Page 55 of Bound By Blood

She nodded. She shouldn’t be. This should have terrified her. She knew this. Yet, as he dropped the head in the body’s lap and strode directly for her, she bit her bottom lip. He was magnificent. Covered in blood. A wild look in his eyes.

Once he reached her, he cupped both of her cheeks and smeared blood as he caressed the skin with his thumbs. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Compared to what he had just done, the kiss was soft and sensual, full of more meaning than words could describe.

When he pulled away, she was breathless. “Now what?”

One side of his lips curled up in a half smile. He kissed her one more time. “Now, we go back to the cabin and shower.”

A soothing shower sounded wonderful to her aching body. Landon had done a number on her. Her thighs ached from where he had gripped her, but she found that she liked the pain. He was possessive.

He buttoned up his pants, handed her her coat, and took her hand. She took a moment to look back at her knife still on the floor. For a moment, she almost went back to get it. But then she thought better about it. She didn’t need it anymore. She was protected with Landon, and the knife . . . it was part of her old life. She was tired of being ruled by her past. She was no longer that same girl cowering under a bridge and putting up walls and carrying around a blade to protect herself against the big bad world. Landon was her present and her future, and that was all that mattered.

They left the cabin and headed to their waiting car without a backward glance. The drive back felt a lot shorter than the drive there. Carly was exhausted, from both the sex and the night’s events, but she didn’t regret any of it. He wasn’t hiding from her anymore, and she wasn’t hiding from him.

There was nothing standing between them anymore.

When they arrived at the cabin, he opened her car door for her. He grabbed her hand and guided her out of the car, dried blood flaking onto her palm. He led her to the front door, opened it, and kicked it shut before pulling her to the bathroom. Once inside, he immediately turned on the shower. Silence stretched between them as he peeled off her coat, dropped it, and went for her shirt. He lifted it over her head and helped her out of her pants. Everywhere his fingers touched left a hot trail. Goosebumps rose over her skin. Would she ever get enough of him? Would she eventually be immune to his touch? God, she hoped not.

When she was stripped down to nothing, he pulled the curtain aside, and she stepped into the tub. She immediately went under the steaming water and let it run down her front. She hummed as the heat pummeled her cold skin and soothed her aching muscles.

She felt him behind her before she heard the curtain close. He stood there for a moment, and she could feel his eyes roaming her body. She peeked over a shoulder at him, and then their eyes locked. A silent conversation passed between them.

She told him she loved him. And he said he loved her. And now their bond was fully in place, and they would move forward. Together.

There was no going back. They both knew it now.

He gently turned her in the shower so that she was facing him, and then he tipped her head back so the spray soaked her hair. Without saying a word, he washed her hair and then her body. He was still coated in blood, but yet, he was taking care of her first.

When he was finished and she was rinsed off, he seemed content on letting her stay under the water. She frowned up at him, and before he could utter a word, she grabbed his shampoo and got to work. The suds were pink from all the blood, and when he was rinsed off, the water took it all away.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck, her back pressed against his chest while the water cascaded over the both of them. She sighed into his arms. How different things were between them from when they left. She hadn’t expected this. In her wildest dreams, she hadn’t expected to come back with the two of them accepting each other and their bond.

But he was too quiet, and she didn’t like that.

“Talk to me,” she whispered.

“What would you like me to say?”

“Well.” She blew out a breath. His lips on her neck were teasing her flesh. “What do we do now? Do we run?” She couldn’t help but feel that Kata was right. There was a good chance his father already knew about them.

“I don’t want to run, Carly. It’s not in my nature.”

“Okay,” she drawled out. “So, we go home. And then what? Go back to our normal lives? Because I don’t want to go back to how things were.” She couldn’t see that happening. Not after tonight.

Landon chuckled. “Your life is going to be anything but normal. Like I said, you’re mine now. I’m not letting you go. So, when we get back, I’ll send a moving company to pack up your belongings, and we will start getting you settled into my place. We can deal with my father when the time comes.”

“I’m immortal now, though.” Carly scowled. “Do you think he’ll accept it?” She doubted it, but there was a chance, right?

“I doubt it,” he said, echoing her thoughts. “My father is more of a monster than I am, and he hates anything that threatens his power. If what Kata said is true, then you are that threat.”

Sighing, Carly nodded. She thought so, but it was worth the mention.

So, she’d move in with him. That was the next step, and she was looking forward to it. She didn’t know what she was going to tell Lily, but she knew that her best friend would understand even if she didn’t get all the details. It was better this way. Though, she didn’t know what she was going to tell Lily when Lily aged and Carly didn’t. But that was a thought for another day.

He turned her and tipped her chin up so that her eyes were on his. His cock pressed against her belly button as he murmured, “I can feel your thoughts racing. What are you thinking about?”

“All the obstacles. Particularly Lily. Don’t get me wrong. I want this – you and I – but I don’t know what I’m going to tell her. She’s going to notice that I’m different. That we’re different.”

Landon pressed his lips together. “Do you trust her?”