I hesitate and he nods again, saying, “So you can agree to be my wife, but still be happy to have sex with someone else.” It’s not a question, so I don’t answer. He snorts then as he puts two and two together. “Someone’s, really, isn’t it?” That is a question and I can’t avoid it.
“Yes,” I admit.
He stands up abruptly and starts to pace. “Of course, you are,” he mutters to himself. “How could you not be with him? It’s exactly the same. I can’t be without you and you can’t be without him.” Sighing heavily, he turns to me. “Is this how it is with all of you? All of us?” he corrects himself. “Just fucking about all over the place? If so, can I do it too?” he challenges me.
I stand up then to face him, sire to sired. “In some cases, yes, we just fuck about all over the place. In my case now, I share myself with my sire and my charge that have been by my side for centuries. Yes, I have had others, many others in fact, in the past, but not since I met you and fell in love with you. I want to be your wife and will forsake all others, with the exception of Constantine and Devon. If that is something you can accept then give me back my ring,” I demand, not one to stand around begging him to be with me. “If not, then keep it, but I will still be your sire and I will still love you as you will still love me. The decision is yours.”
Cole looks slightly dumbfounded by my speech.
“Furthermore,” I continue, “in answer to your question, if you so choose, I would not stop you. In time, you will anyway. Vampires are not faithful creatures by nature, but we are fiercely loyal to those we are bound to, to those that we love.”
He looks even more shocked at my addition. I stare him down until he looks away. Only the sounds of the cars racing past outside cuts the silence in the room. He eventually walks over to stand in front of me and looks into my eyes, his face unreadable.
“Liv, I’m so in love with you. It’s destiny. I know it in my heart. Do you love them? I mean, are you in love with them?
I nod because there is no point in denying it. Whether Devon realizes it or not, those old feelings have bubbled up for both of us. Cole is the catalyst here, I know that without a doubt. If he hadn’t come into the picture, Devon and I would still be messing about.
“Some part of me gets that,” Cole says. “I
get the bond and the love that you share with them, but there is the other part of me that doesn’t want to share you. That doesn’t even know how to begin to share you,” he says heatedly. “I will work on that part,” he adds softly after a moment. “I will accept this. I will accept this, because without question, I want to be with you in every way possible.” He holds out my ring to me and I hold up my left hand. He slides it onto my finger and pulls me to him. I hug him fiercely then, as he does me. He pulls back only enough to kiss me. I kiss him back, filled with love for this man who has been through so much the last couple of days, so much that I have put him through, and it hurts me. I hope to the old gods that I never have to hurt him again.
“I have some conditions though,” he says with that glorious half smile of his.
I raise my eyebrow, oh?
“Okay…” I say warily.
“Actually, it’s just one. Devon and Constantine are the only two I will share you with. What you do with them, separately or together is up to you. I’m not sure I can handle seeing it though…” he trails off and gives me a shrug.
I stare at him, wondering what the shrug was for. Mistaking my hesitation as non-compliance, he says softly, “If you can’t promise me that you will only be with those that you have bonds with, then I don’t think I can do this.”
“Cole, my love. I do promise. I promise you I will abide. I’m just surprised at how easily you accepted this,” I say.
He snorts in derision. “Easy? You think this is easy for me? It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. All to be with you, Liv. I want to be with you, but I won’t be made a fool of,” he says. “The bonds, I accept. I get it. But if you went with anyone else, it would be for the sake of it, and that’s not okay.”
I nod seriously, although I’m a little bit put out that he thinks I’m some raging slut that fucks anything that moves. “I’m sorry, Cole. I didn’t mean to imply this wasn’t difficult for you. I know how hard it is, believe me, I do,” I say.
“Yeah? How could you possibly know what this feels like?” he asks.
I look at him with a sigh and he sees it all in my eyes. I have been through this with my own sire. I had to accept the same circumstances only much, much worse. Not to mention, I’m certain that CK never gave me as much consideration as I’m giving to Cole.
He has the grace to look abashed and says, “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about that.”
I shrug. “It’s okay. It’s just something all charges have to go through at some point,” I say matter-of-factly.
Ever competitive, he quickly asks, “How did Devon take it?”
“Oh, I’d rather not go there,” I say, shaking my head.
“That bad, huh?” he asks sympathetically.
“Nooo, not exactly,” I say, remembering that day. “He was the one who did it first. It’s a long story. You can ask him,” I say hastily at his raised eyebrow.
As if he knew we were talking about him, Devon knocks and enters without waiting for an answer.
Cole looks annoyed. “Do you mind?” he asks, but not nastily. “We could have been fucking.”
I hide my smile and lace my fingers through his as we both turn to look at Devon.