Deacon Thorn was taken into custody by The Directive. Things weren’t looking good for him. He’d either face death, or a very long time in jail. Either way, he’d be taken off the streets of London, and his clubs would be shut down. The werewolf was over in this city.

Ivan left to go and break the news to Deacon’s daughter. He knew it wasn’t going to go down well, but he thought she deserved to know what her father had been doing, though he knew he wasn’t going to get any thanks for being the one to break the news.

Nikolai and Lauren were happy to return home.

They still had a couple of hours until morning, and though they were both battered and exhausted, they wanted to curl up in bed and just be together. First of all, Lauren wanted to wash the smell of Sergei from her skin.

They got into the shower together, and Nikolai washed her long dark hair, smoothing soap over her skin, working as gently as he could. This wasn’t about sex right now, even though being naked with her immediately gave him a semi-erection. He ignored it, though, focusing on her.

It hurt him to see that the other vampire had hurt her. Twin pinpricks of bites marked the smooth skin of her neck, and the sight made him want to rage, even though the creature who’d done this to her was gone now. It felt as though Sergei had put his mark on her, when that should only have ever been Nikolai’s job.

He wanted to make it go away, to hide those marks with bites of his own, but only if it was what she wanted, too.

Nikolai finished rinsing her hair and then helped her from the shower, wrapping her in a thick, white towel. She was so tough, after everything she’d been through, and then saving him from The Thirst as well. He literally owed her his life.

Still wrapped in her towel, and him with one wrapped around his waist, he lifted her and carried her to the bed. Gently, he set her down, her dark hair still damp from the shower, spreading across the pillow. He lay down beside her. She’d been uncharacteristically quiet, and he worried about how much of her energy she’d given him when she’d healed him from The Thirst, and what sort of emotional trauma she had suffered. He wanted to make her well again, in the same way she’d cured him.

“I can heal them,” he told her, touching her neck softly. “Let me bite where he has bitten, and I’ll use my saliva to heal you. I can make it look as though they were never there.”

She looked up at him with those big dark eyes that he’d fallen in love with and nodded. “Yes, I don’t want to see them anymore. It’s like he put a brand on me.”

“He could have healed them if he wanted,” he growled. “He left you marked on purpose.”

He could see his words were upsetting her, and managed to clamp his mouth shut. Instead, he touched the tips of his fingers to her chin, lifted her face to his. He kissed her gently, knowing that if he made the bites pleasurable, it would be far easier on her.

She opened her mouth to him, and he pulled her closer, so they lay face to face, only the towels separating their skin. He wanted her, and the towel did nothing to disguise the fact. His hand ran down the smooth skin of her thigh, and his tongue pushed into her mouth. Lauren let out a moan and pressed herself closer, her hand on his hip.

She tasted amazing, and, after the shower, there was no hint of the scent of Sergei on her delectable skin. He could smell her blood, and a second desire rose within him. This time, however, he was in control. He’d never do anything to hurt her. Not now.

He moved his hand to the inside of her thigh, testing how responsive she was to him. With a sigh of pleasure, she parted her legs, giving him access. He slipped his hand to her most intimate place, planning to bring her to the point of ecstasy before he tried to heal the marks that bastard had left on her.

He pushed one finger inside her heat, and then a second. Lauren’s hips moved against him, urging him on, and his cock throbbed. He wanted to be inside her, but was also worried it might take him too far. He needed to be able to control what he was doing, and being on the brink of his own orgasm might make him lose it.

Lauren’s breathing grew ragged as he worked her, using his thumb to circle her clit as his fingers pushed deep. Her kisses became hungry, and he knew she was close.

Working his way from her mouth, across her jaw, and down to her throat, he allowed his fangs to descend, and he positioned himself directly above the marks Sergei had made.

The tips of his fangs touched her skin, and the result was instantaneous. Lauren let out a scream and pushed him away, backpedalling up the bed to put space between them.

Her dark eyes were wide, her skin pale as she stared at him. He hated that he’d inspired such emotion in her.

“I’m sorry, Nikolai. I’m so sorry. I just can’t ... I can’t ...”

Tears brimmed in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

He reached out and pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. We don’t have to do that. I was only trying to help.”

But even as he held her, rocking her gently as she cried, worry carved its way into his soul. She was his Bloodmate, but what if she never let him feed from her? It was something he’d have to live with, and all that mattered was that she was safe. But still, a little part of his soul withered. A vampire who’d never be able to feed from his Bloodmate. It was wrong on so many levels, and even though he was dead, Nikolai found himself hating Sergei even more for what he had done to them. The bastard was ash, yet he’d still managed to leave his mark.