Page 29 of Branded in Love
Her eyes widen. “Is it my scent?” she asks, shuddering. “Can they pick up my scent, the same as vampires?” Luciana covers her mouth, panic swelling inside her.
We stop at her bedroom’s door. I exhale a long breath. “You need to spray on Natalya’s perfume,” I urge, for her sake, more than my own. I close my eyes. “Please.” My voice comes out strained. Reluctantly, I step away from her.
“You feel it too?” she asks in the sweetest tone.
I close my eyes again, holding my breath this time, hoping it might help. But it does not. “That’s how I first found you,” I confess. “Now,please…”
The blood drains from her face. She darts into the room. I hear the clank of crystal as she goes through the bathroom bottles until that first swish of spray comes through. And only then I breathe, relieved.
I lean my back against the door’s jamb and heave a deep sigh. I take one long inhalation and release the air slowly. Her scent still lingers in the air, but it’s not as strong...Fuck. That was close.
“I didn’t know,” she whispers, standing in the bathroom’s threshold, fearful.
I immediately hate myself for putting her through this. But there was no other way to get her out of that room. There’s so much I need to tell her… so much she should know. “Luciana, I’m sorry,” I manage. “I am to blame. I should have told you…”
“Is it a bad thing?” she asks, recoiling in the doorway. Her lower lip slightly quivers.
“No...” I assure her in a soothing voice. “No, it’s not a bad thing.” I take a step inside her room, but when she flinches, my heart shatters.
“It worked,” I say, holding my hand up in reassurance. “Your scent is covered now.”
“What would you do to me if I were not wearing Natalya’s perfume?” she asks in a low-pitched tone, hugging her arms.
I take a step closer. Then another until she lets me hold her hand. “I would have loved you the same way as I loved you last night…” I whisper, leading her to the bed where we then sit. “The bear in me would have branded you, and claimed you mine.”
“Branded me? I don’t understand what that means,” she says, troubled.
I sigh. I’ve tried to avoid this conversation, telling myself it’s too soon. But I guess I can no longer postpone it. Not when the clan gathers downstairs, with the addition ofVlad-fucking-wolf-shifter.
My fingers interlace with hers. “When a bear chooses its mate, it claims her forever.” A pause. “This can happen in several ways. The most common is through the mating bite.” I purse my lips, watching her intently.
“Last night you…” Her words drift into silence, “you wanted tobiteme?” A subtle frown creases her brow.
I slightly nod.
Her eyes turn wild with bewilderment.
“I know,” I whisper, tightening my hold.
“What happens then?” she asks, settling into this new reality.
I lick my lower lip. “I claim you mine,” I breathe. “And everyone in my clan knows not to come after you. And any other shifter as well.”
The frown furrows deeper in her face. “Then, downstairs, when I…”
“Yeah,” I tell her, releasing a gasp of relief immediately afterwards. “There’s something in your scent. Something that is too compelling for any of my shifter brothers.”
“And vampires,” she adds, not particularly thrilled.
“Yeah...” I concede, shrugging my shoulders.
Something clicks in her then. Her gaze cuts to mine. “But last night, I was wearing Natalya’s perfume and…”
I glide a hand over her jawline, giving her the hint of a smile. “That was all you,” I purr. “Not your scent.” Gods, even as the lingering fragrance of her vanishes, I lust for her the same.
Luciana’s gaze angles downwards. Her cheeks burn red scarlet. I lean forward. My lips meet hers in one slow kiss. She kisses me back with the same tenderness, then slowly parts from me. “D’you think I can go down now?” She bites her lower lip. “I really want to be there. I want to know how we’re gonna help Marco.”
“We?” I frown. “You’re not going anywhere, Luciana. I want you to stay here, where it’s safe. I don’t want you out there, putting your life at risk…”
