Blood Ties (Book 3 of The Blood Bond Series)

11. Starting Over

"Really? He waited 400 years?" Quinn shook her head. Even a hundred years felt like an eternity at her 21 years of age. She honestly couldn't imagine living many lifetimes without getting bored—not that the idea of eternal life was all that horrible, if she let that idea really sink in.

Too much was at stake here, she knew, and it wasn't fair to make quick decisions without thinking things through. They'd hammered in enough knowledge for her to make her head spin, and she was going over everything with Adam alone after the movie while she made mental notes.

"Well, I think it was more 450, but I could be off by a decade or so." Adam shook his head. He was having serious regrets about kidnapping his mate, but his instincts had been gnawing at him something fierce. Maybe it was his anxiety over Quinn possibly finding a boyfriend or sheer impatience on his part, but Adam somehow knew that he needed to be there for her, and only wished he could figure out why he felt that way. He needed to give this a serious shot or he'd be alone until he went mad. "I want to start over again, Quinn. I know it's difficult to forgive something like this, but I would appreciate it if we could pretend we're just meeting now and act like I didn't kidnap you or fly you to southern California. It's asking a lot, bu—"

"Okay." Her quick reply surprised even herself, and she was startled that she agreed with this rash decision without even giving it a second thought. "I mean, I don't know why you think you needed to do those things, but I guess with your father's past, you might have felt a little ambivalent about how I would react. While I can understand that, I may need some additional time to make up my own decision. You say that things are the way they are, and I say that it's going to take me a little while to assimilate to your way of thinking, got it?"

Adam wanted to use his charm and wit to change her mind quicker, but she deserved the time to process her new situation, and whether she wanted to be here or not. That she was giving him a chance at all was something of a miracle, and she would only be pushed further away if he wasn't careful and pressed too hard.

He abstained and decided that, if necessary, he'd back off entirely to give her room to breathe. It was unbearable, that thought, but it would have to be done. He hadn't lied. You didn't get a second chance at love when you were the literal undead bloodsucker of nightmares.

"Love, I understand completely—more than you will ever know." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair restlessly. He looked both hopeful and exasperated, an odd mix of emotions that belied the worry in his eyes. Regret combined with longing was odd to behold on him. "That you give me a shot at all is...it's immense. I will apologize again and again, if need be, because you are owed so much more than what I've done to you so far."

She nodded, smiling slightly because she had no words. She had a ton of questions that kept piling up in her head, but nothing she could verbalize until she remembered that she would need to be changed in order to become his—Adam's. She needed to ask about that as well.

"When—or rather if I become bonded to you, what would that entail? Is it...would the change be painful?"

He hesitated for a slight second as his head cocked. He wanted to study her face more, even if it was only to take in her deep green eyes and innocent expression. She knew hardly anything about what was to come except what the family had told her, and she seemed reticent to take a step forward without excruciating details.

"I won't lie and say you won't feel it. From what my mother has said—and my uncle and aunt as well—it stings a bit, but it's quick, like an inoculation. A small pinch and it's gone. All you can feel afterwards is the blending of our souls. Your heartbeat slows down and stops, but that only happens when you're sleep. When you wake up, you are impenetrable but thirsty. Honestly, the worst part is the transformation is the thirst." He paused and moved closer to her to cup her palm in his. "My mother and father said that the first year is the most precarious because you will see all humans as prey. It takes that long for you to become more mature as a vampire, though you can speed up the process. It's been proven."