"Alright, I will be your mate, Kayden," she heard herself say from a distance.
He drew in a deep, ragged breath and picked her up to bury his face in her neck. "You will not regret this. I will make you happy; I swear it."
"Do you have a blade on you? Or would you like to bite me?" Dani wanted it done. She was done second-guessing.
He pulled back, a little surprised. "Now? You will be my mate, right now?" His eyes shone with joy.
"If you're willing to trust me without knowing everything about me, then I will trust you to mend my broken pieces," she explained. With happiness and adoration overflowing from his very being, Kayden led her back into the bedroom.
"I will give myself to you, and then I will go tell the world! Nothing will ever separate us again. I've been in agony since you went away." He rushed around the room, searching for something and babbling. He came to the bed with two braided lengths of fabric used to tie back the curtains.
"Take off your shoes and climb up on the bed. Sit on your knees, angel." He beamed at her and went to lock the bedroom door.
She could do it. She could, and she would. In a few moments, it would be over, and she would start a real relationship with a man she would love, who would love her back. Chase's face would no longer haunt her. His touch would no longer burn her. She wouldn't need her father's acceptance. Her husband, her mate, would love and accept her proudly for the whole world to see. She could do it.
Her shoes discarded, she climbed onto the bed and watched Kayden remove his shoes, suit jacket, tie, and holster. He pulled a blade from a pocket on the holster and went to the bathroom. He came back with a couple of towels and some alcohol swabs. Cleaning his very sharp-looking blade, he watched her.
"Don't be afraid. I would love to bite your sweet neck, but I will wait until you're ready to make love with me for that honor." He climbed up onto the huge four-poster bed. On his knees, he smiled down on her and pulled the pins out of her hair so it fell around her shoulders. "I'm so damn happy. I can't believe you are my one true mate." He kissed her deeply, then took her left hand and placed the stunning ring on her left ring finger. "I wanted to honor the human tradition of a ring. I hope you like it. I will, of course, wear one too, to show the world I am yours."
"I never thought I would get married in a black dress." She looked down at herself and laughed nervously.
After admiring her hand with his ring on it, Kayden tied a length of fabric around her wrist, the same way he had tied one around his. The blade was open on the bed between them. He grasped her hand as if they would shake hands. She'd seen it done once before at the bonding she'd attended. He wrapped his length around their hands to bind them together, and spoke in a low, husky voice.
"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. And I vow to always remain grateful for the woman who will from this day forth be the one and only mate of my soul."
Her heart pounded, and he was as calm and content as she'd ever seen him. The decision he made would affect the rest of his life in ways he couldn't understand, but he said he didn't care. With a deep breath and shaky hands, she wrapped her length of fabric around their hands and repeated his vows.
"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. And I vow to always remain grateful for the man who will from this day forth be the one and only mate of my soul."
Kayden pulled her to him by their joined hands and held her to his chest. His eyes were overflowing. He sat back and picked up the blade. She watched him lower his head to cut himself and knew she couldn't finish this unless he knew the truth. She couldn't do it to him just to end her own pain. The blade touched his lower lip.
"I'm human, Kayden." She blurted it out. His eyes shot up to her face, incredulous. "It's true. I'm half-human. That means our children would be part-human. I couldn't let you do this until you understand that fact."
"You can't be human. This isn't funny, Dani." His forehead knit into a scowl.
"It's no joke. My mother is human, and my father is a vampire." She stopped short of confessing her father's identity. "His family wouldn't accept us and wanted us dead. We were an embarrassment. So my mother faked our deaths to stop them from killing us. I am apparently a disgrace and an abomination. I was a normal human baby. I didn't start showing signs of vampirism until the day before I left home for college. I never tasted blood until the night Nathan attacked me."
"That's when you came of age." Kayden put the blade down and watched her, wide-eyed and confused. She could see the wheels turning in his head. He had to decide right then if she was worth it to him.
"I had no idea why I was getting such special treatment the night I met you at the club. You guys knew what I was before I did. I'm weaker than you, because I'm human. I'm mentally stronger, because my mother is psychic and my father is telekinetic. I don't heal as fast as you. I can get drunk. I have no idea how long I will live or how our kids will turn out. I assume they will be more vamp than human when we combine your full blood with my half blood, but I can't be sure. That is the truth. I could have waited another minute, and it wouldn't have mattered to you. But I couldn't damn you to a life full of the stigma of a human mate without your consent. It's up to you now. You said nothing I could say would change the way you feel. Was that true or will you abandon me now, too?"
He watched her for a long moment. She knew what was about to happen. She was going to lose her only true friend. She did love him, but not enough. She was not in love. The fact that losing his friendship hurt her more than losing his love proved that she didn't deserve that love. The tears of pain and disappointment began to stream down her face. He took her in, looking for clues that would have given her away as a human. There weren't any. To her surprise, he picked up the blade and sliced his lip.
"I love you, Danielle." He smiled and handed her the blade. "Nothing else matters."
She took the blade and followed his lead, placing a shallow slit on her lower lip. They were really going to do it. He loved her no matter what. Kayden went up on his knees, she met him chest to chest, and she waited. She would let him come to her. It had to be completely of his doing. He leaned his face to hers and paused, blood running down his chin onto his crisp white shirt. Her blood dripped onto her chest. He looked into her eyes and hesitated.
"I can't do it," he whispered in a shattered voice. "I love you, but I just can't do it. I want normal, healthy kids and a mate who will live as long as I do. I just can't." He pulled back from her then.
Angry and hurt, she wiped the blood from her face. "So much for all that bullshit you were spouting in the hall. So much for the vows you just spoke to me. … grateful for the woman who will from this day forth be the one and only mate of my soul. I am still the same person I was five minutes ago, Kayden." She struggled to get the damn ring off of their still-joined hands. He watched her struggle, while silent tears streaked down his cheeks.
Chase made it to his car, before he turned back to the house. He couldn't leave his Lovely like that, so upset. She must have felt so betrayed by Kayden, and Chase had done nothing to comfort her. He'd just stalked off to lick his own wounds.
He went back to the party and walked around the crowded first floor but couldn't find Danielle anywhere. Out in the atrium, he found Mason.
"Have you seen Lovely?" he asked his father.
"Why do you call her that if she doesn't like it?" Mason inquired.
"She's too lovely to be called a boy's name. She didn't mind the nickname, until I hurt her," he returned.
"She never came back to the party. I really don't blame her. That girl gets kicked every time she's down." Mason shook his head.
"It seems that way, doesn't it?" Chase reflected.
"Oh, you don't know the half of it," Mason quipped under his breath.
"What I would like to know is how you know so much and why you won't share your information." Chase scowled at his father.
"Maybe she's still upstairs. Come to think of it, I never saw Kayden leave, either." Mason avoided the question.
"What about Sam?"
"Griffin rushed his whole crew out of here as soon as he had them all gathered, and bid his farewells to the hosts. Brandi made sure to spread the news about the breakup between Dani and Kayden, so the guys are buzzing with anticipation for her return. No doubt, it was another Vaughn girl attempt at keeping Dani away from you. You may want to warn her if you find her."