Unbound (Forbidden Bond Book 1)(56)

"If he touches you, I'll kill him," he whispered against her ear.

"I won't be allowing anyone to touch me." She grinned.

"Gage is about to leave. Should I tell him we'll drive separately?" Darren bellowed, rapping hard on the door.

Kayden shot an angry look at the door and hissed, "In your dreams." He  lifted Dani against his chest and walked to the door, nuzzling her neck  and making her squirm. Darren moved from the doorway to allow them to  pass. Kayden carried her halfway out of the building like that, until  she lost a shoe. He went down on one knee to put it back on for her,  like she was Cinderella. Darren rolled his eyes and made impatient  noises. Kayden was showing off to prove a point, but Dani didn't mind.  After the way Darren had acted the first time she came to the Enclave,  he deserved to be put in his place.         

     



 

Driving away from the Enclave, as Kayden watched from the curb, hurt her  heart. He looked so downtrodden. Dani nearly asked them to stop the car  so she could get out, but Koren was happily chatting away about all the  people she couldn't wait to introduce her to. Kayden was right. Koren  would have been upset if Dani had stayed behind.

It wasn't a long ride to the place where the bonding was being held. The  house reminded her of the Vaughn estate, but Koren said it was a  country club of sorts-a members-only club to keep out unwanted human  witnesses to blood exchanges and feedings that happened there regularly.

They were escorted to their seats in a room that was similar to a  chapel. It was beautifully decorated with bare, white trees from the  last pew all the way to the front on both ends of each row. Entering the  center aisle reminded her of the trees at school that arched over the  walkway and touched like lovers reaching for one another. Everything  from ceiling to floor was covered in sheer, white fabric, and all of the  flowers were white. The whole room was illuminated by white candles.  The effect was stunning. It was like a winter wonderland by candlelight.

She couldn't help noticing the way Gage and Koren snuggled together and  looked at each other lovingly. Dani had to work hard at pushing all  thoughts of Chase from her mind. She missed him terribly, and seeing all  of the happy couples in the room had her imagining the impossible  again.

When the music started, and the doors in the rear of the chapel were  opened, everyone stood and turned to see the bride. She was gorgeous in a  white, old-Hollywood-style gown. It was beautiful, not puffy or frilly,  but elegant and sleek. Her short, brown hair finished the look with  finger waves. She carried no flowers, but her left arm from the elbow to  her wrist was woven with white ribbons hanging at long lengths. The  bride held the loose ends between her hands.

The groom also wore a suit of pure white. He waited anxiously at the front of the chapel.

There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen. Only the bride and groom stood  in front of their friends and family to share their devotion to each  other. There wasn't even a preacher, but an elder member of the council,  who introduced himself as Lloyd Vaughn, standing before the couple.  Dani suddenly realized that he must be her grandfather, and she had to  catch her breath.

"Friends and family, we are here to witness the bonding of these two  people, who have agreed to enter into a union     of mutual love and  spiritual solidarity of their own free will for eternity. In this life  and the next, they will nurture one another's mind, body, and spirit.  Please join me in celebrating the miracle of their love and the future  they will build as mates and best friends for all time."

His rich, joyous voice was so sincere. It made everyone smile at the  honest beauty of the coming ritual. He bowed to the couple and left them  at the altar. When he stepped down, Dani saw the white-draped table  displaying two small ornamental daggers.

The bride and groom faced each other with bright smiles. Dani had to  pull out a tissue when tears of joy began to slide down the groom's  face. The couple joined left hands as if they would shake hands. The  bride wrapped the lengths of white ribbon hanging from her arm around  their joined hands and up the groom's wrist and forearm.

"Elliot, I vow to love you for the whole of my existence. I vow to  protect you to my last breath. I vow to cherish the gift of your  returned love for all time. I vow to always remain grateful for the man  who will from this day forth be the one and only mate of my soul." She  smiled through happy tears and beamed up at her mate.

The groom smiled down into the face of his bride with unmistakable  admiration. He wrapped the lengths of white ribbon that hung from his  wrist around her arm and up her wrist and forearm before he began to  speak.

"Krista, I vow to love you for the whole of my existence. I vow to  protect you to my last breath. I vow to cherish the gift of your  returned love for all time. I vow to always remain grateful for the  woman who will from this day forth be the one and only mate of my soul."

They both reached with their free hands for the daggers on the table.  Dani had no idea what was about to happen, and, frankly, she was  nervous. Both the bride and groom lowered their heads and pressed the  blades to their lower lips, making the slightest of cuts. Then they put  down the daggers. They lifted their faces and Dani saw the thin lines of  blood on their lips. They kissed for a long minute, sharing the very  source of each other's lives. They tasted the very essence of the  other's being.

She was transfixed by the intimate exchange. The couple broke apart and  stared at each other in wonder and awe of the moment. The room erupted  into cheers of happiness and laughter. Everyone began filing out into  the lobby, but the bride and groom never moved. They just stood there,  looking into each other's eyes.         

     



 

Dani was confused. In a human wedding, the bride and groom always left  first. Darren leaned down with a wrinkled forehead and asked, "Is this  the first bonding you've attended?"

She nodded.

He whispered, as he led her toward the rear of the chapel with a hand on  the small of her back, "This is a very powerful moment for the couple.  They'll need a few minutes alone before they can share each other with  the rest of the party."

Before she left the room, Dani turned to look at the couple one more  time. They stood with their lips still just inches apart, gazing  lovingly at each other, as if the rest of the world no longer existed  for them. There seemed to be nothing but the two of them and their  eternal bond.





The celebration after the bonding was much like she would have expected  at a human wedding reception. There was a cocktail hour in the lobby  while the newly mated couple enjoyed some time alone. Dani was  introduced to practically everyone. Koren was so proud to show off her  son's girlfriend and the newly dubbed "Angel of Wrath," who was oh so  powerful, blah, blah, blah. Dani really hated the attention.

Darren had stuck close, seeming to assess everyone she encountered  without being obvious about it. He looked like all the other very  attractive, well-built vampires at the ritual. But she was sure most  people knew who he was by their cautious reactions and unwillingness to  get too close to him. He had a bad reputation for being short-tempered  and overly aggressive. He didn't seem to enjoy his duties of the  evening, given the wary looks he shot around the room and the  exasperated sighs he released from time to time. She felt sorry for  ruining his evening with his babysitting duty.

After making a full circuit of the room, she tried, unsuccessfully, to  pry herself away from Koren. Darren took a moment to stare aimlessly out  the window onto the beautifully moonlit grounds. Dani was reintroduced  to several couples she'd already spent time chatting with, until she  managed to back out of the group.

Someone grabbed her hand and pulled gently to turn her around. She  expected it to be Darren, but it was odd for him to take her hand. He  had a way of leading her around by the small of her back, but he had  never taken her hand. To her surprise, she found Chase at the other end  of her arm. She hadn't seen him until then, and, Lord, he was gorgeous  in a dark suit. He flashed that devilish smile that made her look too  long at his lips and remember the taste of sunshine and happiness.

"W-what are you doing here?" she stuttered.

He shifted his eyes toward Darren, who still had his back to her at the  window about ten feet away. He winked and pulled her quietly out of the  crowded room and into a darkened room that wasn't being used for the  event. It was quiet but for the faint sounds of the partygoers and  kitchen staff busily preparing for the meal to come. He didn't say  anything at first. He just looked at her from below those long, dark  lashes, his ocean-blue eyes lighting a flame in her core. Dani turned  pink under the heat of his obviously appraising stare. Still holding her  hand, he spun her around and pulled her into an embrace that lifted her  feet up off the ground, her ankles crossed and feet dangling.