Of Blood & Consequence (Book 2 of The Blood Bond Series)

7. Breaking The Mold

Dear Michele,

We are writing to you in response to your last letter. At first, I was hoping you would have finally gotten over this foolish whim of yours. Security? Honestly, the idea’s quite ludicrous, you being in the security business, and you father and I are once again asking you—

Michael couldn’t read anymore. It was the same circle of meaningless words. Giuliana DiSalvio would always try to charm her son first, the plead, then demean whatever job he was currently employed at. Pretty soon she would run the circle again, trying constantly with different phrases and vernacular to try and woo her son back into the crime syndicate fold.

Too f*****g bad, Mama.

Michael didn’t want to bother with any of his mother’s letters. He balled this one up into a tight fist and dropped it into the trash can before he read another slimy, debasing word.

He let the rage in his gut boil over in the kitchen as he prepared a hot cup of blood for Delia, who was sitting in the living room watching TV and most likely doodling in her notebook. Like he didn’t share his previous life in Italy, she was reluctant to show him what she did in the six by nine sketchpad she sometimes carried around the house. Though he was definitely curious as to what was in it, he had too much respect for her to pry or try to snoop and find it—wherever it was she hid it when he wasn’t looking.

Most of the furniture from her old apartment was in storage in a small six by ten climate-controlled storage unit that was part of one of Eli’s side-businesses, and he wouldn’t think of charging them a penny for their unit. He told them to save up all the money they could so they could purchase a house for future children.

Well, it was certain enough that there wouldn’t be enough room in the condominium’s two bedrooms to have a two to three child home, so Michael let it pass. It’s not like it cost a lot of money for the small storage unit, and he had insisted upon only purchasing the smallest one and stacking the furniture sky-high on top of each other, couches and sofa on the bottom, mattress and box spring up top.

It had only been a week since his last letter had gotten to Sicily, he surmised, and his mother hadn’t wasted any time or ink on sending him a lengthy penned letter. He could only imagine what else she said about his so-called career, and he found he couldn’t give a s**t less what she said or how she said it. If she wanted to have it out, she could pick up a phone and call. f**k the carefully worded letters. f**k the frenzied pleas. f**k their snobbish attitude towards his career. He enjoyed his job, and he made better money than most in the field now that he was working under Eli almost exclusively. His employer paid well for hard work, partly because none of his security needed idiotic extras like health insurance or long-term disability, though he made sure his human subordinates had all the niceties that the mortals would need. It was quite pointless to invest in something a vampire would never use, but just on the off-chance, life insurance was included.

Michael brought out the drink to Delia, who took it willingly, though she hadn’t said anything to him about being thirsty. She smiled a little as she thought how predictable her thirst was. She sometimes got lost in thought when watching TV or drawing in her book.

Michael sat down next to her to watch a rerun of 30Rock, and he pulled Delia’s dangling legs onto his lap. His hands smoothed over her soft calves, and she stretched her toes as delicious shivers ran up and down her spine. It was only on her legs, but every time Michael touched her, it was fresh and exciting, like the feeling of being newly mated. She wondered if these shivers ever truly went away.

“So, I was thinking about what you said,” she told him when a commercial came on. “I spoke with HR at work, and if I can find a good online course next semester, I can start taking classes at LAPU.”

“LAPU?” He glimpsed the tiny bit of concentration as she tried to remember the acronym’s meaning.

“Los Angeles…uhm, Pacific University, I think. It’s supposed to be one of the best, and they offer online courses. That way, if I eventually have to, I could take courses in person as well. Once I’m better with humans, that is.”

“Good idea, baby. And when you graduate, you can actually do so in person.”

Delia made a face at him. “I’m not big on being center of attention, even if it’s only for a few moments. They can send the degree off to me in the mail for all I care.”

Michael didn’t care if she walked down an aisle to get her diploma or waited patiently for weeks at the mailbox for it. He’d be as proud of her either way. “And how’s you Gran doing?”

Delia sighed. “She says she’s okay, but when I asked her where my mother was, she had no idea. Probably shacking up with another egotistical prick with a thick wallet and a thicker head again. Nena says she hasn’t been by in over a week.”

“Would she go off on holiday without warning her first?”

“Who knows? She’s self-centered and makes my skin itch every time I think about her leaving Gran all by herself. She had neighbors, so I could probably call one of them up just to make sure she’s doing okay, but Gran never really tells anyone when she’s feeling poorly. She’s almost as aggravating as my mother in that way.”

Michael ran his hands over Delia’s calves, digging in with his thumbs to soothe her. “You did well earlier today with that bum, by the way. Thankfully, he was too drunk to realize what he was even doing there.”

Delia smiled. “Yes, when I went full-on rabid for a bit, he seemed to think I was coming on to him. That was new.”

Michael laughed, and some of the dread in his gut from his mother’s letter faded away. “Yes, I don’t even think he realized you wanted to snap his neck in half for calling you a ‘precious little gal with a fantastic rack’.”

She looked over at him. “I think you were more likely to drain him dry when he said that.”

“Hmm, well maybe.” His lips twitched. He hadn’t handled the man’s ogling of his mate’s breasts too well, he had to admit.

The TV show came on again and they both watched in silence punctuated by soft, intermittent laughter. Once the show was over, they flicked the channel over to a documentary on the ID channel. Michael was obsessed with old favorites like Forensic Files and The First 48. It didn’t surprise Delia at all seeing as how he was always intrigued by crime and crime scene investigation. She had to admit it was pretty interesting herself. It stunned her how criminals could be caught merely with the oddly placed cat hair or how advanced fly larvae on a corpse was.

At one point, she put aside her pen and paper and laid her head on Michael’s lap. He smoothed her hair away from her face, and she smiled a little when his c**k twitched after she buried her head further into his lap. It was only a slight motion, but she felt it as clearly as if the whole room could have shifted with the movement. He fidgeted for a moment to get more comfortable, and Delia closed her eyes as his hands continued to stroke at her hair.

***

“Your room,” he stated. “Where is it?”

“What? Why?” she asked.

“We need to talk,” he told her, and the cold look on his face softened a bit. “And we need to talk now.”

Delia followed Michael’s path out of the room before gesturing down the long hallway that led to her bedroom. “It’s the last one on the right.” It also happened to be the room right next to Cassie and Eli’s, which she didn’t mind at all.

Too bad Cassie wasn’t around to occupy it right now.

“How much do you know about mates, Delia?” he asked her finally when the door was closed behind them.

She shrugged at him. “Not much,” she admitted. “Only what Eli and the rest of his family told me. Vampires each get one, and they’re always humans. They…they change the human and mark and mate. That’s it really. The basics, I guess you could say.”

“And what if I were to tell you that you were mine?” he asked her softly. “That you were my mate and destined to be with me? What would you say to that?”

Delia blinked at him. She would have thought he was pulling her leg if he didn’t look so damned serious about it.

“Am I your mate, Michael?” she asked him quietly.

“Would it be so bad if you were?” he questioned, trying to read the pulse of her emotions through her conflicted facial expressions.

“I… It would be a shock, but it wouldn’t be bad, no,” she replied in a small voice.

Michael’s legs ate up the space between them in two swift strides, and he was pulling her petite body into his with his arms. His breath fanned across her cheeks as his hands gripped her hips. Delia’s hands came up to rest on his chest, and she felt it vibrate beneath them. It was like a cat purring almost.

“Good to know,” he told her and pressed his lips against her forehead.

They stayed that way for a few minutes until Delia broke the silence. He had never answered her question, and she was eager to know.

“You never told me, Michael,” she spoke. Her voice was a bit muffled from his shirt’s close proximity to her lips. “Am I your mate?”

He held her tighter, wrapping an arm around her waist before bringing one hand up to her chin. He used his forefinger to tilt it up so he could meet her gaze. “Yes, Delia. You are my mate,” he told her and brought his head down to her level, pressing his rough lips against hers in a long, lingering peck.

She closed her eyes as a tingling sensation shot through her veins. She believed him. Delia had never felt this alive in someone’s embrace before, and if this was only the beginning, she wondered what else he could do with his body. With only his hands and lips, she felt like melting into a soggy puddle on the floor.

Michael bit down on her bottom lip gently, and Delia gasped, her eyes fluttering open as well. She closed them almost immediately when she felt his tongue slip into her mouth and held back a needy whimper.

Michael’s hand came around her to grip her at the nape of her neck. She opened her mouth wider for him, inviting him to explore her fully. He eventually broke away from her hesitantly and rested his forehead against hers with a contented sigh.

“How long have you known?” she asked him.

“Since we met,” he admitted, closing his eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked curiously.

“I…I didn’t know how much you knew about mates,” he explained. “And what would you have thought if the first thing that came out of my mouth was that you were mine and no one else’s? What would you have done?”

Delia donned a lopsided grin and laughed lightly. “I probably would have laughed at you and then smacked you senseless. Right before I kicked you in the balls.”

He smiled at her and let out a short huff of laughter. “You see why I had to wait a bit then, to get to know you better,” he told her. “It’s always best to get to know your mate a bit first, and let them know you before staking your claim on them. In both human and vampire relationships.”

“Does that…does this mean I will be like you someday?” she questioned. “A-a vampire?”

Michael smiled down at her. “Yes. That is if you accept me. You will one day crave blood almost as much as the love of your mate. Unless you reject me. Then, you will live your life as you see fit, without benefit of a soulmate.”

He looked so worried when he spoke of her possible rejection of him. She knew it would take a hell of a lot of willpower on her end to do that. Delia was already quite enchanted by him, with his rugged good looks and usually silent mannerisms.

“Is rejection a possibility?” she asked. “Or perhaps you would reject me,” she pondered. Michael scoffed.

“Any vampire with a lick of sense would never reject their intended,” he told her, nuzzling his nose against her cheekbone. “They would be mad to reject what was given them. It’s the only way a vampire can have offspring. With their mate.”

“Not all men—or vampires—want children,” she reminded him. “Not all males were made to be parents.”

“Maybe not all human males,” Michael told her. “But I’ve never met a vampire who didn’t want at least one child. It’s purely selfish on our parts. Mating with our female is all well and good, but to see your mate with her belly round with your child takes place of pride among all other things in their relationship.”

“That’s why Eli is so...so—” Delia couldn’t think of a word to describe the distraught man.

“Yes,” Michael answered. “He is lost without her. As I would be without you.”

Delia smiled and her cheeks turned pink at his words. She pressed a soft kiss to his lips and spoke again. “What do we need to do?” she asked. “I need to know so I can prepare.”

“Not yet, my sweet,” he told her. “We need to rescue Cassie first. Then we can plan ahead.”

***

When she woke up from the quite common dream, she was being held aloft by Michael as he moved down the hallway to the bedroom in their home. When he slipped into their room, she nudged him so he’d let her down. She didn’t particularly enjoy sleeping in jeans, and she skinned them down her legs quickly and tossed her shirt and pants into the laundry basket.

Too tired to do more than sleep, she pulled on an old tank top and climbed into bed before snuggling up next to Michael.

“Don’t you think it’s strange that it’s all on account of Cassie going missing that we met?” she asked him. “I hate to say it, but if Tanner hadn’t taken her, we might not be here today.”

He hummed low in his throat. “I don’t think that’s true. I think Fate has a hand in matings as well. Why make a man have one soulmate for life if they could only meet by coincidence. I believe we would have met, but it probably would have taken a little longer.”

Delia didn’t like to think about what would have happened if she hadn’t met Michael. Would she have found someone else before long and married them? It didn’t sit well, and her stomach twisted with discomfort.

“Has anyone ever found their mate too late in life? Like after they were married and had kids and everything?”

“Rarely, though the kids thing isn’t an issue. Even if you married someone before meeting me, you would never have become pregnant by them. Only I would be able to give you children.”

“Give me children?” She arched a brow. “I think I have just as much stake in the making as you do.”

He chuckled softly. “You know what I mean.”

“Yes, but still. You’re so old-fashioned sometimes.”

He laughed harder and pressed a kiss to her temple before cuddling up and letting the soft rhythm of Delia’s breathing calm him enough to sleep.

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