Asanni Page 8

  After we ate, we moved to the living room. Astrid sat across from me in the armchair. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

  She raised the perfect arch of her eyebrow and her eyes found mine. I savored them for a moment, holding her gaze and thinking how I’d never before seen eyes more beautiful: almond-shaped, with deep-blue irises and thick, dark-brown lashes. At that point I was sure her wolf eyes were amber, like mine, and I knew, once Astrid’s spirits were connected, her eyes would change too. I was wondering what their permanent color would be.

  “You have a Norse name, but you don’t look Norse to me, in spite your fair complexion, blue eyes and all.”

  She tilted her head. “And how do I look to you?”

  “There are a lot of warm colors in you: reddish, honey, gold, sunny.”

  “Jack, please.” She gave me one of her lovely heavy-lashed glances and my heart came to a sudden halt. “You don’t look like a poet, either.”

  “How do I look to you, then?”

  Her blue eyes slanted into two piercing slits as she scanned me quickly, head to toe. A little smile danced on her lips. “If your hair was long enough to be tied up with a ribbon, I’d say you look like a pre-revolution French nobleman. Don’t get excited, I can also imagine you on a horse, behind a cattle herd. Wild West, late nineteenth century.”

  “It’s okay, I like it. How about a rock star?”

  “Hmm, let’s see. Electric guitar, yes,” she said. “Or maybe a singer.”

  “Why don’t you sit here with me?”

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I would distract you. I asked you a question, and I want the answer.”

  “All right, then.” Boy, she wasn’t going to like it. “It’s called ‘love at first sight’ among humans and ‘blood call’ among vampires. We call it simply a ‘bond’—”

  “Holy shit!!!” Her eyes went round in disbelief. “Even I’ve heard about it! Does it mean that I have no choice? That something is trying to tie me up with you forever and ever? And nobody asked me if I wanted it?”

  She was yelling, her voice high-pitched and angry. “Is that what you meant when you said you were going to be my choice?”

  “Astrid, calm down. You do have a choice; you don’t need to do anything you don’t want.”

  “I thought it was some sort of... of an extreme physical attractiveness. And I liked it. But this is serious. Oh, my God, I’ve been thrown at you like a spell! You would’ve felt the same if I’d been stupid and ugly. You would’ve been tied to me even if you had somebody else… That’s horrible and cruel.”

  “But you are smart and beautiful, and I don’t—”

  “Oh, aren’t we lucky then? Yeah, it could’ve been much worse,” she said sarcastically. “You don’t know me, Jack, and I don’t know you. At least not enough for something so definitive as a mating bond.”

  I tried a lighter approach. “It’s like swallowing a love potion, but most of the time it works. People are not bonded so randomly. There is usually a solid base for further, ahem, development—”

  “I don’t know about the other species, but it doesn’t always work with humans.”

  “We’re not humans—“

  “Do you want a couple of examples? Mark Antony and Cleopatra, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, Henry and Anne Boleyn—”

  “Odysseus and Penelope, Abelard and Heloise, Aragorn and Arwen—”

  “Abelard ended up castrated and Arwen was an Elf. Ha!”

  Astrid was clearly more upset with the bonding than with anything else she’d heard these past few days. And that hurt a bit.

  “I was shocked, too. I also didn’t ask for it. But I think we’ll be fine if we—”

  “If we what? Work on it?” she said tersely. “For heaven’s sake, Jack, it’s like an arranged marriage. It rarely works.”

  All I wanted was to take her in my arms and hold her tight until she forgot about anything but me, but she was still too upset.

  “I thought you wanted to screw me. That thing when we touch worked just fine for those purposes.”

  “You mean sex? Come on, Astrid. You’ve had more than just sex on your mind. You wanted to know I was going to stick around, don’t you remember?”

  “Right, but I was thinking more about a relationship. A work in progress, to see where that would take us. Boyfriend-girlfriend sort of stuff, you know? I haven’t thought about marrying you and having little cubs with you.”

  “I want more than just to screw you, Astrid. You know that.”

  Oh, God, couldn’t she pick an easier topic? I’d warned her she didn’t need to know all the details. She wasn’t ready. Except for taking me as a sexual partner, although I doubted that my little Miss Spock was even ready for that stage. But she’d touched a raw nerve.

  Well, honey, watch me now.

  “If you need to know, I wasn’t entirely happy either. You were not even my type,” I said.

  “Oh, is that so?”

  I looked at her in amusement as she angrily jumped from her seat and placed her hands on her hips to make her elbows go wide and her whole body larger. She stood upright and erect, with chin up, legs placed apart: a perfect example of dominant body language. You are a hell of a wolf, Astrid Mohegan, and I wish your friend Tristan could see you now.

  “And who is your type, if I may ask?” she said.

  God, she looked beautiful, so angry and upset. I madly wanted to kiss her.

  I managed a straight face. “Seven-of-Nine, from Star Trek Voyager, if you need to know. Lovely as you are, you’re totally different. And Astrid, I said you were not my type, not you are not. It’s irrelevant now.”

  “Well, you were not my type either,” she said tartly.

  I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or just a slip of the tongue, but I was glad she’d used the past tense. “Tell me about your type, then. I’m curious.”

  “A cross between Hugh Grant and Daniel Day-Lewis.”

  “They’re too old!”

  “They are not! They’re... they’re timeless!”

  “Ha! You like older men?”

  “What if I do?!”

  She crooked her head, making sure that all her little arrows hit the mark. I wasn’t concerned with my competition, though. Even less with her alleged preference towards more mature men. Suited me fine. Overall, I was happy with how Astrid was handling the newest revelation. At least she didn’t try to run away. She wanted to screw me, and that was a good sign. The bond would do the rest.

  “Please, Jack, try not to touch me,” she said slowly, trying to control her angry voice. “Do not come to pick me up from the hospital. Do not cook for me. Do not feel obligated to have anything to do with me, screwing included.”

  She turned to leave, but I grabbed her wrist. “Astrid, I’m here to protect you, and I’ll do that. I’ll come to pick you up, that’s not negotiable. I’ll still take every opportunity to make you fall in love with me, as I’ve promised. I won’t screw you, though. When the time comes, and if you want me, we’ll make love. You’re stubborn, prickly, and impossible sometimes, but you’re also caring, smart and funny, and I like you a lot. Forget about the bond and try to see me instead. You might find me worth your attention. Now get ready and I’ll take you to the hospital.”

  I could see how she wanted to protest, but gave up. “It’s too early. One more question.”

  “Fire away.”

  “Is bonding in any way related to me being the Ellida?” she said quietly.

  “No. Those are two separate things. But as with the bonding, as Ellida you’re not without options. We can’t keep an Ellida against her will. It must be her free choice to stay with us. And I won’t keep you unless you want me, either. Feeling better now?”

  “No.”

  She turned and walked toward her room. I was sure I saw tears in the corners of her eyes. She briefly stopped in front of her door, murmuring something in her wizard’s tongue.

  When s
he closed the doors behind, I couldn’t see her blue outline anymore.

  I let out a deep sigh. I had expected her to ask me about her wolf spirit and the connection with her other part that hadn’t happened yet, not about the mating bond. “If you think you’re upset now, wait until you hear that part,” I said quietly, glad her hearing was way below average for a werewolf and that she couldn’t hear me.

  I decided to give her a few moments to collect herself and then I’d knock on her door and deal with the consequences of our first fight.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ASTRID CLOSED the door and, pressing her back against it, slid down to the floor. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms tightly around her chest. Her eyes filled with tears she didn’t even try to suppress. She sat motionless, with a painful knot in her chest, as if her heart had been torn out from her rib cage.

  She heard him coming toward the door and her heart jumped. Darn, he’d surely heard it, Astrid thought miserably. It was pointless to try to hide anything from him as long as he could hear her heart.

  Astrid quickly brushed away the tears and stood up. The next moment she heard a soft knock on the door.

  “Astrid, let me in, please.”

  The door swung open. “You okay?” Jack said with genuine concern in his voice and infinite tenderness in his amber eyes.

  Astrid nodded. Doing more than that would certainly bring another wave of tears. She kept her eyes on the floor.

  Slowly, as if he was afraid that any sudden movement could scare her, Jack reached for Astrid’s hand and gently pulled her to his chest. Shivering, she rested her head against his shoulder. The warm ripples spread across her tense body, relaxing it instantly. She breathed in Jack’s scent, fresh and pleasant, arousing and disturbing. She could hear his heartbeat, fast and strong.

  “I’m sorry, Jack,” she said quietly.

  His lips moved to her ear, and he rocked her gently, as if they were dancing. His deep, sensual voice gently hummed in her ear.

  A tiny sob broke out from Astrid’s chest. “Oh, I love Leonard Cohen. I’m Your Man is one of my favorite love songs ever. How did you know?”

  “Because this is my favorite love song, that’s how. Shhh, it’s all right. See, I too can sing.” Jack’s warm fingers stroked her hair. “This will do for now. By the time I finish singing you this song—part by part, mind you—everything will be fine, and you’ll be in love with me. And not because you swallowed a love potion, but because you want me. And if you’re not ready, I’ll sing it again, until you give up and love me like you’ve never loved before.”

  “Oh, Jack, I’m so lost,” Astrid whispered. Her hands moved up and encircled his neck. She rested her forehead against his.

  “What upsets you so much? You were fine yesterday with me in your life. Even when we talked earlier today. What’s changed so dramatically?” Jack said quietly.

  Astrid closed her eyes and sighed. “It suddenly seemed so unfair, to both of us. I wanted you to like me for who I was, not because some uncontrollable, random power threw me in your path. I knew it was going too fast, but I thought we’re still in charge. I thought it was some sort of fast-acting chemistry.”

  Jack lifted her chin. “Hey, but I do like who you are, and you like me, I know that. Why don’t we take it from there and we’ll see where it can take us, as you said?” He took her hand. “Come on, let’s go to the living room. Your bedroom’s probably not the best place for these little talks about our hot chemistry. And your floor squeaks.”

  JACK TUCKED Astrid into the sofa and made her hot chocolate. He took the opposite corner, staying close, but leaving some space between them.

  “I’m sorry, Jack,” she said again. “I can’t explain why I was so upset with something that actually feels right and good, and why I wanted to hurt you. And I was rude.” Jack’s presence, his touch, even the hot chocolate he’d made for her instantly made her feel better.

  Jack gave her a lopsided smile. “Are you apologizing for your lusty thoughts about screwing me or marrying me and having my babies? I don’t remember asking you to marry me and have little puppies. Not yet anyway, so don’t worry about it now.”

  Embarrassed, Astrid buried her face into her hands. “Oh, God, Jack, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay, baby. I know you’re crazy about me.”

  She let out a deep breath and found his eyes. “Jack, I like you a lot. I couldn’t care less about what you are—blaidd, human, white, black... It doesn’t matter. And I’m fine with being what I am. The problem is that my change is difficult, painful and maybe dangerous. That part I don’t like. You’ll see what I’m talking about soon. For you, this is a controllable process, and you choose if you’re going to do it or when. You change when you have an excess of energy, or if there is danger. I’m literally sick for days.”

  “It will change, baby, soon. May I come closer? Please?”

  Jack waited until she made a tiny nod, and moved close to her. He took both her hands between his, turned her palms upward and kissed them one at a time.

  “Jack, please...” she whispered.

  He placed her hand on the side of his face and closed his eyes. “I hope the change will soon become easier for you. This full moon, or maybe one or two more, that’s it, Astrid. I promise.”

  “You said you could help me. How?”

  He smiled. By screwing you.

  “Don’t you need to go to work?” he said. “We’ll leave that part for some other time. Don’t force me this time to explain it before I think you’re ready.”

  A little alarm in her head went off. “You are not trying to tell me another shocking revelation, are you? Like that I have to have sex with the whole pack in order to stay sane. I once read a novel—”

  Jack laughed and tightened his grip around her. “No, silly, relax. No need for such drastic measures.” He kissed her temple. “I’d never let anyone else touch my mate or, god forbid, have sex with her, unless you decide otherwise. See, you’re not without choices, but you’ll soon realize how every option that excludes me really sucks.”

  Astrid mocked a deep sigh of relief. “Why can’t you tell me more, then? Do I need to hunt? Tear somebody’s throat and spill his guts?”

  “You need to go to work and I need to talk to Tristan and Liv, James and my mother. Hopefully, I’ll be able to tell you more soon. Aren’t you going to be late?”

  Astrid sighed and reluctantly left her seat. “You’ll give me a ride, will you?”

  “Try to stop me, Miss Spock. And I’ll pick you up in the morning. Seven?”

  “Eight.”

  “Astrid, is Tristan working tonight?”

  She shook her head. “It’s Friday evening, and he’s the Hospital’s CEO. He and Liv might not even be here. Maybe they took a weekend off. They’ve been on twenty-four/seven watch since I dragged them here.”

  “They’d have told us.”

  Jack pulled out his phone and called the Blakes, informing them he would come as soon as he took Astrid to the hospital.

  Astrid took a quick shower and hurried to dress. Jack didn’t detect a simple, silent snap she’d made with her fingers before she entered her room, but smiled when he saw the clear, blue silhouette opening the dresser and wardrobe and putting clothes on.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jack

  LIVIA OPENED the door a moment before I pressed the bell. “Hi Jack,” she said and kissed my cheek. “How’s Astrid?”

  “Why don’t you ask how I am?” I said entering the Blakes’ spacious living room. Tristan appeared from the kitchen with a tray with three espressos on it. “Double, half teaspoon of sugar,” he said and passed me a cup.

  “I’ve told her about the bond,” I said and sat down.

  Livia covered her mouth to suppress a giggle.

  The corners of Tristan’s lips curved upward. “Is she still in the country, or can we soon expect her phone call from Nepal?”

  “She feels fit to do her night s
hift, so she’s fine. She kicked and screamed and scratched for a while, but I’m actually impressed with how she took it.”

  “Ha, didn’t I tell you you’d like her! How did you take it, Jack?” Liv said, grinning.

  “I’ve decided to take your husband’s advice and forget about the bond and everything. I like her a lot, Liv. And that’s all I’m going to say on this topic.”

  Liv smiled. “I’ll let it be, Jack. For now.”

  I took a sip of strong, aromatic coffee and smiled, thinking about my girl. “I think I know why she suffers through the change, but you need to tell me everything you know. How does it look? How long does it last?”

  “Liv, you’ve seen more than I have,” Tristan said. “Astrid doesn’t allow me to be with her in the same room when she shifts. I usually stay outside until she’s done, both ways.”

  “At the beginning she’s quiet, then becomes quite talkative,” Livia said. “Once she changes, all verbal communication stops, of course. I can’t get into her wolf mind. She’s in pain a few days before, and it intensifies as she approaches the change. Her eyes change color—”

  “From blue to amber,” I finished.

  Livia’s eyebrows arched. “How do you know?”

  “I’m guessing, never mind. What else can you tell me?”

  “She has a high fever, body aches, chills, shivering and shallow breathing. It’s similar to flu symptoms. It stops when she takes wolf form, but then she’s exhausted. She recovers relatively quickly once she shifts back into her human form.”

  “Have you seen the actual change?”

  “I have, Tristan hasn’t. It’s fast, Jack. Much faster than you do it.”

  “I’m wondering if that causes the pain,” Tristan said.

  “Jack, she does it in the blink of an eye,” Livia said. “One moment she’s Astrid, then something undefined, and the next moment, she’s a wolf. A huge wolf. She’s breathtakingly beautiful. You’ll see.”