She lifted her head, placing a soft kiss to his abdomen. “Are you feeling all right?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He chuckled, shifting his hips so she could feel the already hardening shaft of his erection.
Her brown eyes smoldered with her sexy smile. “I was talking about your injuries. Do they feel any better?”
“After what we just did, I don’t feel them at all.” He grinned. “But if you’re wondering if they’re healing, that’s an improvement too.”
“May I look?”
He nodded, more than willing to have her hands on him. She gingerly peeled away one of the bandages. It came away stained with blood, but the hole in his body was already mending. “Your blood did that, Chiara.”
She nodded, glancing back at him with regret in her eyes.
No, not just regret. Fear too.
He felt it streak through her like a chill in the air. He studied her quiet contemplation, dreading the words she seemed to struggle to say.
“You’re afraid of this means?” he asked her. “If you’re worried that I’ll expect anything after all of this is over—”
“What?” Her face collapsed into a confused frown. “No. Scythe, I’m not worried about that at all. How could you think that?”
“But you are worried about something. I can feel your fear, Chiara.” He swallowed past the cold knot that was settling behind his sternum. “You regret something. Are you sorry for giving me your bond?”
“Never.” Her answer was full of conviction, her brows furrowed as she shook her head in firm denial. “I’ll never regret that. Not as long as I live, Scythe.”
He reached out to caress her silky cheek. “Then tell me.”
“What I regret is that it took this long for us to meet.” She released a quiet sigh. “I regret that it was Sal who had me first, not you. And I’m always going to regret that I gave my son such a terrible example of a father.”
Moved by her honesty, Scythe collected her against him and placed a kiss to the top of her head. “If we’d met any sooner, you wouldn’t have liked me. That much I can promise you. Do I wish you’d been spared the pain Sal caused you? More than you know. As for Pietro, he’s got the best mother a child could hope for. None of Sal’s failings as a mate or a father can ever diminish that.”
She embraced him tighter, resting her cheek against his chest. But that acrid streak of fear still clung to her. On a low curse, he gently drew her up, forcing her to meet his searching gaze.
“Tell me the rest, love. What has you so afraid?”
“I can’t stop thinking about what he said—the monster who broke in here last night. I don’t know what I ever did to him to earn his hatred.”
“With a madman, there’s no telling what drives them.”
“He said it was vengeance, Scythe. He said he’s going to make me pay, either with my own life or...” She swallowed, a shudder coursing over her. “I won’t let him take me alive. Not when living means being forced into a blood bond with a deranged lunatic who plans to rape me and make me bear his sons. I’d never survive that kind of hell.”
Christ, neither would he. Just the thought of her suffering something so heinous turned his veins to ice. Now that her blood was inside him, Scythe would always have a one-way link to her as long as either of them lived. But that wouldn’t prevent another male from activating his own blood connection to Chiara.
Only she could complete the circle. She could not be bound to any male if she had already shared a bond with another.
Scythe’s gums tingled with the sudden prickling of his fangs.
He meant what he said—that he would not permit her to fall into enemy hands. He would guard her safety with his life, and he was damned hard to kill. If she were taken, he would hack his way to hell and back to save her.
But if they were separated, the only certain way to protect her in that unimaginable interim was to shield her with his blood.
With his bond.
He lifted her face, needing her to see his eyes and the determination that lit them. The vow he was about to give her. “He’s not going to touch you, love. Not so long as I’m breathing. I won’t let it happen.” He stroked her cheek. “He won’t have your blood or your bond. You can entrust both to me now... if you’ll have me.”
Her lips parted on an indrawn breath. He felt the spike of her heartbeat, the hope that was now eclipsing her fear. “Scythe, are you saying—”
“You’ve given me your strength and protection, Chiara. By some miracle of fate, you’ve given me your love. Now, let me give you mine.”