Page 39 of Demon's Heart
“It’s a mating ritual by definition, but it doesn’t have to be sexual,” Dante said in a hurry. He sat on a couch beside a large window, putting distance between them, and braced his hands on his towel-covered knees. “All I did to save you was cast the mating spell, give you my blood, and take some of yours. If we repeat that with your consent and intent to form a bond with me, everything should be fine.”
Ollie stepped forward slowly and perched on the couch beside Dante, a whole new set of feelings sparking in his veins. “Is the ritual usually sexual?”
Dante swallowed audibly. “Yes, but I’m not asking that of you. We’re mates, but that doesn’t mean we have to physically mate. Sex isn’t essential to the magic working. If it was, I wouldn’t have been able to save you.”
“I don’t get what being your mate means, Dante. Does it mean to complete the bond and get this deepickout of my chest, I have to be in a relationship?” Ollie’s heart jolted. Dante said the mating bond was irreversible. Ollie had never said he was okay with being someone’s mate. It sounded like a boyfriend or partner, and Ollie didn’t want that, but he couldn’t live feeling half-wrong and incomplete either.
He didn’t really have a choice.
Dante gripped Ollie’s hands. “We don’t have to be in a romantic relationship. We don’t have to change anything between us. But we are bonded. We will always be connected. I know I shouldn’t have done this without your consent, but I couldn’t let you die.”
That threw perspective back in Ollie’s face. “Hey. Of course you didn’t want me to die. And I’m glad you saved me. Fuck, Idon’t think I’ve ever been more grateful in my life. I’m just trying to figure out what this is. There’s no doubt I’d rather be bonded to you than dead.”
Dante had made a huge sacrifice for him. He wasn’t even asking Ollie to commit to anything romantic when a mating bond sounded like it should be marriage or something.
“I’m glad you don’t regret me doing this,” Dante said, relief softening his face. “And I promise, the bond can be whatever we want it to be.”
“Of course I don’t regret it.” A smile tugged at Ollie’s lips, warmth filling his insides for the first time in what felt like years. “Let’s redo the ritual, and I’ll accept. It feels right.”
And it did. Somehow, nothing had ever felt so right in Ollie’s life. His doubts faded and he became even more sure. The need to accept Dante’s bond pulled on the center of his chest, reaching every deep piece of his soul.
Dante pulled Ollie into an embrace. “Thank you, Ollie.”
Relief radiated off Dante. The strangeness that had coated everything since Ollie woke up faded and something good took over.
“I think I can feel you,” Ollie murmured, no matter how strange it sounded.
Dante pulled back. “You can. I can feel you too.”
“Wait, really?” Ollie patted his towel-covered chest, the pull on his heart turning into an ache. “You know how I feel?”
Dante smiled his bashful little smile. “It’s the bond. Our connection.”
“So, some thingsaregoing to change between us.” Friends couldn’t sense each other’s emotions. Ollie didn’t know what to think of that kind of intimacy, no matter how right this felt.
“We can learn to control what we share,” Dante said as if this was all normal, though to him, it probably was. “I’ll respect your boundaries, Ollie.”
But how? There was no real way for Ollie to get his head around any of this. He’d have to trust Dante.
And that didn’t seem as hard as it should have been.
One thing shone brightly among all the confusion, and it pointed toward Dante.
Ollie followed the light, guided by that right feeling flowing through him. It pulled him onto Dante’s lap. Ollie straddled Dante, his towel falling from his shoulders and pooling around his hips.
Ollie placed his hands on Dante’s shoulders. “Make me feel better, Dante. Please?”
11
OLLIE
Ollie’s pulse pounded,Dante’s breath catching as Ollie’s grip tightened on his shoulders. He wouldn’t normally get in this position with a friend, but it felt so fucking right.
Ollie would do anything for the hollowness inside him to go away, to forget this day ever happened, and sitting in Dante’s lap felt healing. It was like their nearness changed something in Ollie’s chemical makeup. His worries faded. He might not know exactly what mates were, but it felt right to be Dante’s.
“I’ve got you, Ollie,” Dante whispered, his hands resting gently on Ollie’s towel-covered thighs. “I promise to be a good mate to you. I won’t let this hurt you anymore.”
Ollie nodded, voice escaping him.
