eyes and choose to be bold.I cup her face while I kiss her roughly. “I missed you, wife.”

She’s breathless when I let her go. Her hands shake slightlyas she forces herself to back away. “I should go start dinner. I’ll put this upbefore I begin.”

She practically runs from the room. Something deep inside meeases. She still wants me physically. Everything will be all right. I can easeus into the relationship we both want.

“Damn it,” Cian says, slapping me on the back. “Why do youthink I started the sex play early this evening, brother? I was trying to avoidMeggie’s cooking. Don’t get me wrong. The woman can make a damn fine cookie,but the rest of it is terrible. I’m dying here. I was going to exhaust her thenslink off to Flanna’s and beg her to feed me.”

“It can’t possibly be that bad,” I say, shaking my head atmy brother’s dramatics.

“Oh, it can,” Cian assures me.

And now I remember I have a bone to pick with my brother. Iwas distracted by Meggie’s breasts. “Why slink off to Flanna’s when there’s anentire festival going on in the village?”

My brother has the grace to wince. “We should probably talkabout that.”

“Don’t feed me some line of crap about wanting the villagersto accept Meg,” Beck replied, cutting off that avenue of escape. “Did you thinkfor one minute about how this affects things? Did you consider that Torin willknow about her now?”

Cian waves me off. “Torin knew about her the minute youstepped into that arena. If I let you hide her, people will think we areashamed of her.”

“Why does it matter?” I shoot back. “Who cares what peoplethink as long as she’s safe?”

Cian’s gray eyes settle into a stubborn stare. “If you’re sofired up about keeping her safe, then let me take her to the Vampire plane.She’ll be perfectly safe with the Dellacourts. I’ll get a job at theuniversity. Problem solved. You’ll never have to worry about either of usagain.”

“I’m not letting you take her anywhere,” I promise, feelinga bit savage. Does Cian think he can waltz off with our wife? “As far as I cantell, you’ve been a bad influence on her.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Cian is obviously feeling abit of my restless anger.

“It means she’s getting quite the reputation in town,” Iexplain. “Have you been letting her run wild? She’s met with goblins? She’sforcing the young people to do her bidding? This isn’t the way we run thisvillage, Ci.”

Cian’s face twists in confusion. “What are you talkingabout?”

“I’m talking about our wife taking whatever she wants,” Isay, trying to keep my voice low. “Those are new clothes. I can tell. As wedidn’t have a coin to our name when I left, I’m wondering where she got them.”