Primal Heat 04 - Forever in Darkness

could get that information
out of me. Wasn't that why we had sex?"
    Ian chuckled at the flash of
vulnerability in her eyes. "Sweetheart, we made love because there was
nothing on this earth that could have kept me from you."
    A small smile flickered at the
corner of her mouth. "I know that's not the whole truth. I know we had sex
to build an intimate connection between us, but I really liked that you said
that."
    "I meant it."
    Her smile grew wider. "That's
why I liked it."
    Ian grinned, but he couldn't shake
the feeling of something being wrong. He'd felt it when he was inside her,
connected to what little of her spirit he'd been able to reach. Yeah, the sex
had been something off the charts, and there was no question that she was the
other half of his soul, but something was off, and he didn't know what. There
was a gap between them, a gap that was dangerously wrong.
    The doorknob behind him turned, and
he heard the thudding as someone tried to open the door. Catherine glanced over
his shoulder, and her cheeks turned red. "I need to get my clothes back
on."
    "I know." Reluctantly,
Ian slid out of her, and as he did, an aching sense of loss consumed him, as
if he'd just lost so much more than a physical connection with her. As if it
were the last time he would be connected like that with her. Seriously? The
curse coming at him already, trying to make him mourn what he hadn't even lost
yet? What the hell? Catherine was alive and well in his arms, and now that he'd
found her, he was going to keep her alive.
    He stayed close to her as they both
reclaimed their clothes, unable to shake the sensation that something was
increasingly wrong. It was when she reached for her hair to smooth it that he
realized what was wrong. He grabbed her arm and pulled it toward him.
    "What is it?" Catherine
frowned as he shoved her sleeve up. "What are you looking for?"
    "My mark." Ian swore as
he bared her forearm. Her skin was clear and unblemished. There was no silver
line forming on her skin, signifying that by making love, they'd just done the
first stage of the bond that would seal her as his sheva , his soul mate.
A gaping void shot through him so intense that it seemed to erode his entire
soul. "Jesus, Catherine. It's not there."
    "What's not?" She leaned
next to him, her shoulder brushing against his as she peered at her arm.
    "My brand." Sweat beaded
on Ian's brow, and he felt like the world was starting to slide away from him.
He held out his arm, showing her the black brand in the shape of a mace.
"As my mate, when we complete any of the six stages of bonding that will
complete the bond between a Calydon and his mate, my brand begins to form on
your arm. When we complete the bond, the image of my brand is complete on your
skin, binding us forever." He stared at her arm, willing the lines to
appear. Come on, you bastard.
    She rubbed at the skin, but nothing
happened. "So, I'm not your mate?" She sounded hesitant, as if
uncertain whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
    "You are my mate." He
gripped her arm tighter, unable to comprehend that there was no mark. "I
know you are." The connection between them was too great, and even the
rest of his team had sensed that she was his soul mate when they'd encountered
her the first time, on the mountain. "I don't get it."
    He released her arm, his entire
soul screaming that it was wrong, that she was his. He staggered backwards,
fighting against the emotions streaking through him. The loss. The raw,
debilitating loss. His woman, standing before him and yet out of his grasp.
Jesus. Was this the loss that would drive him over the edge? Not actual death,
but an inability to cement the bond that was ingrained so deeply in his marrow
that it was literally what drove him and every other Calydon male through
everything they did? The instinct and need to claim his woman and make her his,
to protect her as only a mate can do?
    But her arm was clear. No mark.
"Jesus." The world was spinning, and he braced himself against the
wall, trying to find his equilibrium.
    Catherine stared at him, her brow creased
in worry. "I felt it, too," she said. "That connection. No one
has ever affected me like that, and I thought it was impossible. Was that being
a soul mate?"
    "Yeah, yeah." Crap! How
had it not worked? He needed to bond with her to keep her safe, to make sure he
couldn’t lose her again. "It's impossible for my mark not to appear on
your arm after we complete a stage of the bond.