Word Count: 1638

¬Luella

Thought and I sit outside on the balcony, looking out across the desert plains that have been casted into shadow by the fallen sun. Night here is remarkable, the once red sound now pale and milky from the brilliant moonlight.

"So you don't need to sleep?" I ask curiously, glancing at my mate who lounges back in a chair beside me. We have been sitting out here for a while now, talking about the most random things we could come up with. It's bonding, in a way, drawing closer to each other with only the simple things being shared. It's how we would have come to know each other in a normal circumstance.

"No. But pure blood immortals do anyway to fill time," he admits, silvery eyes glistening similarly to the stars in the sky. "Living for all eternity gets boring very quickly."

I swallow drily. Sometimes I forget he's lived for so long.

"Have you had another mate in your lifetime?" I ask, unsure of how he could have gone so long without the true bond forged by only one natural phenomena, and that's the mate bond. Now that I have experienced this, I'm not sure how I ever lived without it.

Thought drags his gaze away from the horizon, looking at me softly. "No, you are the only one who will ever be mine, Luella. Even if I've had to wait a very long time for it."

I shiver, unable to inhibit my smile from taking over my entire expression.

"Even though I was young I was disappointed I didn't find my mate as a mortal," I admit, leaning back into my seat, letting the cool night air dance across my skin, unable to cool my hot blood. It doesn't matter how many times I glance at Thought, my heart still flutters. Under the moonlight, there is a slight sheen of silver across his ebony curls, his shadows framing the sharp contours of his face.

He tilts his head. "Why as a mortal?"

"There is something so simple and sweet about living a mortal life with your mate. I never realised that until I died and became immortal, but I decided I wanted that," I tell him, remembering what it was like to be alone what was only a few months ago. "But this will do."

Thought laughs slightly, biting the edge of his lip. "I hope I please you."

"What else can you do?" I decide to ask, realising that I don't know much about him, or the extent of his powers. When he has been alive for so long, there is too much to catch up on in just one night. Perhaps it will take years for him to fully inform me of his past, and I'm okay with that. Even if my curiosity burns, I have to be reasonable.

"I can read minds, manipulate thought, emotion," he says lightly, examining my reaction carefully, as if anything about that would turn me off from him, as if I don't suddenly possess those abilities as well. I refrain from asking how often he uses those abilities.

"Can you make someone fall in love with you that isn't your mate?" I ask softly, not sure why I'm asking that since I don't exactly want to know what his answer will be.

"Yes, and I did once, when I was younger," he admits, his expression darkening along with his gaze. I hesitate, not knowing how I should react to this, remembering he had an entire life before me. "I used to be spiteful, mean spirited in a way. I used my powers for bad and not good. It was only until I met you that I decided I wanted to be a good man again."

Of course. That is why I was anxious about him in the beginning.

"Is that why you kept your distance?" I ask.

"That and the curse, yes," he confirms, turning to sit toward me, tilting his head so a single curl falls down past his eyebrow, catching my attention. Not only is this setting intimate, but we are far away from what our life has been for the past few weeks, so now I have nothing else to worry about other than the bond between us.

"So you convinced someone to fall in love with you...what else?" I ask coyly, raising a brow.

He eyes me uneasily. "I never tricked anyone into coming to bed with me. That would be wrong."

"Of course, but were you ever tempted?" I question, naturally joking while silently praying he doesn't admit he has. He's never struck me as being like that, and other than a single dream I had, I've never suspected he's muddled with my mind. Even then, I doubt he had anything to do with that dream, and that was just my mind wandering to sinful places.

"I've never needed to be," he admits, shrugging his shoulders casually before getting to his feet. I follow him inside, staring at his back as he closes the door, turning around to smile at me with a tender warmth, although a tint of sultry darkness still lingers there.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that if I want her, I'll make it happen how any average person would need it to. I don't need help," he says, watching me intently. I know he's teasing me, but I have enough sense to guess that it's true, he can get any woman or man he likes without much effort. He is immensely powerful and exceptionally attractive, to name a few things.

"Wow, confident I see," I note, walking into the lounge of the suite we are staying in while we visit this territory. This place is small, but with a fireplace in the corner and aeclectic artwork hanging on crimson painted walls, it's intimate and cozy.

Thought watches my every move carefully. "Do you doubt me?"

"You've never even tried to seduce me," I remind him.

Each step he takes toward me is slow and purposeful, his gaze pinning me to where I stand, my back nearly finding the living room wall behind me. My entire body buzzes in response to his ever increasing presence. He stops just a few inches before me, looking down at me with a smile that suggests he knows exactly what his proximity does to me.

"You're my mate, I wanted everything to happen at your pace. Especially since you're the one going through all the hard parts," he tells me smoothly, even his deep tone is traced with other meaning despite his words being so kind.

"I respect that," I admit, my palms resting against the wall behind me. "But we are mates, and all of that is still important to establish."

His eyes flash. "What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that I want to be sure you want me, is all," I say, unable to control what is coming out of my mouth. I'm finally succumbing to the mate bond, to the thoughts that have been streaming through my mind since meeting him.

He takes yet another step closer to me, his scent washing over me. "I'm deeply attracted to you Luella. Painfully so."

"I want more than that," I breathe.

He leans forward, resting his hands on either side of my head, close enough to have his breath brushing across my lips, his own tentatively close. I want to kiss him, I've decided...in fact, I want more than that, and he knows it.

"Do you want me to seduce you?" he murmurs, fingers gently brushing the hair back from my face. I lick my lower lip slowly, physically holding myself back from his full red lips which are painfully close to me.

"How would you do it?" I ask, wishing my voice wouldn't shudder so much.

He smiles slightly, the challenge blazing in his eyes. Reaching around me, he grabs ahold of my lower back and waist, pulling me flush against him. My skin almost burns at the contact, his firm grip. He hasn't touched me like this yet, in a way that has me wondering what else he has planned for me.

"I would touch you, wherever you please," he murmurs, leaving a kiss below my air before trailing down my neck, leaving me to tightly grip his shoulders the pleasure of his touch rolling over me in waves.

"Do it," I breathe, fingers curling into the soft strands of his hair at the back of his neck.

Just as my eyes flutter closed, I feel a sudden absence before being jolted into a sense of consciousness, as if I had been asleep and ice water had been thrown over me. As my eyes open again, I realise my body was paralysed on the spot, Thought not in front of me, but sitting on the couch on the other side of the room, smiling at me tauntingly.

"What the hell was that?" I growl breathlessly.

"You may be powerful, Luella, but you have a lot to learn," he assures me, leaning forward. I realise then that this was just an illusion, that he was playing with my mind for a short moment.

"Why did you do that?" I question, shivering as my skin still burns hot, still yearning for him.

He tilts his head. "Fun, I suppose. Now shall I get back to the demonstration?"

I nod slowly, taking shuddering steps toward, knowing with everything in me that I'm not going to regret this.

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