Read Choices for Free Online Page B

to convince me to move in with you.” 
    “I…” he stopped speaking and released her.  “You’re right.”  His words cut a new hole in her heart. “Being bonded was something I never considered, especially after living for so many centuries.”  He looked up at the ceiling in thought. 
    Rachel backed further away.  Every word he spoke struck like a dagger to her soul. 
    “Call Julian, let him know we need to now how to break the bond.  Whatever I need to do, I will do it.” She was relieved no tears fell so she continued. “Just don’t say anything else, please.”
    “I don’t want to break the damn bond,” Roderick moved so fast, she didn’t have time to react.  His mouth crushed hers with so much need it shocked her. Tears sprang to her eyes.  How could she live without this?  Without him?
    With swift motions, Roderick picked her up and took the familiar path to her bedroom. He set her on her feet and pulled the belt of her robe, sliding the garment off her shoulders so that it pooled around her feet.  When he backed up, his gaze roamed over her sending a delicious tingle.  Maintaining eye contact, he began to undress and Rachel mentally devoured every inch the fabric slid off of. 
                  They landed in the bed, a tangle of arms and legs, each vying to touch more of the other’s body with a desperation like that of lovers separated for too long. 
    “I can’t wait,” Rachel told him between kisses. “Please take me now.”
    He lifted his head and smiled down, “If I could make you wait, I would just to hear you beg for me. But lucky for you I can’t wait either.” A growl escaped, his mouth opened and his eyes closed.
     
    By the time he found the energy to roll off of her, Rachel was finally able to form a coherent thought.  She scooted away from him. She not only needed space, and had to protect her heart.
    “Why are you laying so far from me?” Roderick lay on his side, his luminescent eyes scouring her face for answers.  “I don’t want to break the bond Rachel. I choose to stay with you.”
    “Can you still be a Protector?” 
    “No. Mated or not, he’s punishing me by cutting me loose. I will speak with Julian to see if perhaps he will reconsider, but I doubt it. He rarely changes his mind once he makes a decision. Actually, I don’t think he’s ever changed his mind.” 
    Rachel rolled to her side facing him. “Then we must go to Italy and see him. We’ll ask him to break the bond.  There is no need to remain bonded.”
    “You don’t want to be bonded to me?” The soft question shook her. Was he hurt? Or was it just his ego?
    “I don’t want you to lose your job because of me.”
    With a growl, Roderick got out of the bed and began to yank his clothes on.  “I have to go to work.  I have another week until my replacement arrives. Hopefully I will be able to last that long without losing all my energy.  Then I’ll to go to Rome and meet with Julian.” An emotion flickered across his face when he looked at her, but she couldn’t decipher what it was.  “But we are not breaking up Rachel.”
    She ignored the tug of the words at her heartstrings. What’s happening to you?” Rachel asked reaching for his arm.  “Why are you becoming weak?”
    He sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his boots.  “When a Protector shares his blood, he also shares his immortality.  When it’s done wrong, the Protector is at risk.  The keener eyesight, hearing and night vision, coupled with the need to forge the bond all come together and drain too much energy from my body.  Julian left some stuff behind for me to sort through, one of the items is a mating set that we can use in an effort to form a proper bond.  If it works then I should be able to gain back my ability to stay strong.”
    “And if it doesn’t?” Guilt twisted around her gut.  He’d lost it all because he’d saved her life.
    “Then I will be a regular guy, who lives a