Page 60 of I Summoned A Demon For A Date?!
A small smile tugged at his lips. "That's one way to put it, yes. In demon culture, it's called the eternal bond. It's extremely rare, many live their entire existence without finding their true mate."
"And I'm yours?" The concept was both terrifying and exhilarating.
"Yes," he confirmed, his voice dropping to nearly a whisper. "From that first touch, I knew. Everything in me recognized you, called to you."
I recalled the instant attraction, the inexplicable trust I'd felt toward him despite knowing what he was. Had some part of me recognized him too?
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, not accusatory but genuinely curious.
Aldaine's expression turned rueful. "Would you have believed me? A demon appears in your living room and immediately declares you're destined to be together? You'd have sent me back before I could blink."
He had a point. I would have assumed it was some kind of manipulation tactic.
"Besides," he added, "the mate bond doesn't force anything. It's a possibility, not a certainty. You had, or have, every right to reject it, to reject me."
The thought of rejecting him made my chest ache, which told me more about my own feelings than any supernatural bond could.
"The contract," I realized suddenly. "Was that even real?"
Aldaine shook his head, looking slightly ashamed. "No. I had no intention of claiming your soul, Rosie. I never did. The contract was my excuse to stay near you, to have time with you."
I should have been angry at the deception, but all I felt was relief. "So I'm free to walk away? No supernatural consequences?"
"Completely free," he confirmed, though I could see the fear in his eyes at the mere suggestion. "You owe me nothing."
I let that sink in for a moment. Every choice I'd made, every step toward him, had been my own. No magical coercion, no binding contract, just me, choosing him, again and again.
"And this?" I touched my neck again, where his mark still tingled pleasantly under my fingers.
His expression grew more intense. "That is the physical manifestation of the mate bond beginning to form. It marked you as mine in the most primal sense."
I remembered the moment he'd bitten me, the overwhelming pleasure, the sense of rightness that had washed over me. "Will it fade?"
"Never," he nodded with certainty. "It's not an ordinary mark, Rosie. It's part of the bond itself, etched into your very essence."
My fingers lingered on the mark, tracingits edges. Permanently marked by a demon. It should have terrified me. Instead, I felt an odd sense of pride.
"You said the bond was beginning to form," I noted. "It's not complete?"
Aldaine shifted slightly, the first sign of real nervousness I'd seen from him. "No. To complete the mate bond, it must go both ways. You would need to mark me as I've marked you."
"Mark you?" I echoed, my pulse quickening at the thought.
"Yes," he confirmed. "A blood bond, created through intent. Your mark on my body would complete the circuit, so to speak."
I swallowed hard. "And if we complete this bond? What happens then?"
This was clearly the part he was most anxious about. He took another deep breath before answering. "Several things. Our essences would begin to merge in certain ways. You would become more durable. Less susceptible to illness, to injury."
"And?" I prompted, sensing there was more.
"And you would stop aging," he watched my reaction carefully. "Not immediately, but eventually. Your lifespan would align with mine."
The implications hit me like a physical blow. "You mean I'd become immortal?"
"Not precisely immortal," he clarified. "You could still be killed. But natural death from age or disease? No."
My mind reeled with the possibilities, the implications. Living for centuries, perhaps millennia. Watching the world change, watching everyone I knew grow old and die while I remained.
