First Eclipse

Tim watched her pace to the other side of the room and look out the window. Neither of them had said much since they'd come in, but considering the scene on his property a short while ago, that was to be expected. It was quite a bit to digest, and the wasn't even including the mate's tattoos. Anxiety was coming off her in waves, and he was afraid she was regretting asking him to do it. He almost hadn't, but then he looked at her, and the thought of her being taken from him made him do it. He needed to feel that marking in his skin that was only meant for them. It was selfish, he knew this, but it felt right at the same time. Of course, holding onto his mate as the wind tried to rip her from him wasn't exactly how he'd pictured it happening. When he was younger-much, much younger, he'd thought outside under the stars would be the most romantic way he'd place his mark on his mate. Fate, it seemed, had other ideas. Fauna stopped pacing and lifted her hands. "I am so mad right now."

Tim stood up slowly. "I..."

She dropped her arms and then paced to the other side of the room again. When she stopped, she ran her hand over her arm, rubbing it gently.

Tim looked at his own. His entire life, he'd known about the tattoos and mates. He turned it slowly but honestly never thought he'd see one in his own skin. It wasn't itchy, but it was prickling. "They wanted to kill me." She spat. "Kill me. Dead."

He felt a wave of anger move through him and looked at her. It wasn't his own. With the tattoos complete, the connection between them was much stronger. He grinned and then froze when she looked at him. "Why are you smiling? They wanted us dead, Tim."

He couldn't be sure, but he suspected her sudden outrage was because her emotions were being amplified by their nearly completed bond. Yes, they had exchanged a minute worth of blood, and he marked her, but their union wasn't fulfilled one hundred percent. "How are you feeling?"

She glared at him. "I'm angry. Clearly." She scowled at him.

"I think-" He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, concentrating hard to relay the calm through the bond. "I think the emotions are being fueled by these." He held up his arm.

She sighed and put her hand on her chest. "How-" She looked at her arm. "How did you do that?"

"Through the bond."

"Really?" She shot him a hard look. "Is there a manual or something?"

His mouth twitched because he wanted to smile. "No. I couldn't explain it fully before because I've never experienced it, but I've heard a lot about it." He shook his head. "I witnessed Daxx and King Troy go through some rocky moments due to it too." He took a few steps toward her.

"Go through what?"

Tim closed the distance between them and took her hand in his. With a light touch, he traced the marks up her arm. "An incomplete bond."

"We have the..."

"The king accidentally marked her during-" He shrugged. "--but they weren't completely bonded without the acceptance and the blood exchange for a time after that." All of the guards wanted to hide during that period.

"How are you doing this? I feel" She frowned. "Calmer." Fauna looked at her arm and then him. "We did the blood..."

He shook his head. "A minute amount so I could sense if you were in distress, but it's not enough for the bond."

"If you tell me we have to drink each other's blood all the time, I'm going to renegotiate."

Tim grinned. "No, we don't." He lifted their joined hand. "And I'm afraid there is not negotiating this."

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"I know. I knew that before" She sighed. "-it's kind of been a day. I'm also bad at human communication, so I'm going to need you to spell it out, Tim."

He pulled her closer and touched the side of her head. Her hair was still damp and his shampoo took on a completely different scent on her. Searching her eyes, he wasn't sure what he wanted to see until he saw it. Trust. She trusted him to be honest with her. She was opening herself to him, knowing that he would not let her down. "The incomplete bond is going to cause us emotional issues if we're not near each other until the bond is complete."

"Near each other?" She searched his face. "Like now." Her brows arched. "I feel better. I'm still not impressed they tried to kill me, but I'm calmer."

He nodded. "I'm sorry, but it's going to be a struggle if the bond isn't complete."

"Every couple of intended mates goes through this?"

He tilted his head to the side. "Yes. Unless one of them wants to go to another planet, there is no cheating it."

"According to Em, there are no other inhabitable planets." She gave him a half smile when he raised his brows, questioning her. "I don't want to go to another planet. I like being with you. I just feel like the courtship was skipped." Before he could speak, she continued. "I'm sure anyone that was born here is used to how fast this goes, but I'm not from here."

"I know."

"So do we cut our hands again?"

He shook his head. "There are better ways to exchange blood."

She gave him a suspicious look. "I've watched a lot of vampire movies. This is starting to feel familiar."

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He chuckled. "I'm not that kind of vampire."

Her eyes rounded. "Are you a vampire?"

Tim shrugged. Somewhere way back in near the dawn of time, one of his had screwed up. Fears fueled rumors that turned into folklore, and then authors and filmmakers created the fictitious vampires that the entire world feared. "I'm a full- blood Alterealm-born man. That's what I am. For whatever purpose, the creators gave us all different ways to sustain our long lives."

"The vampire version would have been sexier." She gave him a shy smile.

"If you take some of my blood while I feed-" He cocked his head to the side before she could panic about that and make more bloodsucker references. "on your essence, I'll be able to take some of your blood at the same time." "Oh. The feeding thing wasn't as scary as I thought it would be."

He brushed his thumb over her cheek. "I was afraid I'd hurt you. With blood loss, clarity is a little harder to maintain."

"You didn't hurt me." She bit her lip, and he groaned inside his head because he wanted to lick it better to soothe it from her teeth's mark. "Okay." She nodded. "We'll do that because I can't think straight right now, and that annoys me." He leaned down and kissed her cheek, and then stepped back.