A soft kiss on my neck woke me up. It took a second to realize where I was and why I was naked. Oh and why there was a girl with her leg and arm over me. Her skin rubbing against mine as she kissed a sore spot on my neck. With a sudden rush of memory, I closed my eyes and sighed. “What came over me st night? I thought I wanted to wait a bit longer.”

  A bit of embarrassment crept into my mind from out of nowhere. “That might be my fault.” She said before pausing for my reaction. I didn’t say anything, just waiting for her to continue. Taking my subtle hint, she did, “Depending on how strong a bond is between mates, it can exhibit a variety of effects.”

  “Like?”

  “Well, as you can probably guess we seem to share some of our feelings and desires.” She said in a light voice.

  “Let me guess, you’re a bit embarrassed at being caught?”

  “Maybe…” She hugged me tighter as her head pushed into the crook of my neck.

  “Why am I feeling it more now than yesterday?”

  “No reason.” She said, a bit of fear in her voice at the same time the embarrassment I felt was repced with fear.

  “Victoria?” I growled. The sound shocking me a bit. My mind nearly going off on a tangent to figure out whatever that was, only for me to force it to stay focused.

  “I might have marked you…” she started and stopped before continuing in a rush. As if holding back was impossible and she needed it to be out. “I bit you and finalized the bond. The bite also shows anyone that you meet that you are mated. On top of that, its magic will prevent anyone from healing it.”

  “I thought you and your mom said the bond was finalized during that first dinner?”

  Shaking her head, her nose rubbing against my neck she spoke, “The bond was formed and made permanent but the magic only went into the surface of our souls. With us having had sex and my marking you, the magic goes all the way to the core. Even if we could break the bond, it would kill both of us nearly instantly. Same with if one of us dies.”

  “Two questions, what does this mean and I thought your mom was bonded to your dad?”

  She didn’t answer for a few minutes. From fear to sadness, guilt to anger, emotions flit across the back of my mind. Each breath she took was as deep as she could take as she tried to calm down. “They both knew that he was likely to die in their escape so they both agreed to forgo the bond. They couldn’t leave me on my own after all.”

  Hearing that, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me. Letting her continue when she felt able. “It means that we will be together for as long as we live. We also will be able to tell where the other is in the event we get separated. Also if one of us is injured, the other can help them heal at a faster rate. With enough practice, we might even be able to share mana and thoughts eventually.”

  A knocking at the door stopped me from asking anything else. Gregory’s voice came through the door. “Get up you two. Victoria, your mother wants to see you in the basement in twenty. Christian, outside in five.”

  I didn’t want to get up, and based on what I felt from her, she didn’t want to either. Not that it stopped her. Victoria rolled away from me and stood next to the bed. Giving me a wonderous view of her as she stretched her hands up to the sky. As she lowered her hands, she walked over to the bag of holding. Grabbing a pair of my clothes and tossing them to me.

  “Time to get up. If he is anything like my mother, being te will only make the training harder.” With that, she took a robe out of her closet and exited the room. Jumping out of the bed, I pulled everything on before heading for the door. Before I made it there, something caught my eye in the mirror on her dresser.

  Just visible at the edge of the shirts’ neckline was a series of marks. Pulling it back revealed her bit mark. Sitting at the center was another mark. One of a tiny magenta dragon curled up as it slept. I could have sworn I saw the damn thing blink at me, but that was impossible. Before I could do anything else, I heard Gregory yelling up the stairs, “Are you coming or do I have to come get you?”

  Without pausing to look at the dragon or bite again, I ran out of the room, down the stairs, and out the open front door. Worried about just what the hell he was going to do to me in the name of training.