Deceived by Stephanie Nelson Read Free Book Online Page B

day to recoup. Aiden had been rougher than normal and lost in my own desires I hadn’t minded. Our separation had driven us nearly mad, but the sex was fantastic.
    Thoughts of the man I’d seen at the wreck occupied my mind as I stared up at the ceiling. He looked very normal, well maybe not normal, but human. He was gorgeous. The only clue that he was something otherworldly was his cloudy eyes. I was intrigued by him.
    “What’s wrong?” Aiden asked.
    I looked over at him quizzically.
    “I can still feel you, Gwen. Your blood is still inside of me.” I had fed Aiden when I found out he was addicted to brew so he wouldn’t kill a witch to get his next fix. Since then he had been able to feel my emotions, though we weren’t bonded like Ian and I were because we hadn’t exchanged blood.
    “How long will that last?” I asked him.
    Aiden shrugged his shoulders. “Not long, a month at most. I’ll be sad when it fades, I like knowing how you feel, especially when we’re fucking. It’s so intense to feel the want you have for me, drives me insane.”
    I smiled and imagined what it would be like to feel someone else’s emotions. I was bonded to Ian, but he had nearly perfect control over his emotions so they didn’t seep into me. I was happy he did, I didn’t think I’d like to feel emotions that weren’t mine. All of the talk about blood and connections directed my mind to what Ian told me, that Aiden could break the bond if he wanted to. I looked over at Aiden and wondered if I should bring it up or not. He wouldn’t be happy that I had shared a dream with Ian, but the more I thought about it, the more I needed to know the answer—or the reason why if he could break the bond, he hadn’t.
    “Have you found a way to break my bond with Ian?” I asked nonchalantly. It was pointless though, Aiden could probably feel my anxiety.
    “I’m close. I’m going to meet with an old friend in two days.”
    “You can’t break it yourself?”
    Aiden was quiet for a few moments before he sat up and looked over at me. I sat up too, pulling the sheet around my body. I could see guilt in his eyes and that worried me. I didn’t want Ian to be right.
    “Why do you ask?”
    “Ian told me you could break it if you wanted to,” I reluctantly told him.
    His guilt was quickly replaced with anger. He hopped out of bed and stalked across the room to where his clothes sat in a messy pile.
    “Is it true?”
    “Seems like your mind is already made up that it is,” Aiden said heatedly.
    I got out of bed and wrapped the white sheet around my body. I placed my hands around his waist and met his eyes. “I just want to know, if you could break it, then why haven’t you?” A small part of me worried that in order to break the bond with Ian; I’d have to bond with Aiden. The scenario didn’t sound bad, but I was concerned that Aiden was bothered by the idea. Perhaps he didn’t want to be bonded to me. I couldn’t begrudge his feelings if that was the case, even if it hurt my heart the tiniest bit.
    “Yes, I could break the bond right now, but there would be repercussions and Ian knows that.” Aiden’s arms went around my waist and his body relaxed slightly.
    “What kind of repercussions?”
    “Once a vampire bonds with someone, they’re considered their property. If I were to replace Ian’s bond with my own, then it would be like me stealing one of his possessions and the vampire council would order a warrant for my death. I’m sure when Ian told you he hoped you would guilt me into fixing the bond so the council would kill me. Vampires are very territorial, as you know, and for all intents and purposes, Ian owns you.”
    My heart pounded in my chest like a tribal drum while anger snaked its way through my veins. I hated vampire politics. I hated that they could claim an unwilling person as their own, and most of all, I hated that my supposed owner was Ian Despereaux .
    “What if I appeal to the vampire council? Tell