He shook his head.“No, I am convinced you are the key to saving my kingdom.I have paid the ludicrous bride price demanded by your father, and I’ll take my chances.”
Before she could jerk away, he sliced the first rune above her wrist.
Chapter Four
Sheflinchedattheslice of the blade, her eyes blazing.
As soon as he finished carving the rune of his house and the secret name of his beast,Tairneanaich, into her skin, he lifted her hand to his mouth and feathered a soft kiss over the trail of blood.She shuddered as he swiped his tongue through it and he knew she felt the echo of his magic as the bond unfurled between them.When he closed his eyes, the hard iron of her power shimmered through his veins like lightning.
Her blood told him the truth she so adamantly denied him, and his beast's roar of triumph was nearly deafening.
The gods had made it clear that this fierce Valkyrie was his mate and this union had become more than an alliance, this exchange of vows more than a ritual.The promise he’d made to grant her freedom would be broken, and as he lapped away the blood that still welled from her wound, the cadence of war drums thumped and rose in him.
He could sense her fear, and knew if he’d warned her of the use of the blade, she’d have found a way to wriggle out of the bargain.Or abandon him.He wanted to soothe her, but he required her strength and the courage she’d wielded at their first meeting.
“This sigil is my each uisge name and you need only touch it and whisper my secret name if you have need of me.”
“What is your each uisge name?”
“I will give it to you in the privacy of our chambers.Now, you must etch the sigil of binding into my wrist,” he sternly commanded.
Her eyes widened.“You would let me cut you in exchange?Are you not afraid I’ll let the blade slip?”
He laughed darkly.“There is nothing but magic flowing through me now , and no blade can harm me.My body will heal almost as quickly as it’s wounded, and this is an act meant to please the gods.”
He drew off one of his leather cuffs and cinched it over her wrist - the sign to all the world that she was his.It had been a part of his life since his first kill and the blood it was imbued with would protect her.It was a physical reminder of their bond.
“What is this?”She asked as she raised her arm.
“Any immortal who sees it will know who has claimed you.It is a warning that any who harm you risk incurring my wrath.”
Toran grasped the hand hanging loosely at her side and turned it palm up.“Now you must spill my blood,” he told her as he curled her grasp around the flat of the blde.
“What sigil must I carve?”
“The rune of commitment.Do you know it?”
She nodded.“Yes.But what if I cut too deeply?What will become of me?Will it anger your beast?”
Toran shook his head.“No.You cannot harm me - even if you want to.”
Her jaw tensed and she set the tip of the dagger against his skin.As soon as the blood spilled over his skin she flicked her eyes to his face.Making certain he hadn’t been lying.
He let his eyes give her the answer she sought.
Her cuts were meticulous, and her eyes flicked to him for reassurance after each swipe of the blade.When the rune was written on his skin, he held his wrist to her mouth.
“You must drink of me as I drank of you.”
She grimaced, clearly disgusted by the idea of consuming his blood.
“Do not be squeamish,” he admonished in a hushed undertone.“The bond isn’t fully valid in the eyes of the brehon standing before us or the gods surely watching if we do not exchange blood.”
She gingerly wrapped her fingers around his wrist and closed her eyes - likely to block out any reminder of what she was about to do.
The first slick of her tongue against the wound, made Toran’s fists and jaw clench with banked longing.His beast roared and pommeled in his chest, its neigh of triumph like crashing waves.
After a few swallows, she dropped his hand and straightened.