"Not sure," she answered too quickly. "I'm sure there are lots of Demons named Hayden."
It was my turn to pace. She'd gone quiet and I knew she was done talking. The cryptic nature of my family made me want to tear their heads off, followed by my own.
"If you're not going to talk I want you to leave," I told her.
She nodded and stood. "Just. . .be careful. Do you adhere to the notion of pre-destiny?"
I thought for a moment. I'd never actually considered it, but the answer came to me with clarity. "No. I believe we make our own. I will make my own."
"Remember that and choose wisely."
With that she disappeared and left me with a Hell of a lot to think about.
***
"How long have you known me?" I asked a confused Hayden.
In his worn jeans and faded t-shirt, he stood in the living room of my bungalow and filled the entire house with his power and size. Not to mention he looked as if he just walked off the cover of a magazine.
"Is this a trick question?" he asked as he leaned in for a kiss that I swiftly avoided.
"No. Well, maybe."
He sat down on the couch and rested his chin on steepled fingers as he watched me. "What exactly are you asking me?"
"Have you known me longer than a year?" His thoughtful expression made me uneasy.
"I have dreamt of you for eternity. I've seen your face and heard your laugh for more years than you could imagine and—yes, I've known you."
"Since I was a child?"
He nodded and waited.
I was torn between elation and fury. My emotions ran riotous in my head and I had no clue what I really felt.
"How old are you?"
"A bit older than you," he hedged and grinned sheepishly.
"Like fifty or a hundred years older?"
"Something like that," he said. "Does that scare you?"
"Isn't that a little pervy?"
He threw his head back and laughed. Hell, that was so unfair. He was so beautiful when he was joyous and I wanted to curl up next to him and trace his lips with my fingers.
"Um. . ." He struggled to regain his composure with little success. Patting the couch beside him, he gave me a sexy lopsided grin. "Sit, please."#p#分页标题#e#
I did, but I kept a respectable amount of distance between us so I didn't jump him.
"My dreams of you gave me the hope of a happily ever after—not that I necessarily deserve one, but it has kept me going for many years. When you live a long time the desire to end oneself occurs frequently." He paused and ran his hands through his hair. "The knowledge that one day I would find you is the only reason I'm still here."
This was far larger and more overwhelming than anything I could have imagined him saying. The thought of him destroying himself was unthinkable to me. I picked relentlessly at my fingernails as I wondered how much more I wanted to hear.
"Yes, I have watched you grow and I knew you were the one I had waited for, but I can guarantee you it was by no means pervy. Instinctually my need was to protect you. I would have never come into your life as a man until you were a fully grown woman. My love for you transcends physical desire. It's far more than a sexual need for you."
"So you're saying I'm not hot?" I teased and scooted closer. I was no longer angry or confused. I was awed and head over heels in love with someone who was in love with me. Fast? Yep, but not really if the pieces were put together.
"Hades," he hissed. "If you were any hotter Hell would cave in on itself. Keeping my hands still at the moment is more challenging that a lone Demon fighting an army of Angels."
His body was taut and his eyes flashed with desire. It took a massive amount of control on both our parts to not attack each other.
"What does bonding mean?" I asked. His quick intake of breath and his immediate move off the couch was exhilarating. The sheer fact that I affected him the same way he affected me was some powerful hoodoo.
"Bonding," he said as he backed farther away. "Means exactly as it sounds."
"I would be yours?"
"Yes. And I would be yours," he replied. "Forever."
The sexual tension in the room made my breath hitch and heat unfurl low in my belly.
"How do you bond?” I whispered as I watched him like prey.
"Sex," he replied just as quietly. "And blood exchange."
That was a little surprising—and gross. We were Demons, not Vampyres.
"At the same time?" That didn't make popping my cherry too appealing. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
He heaved a sigh and chuckled. "No, but it has to happen within a week or so I'm told."
"So we do the nasty and then bite each other?" I wasn't quite as horny as I had been only moments ago.