Page 40 of Immortal Bonds

THALRIC

The moment his teeth sank into his mate's neck, Thalric felt the world open up before him. He gained a sense of clarity that had not been there in his many centuries of life. His dragon roared with excitement. He had no doubt that the rest of the house — all of the Saint family — could feel it. It wasn't an audible sound, but the bond surely had to be exploding with his joy.

Creighton went quiet beneath him. He continued to thrust his hips as pleasure rose and rose until his boy clamped down around him, his body gripping Thalric's length in a way that gave him no chance to stop the impending orgasm. It crashed through him, tearing up his spine like fire coming from his dragon's mouth.

He was overwhelmed, and he was captivated. This was his mate, the person he got to spend the rest of his immortal life with. He was bonded to him now, completely connected.

No one could take him away or challenge this.

Creighton sank blissfully deeper into the bed as his muscles went lax. Thalric slowed his hips until he was simply still inside his mate. He pulled his teeth free and licked the wound, making sure it would heal.

Vampires could heal themselves, but a mate bite was often tricky business, and it was always best to seal it with saliva, both as a sign of consent and as pure joy in being able to lay claim to the place where his mark would stand, where the scar would be right next to the bruises he'd made for his boy.

"Yes," he thought. "Everyone will see and know. They'll smell me on you. Know that we are together in every way."

He stayed where he was for a few moments, hovering over his mate, watching the slow movements of Creighton's chest as his energy came back to a gentle hum.

Thalric focused on their bond, on the way it slipped into place, how he could feel every bit of his mate. It was like there was no more veil between them.

Every bit of their connection was visible.

Every bit of Creighton was visible.

So when he came across darker areas, he paused. He didn't want to intrude, didn't want to go where he shouldn't be. But then a very sleepy Creighton said, "Go ahead, Daddy. I don't want to have to say it out loud."

With Thalric's dragon side and the magical bond between them, he was able to weave through Creighton's memories, through his subconscious. It wasn't like a movie playing, but the emotions were very clear. How old he was, who he was with, that sort of thing. So Thalric went about piecing together what he could. What in the world did his mate not want to say to him?

The rip of pain tore through him as he unveiled the first layer. He wanted to scream out, to fight someone, to let his dragon forth and tear them apart. Creighton's hand came to his cheek, grounding him, giving him comfort.

"It's okay," he said softly. "It's the past."

Thalric shook his head, closing his eyes tight as he continued through. Every jarring memory, every dark spot was revealed to him. All the pain and the hatred, the fear, the unacceptance his mate had faced.

Creighton had been through so much. He'd been hurt by people he thought would love him, people who should have loved him. His own family.

When he finished, Thalric pulled back and opened his eyes. His mate was there, tears forming. "Do you hate me now?" he asked.

Thalric scooped him up into his arms and rolled them onto their sides. He squeezed Creighton as tightly as he could without hurting him. "I could never hate you, Little Biter. Never — you hear me? You are everything, the other part of me. I'm furious for what you've been through, for the people in your life who treated you that way."

Creighton nodded. "My family. They're not nice people."

"I could tell that much," Thalric said, not sarcastically, just plainly, because feeling his mate's pain had been horrific. He wasn't joking about going back to deal with anyone who had done him wrong.

"My family is powerful amongst vampires, you could say." Thalric hummed, letting his fingers run down his mate's back, encouraging him without saying anything else.

"Well, I didn’t fit their picture-perfect lifestyle. I didn’t fit the image they wanted to show others, the need to continue the family line. It was all lost on me. I'm not an Omega, not in the way that dragons have Omegas. It’s different for vampires."

Thalric nodded and pulled back. One hand cupped his mate's cheek. "I know what I said before, but I don't expect you to be a dragon Omega. You are mine, pure and simple. The rest are unnecessary titles."

Creighton's brow dipped. "But you're an Alpha. The entire Saint family is powerful, and you deserve partners who balance you."

Thalric shook his head quickly. "No. I need someone who completes me in the sense that you're my mate, my fated one, the person that I've fallen in love with before I ever saw you. I'll continue to love you. Omega or not, dragon or not, none of that matters at the end of the day. Fate knew this and gifted you to me. Gifted me to you. We have each other. We are what the other needs, through thick and thin and every single event that happens from now on. We’ll be there for one another."

Creighton was silent for several long minutes. Thalric let him sit there with the words. He knew his boy needed to absorb what he was saying, that he needed to settle into the new reality of what was going on between them.

"But you and the horde and⁠—"

Thalric put his hand over Creighton's mouth. "I already told you that they will be reassigned. While you were sleeping last night, Romilly connected to me in a mind link and reinforced that promise. He is already looking for someone to replace me. You don't have to worry about me leaving. That's not an issue."