Free Unforgiven (The Forbidden Bond 2) by Cat Miller

people from the very beginning. A noise from the hall pulled Chase out his reverie and he turned to examine the room one last time, but his eyes caught on the beauty standing in the doorway. Slowly he made his way to the bed, never taking his eyes off of his bride he crawled to the center of the bed to await her.
    She was stunning, with dark chocolate hair twisting in waves to curl lovingly around her waist. The streaks of white hair she was born with gleamed in the candlelight, accentuated by dark red low-lights that had appeared suddenly after her first taste of blood and had never faded away. The ice blue of her eyes seemed almost faceted and put the diamonds sparkling on her left hand and in her earlobes to shame. Chase held his breath, praying his Lovely wouldn’t rethink her decision to be his mate. She was obviously getting the short end of this deal.
    He sat still while she watched him, searching his eyes for what he did not know. But he would wait as long as it took for her to be ready. He had already waited for nine months. Nine months…that doesn’t sound like a long time, but the beginning of the path that led them to this place felt like a lifetime ago. She was the sun that rose in his heart. Soleil was the center of his life already. Chase couldn’t image how they could get closer. But they would.
    She must have found what she was searching for his eyes. Finally, she stepped into the room and shed her robe on the way to the bed. Moving slowly she crept up onto the bed to meet him in the middle. They knelt in front of each other, both breathing hard and waiting for the moment to feel right.
    Danielle reached out to loosen the belt of his robe and push it off his shoulders. Once he dispensed with the barrier they both rose to their knees, needing to touch and be touched. Palm to palm. Wrist to wrist. Chest to chest they breathed each other in and they both knew. No words were spoken. They stared into each other’s eyes and the vows they had practiced faded away.
    It was all there in her face for Chase to see. Love. Commitment. Trust. Passion. Forever. The ceremonial daggers lay forgotten by the bed. They knew each other so well. By silent agreement when Danielle had entered the room and dropped her robe revealing the expanse of her creamy skin, her lush curves, and the dusky rose of her peaked nipples, all thoughts of cutting and sealing the bond with a kiss disappeared like smoke. No. That wasn’t what either of them wanted. They would make love and they would bite. Chase would draw the essence of her life, the light of her soul into himself with his mouth at her throat, and her body wrapped in his arms, his body buried in her heat.
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    Danielle burned to be closer. Chase sat on the bed waiting patiently for her to make the first move. Hadn’t that been his way since the beginning of their relationship? He waited, burning a hole in her resistance with his eyes. The fear of rejection still rode her, but she forced it down. For a long moment she watched him, waitingfor him to remember that he is so far above her and he could clearly find a more worthy mate. He could find a mate that would surely live as long as he would and give him perfect full-blooded vampire children. There were so many unknowns in their future, not the least of which was whether or not she could be bonded to Chase. It hadn’t worked out so well for Darren. The change he had brought about in her could have made her fully able to bond with Chase, but it also could have changed her life span and her ability to have children. Still, Chase sat and watched her with those piercing ocean eyes from under his ridiculously long black lashes.
    They both knew the risks and she would give him what he had asked her for the day before their botched ceremony. She would give Chase the same love and commitment she would give to him if they were both human and blood bonds didn’t exist. He would be her husband, her mate, whether the bond took or not.