CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

S age sat with a blanket around her on Ari’s sofa and sipped on a glass of apple juice. She’d asked for a freshly squeezed glass, knowing it would help her with mental clarity after the drugs which had been pumped through her system.

Ari hadn’t left her side since they arrived home. He’d lain on the bed next to her until she’d finally begun to feel better. Then one of his team had shown up to remove the chip from her neck. Apparently, there had been two.

“Would you like to eat?” Ari asked her. “It’s your dinner time. Anything you want, I’ll get it for you.”

She shook her head.

“What happens now?” she asked. “I can’t go home, can I?”

Ari shook his head.

Sage stared out the window at the night sky, wondering what this meant for her life. She’d lost her job and had been drugged by her employer. How on earth did she move forward from that?

“I’m trying to take this slow and ease you into it, Sage, but I think my patience has finally dried up.”

Ease her into what? “Into eating dinner?”

“No, sweetheart. Not eating.” Ari smiled, then it faded as he cupped her cheek. “There is so much to tell you, but nothing more important than how I feel about you.”

Heat flushed across her skin.

“Some animals mate for life. As a scientist, you probably know this. Wolves, penguins, some eagles,” Ari said.

Sage shrugged. Sure, she knew this. As someone specializing in animal health, it was something they had learned about in college. “Yes, of course.”

“So do we, Sage. Vampires mate for life,” Ari said.

Sage felt her stomach turn into a pit of nothingness. “Oh.”

Did Ari have a mate? Or had he had one many years ago and now he couldn’t ever love her? God, was it even possible for a vampire to be with a human?

“Oh,” she repeated. “So this, between us, this can’t happen? I get it. I mean, you probably should have said something earlier, though Ari.”

Anger, hurt, shame, all fought for dominance as she felt the pain of losing him flood through her. Sage had lost one man in her life, and now she was losing another.

She looked at Ari. No, losing Colin, her high school love, didn’t even come close to how she felt about this vampire.

When had she begun to care so deeply for Ari? From day one, she’d not wanted to be parted from him. Now what? She needed his protection and had no idea how to navigate this new world. Would she need to stay under his roof and never be with him?

That was heartbreaking.

“Stop. No. Sage.” He turned her. “Sage, sweetheart, you are my mate.”

What?

She couldn’t speak so she just stared at him.

She was his mate?

Ari’s mate?

He... did he? Did he want her?

“I have waited over fifteen hundred years to meet you, luce dei miei occhi .” Ari smiled and his eyes filled with more emotion than she’d ever seen in her life.

She’d be Googling...

“It means light of my eyes. I only see you in my world, mia stellina .” He read her mind.

“Ari...” Sage began, but had no words. None as beautiful as those.

“It is different for humans. I do not expect you to love me,” he said. “Yet. But I hope—”

“I think I’ve been in love with you from the moment I saw you. I just didn’t know it.” Tears fell down her face.

Oh God, she did love him. So damn much.

“You are worth every damn second I’ve waited for you.” Ari caressed her face and lowered his lips to hers. Their kiss was slow, and as she leaned into him, it deepened until they both clung to each other as if their life was about to end.

Suddenly, she pulled back. “And there are no other women?”

Ari narrowed his eyes. “Please clarify your question. There have been many women in my life. And men. But you are my only mate. It will always and only be you, Sage.”

“It is pretty clear you’re not a virgin, Ari.”

He smirked, but she tilted her head, and his smirk dissolved. “What is it, mate of mine?”

“You haven’t said the L word, just that I am your mate.”

“That I lust you?” Ari pushed her down onto the sofa.

Sage shook her head.

“That I long for you?”

She smiled, realizing he was messing with her.

“That I want to lavish you with everything and anything you desire?”

“Well, that sounds quite nice.” She sighed as Ari kissed his way down her neck and then found her lips again.

“Or that I love you with all that I am.”

“Yes, that,” she said, breathless, staring into his beautiful face. Her legs wrapped around him as his kisses of love turned more lustful. “Make love to me.”

ARI RID THEM OF THEIR clothes and lay over his very naked and beautiful mate. He’d been battling with his decision for hours. Telling Sage he loved her tonight was his priority. She was his priority, and he was confident she understood that.

Regardless, he would spend the rest of his eternity showing her and enjoy every moment.

He’d waited forever for her.

She hadn’t resisted him, and her declaration of love had filled every cell in his body with such utter pleasure he wanted to be inside her.

This was the right time to do it. It would also change everything.

Sage had yet to connect the dots, but he knew in the back of her mind she would eventually work it out. It was why he hadn’t introduced her to Willow or Brianna yet.

Ari kissed the inside of her thighs as he spread her legs and licked lightly over her clit.

Groan.

He loved the noises she made.

“Ari.” She reached for him and threaded her fingers through his hair. He moved up her body, laying kisses in spots he knew made her shiver in pleasure.

His cock nudged at her opening. They were bonded now. His vampire was not going to stay hidden. His fangs were itching to release. Sage’s hand ran over his chest, and he wanted to howl at the moon with desire and love for this female.

She was his.

Ari pressed inside her.

“Mine.” He growled.

“Oh, yes! Ari,” Sage cried and arched, revealing her beautiful creamy neck. Ari began to thrust fast and hard, watching the stars align.

“God, Sage,” he cried, knowing the time was now. “Sage, look at me. I fucking love you. I need you to remember that.”

“I love you, too.”

Now.

As their orgasms exploded together, Ari’s fangs released, and he stared one last time at his mate in her human form.

Then he sunk into her neck and bit.