Blood Bound- Book 1 of the Bonded Series- Complete

Chapter 26

“Blood Bound”

2012 Copyright All Rights Reserved

Chapter 26

     Shelby took her time when she opened her eyes.  It took a good long second for her vision to adjust to the dimness of the cavern that they were now in.  The temperature felt warm and humid against her naked skin and she could almost taste the sulfur that permeated the air.  When her vision sharpened, the first thing that she spotted was the clearest pool of topaz water that she had ever seen.  “What is this place?” she asked in completed awe.

     Leo settled his hand at the small of her back and pushed her towards the bubbling waters.  “It’s a hot spring.  I found this place about fifty years ago.  It’s secluded and the water here is heated naturally.  It works very much like a man made Jacuzzi.  I used to come here alone when I just needed to get away from everyone.  I found it-“ he said and his lips quirked, “rather relaxing.  Now,” he added, turning around and framing his Brides face with his broad palms, “I want to share my special spot with you.” 

     In the span of a week, her life had changed so dramatically.  One moment she was a clueless girl, not at all to sure where her life was headed.  The next, this tall and dark stranger entered her life, changing both it and her forever. 

     Shelby smiled up at him and Leo bent his head to drop a kiss on her nose. “This place is so beautiful,” she said, leaning in to rest her head against his chest.  She loved how good it felt just to be next to him like this.  He was so strong, so sturdy.  In a world of chaos, he had quickly become her solid rock. 

     Leo lifted his hand and ran it through the thick curtain of her hair.  He loved touching the golden locks that framed her face.  They were his sunlight.  Bright shining rays that lit up his life, and when his fingers touched the silky softness, his insides literally warmed. 

     While he played with her hair, he watched the different expressions dance across her face. Surprise, joy, confusion…. and he silently wondered what all was going on in that head of hers.  He was determined to stay out of her mind, unless she invited him in but his curiosity was quickly getting the better of him.  “What are you thinking about so hard, my sweet?”

     Shelby shrugged and stared down at the ground.  She had a million thoughts flitting through her head but they all circled to one pertinent truth.  Change.  Difference. And who or rather what she has become today.  “Just how different everything is now.  How different I am.”

     He grabbed her chin and pulled her face up so that their eyes met.  “Shelby, you’ve always been different.”  He swooped in and gave her a soft kiss on her lips.  “A good different though.  When I first found you all those years ago, broken and bleeding on the ground; I knew then that you were special.  The moment that I chose to save you, gifting you with my blood was the moment that I was re-born.”  He closed his eyes and with a feather light touch he caressed her cheek, remembering that particular evening.  “Even then, being so young, you were inquisitive and trusting.” 

     Leo shook his head as if he was shaking away the memory.  He had once cared for the child as a guardian should.  Now that she was of age, he had fallen irrevocably in love with the woman that she had ultimately become.  Opening his eyes, his lips curled up into a grin.  “And I wouldn’t change a thing if I had the chance to go back and do it all over again.  I would still have bound you to me that day in order to save you.  You belong to me Shelby as I belong to you.  Nothing and no one can change that.”