“In a manner of speaking, but only for a few moments.”

  “Why didn’t the serum work on you when it worked on the other two?”

  He shrugged. “Probably because I wasn’t made a Vampire in the usual way.”

  I supposed that made sense. Technically, he had been born a Vampire. No one had brought him across, there had been no exchange of blood. It was the same with the shape-shifters. They had been born, not made, so there was no disease to cure, nothing to heal.

  “Would you have been sorry if it had worked?” I asked.

  “Before I met you, I would have said yes, but now…” His knuckles brushed my cheek. “I’m starting to hate what I am.”

  “Why?”

  “Because,” he said, his voice endearingly soft and sensual, “it’s keeping me from what I want.”

  I licked my lips. “What do you want?”

  “To spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “Rafe…”

  “You should get some rest,” he said. “You’ve had quite a night.”

  “What was it like, bringing Susie across?”

  “I’m not sure I can describe it.” He looked past me, his thoughts obviously turned inward. “You can’t imagine what it was like, the wonder of holding her life in my hands, the rush of power that flowed through me as I took her to the point of death, and then gave her life back to her.” He paused. His eyes, as dark and deep as eternity, burned with bright intensity as they gazed into mine. “I wish it had been you.”

  Looking into his eyes, hearing the heartfelt longing in his voice, for that one brief moment in time, I, too, wished it had been me.

  At my request, Rafe left the candles burning after we went to bed. I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to sleep in the dark again. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Rafe bending over Susie’s neck. I smelled the coppery scent of her blood, saw the hellish red glow in Rafe’s eyes as he took her to the brink of eternity, and then brought her back. I saw the gleam of insanity in Pearl’s eyes, the madness in Edna’s, the hatred in Travis Jackson’s. I remembered being locked in a cage, the sting of the needle and the helpless terror that had followed, the fear that I would die in that cage, that my parents would never know what had happened to me.

  Rafe woke me twice during the night, his touch and his voice soothing my fears, chasing the nightmares away.

  He’d been right, I thought, I never should have watched him bring Susie across.

  Toward dawn, when he thought I was asleep, he went into the living room. Curious, I slipped out of bed, padded silently down the hall, and peeked around the door frame.

  Rafe stood in front of the sofa, his back toward me. “How’s she doing?” he asked.

  “She was scared,” Cagin said, “but she calmed down some when I explained what was happening. She even made a joke, saying she’d never been a morning person, and now she wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.”

  “How do you feel about it, about what she’s become?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m thirty-five years old and I’ve never been in love until now.” He shook his head. “I loved her from the minute I saw her. If anyone had ever told me that was possible, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

  “It happens,” Rafe said quietly. “She’ll sleep until the sun sets. When she wakes up, she’ll be ravenous.”

  Cagin nodded.

  “She’ll probably attack the first person she sees, which will most likely be you. If she does, don’t let her take too much.”

  “What would happen if she…can shape-shifters be turned?”

  “I don’t know why not. Might be interesting to find out.”

  “Interesting,” Cagin repeated. “Yeah, right.”

  “I’ve got some bottled blood I keep for emergencies,” Rafe said. “If you can get her to drink it, it will take the edge off her hunger and help her to control it. It will make it easier on you, too, if she wants to feed off you.”

  Cagin grunted softly.

  “I’ve never known a Vampire to feed off a shape-shifter,” Rafe went on. “I don’t know what the effects, if any, will be on either of you.”

  “I guess we’ll find out.”

  “Maybe so. Just don’t let her get away from you. Every fledgling reacts differently to being turned.”

  “This just keeps getting better and better,” Cagin muttered.

  “If it goes sour,” Rafe said, “just remember it was your idea.”

  “Right.”

  The two men regarded each other for a moment, then Rafe started to turn away from the sofa.

  I hurried back to the bedroom as fast as my legs would carry me. Diving into the bed, I pulled the covers over my head and pretended to be asleep.

  I heard the soft click as Rafe closed and locked the door. I could feel him standing there, staring down at me.

  He pulled the covers back on his side of the bed. “I know you’re awake.”

  Blowing out a breath of exasperation, I sat up. “Is Susie going to be all right?”

  “I don’t know. I hope so.”

  “Your face…”

  “Pretty bad, I guess.”

  “No. It’s…I…” In the light of the candles, I could see that the ugly burns were almost gone. Only a rough redness remained in the worst places. The rest of his face was healed, as if he’d never been hurt.

  He rubbed his hand over his cheek. “I told you it would heal.”

  “You said days, maybe weeks.”

  He shrugged.

  “It was the blood, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Was it mine? Or Susie’s?”

  He slid into bed and pulled me down beside him. “Yours, of course.”

  I snuggled against him, my head resting on his shoulder. “This is getting to be a habit, our sleeping together.”

  “I’d like to do more than sleep,” he muttered.

  “I know.” I couldn’t help but admire his restraint, couldn’t help but wonder how much longer it would last. For that matter, I was beginning to wonder who I was saving myself for. I wanted Rafe, no one but Rafe. Loved him as I had never loved anyone else. Did it really matter that he was a Vampire? As for getting married, for couples like us, it was against the law. What if we made our own vows? What if I promised to love him, and only him, for as long as I lived?

  As long as I lived…I looked up to find Rafe watching me intently.

  “Will you?” he asked, and I knew that he had been reading my mind again. This time I didn’t care.

  My heart seemed to skip a beat. “Yes.”

  He turned onto his side, so that we were facing each other, and then he clasped my right hand in his. “I promise to love you and protect you for as long as you live. I will give myself to you and none other. I will cherish you in this life and the next.”

  Blinking back my tears, I said, “I promise I will love you and only you for as long as I live. I will give myself to you, only you, and stand by your side, for now and forever.”

  “Then I take you as my wife, to love and to cherish, from this night forward.”

  “And I take you as my husband, to love and to cherish, from this night forward.”

  Murmuring my name, he drew me into his arms and kissed me. Sighing with sweet surrender, I closed my eyes and gave myself into his keeping.

  His lips moved over mine, gently, almost reverently. I basked in his touch, surprised when bare skin met bare skin.

  “Better?” he asked.

  “Much better.” I didn’t ask how he had managed to free us from our clothing. It was a night made for magic, and it was all around us. Flames crackled in the hearth. The scent of roses filled the air, music played ever so softly in the background, or maybe it was all in my mind. I didn’t know and I didn’t care. All I knew was that I was in Rafe’s arms, his body pressed close to mine. His hands caressed me, his lips adored me, his touch lit a fire deep inside of me that only he could quench.

  Curious and eager, I explored the taut lines of Rafe’s body, marveling at the hardness of his biceps, his six-pack abs, the width of his shoulders, the feel of his skin beneath my fingertips and my tongue, the sheer masculine beauty of his face and form.

  When I was desperate for him to take me, when I thought I would surely go up in flames if he didn’t possess me, he rose over me, his dark eyes burning with desire as his sweat-slick body merged with mine, and I knew I had been waiting for this moment since the night we met.

  Heat exploded deep within me. I clung to his shoulders, my hips rising to welcome him. I felt his tongue lave the skin alongside my neck, waited impatiently for the prick of his fangs. I cried his name as wave after delicious wave of pleasure washed over me.

  And then I was floating, drifting lazily on a tranquil sea of afterglow. Whispering Rafe’s name, I opened my eyes, startled to realize that we really were floating, about a foot off the mattress.

  His lips nuzzled my ear. “It’s all right, don’t be afraid.”

  My hands tightened on his shoulders. I wasn’t afraid of falling. After all, there was a mattress right below me. I wasn’t afraid of Rafe, either, not really, but sometimes the reality of his Supernatural powers was a little overwhelming.

  “You know, you really are the most amazing man,” I murmured, smiling.

  “Honey, you don’t know the half of it,” he said, and then he kissed me again, and nothing else mattered. I loved him, adored him, wanted only him, in bed, over the bed, under the bed, it didn’t matter, as long as we were together.

  Slowly, we drifted back down to the mattress. We lay there, locked in each other’s arms, while our breathing returned to normal and the sweat cooled on our skin.

  Rafe ran his fingertips over my brow and down my cheek. “Regrets?”

  “Of course not. Why would you even ask?”

  “I was afraid I might disappoint you.”

  “You, afraid? I don’t believe it! You’re the most confident man I’ve ever known. I’ve never seen you the least bit unsettled.”

  He grunted softly. “I was plenty unsettled in that cage.”

  “We all were. What’s going to happen now? Do you think Edna and Pearl will come looking for us again? I can’t believe they’re hunters.”

  “It’s a stretch, isn’t it? As for whether they’ll come after us again, I’ll take care of that.”

  “You’re not going to kill them?” Even after what they had tried to do, I couldn’t stand the thought of Rafe hurting them.

  “If I have to.”

  “Rafe, no…”

  “I’m going to try something else first, but if it doesn’t work…” He let the sentence hang, unfinished.

  I knew what he was saying, and what he wasn’t saying. Edna and Pearl posed too big a threat to the Supernatural community. They had to be stopped, one way or another.

  Rafe’s lips brushed my cheek. “This isn’t the kind of conversation I expected to be having on my wedding night.”

  “No?” Excitement fluttered in the pit of my stomach when his hand cupped my breast.

  “Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

  “Am I?”

  “More beautiful than any woman I’ve ever known.”

  I didn’t believe that, but it was nice to hear.

  His hand moved in my hair, sending shivers of delight down my spine. “Kathy, do you know how much I love you?” His voice, low and husky, moved over me like rough velvet.

  “As much as I love you?”

  “More.” His clever hands moved over my willing flesh, teasing my desire back to life.

  “That’s impossible,” I said, grinning as I felt the evidence of his own desire stirring against my belly.

  “Shall I show you?” His voice was lower now, almost a growl. Hunger glowed faintly in his eyes.

  Even as I murmured, “Yes, please,” I couldn’t help wondering how much blood I could afford to lose in one night.

  “You needn’t be afraid,” he said, “I took only a small taste.”

  “You’re reading my mind again,” I said with mock severity.

  A slow smile lit his eyes. “How do you think I knew how to please you so well?”

  “In that case, I give you leave to read my mind for the rest of the night,” I said.

  And he did.

  I woke feeling deliciously warm and achy in places where no man but Rafe had ever touched me. Smiling, I thought of the night past. We had made love all through the night, each time more thrilling, more satisfying, than the last.

  Opening my eyes, I glanced at my watch, surprised to see that it was almost three o’clock in the afternoon. And then I blushed, thinking that maybe it wasn’t so surprising at all. After all, we had made love until the early hours of the morning. Unlike human males, Rafe never tired, never needed to rest.

  Taking a deep breath, I turned on my side to look at the man sleeping beside me. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had always heard that Vampires slept like the dead, but he didn’t look dead. Far from it. Was he trapped in the daylight sleep? He had told me he could move around during the day, but maybe once he fell asleep, he couldn’t wake until the sun went down. If I touched him, would he feel it? If I spoke his name, would he hear me?

  My heart skipped a beat. The old adage said to let sleeping dogs lie. I wondered if the same was true for sleeping Vampires.

  “I’m not asleep.”

  I punched him in the arm. “Stop that.” His fingertips skated down my bare arm, sending a familiar shiver down my spine.

  He regarded me through heavy-lidded eyes. “You said it was all right last night.”

  “That was last night. This is today.”

  “And what are your plans for today, Mrs. Cordova?”

  Mrs. Cordova. The words filled me with warmth and a sense of belonging I’d never known before. How could I have forgotten that we had exchanged vows last night? Vows that were, in my mind, just as binding as if they had been spoken in front of a minister in church? As far as I was concerned, I was now Mrs. Raphael Cordova. And then I frowned. What would Rafe’s parents think? I’d never even met them. Would we stay in Oak Hollow? Would Rafe expect me to sell the bookstore?

  “The shop!” I exclaimed, sitting up. “I should have opened hours ago.” I wondered again if anyone had missed me, or even noticed that my store had been closed for a few days.

  Rafe tugged me back down beside him, his arm slipping comfortably around my shoulders. “There’s no need for you to work any longer.”

  “No?”

  “No. I make more than enough to support you.”

  “Well, that’s nice to know, but if I don’t work, what will I do during the day?”

  “Whatever you wish.” His hand slid up and down my spine, and then he brushed a kiss across my cheek. “I need to rest a while.”

  “Okay. I think I’ll go home and change my clothes and then go over to the store for a few hours.”

  “No. It’s not safe for you to leave here.”

  He was right, of course. Why hadn’t I thought of that? No doubt Travis, Edna, Pearl, and their henchmen were frantically searching Oak Hollow from one end to the other looking for their escaped guinea pigs. It wouldn’t do for word of their nefarious activities to become public knowledge. I was pretty sure the townspeople would be up in arms if they discovered Edna and Pearl’s plan to dump their formula into the water supply. It would be even more dangerous for Jackson and the women if the Supernatural community got wind of their scheme.

  As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I knew that Edna and Pearl’s days were numbered, one way or the other.

  “I’ll take you home tonight so you can get whatever you need and bring it here,” Rafe said. His voice sounded different, heavy somehow.

  Last night, we hadn’t talked about where we would live. I doubted Rafe would be happy at my place. It was too open to the sun, too easily breached. On the other hand, I didn’t think I could be happy here, in his place, either. It was too dark, and while I understood the reason for it, I knew that, in time, it would leave me feeling depressed and claustrophobic.

  I ran my fingertips over his chest. “How long will you sleep?”

  “Until sundown.”

  “What’s it like, when you’re sleeping? Is it really like death?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” he said with a wry grin. “Since I’ve never died. All I know is that it’s different from mortal sleep.”

  “Different how?”

  “Sleeping Vampires, except for the old ones, are helpless during the day, and they don’t dream.”

  “So, what’s it like for you?” I slid my hand over his biceps, admiring the latent strength beneath my palm. “If I touch you while you’re sleeping, will you feel it?”

  “Yes.”

  “And if I call your name, will you hear me?”

  “I will always hear you.”

  I smiled at that. “Do you dream?”

  His heavy-lidded gaze held mine. “Sometimes.”

  “What do Vampires dream about?” I ran my hand down his arm and over his abs.

  “If you don’t stop that,” he said, his voice husky. “I’ll show you what I dream about.”

  Warmth spread through me. If he hadn’t been on the brink of oblivion, I would have made those dreams come true. As it was, I kissed him lightly. “Will it disturb you if I take a shower?”

  “No.” He smiled faintly. “Next time, perhaps I’ll share it with you.”

  “I’d like that.” The image of the two of us, soapy from head to foot, stirred something deep within me. I kissed him again, then went into the bathroom and closed the door.

  For a moment, I stood there, my fingertips pressed to my lips as I remembered all that had happened between us the night before.

  Smiling, I took a quick shower. Later, while drying off, I wished I had some clean clothes and a change of underwear. I wasn’t happy with the thought of putting on my dirty clothes. I never wanted to wear them again. I pulled on a pair of Rafe’s sweatpants and one of his T-shirts. Both were too big, of course, but they were clean, and they smelled of the man I loved.

  I tiptoed out of the bedroom and went into the living room where I found Cagin sitting on the sofa, his hands dangling between his knees.

 

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