Savage Chains: Scarred (Men in Chains #1.6)(2)
Author: Caris Roane

Angelica hardly knew what to do with this new piece of information. Just before Reyes had been abducted he’d already had to endure his father’s apparent murder. “And you’d planned that one day, you would take his place?”

He looked up at her, his blue eyes glittering. “I had. I was planning on studying in the human world, at one of the major European universities, when I was drugged and abducted.”

She thought about this for a moment, about mother and son surviving the disappearance and probable death of a worthy husband and father. “Your mother must have been devastated when you disappeared.”

“If you’re asking what happened to her, she didn’t survive. I think you might even say she died of a broken heart. Sweet Dove kept me informed, though, the gentle soul that my captor was, telling me how she’d stopped meeting her blood-needs, fell into madness, then perished.”

Angelica, standing close to him, shaded her face with her hand. She saw all that he was in this moment, from the orphaned youth to the tortured slave under Sweet Dove’s cruelty and to the current warrior on the brink of rectifying a terrible injustice in his world.

And all he had asked was that Angelica stay with him for the duration of Starlin’s festival, attend a few functions, share a chain-bond and quite possibly his bed. Her life suddenly seemed so small because here was a man standing alone against an organization that earned billions each year from its crimes.

“Why was I able to see into your past like that? What was it I saw? I don’t understand.”

“It’s called a revisiting vision. Some humans have markers in common with basic vampire DNA.”

“And these humans can see into the past?”

“It’s very rare, but apparently you have exactly that kind of capacity, which could be useful.”

“And that’s why this whole thing bothers you even more.”

“Yes, because you’re who you are. You’re an amazing woman, and to top it off apparently you have this unique ability in my world.”

She glanced at the leather box next to him. “So just by touching the chains, I could see the past. Would I see even more if I wore the chains? If I was bound to you?”

“I don’t really know. This is new territory even for me.”

“So you’ve never bound anyone before.”

He shook his head. “Never wanted to. Never thought I would just on principle.” He rose up and faced her once more. “All these questions, Angelica. Does this mean you’re considering saying yes to my proposition?”

She nodded, but her throat grew tight. “There’s just one thing. If anything happened to me, I would need to know that my mother was cared for.”

“Of course,” he stated, taking Angelica’s arms gently in his hands.

“Not to put a damper on things, but what if you died as well? I really don’t want to leave anything to chance here.”

“I’ll have papers drawn up immediately, so that she’ll never lack for anything as long as she lives.”

Angelica was so stunned that her mouth fell agape. “You would do that, without question?”

“It’s the least I could do given the situation, given what I’m asking of you.”

“At the Ocean Club, you accused me of being a gold digger.”

He shook his head, a sad smile on his lips. “I knew you were no such thing. I was just trying to warn you away.”

“And if only I’d gotten in my car and left.” But she felt her lips curve; then tears started suddenly to her eyes and she began to weep, though she didn’t really know why. The whole situation overwhelmed her, including Reyes and all that he’d been through. That alone, what he’d suffered even before his abduction, made her want to help him.

Reyes surprised her yet again as he rose up, drew her gently into his arms, and just held her. He rubbed her back, letting her feel whatever it was she needed to feel.

“You’re exhausted,” he said against her cheek. “Why don’t you get some sleep and we’ll talk about this again when you wake up? If you still think you want to stay with me through the Starlin events we can work out all the details, including an arrangement that will protect your mother’s future. You can ask anything you want about the blood-chains and, perhaps more importantly, what will be expected of you in the coming days and nights. For now, bedtime.”

At the mere mention of sleep fatigue settled into her bones as much from the mental stress as anything else. “You’re right.”

After getting ready for bed Angelica crawled beneath the comforter. Reyes gave her some much-needed space, leaving the room to take care of other business.

As she fell asleep what slipped through her mind didn’t have anything to do with concerns for her mother or even what she might have to do if she stayed in Reyes’s world but, rather, her own heart. She already felt a connection to the man, so what would happen if she joined him in a blood-chain bond? Most certainly he would become her lover, but what if she grew even more attached to him than she already was? What if she fell in love with him? How would she ever be able to leave this world after that?

###

Later, long after Angelica had fallen asleep, Reyes lay on top of the comforter next to her. For her sake, though he usually went commando, he now wore pajamas and a robe. He didn’t want her to assume for a moment that he had any expectations, and he was pretty sure the last thing she needed to confront right now was his na**d male body.

With one arm slung over the top of his head, he thought back to the cave she’d described, to the bedroom from his youth that reflected his plans to take up his father’s cause.

Despite the fact that his father had been killed by his enemies, Reyes had embraced his calling to bring down the vile elements in his world. How ironic that Reyes had then been enslaved by a sadistic female owner for over a century.

Now Angelica was here and she was considering remaining with him.

With his mind reeling at this unexpected turn of events, that Angelica would have an added power if they forged the chain-bond, he finally left the bed and paced quietly in the opposite sitting room.

He poured himself another Bowmore and drank deeply, his gaze shifting to the bed. Angelica had thrown the comforter back and lay on her stomach. She wore a short dark-blue silk nightgown that rode up, exposing much of her white creamy skin and the curve of her bu**ocks.

His constant need for her flooded him in a sudden wash of desire. For just a moment he imagined kissing that curve and running his tongue in the erotic crease where her bu**ocks met the backs of her thighs.