Vicky’s eyes fluttered open when a hand caressed her hair. Her taut muscles protested when she jerked her head off the bed and looked frantically around the room. She’d never meant to fall asleep. She shouldn’t have! She had to keep watch over Nathan and make sure he stayed safe.

The room was empty, the others having left while she slept. Apprehension clenched her chest, but it faded when a hand ran through her hair again.

“They left when I woke up,” Nathan said.

Her heart leapt at the gravelly sound of his voice, and she turned to find him smiling at her.

“Nathan?” she whispered.

“Were you expecting someone else?” he teased, hating the larger circles under her eyes and the terror she radiated.

A choked cry escaped, and she threw her arms around his neck to hug him.

“Easy,” he murmured.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” She released him and sat back.

“I didn’t say let go, just don’t squeeze me to death, vamp.”

Vicky laughed as he gripped her chin and kissed her. “You’re a vamp now too,” she said against his mouth.

“Hmm,” he murmured as he ran his tongue over her lips. “One who could use a shower.” He could barely stand the smell of himself.

Vicky sat back. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” he said.

Propping himself up on the bed, he winced when the movement jarred his body. He felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to every part of him, tenderizing his meat in preparation to feast on it.

“I’m fine,” he assured her when unease flickered over her face.

“You’re still in pain.”

“I’m just sore. How long have I been in this bed?”

“Two days.”

“Two days,” he murmured. It was how long Kadence said it took her to wake again too. He rubbed his forehead, and his nose wrinkled at the sour stench of him. “I’m disgusting.”

That was the nice way of saying it, he decided as he pulled at the soaked shirt clinging to him. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and swept Vicky into his arms. She didn’t seem to mind his odor as she nestled closer. He buried his face in her neck and growled when he smelled the sweet blood pumping through her veins.

“You have to feed.” This morning, she’d consumed the blood Abby brought her in preparation for when he woke.

“I will,” he assured her as he rose with her in his arms.

Twisting in his hold, Vicky slid her legs around his waist as he carried her into the bathroom. He paused to turn on the shower before carrying her over to the sink and setting her on the counter.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she inquired nervously.

Clasping her cheeks tenderly in his hands, he kissed her nose. “I’m better than okay.”

“Was it horrible?” she whispered.

“Some parts were, but it was worth every ounce of pain to have an eternity with you.”

She smiled at him and rested her hands on his. “You’ll be stronger now, and not only because you’re a vampire, but also because the mate bond strengthens the vampires who have it.”

“Interesting,” he murmured and brushed the hair back from her face. As his eyes fell to her throat, a strange prickling started in his mouth, but he didn’t try to fight the lengthening of his fangs. He prodded one of them with his tongue, causing both to extend fully.

“We can feed exclusively from blood bags and each other, or we can hunt. I’ve hunted some, it was easier when I was in college, but I haven’t done so since….”

Since she’d killed, he realized when her voice trailed off. “I’d prefer not to feed directly from a human,” he said.

“Then we won’t,” she said with a smile. “Is the world different for you? I know for humans, the newly heightened senses can be overwhelming at first, but Kadence said she didn’t experience that.”

Nathan reluctantly released her and stepped back. “No. Everything looks, smells, and sounds the same. Except now—” He prodded the tip of a fang as he watched her pulse beat in her neck. “—now, my desire for your blood is nearly as great as the one for your body.”

“It must be a huge temptation then as this is a fantastic body.”

He chuckled as he stripped out of his ruined clothes and grasped the edge of her shirt. “Yes, it is,” he agreed.

She lifted her arms to let him pull off her shirt and toss it aside. He removed her bra next and feasted on the sight of her full breasts when they spilled free. Cupping one of them, he bent to tongue her nipple before tugging at the ring there with his teeth.

Vicky gasped when his fangs scraped over the bud, the new sensation of feeling his fangs on her nearly drove her mad. She craved his bite, but he pulled away.

“Nathan,” she grumbled.

He grasped the waistband of her yoga pants and tugged them down her legs before tossing them aside. When he lifted his head, he caught his reflection in the mirror behind her; his eyes had turned white-blue while he’d been pulling off her pants. He’d seen Kadence’s eyes, and then Sergei’s; he should have known his would become the same color when his emotions were heightened, but the sight of them still startled him.

Vicky rested her hand on his cheek, drawing his attention back to her. “It will take time to get used to the changes.”

With a finger, she traced his bottom lip until Nathan drew it into his mouth and sucked on it. He wrapped his arms around her again and lifted her from the sink. She locked her legs around his waist, rising over him as the head of his cock teased her entrance, causing her to grow wetter with every step he took toward the shower.

Steam rose around them when he entered the shower and closed the glass door behind them. Turning, he pressed her against the tiled wall as the hot water sluiced over his battered muscles. Vicky’s wet heat slicked the head of his dick before he grasped her hips and buried himself inside her.

Unlike his other senses, this joining between them was heightened as ripples of ecstasy raced over his flesh, further easing the discomfort of his sore muscles.

“You feel so good,” he groaned against her throat before sinking his fangs into her flesh.

Nathan feasting on her blood while he moved within her was the most erotic thing Vicky had ever experienced. All she could feel was his slick body possessing hers; all she could smell was the increasing cypress scent of him.

This was what she’d been missing for years. This was what she’d always needed.

Her tears of joy mingled with the water as she lowered her head to his shoulder and bit deep. Nathan’s palm crashed into the tile beside her so forcefully it cracked and fell around them. He growled as the bond between them swelled to encompass them. All the tension of these past months faded away as she finally claimed her mate.

Nathan’s pulse boomed in his ears as her blood filled his cells, strengthening him while it tied them together. He bit deeper when her thoughts and emotions swirled out to tease his mind as the pathway between their minds opened. Pulling his hand away from the shower wall, he cradled the back of her head as her love suffused him.

Beyond that love, he sensed the fear driving her for so long. The certainty that she would never find her mate, and if she did, he would somehow destroy her. Now, he felt her worries ease as they continued to feed on each other and the bond between them intensified.

Reluctantly, he retracted his fangs from her. “Nothing will ever tear us apart,” he vowed.