Adelaine spoke behind me, making me jump because I was so intently focussed on Tyler. “I’ll just be down the hall if you need me, Tyler.”
Tyler’s face snapped in the direction of the voice, her back stiffening as if she just realised she wasn’t alone. Her eyes flicked from me to Adelaine and back again quickly. “I don’t want him here, Adi! I don’t want him in here!” she cried, shaking her head.
Adelaine smiled sadly. “Sean’s here to help you. He’d never hurt you, Tyler.”
Tyler’s breathing was coming out shallow as she wrapped her arms around herself, digging her nails into her upper arms, actually drawing blood but not seeming to notice. “No, no, no,” she muttered, shaking her head frantically.
Adelaine stepped to her side quickly, pulling her hands away from her skin and I noticed that the little cuts instantly started healing themselves. “You can trust Sean, I promise you. Just trust him, you love him,” she whispered, smoothing her hair away from her face.
“No, no, please no,” Tyler begged, clinging to the nurse as if her life depended on it. Adelaine pulled her arms off of her, quickly stepping back. She shot Tyler an apologetic look as she turned on her heel and marched out of the room without so much as looking at me. The click of the door as it closed behind me, made me jump.
I gulped and looked back at Tyler as I smiled weakly, not moving from the spot because she looked like a frightened little animal. “Everything’s okay,” I lied, willing my voice not to break and show her how frightened I was too.
Her heart was crashing loudly in her chest, not only could I feel it inside me, but I could actually hear it hammering loudly, seeming to echo in the room because of my extra sensitive hearing.
“Leave, please leave. Leave me alone,” she begged.
My eyes settled on the chair next to her bed. “I’m just gonna sit in the chair, okay? Don’t freak out, baby, I’m just gonna sit,” I said quietly. I refused to look in her direction as I slowly moved to the chair, ignoring the little whimper noises that were coming from her.
When I was sat next to her bed, and she’d settled herself as far away from me as possible, I finally looked at her again. She did look so lost, her eyes were wild, her whole body tense. This wasn’t my Tyler.
“So, they told me that you’re kind of lost and that I have to help you get back. I’m supposed to figure out the strongest part of our bond and then reinforce it somehow. Did they tell you any of that?” I asked.
She put her head in her hands and sobbed. My body jerked, the need to hold her was almost too much for me to handle. “But our bond is broken. We’re not bonded anymore so just accept it, just leave, it’s over,” she whispered.
I frowned. “Our bond isn’t broken, you’re just confused,” I assured her.
She shook her head, her breathing speeding up. “It is. I can feel it is. Eli said it was broken too. He said that nothing was the same, he said you couldn’t love me now that I was dirty,” she croaked.
My hands unconsciously clenched into firsts. If I could bring that asshole back to life I would, just so I could kill him all over again. “Screw Eli! He’s wrong!” I shouted.
She flinched, her arms flying up to cover her head as if I was going to hit her.
I groaned in frustration. “I won’t hurt you,” I said fiercely. When I didn’t touch her, her arms slowly lowered from her head and she looked up at me with sad, broken eyes. I smiled apologetically for losing my temper in front of her. “But he’s wrong. The bond’s not broken. If our bond was broken would I still be able to feel how frightened you are right now? If our bond is broken, then why did your hand hurt when I punched that wall earlier? If our bond is broken-” I decided to finish the rest through our link to really drive the point home to her. ‘If our bond is broken then why can you still hear me in your head?’ I asked.
She whimpered, her lip trembling as more confusion washed over her. “I don’t know,” she admitted.
I moved forward in the chair, scooting to the edge of it and reaching out across the bed slowly towards her hand that was gripping the sheets tightly. “Our bond’s not broken, baby. We just need to….” But I didn’t know the answer. What was the strongest part of our bond? “You need to trust me, that’s all. I can help you but you need to trust me,” I cooed soothingly as one of my fingers brushed the back of her hand. Her heart was beating so fast now, that I was concerned that I might actually frighten her to death.
Slowly I reached out and took her hand, the air escaping from my lungs because it felt so nice to just touch her again, to have her skin against mine. She broke into a fresh round of sobs but didn’t pull it away which I took as a good sign.
My mind flicked to what the doctors said, about ninety percent of couples have to have sex again to reseal the bond. Was the physical part of our bond really the most dominant part? As I looked into her watery green eyes, I realised that, no, it wasn’t the physical thing that was what made us, ‘us’.
We had already emotionally bonded long before we actually physically completed the bond. Sex wasn’t what dominated our relationship, love was.
I smiled as I realised that. Love was what would bring her back to me, I was sure of it.
“I love you,” I whispered.
Her eyes came up to meet mine as she shook her head disbelievingly.
I nodded, squeezing her hand gently. “Yeah. I love you so much, Tyler. It’s you and me baby, always,” I said more forcefully.
I opened up the link between us completely, letting all of my feelings wash over her, everything I felt for her, how much I cared for her, how special she was to me, how she was the centre of my universe. I nodded again. ‘I love you, baby. You’re mine, and I’m yours, that’ll never change,’ I promised straight into her head as I stood up slowly, moving closer to her.
Her breathing was coming out in small gasps as I whispered those three little words over and over.
Her eyes were locked on mine, as if she was trying to drag the truth from them, I didn’t break the intense stare as I manoeuvred myself onto the bed with her. My hand came up and cupped the side of her face, stroking the skin gently with my thumb. “I love you, Mrs Houston,” I vowed.
“But why?” she whimpered.
I smiled, brushing my hand down the side of her face. My love for her was overwhelming and I felt tears sting my eyes as I looked back at her hopeful face. “Because you and I were literally made for each other,” I whispered. Before she could protest I bent forward quickly and captured her lips in a soft kiss. She whimpered against my lips, her body twitching, before she burst into sobs and threw herself at me almost throwing us both off of the bed with the force of it.
I squeezed my eyes shut as her arms wrapped around me tightly, her body racking with sobs against mine as she cried into my chest. Relief washed over me as her fingers dug into my back, clutching me closer to her as she continued to cry her heart out. A felt a tear run down my face too as I buried my face into her hair and wrapped my arms around her tightly, hugging her back.
In that moment I felt a burning sensation against the left hand side of my neck. I smiled, knowing that we’d just re-bonded and that we had another mark to prove that fact. I silently wondered if she felt it too.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m here, always,” I whispered.
She pulled back and sniffed loudly. “Hi,” she croaked.
I laughed, this one was my Tyler. “Hi.”
She smiled weakly as I wiped her tears away. “I missed you, Sean.”
“For me to say I missed you too would be the understatement of the century,” I replied, bending and kissing her forehead as I pulled her into my lap. I held her tightly as she gripped my shirt in her fists and pressed her face into the side of my neck.
“I love you,” she whispered against my neck.
I laughed with relief, looking up at the ceiling, silently thanking God for helping us both through it.
“I love you too,” I replied, my voice thick with emo
tion.
She kissed my neck softly. “We got new marks.”
I grinned and nodded - so she did feel it too. “Yeah. Let me see,” I suggested, leaning back and looking down at her. She’d curled herself up on my lap; her eyes were locked on my neck, a small smile twitching at the corners of her lips.
“It’s pretty, but it’s not very manly,” she commented, chewing on her lip happily.
I frowned, taking hold of her chin, turning her head to the side so I could see the mark she got on her neck, knowing mine would be the same as hers. I laughed when I realised what she was talking about. She had a small black heart on the side of her neck, right on the jugular. “Yeah, that’s none to manly,” I joked. I didn’t actually care whether it was manly or not though, I got that mark from the love of my life. “But it’s perfect,” I added, bending my head and kissing it gently.
She smiled and snuggled back against me.
Everything was better now, I could feel it. She had a long way to go before she’d be able to move on, but I’d be there every step of the way to help her. We’d just take things slow and let her recover emotionally after what they’d done to her. The darkness that I could sense within her earlier was gone, as was the fear and confusion. I could feel her love for me flowing through the link as she wrapped her arms around my neck and just held me.
An hour later and we were just cuddling on the bed, talking quietly. She was telling me about being taken by Edward, about Peter Symons actually being a Jefferson, and how they’d had her dad killed. She spoke a little about being attacked but it was obviously too painful for her because she’d just cried the whole time, clinging to me helplessly. I couldn’t bring myself to let go of her - I think it would be a long time before I’d be able to manage that after being away from her for so long.
A knocked sounded at the door so I pulled back and smiled at Tyler who was eyeing the door suspiciously. “That’ll be the doctor, or maybe my parents because they’re in England now too,” I said stroking the back of her hand softly. She nodded so I pushed myself out of the bed and headed over to the door. I opened it to find Adelaine, the nurse from earlier, standing there with a worried expression on her face. She immediately went up on tiptoes, peeking into the room behind me as she spoke, “Everything okay in here?”
I smiled and nodded in confirmation. She visibly relaxed and let out a sigh of relief as she smiled at me proudly. “Everything’s fine,” I confirmed.
Adelaine patted my arm. “Great job, Sean.”
I laughed humourlessly, I didn’t really do anything, well, it didn’t feel like I did anyway. I stepped back and opened the door wider in invitation for her to come in.
Tyler suddenly gasped behind me. “I know you!” she stated, seeming somewhat excited to see the nurse that she’d been crying all over an hour ago.
Adelaine nodded, smiling kindly. “Yeah, I’m your nurse.”
Tyler shook her head quickly, a grin stretching across her face. “That’s not it.” She turned to me and laughed. “Call Ryce, tell him to come here straight away, there’s a gift here for him.”
“Ryce?” I asked, frowning, having no clue what she was talking about. Tyler grinned and suddenly one of her visions was playing out inside my head. Adelaine was heavily pregnant, sitting on a couch with Ryce who was grinning at her lovingly. I gasped too as I snapped back into the hospital room. “Holy shit,” I muttered, shoving my hand in my pocket and pulling out my cellphone to call Ryce and tell him to get down to the hospital. I didn’t tell him that his bond mate was standing less than five feet from me, he’d probably have an accident on the way here or something - let the guy have a surprise!
Adelaine looked even more confused as she looked form me to Tyler. “What’s going on? Who’s Ryce?” she asked.
Tyler smirked at her knowingly. “He’s a very good friend of mine. I think you’re gonna like him,”
she teased.
Adelaine raised one eyebrow. “Is he cute?”
Tyler laughed, nodding. “Very cute. Blond hair and blue eyes. He’s a cop.”
Adelaine turned her nose up slightly. “I don’t really go for blonds. Though the idea of a police uniform certainly does sweeten the deal,” she joked, winking at Tyler.
“You’ll like this blond,” I assured her, stepping closer to the bed and sitting next to my wife. Tyler grinned at me excitedly as we waited for Ryce to show up.
Ten minutes later and the wait was over. Ryce and my parents came bustling into the room, all of them looking at Tyler worriedly. “Hey, Tiger. You had us all worried sick,” Ryce stated, pulling her into a hug.
Tyler grinned at him. “Sorry about that. Anyway, I have something that’ll make up for it,” she teased, nodding over his shoulder at Adelaine who was standing with her mouth and eyes wide open, staring at Ryce’s back.
Ryce frowned; obviously confused as he turned and looked in the direction Tyler nodded in. The bond hit him as soon as he laid eyes on her. His whole body seemed to stiffen as he gasped, looking at her shocked.
“Ryce, Adelaine. Adelaine, Ryce,” Tyler stated, laughing quietly. Everyone was watching them as Ryce closed the distance, his hand raising to touch her face. Adelaine made a little whimper noise which made Ryce kind of jerk forward. I grinned. I remembered those days like it was yesterday, the overwhelming need to bond and claim her. They didn’t even speak as he took her hand and practically ran out of the room with her giggling along behind him.
“Aww man, where’d they go? I was watching that! It was so sweet with all the staring and the romantic silence,” Tyler whined, pouting.
I grinned, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. “They’ll be looking for an empty room,” I told her, waggling my eyebrows suggestively. Everyone laughed and I kissed the side of her head, holding her close to my side while my parents fussed over her.
When we were finally alone again, she snuggled up into my chest. “I want to go home, Sean.”
I smiled and kissed the top of her head. Home. I loved the sound of that word. “Me too, baby.”
Epilogue
Six years later
Tyler
As we stepped out of the doors of the airport, the chilly wind blew, making the skirt of my summer dress flutter around my thighs. I closed my eyes and smiled because for the first time in months I wasn’t sweating and uncomfortable. Carrying extra weight certainly made everything more effort.
The air in the states at the moment was stuffy and uncomfortable, this however was like heaven.
The cool breeze blew again and a little contented sigh left my lips as it fluffed my hair.
Sean groaned. “I thought it was supposed to be summer in England,” he whined, unzipping his hoodie and pulling it off.
I grinned over at his disgruntled expression. “It’s nice. Maybe we should stay here for the next four months,” I suggested not even remotely joking.
A horrified expression crossed his face as he slipped his hoodie around my shoulders. “Seriously?”
I grinned and pushed the sweater back to him, shaking my head. “I don’t want that. This weather is perfect,” I chirped.
“Yeah, for Eskimos,” he quipped, frowning.
I laughed and pressed myself to him, wrapping my arms around him and stepping as close as my five month pregnant belly would allow. “Well, the baby and I like it, so suck it up, lover boy.”
He rolled his eyes and bent, planting a soft kiss on my lips. “Let’s go get checked into our hotel and then we can go get all of the boring council stuff out of the way,” he suggested. “What time did you tell Ryce that we’d go to his place tomorrow?” he asked, rubbing his hands on my lower back, massaging the little ache that I had there from sitting down on the plane for hours on end.
I closed my eyes and pressed my face into the side of his neck as his fingers worked away the little knots from my lower back. That was my favourite part of our bond - Sean knew, without me having to ask, when I wanted a massage. Sean was the perfect husband an
d his doctor’s touch knew just the right pressure to apply.
“I told him that we’d call and let him know but that it wouldn’t be until the afternoon sometime.
He’s gonna barbeque apparently.”
“In this weather?” Sean retorted sarcastically.
I pulled back and laughed, slapping his chest playfully. Today was a beautiful summers day for the UK, he just wasn’t used to anything other than the Arizona heat wave that was going on at the moment.
He smiled and dragged our cases towards the rental car that they’d brought around for us. Once everything was settled we headed to the hotel that we’d booked. It wasn’t inside London itself, just a little outside and was close to where Ryce and his bond mate Adelaine lived. I was itching to see them and of course their two boys, one of which I had never even met. I missed Ryce like crazy but we kept in touch by webcam so I knew what they all looked like and stuff. Adelaine was afraid of flying though so we didn’t get to actually see them very often in person, only when Ryce came to the US to visit with his family or something. I hadn’t been back to the UK since Ryce got married five years ago, I was busy in the states with college and stuff, this was my first time here for ages, Sean usually came here on his own when it was necessary. We needed to get the boring council stuff out of the way thought before we could go visit the Thompsons though.
Once we’d checked into our quaint little B & B, we made the hour drive into London to meet with the council. They were at some posh looking building now, so there was no entering through a derelict looking warehouse door. Apparently, that is the main meeting place when meeting with strangers or unknowns so that people didn’t know the actual headquarters location.