Darkyn's Mate (#3, Rhyn Eternal) Read Online Free PDF

could happen next week or in a millennium.”
    Deidre swallowed hard. She recalled the
other thing she hated about interacting with him: he always knew
how to read her deepest fears. He was good at throwing them back at
her, too, like he was doing now.
    “So? What if I can … um, expedite that?” she
asked.
    “Love, you couldn’t kill me. You can’t kill
her.”
    Deidre met his gaze. To emphasize his words,
he lifted her hand and placed it over his heart. Her chin trembled
at the steady pulse of his heartbeat beneath her fingertips. She’d
felt it last night, too, before … before the fever dream about them
having sex.
    It had to be a dream, except that she
remembered the heat of the skin beneath his shirt and tracing the
scars she knew covered his body.
    “What do you want from me, Darkyn?” she
asked, afraid to admit how right he was.
    “For you to accept that this is where you
belong.” He tossed the hourglass onto a chair. Her eyes followed
it. It was her one hope out of this place.
    She shook her head. Deidre’s heart was
flying at his nearness. His magic crept up her arm and into her
body. She dropped her hand from his chest, needing to think.
    “Very well. The chances are slim that what
you want will happen. I prefer the alternative of them being
non-existent,” he said. “There are three bonds that are older than
time. The mating bond is one, used by Immortals and deities. A
blood bond is another, practiced between demons in place of the
mating bond. There’s only one entity in the universe that can
transform a human into a new form that can be blood bound to a
demon.”
    She didn’t have to ask which entity that
was. She touched her mouth and felt the canines at the mention of
transforming her. She suspected he was one step ahead, but she
wasn’t expecting him to reveal his plan.
    “We will be blood bound. Think of it as
…insurance. That slim chance you leave here becomes no chance.”
    “I won’t do it.”
    “You are mine already,” he said in a quiet
voice. “If the blood bond takes, there is nothing that can break a
double-bond. No deal, no manipulation by Fate, no breaking of the
laws from the time-before-time.”
    Deidre’s quick breathing was loud in her
ears.
    “I don’t lose,” he added. “Ever.” He touched
her face. “The bond is voluntary. You’ve already got the
teeth.”
    She shuddered and quickly lifted her
chin.
    “I won’t,” she said, unable to stomach the
idea that he turned her demon or that there was no chance she ever
left Hell. “Nothing you do will convince me.”
    “No?” He touched her arm.
    Deidre backed away. If his touch was hard to
resist last night, it was crippling today. Anger and panic bubbled
within her. She fell into his trance last night; she needed to keep
her head clear to deal with him this time. Except she was suddenly
hungry again, the faint, sweet scent winding through her
senses.
    Darkyn pursued calmly, eyes glowing. He
touched her again. She moved away. He was amused at whatever game
he played as he closed the distance between them once more. It fed
her fury. He took her arm, and she yanked away from him.
    “Don’t touch me!” she hissed.
    He reached for her once more, and she
slapped his hand away.
    “If there is a way out, I will
find it!” she snapped. “Fate said …” she stopped, recalling the
blond deity’s warning about not revealing he had
visited.
    “You trust Fate over me?” Darkyn mused.
“Interesting. What did he tell you? Obey me, and you’d leave?” He
continued to move closer.
    “Yes.” Her senses addled, Deidre was forced
to retreat.
    “What exactly did he say? That you’d
leave?”
    “That I’d be …” relatively okay. Fate
hadn’t said anything about leaving. She shook her head to clear the
memory. “I mean, he didn’t say leave … he …” A sick sense of
betrayal sank into her stomach. “Survive. He said I’d
survive.”
    “Maybe he wanted to ensure I didn’t kill you
before we were