Blood Twist (The Erris Coven Series) (26 page)

Liz loved that he didn’t laugh – that he didn’t give her the same “you got a band tattoo?” comment
like
so many others did.
Through their bond, he could feel how important it was to her and in return, she could feel his admiration.

Rolling on her belly, she studied his still form. He hadn’t slept the entire time they were away, but now, with his head so heavy in the pillow, his breathing was slow and steady.
After barely making it through the front door before stripping each other passionately,
t
he two made love for the first time and spent the entire afternoon swept up in each other’s arms, talking, kissing,
loving
.
He wanted to go
tell the others, but they were both t
o
o swept up in being alone
.
They had all of the time in the world to reveal what they found.

Liz knew Endellion and Aileen would be quick to welcome her to the fold, to explain to her things she was unsure how to approach with Braden. Things she was sure Lexie had already been asking.

How much older will I get? Will I look eighteen forever? What do you cook for your damphyr mate? What w
ill I tell Bev and the Captain?

She did know they w
ould live forever as long as their
fate-partners were alive. That the very first damphyrs in Braden’s family learned
centuries ago that God blessed them with soul mates so that they would have strength in life, a reason to stay strong and resist the darkness.

The
marvel that gave life to the
cove
n was what legends were made for. The stories behind
folklore
were always her
interest
.
Liz
wanted to learn everything
and hear
all of the tales
Braden grew up listening to.
His history was now
hers,
his life was now her life.

He’s beautiful…

The shape of his jaw line, the curve of his lips, she wanted to feather him with kisses until
every inch of him was
submi
tted to memory. How he could feel so right against her body
was baffling. Never did she want to live apart from his again.

Giving herself to him so com
pletely was the only thing
she could do.
It amused her to think how long she lived believing she was immune to love, that any guy other than rock gods, Jared Leto or Danny O’ Donahue, were unworthy of her affections.

But maybe the reason wasn’t just because her Dad had hurt her. Maybe, if she understood Braden’s explanations of
fate-partners, she was only meant for him all along.
Without his touch, she would have withered away back in Connecticut, living a life of regret and what ifs.

Riley knew that, at least she thought that was what he meant
when he told her Braden was as hooked on her as she was on him
.
She just needed to stop fighting and accept that Braden was hers and wouldn’t change his mind someday and give her away.
No one really knew what life had in store,
but she could count on him.

With that comfort, she wanted to move forward and learn to live in the moment. She didn’t want to end up
like Maze, growing old on the inside and unable to evolve with time. But she didn’t want to be like Riley either and have a life of regrets.

The memory of him would be hard to live with. If they told the others of his existence, they would try to hunt him down. It wasn’t fair.
Knowing he wasn’t the same as all of the other draugar, that he could control his thirst so that he didn’t take lives, left her wishing she could plead his cause.
Eve
n Braden saw that in the end –
the human part of his brother was still fighting to exist.

The damphyr’s had their rules for a reason. It just saddened her that Riley was lost between the two worlds, not really fitting in with either.
When he kissed her, she could feel his sadness. Although his words told her that he cared and
wanted her to come with him, Liz felt something else that he didn’t say. Perhaps, he didn’t even know. It wasn’t Liz that he wanted – it was a life beyond the evil he had been surrounded with for so long. A life he would have had if he hadn’t turned.

Her last images of Braden’s brother
gave her hope.
Strix stood among them, declaring his loyalty to Riley as the new leader. Perhaps it wo
u
ld make his existence
easier.
Although the bloodbath they discovered at Sunnydale was alarmi
ng, she wanted to believe
Riley
wasn’t one of the corpses they found. That if he
had
died, she would have felt it. E
ven though the bond she forged
with Braden was overwhelmingly stronger in comparison, a small part of her
had
a
n unexplainable
connection with Riley
,
too.

At least he
left Ruby’s cure before he vanished
.

Glancing
down at her lover, Liz
longed to awaken him
with kisses and discover just how delicious a life bound as one can be again.
Stretched out in the bed with just a sheet draped across his legs, Braden was
shockin
gly beautiful.
Sculpted muscles, broad shoulders and
soft skins, he had the kind of physique girls plastered all over
facebook
.
Even while sleeping, her damphyr had a slight smile on his face.
The dream she just had of him filled her with the sweetest tenderness imaginable.

Did he share it?

Liz thought of Lexie and the dreams she used to have of Torin.
Her friend tried explaining it. There
was a magic about their kind, o
ne Liz didn’t fully understand. She o
nly hoped her dreams were just the beginning. That now she and
Braden
were bonded
, they w
ould have dreams together they c
ould someday tell their children about. Dreaming of forever finally felt
safe.

Although she knew Braden could give her one hundred good reasons for staying in bed, Liz thought of Lexie. She hoped her friend wasn’t worried about where she was. The cell phone had stayed s
ilent, so Liz didn’t think she
had a search party out or anything, but having a little girl time with her best friend could be good.

Since we both found damphyrs, it puts a whole new meaning to best friends forever.

Letting her half-vampire rest was probably a good thing. She didn’t know how long it had been since he was able to sleep without worrying about his future and the safety of his family.

And
in his own
bed…

The old house was stunning. Just as beautiful as Torin’
s family home,
the stately Queen Ann
’s rooms overflowed
with antiques
and photos
that were
probably attached to memories, many of which showcased Ireland and Lachlan’s childhood there.

Liz hoped that Braden would find a way to talk to his mother about Riley. Maybe if she knew that he was doing the best he can, it would help ease some of her pain. Althoug
h Brigid lived quietly in the small guest rooms next door
, maybe if Braden and Liz brought life back to the family home,
she would be able to live there again and find happiness.

Would I be any different if I
lost Braden
?
A child?
I don’t know.

Liz slid out of bed and headed for the shower. Lexie mentioned a candle light vigil for a teen in town who was murdered by Lexie’s sicko stepbrother. It wasn’t going to be an easy night for her best friend and she wanted to stand by her in support. If Ruby was doing better, Ella might be a little more stable too. The fact that Liz w
as now fated to Braden was going to
be
fun to reveal
.
She hoped when he awoke, he would come join her.

Grinnin
g wildly, she knew the
night was going to be
me
morable. And the best part was – i
t would be the
first of many
.

32

BRADEN

It was surreal awakening in his
childhood home. The sounds
,
the smells, nothing had changed, accept at six and half feet, he was no longer a little boy
and his feet hung over the edge of the bed
.

We’re going to need some new furniture.

Sleep. It was so amazing. With Liz by his side, he slept deeply for the first time in months. No worrying about the coven, no being concerned about what would happen to Brigid if he died – nothing at all to keep him from finally getting some well needed rest. As a full blown damphyr, his kind didn’t
require a quantity of hours spent
dozing
, but after Riley’s
command to see him, Braden had somehow lost the ability to
r
e
st
at all, until now. Now he had Liz
. W
ith her as his fate-partner, Braden
had a future
, someone to love and a reason to smile
. Having come so close to losing it all, he would never
allow anyone to threaten
the life they had together
again.

Stretching his arm across the sheets, he hoped Liz was still beside him, but he could sense that she was off with Lexie. Smiling, he wondered if she could feel him now: how happy she made him, how much in love he was with her, how he still w
anted her here and now. The taste
of her skin, her
touch, her kisses – the
passion she so easily
gave matched
his
.

Sitting up, he brushed his hands through his unruly hair. The easy grin he couldn’t part with since Liz became his fate-partner wasn’t the onl
y thing that matched Torin’s
.
His closest friend also had
me
ssed
up
hair
and with good reason. They both found someone to make them lighten up. As crab
by as the tow of them had always been
, he imagined their family would benefit from their unions as much they did. Hopefully, Cian and Teagan would find their partners soon. This new beginning of his life was incredible, one he wanted his cousins to share in.

He had been so hard on Cian about Brooke. Constantly trying to protect their secret, he rode his cousin about not rev
ealing who they were all of the time. It wasn’t that Braden
disliked Brooke, she was outgoing and friendly, he just worried who she would tell if Cian opened up about their kind.

I was wrong.

Even though he had always been the self-appointed leader, he ha
d to learn to trust his cousins. Not partially, not with constrictions but in t
he
same way he
trusted the elders. Torin
proved that to him the other night when he was in the midst of going through the final phase of the change and could still direct his thoughts and concerns towards saving Lexie.

Cian and Teagan weren’t children anymore. None of them were. He had to let go of his need to control them and just help guide them along.

What do I know about girls and relationships anyway?

Cian had been smitten with Brooke for the last year. The two were cons
tantly inseparable, even when Braden
tried interfering and encouraged his cousin to back off.
At the time, he
believed because Cian hadn’t dreamt of Brooke, she wasn’t going to be his cousin’s fate-partner. None of the stories the elders told about their unions happened that way, even Torin dreamed of Lexie for a year – but after having fallen for Liz and
having their soul-binding experience
, he had no right to tell Cian that he was wrong.

Gathering his clothes so he could go find Liz, Braden tried to think. How soon did he start feeling a physical reaction to Liz? Attraction to her scent came first – he should have known right then and there that she was meant to be his. If not then, he definitely should have known when they touched – that day, on the plane, when she told him he wasn’t what she expected. It was like sending fireworks through his nervous system. Every cell in his body focused on her, wanting her close.