Sera's lids fluttered open and then closed again. She felt so weak, so drained and exhausted. She inhaled deeply as she tried to gather the energy to move. A million different scents assailed her at once. Apple, vanilla, cinnamon, wood, sex, and blood permeated the room. Beyond the door she could smell eggs, bacon, waffles, syrup, and butter. The smell of snow, and something feral drifted in from outside.

She could hear the pots and pans in the kitchen, catch bits and pieces of the conversation being held there. Outside, a squirrel yelled angrily as it fled from its tree and crashed into another branch. Her eyes opened. She could make out every grain of wood on the door, and see the scratches upon the brass handle.

She closed her eyes again; she was too tired to assimilate everything now. Liam lay beside her, his strong arms encircled her as his firm body spooned hers. She could smell herself on him, in him. She could hear the thumping of his heart, and the blood that pulsed through his veins.

"The world is different."

She didn't have to look at him to know that he was awake. "Yes, it is. It will take a little while to get used to, but eventually you'll adapt."

"It's so loud."

"That's the worst part. I'll teach you how to tune it out."

"Soon?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes. How do you feel?"

He pushed back strands of her hair. She turned slightly to look at him. His face was as magnificent as she recalled, but suddenly she could see every bristly hair on his cheek, and jaw. She had thought his eyes a pure green, but there were flecks of gold within their depths. She frowned and closed her eyes again.

"I'm tired," she whispered as she stifled a yawn.

He dropped his head to her shoulder. "You need to feed."

A tremor of revulsion and delight racked through her. Suddenly, she was very hungry, but she knew that food would not satisfy her. "Come here."

She opened her eyes as he pulled her into his arms and rolled her over. She looked down at him as her hair fell across his chest. He smiled as he pushed her hair over her shoulder. The marks on her neck were vivid against her creamy skin. He eased the bandage from her chest off. His eyes focused on the scratches that marred her delicate skin, but they appeared to be healing well. Her gaze followed his and she gasped.

"You'll heal faster now."

"I can see that!"

He stroked her cheek with his thumb. She turned into it, nuzzling him as her eyes drifted closed. "Are you hungry?"

Her eyes sprang open. Surprise, revulsion, and obvious hunger radiated from their depths. "It's all right," he said. "You only need to feed off of me, remember?"

Her gaze traveled down to his neck. A spark of something shot through her, something that she didn't understand, but it rocked her body. She quickly looked away, ashamed, and frightened. "It will be just like last night," he soothed.

He could feel the tension in her, the yearning to fight against him and what she was feeling. He remembered that feeling. He had fought so relentlessly in the beginning, but in the end the demon had given in to Beth's demands, and its own urgent needs. He had been repulsed and frightened, but it was a feeling that had faded.

"I know how you feel, it will fade Sera, I promise. But you must. The change isn't complete yet, not until you feed. You need the blood." That spark shot through her again and a shudder ripped her. "I fed for the both of us yesterday."

Her body was trembling with the turbulent battle she was waging, and her eyes were flashing from blue to violet, to a vivid red. Her elongated teeth caused blood to flow forward as she bit into her bottom lip. She whimpered as she instantly released her lip.

Liam's eyes were locked on that trickle of blood. He pulled her down to him, lightly licking her lip as he used his saliva to close the wound. Her teeth pressed against his lip as he stroked her mouth with his tongue. He pulled her away from him and guided her head down to his neck.

"Sera you must," he urged.

She shuddered again. Her mouth was warm and wet as her teeth pressed against his neck. He shuddered in anticipation as his hand dug into her skull. He wanted this so bad that his entire body was tensed with anticipation and his breath was frozen in his lungs.

"Sera," he breathed.

Her teeth sank deep. Liam's hands convulsed on her as a wave of pure ecstasy shot through him. Her mind opened to his. In the beginning her hunger was the only thing he could sense, but it started to ease as she filled herself on him. Then, other emotions began to come through. He could sense her revulsion, but beneath that was pure pleasure. He could feel the possessiveness that radiated from her, the urge to mark him as hers and he smiled as he recognized the feeling.

A sense of completeness began to steal through him as he caressed her hair and her back. She whimpered as she squirmed against him. Her desire slammed into him with a force so fierce that it hardened him instantly. Her thighs parted as her hands dug into his neck and she bit deeper to convey her urgency to him.

He rubbed his cock against her, pleased to find her wet with longing. He slipped into her, stretching her tight muscles as he filled her completely. She sighed in contentment as her bite eased and he filled her in every way.

***

Sera woke again sometime later. She felt sated, still a little tired, but utterly complete, and blissful. Her head was nestled into Liam's steel shoulder. She snuggled closer as she dropped a light kiss on him. He murmured in his sleep and turned to envelop her in his embrace.

"Go back to sleep," he mumbled.

"I think we've slept enough. It's already afternoon."

"I know."

Of course he knew, she had known without having to look too. "I can't believe Kathleen hasn't come in to drag us out of bed."

"Neither can I," he admitted ruefully.

"Liam."

"Hmm," he replied sleepily.

"What can kill us?"

She knew that he was instantly wide-awake. "Why?"

"Well, I am one of you, and I think that I should know. I know what I've heard about vampires, but you can go out in the sunlight, so what else isn't true?"

"Sunlight can kill us."

"Huh?"

He chuckled at the confusion in her voice. "Some of us," he amended. "We can all still go into the sunlight because we haven't become cold blooded killers. The more you kill, the stronger you become, but the more limitations are placed on you. Vampires that kill lose the ability to be in direct sunlight, they will die from it. Beth can't be in it."

Anger rippled through her at the mention of Beth's name. Her hands dug into his back as a wave of possessiveness shook her. He was hers, and that was final. Liam's chuckle only served to infuriate her more. "I met Beth during the daytime." The name was bitter on her tongue.

"You met her during a snow storm. There was no direct sunlight."

"Oh," she mumbled. "You've killed."

"Yes, I have," he grated, and he would do it again if anyone attempted to harm her. "And the sun has become more grueling for me. It stings my eyes more, burns my skin more. It also tires me out faster."

"I'm sorry."

He pulled back to look down at her. "For what?"

She shrugged as she caressed his well-muscled chest. "It's my fault that the sun bothers you now. If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have killed Jacob."

An involuntary growl escaped him at the name. She smiled as she lifted her lashes to gaze at him. It was good to know that she wasn't the only one that became angry and possessive. "It's not your fault," he grated. "And I will kill anyone else that tries to harm you. No one will take you from me."

"No, they won't," she promised as she rubbed his chest. "No one will take you from me either, right?"

"Right."

She feared that he would meet someone else, someone better though. He would grow tired of her and move on. He could have any woman that he wanted, and he already had. Eternity was a long time; there were a lot of women out there. Prettier women, smarter, sexier, better.

"Would you ever leave me?" he inquired.

"No!" she cried in horror. The mere thought of it ripped her heart to shreds and brought instant tears to her eyes. To lose him would destroy her.

"That's the way that I feel Sera. I can sense your thoughts, and you're wrong. There is no one better, no one else for me. You are it."

"But..."

He placed a finger over her trembling lower lip. "No buts. Don't you remember what David said? Together forever. The passion only grows."

"What if he was wrong?"

"He was right about everything else."

"What if you don't want me in a hundred years? What if you grow tired of me? Or you meet someone else?"

"Sera stop it. I will never leave you; never find anyone better. There is no one better. Look in me and feel it for yourself if you don't believe me." She searched his intent gaze. "Open yourself to me."

She allowed herself to open to his thoughts. She couldn't exactly read them, not like she could when she was feeding off him, or he off her, but she could sense them. She knew that he loved her, knew that he cherished her, but she suddenly sensed the full depth of his emotions toward her. It shook her to the core as she recognized in him the same emotions that lived within her.

She pulled out of him as she searched his intense gaze with awe. He would never leave her, never grow tired of her, she felt it; she knew it. She brushed a strand of black hair off his forehead. "Eternity is a long time."

He pulled her closer. "Not long enough."

"No, it's not," she agreed. "So what else can harm us?"

"Crucifixes and holy water are like the sunlight. The more you kill, the less you can tolerate them. Otherwise, a standard stake through the heart, beheading, and fire are the other ways."

"Oh. I've seen you eat regular food, does it do anything for us?"

"No. We can eat it, but it doesn't fill us, eventually you even lose a taste for it. Alcohol still affects us."

Sera frowned, there were so many foods that she enjoyed, she especially didn't want to lose a taste for cheesecake. She winced as Kathleen's shriek suddenly pierced through her ears and into her skull. "Ow!" she cried as her hands flew to her ears.

He grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her head. Her face scrunched with pain as Danielle and Kathleen both screamed. "Look at me Sera; listen to me, not them."

She focused herself upon him as he explained how to control all of her new senses, and her new world.