I laid back in the sudsy bubble bath and enjoyed the warm water as it lapped at my skin. Caleb stoked the crackling fire in the bathroom fireplace. His eyes looked even more mesmerizing in the flickering firelight.

I perched my legs on the side of the tub as Caleb lazily ran his fingers over my calves, massaging them in slow circles. Out here in the woods, alone with Caleb, I felt normal. I started to wonder if all my nausea and sickness since my transformation had to do with stress. It was hard to accept that my life had changed so radically, so quickly.

I glanced up at Caleb and wondered if he noticed the differences in me, too. As far as I knew, Reina was the only other vampire woman he’d bedded since his transformation. And that was, supposedly, years ago. All the rest of his sexual conquests were young human women, blood fuckers as I liked to call them. What if he preferred humans over vampires? He’d been attracted to me when I was a human, but how long could I keep his attention now that I was a vampire? I held my head in my hands and tried not to think about it.

“I want to know about the actor,” he said suddenly.

“Owen?”

“Right. Owen Masters. Hollywood’s new Golden Boy.” He drew his hand to his mouth. “How did it happen that you ended up kissing him in front of the Harlowe Theater?”

Even though Caleb’s voice sounded downright reasonable, I knew a storm brewed inside him. If I said the wrong thing to set him off, there’d be no telling the consequences.

“He’s someone from a long time ago. It’s not important.”

“Bullshit.”

“Caleb.” I bit my lip before I said something I’d regret. “Have you heard anything about his current condition? I mean…do you know how he’s doing since the fight last night?”

Caleb narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re feeling protective of him, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m behaving like any decent human would.”

“Well, you’re not human anymore, and I wish you’d remember that.” His lips curved into a knowing smile. “And it turns out neither is your ex-boyfriend. You need to be more careful.”

I drew my legs back under the warm suds, and laid a warm washcloth over my exposed nipples. I didn’t want to hear Caleb’s mind games, and I wasn’t in the mood to be controlled.

“Caleb, don’t be ridiculous. Is this your way of scaring me? You’re paranoid. You think everyone is out to get me, maim me, and kill me. Don’t you see? The world doesn’t work like that.”

Caleb stretched his long, lean arms, and then rested them behind his neck. He looked me over from head to toe, admiring what he saw. “Abby, I’ve survived this long as a vampire because I’ve learned to pay attention.”

“I see.” I gazed up at Caleb, who was seated comfortably in a chair next to the tub. He looked so raw and masculine as he fussed over me. His intentions were noble. But there was always more beneath the surface that he hid from me. His way of protecting me was to keep me in the dark. I couldn’t live like that.

“What are you thinking now? Your mind is dark and stormy with so many images, I can’t tell what’s going on in your pretty little head.” His fingers brushed the top of my crown, and he bent low to kiss me on the forehead.

“Imagine that…being kept in the dark,” I said sarcastically. “Caleb, after all this time, I hardly know anything about you. You keep everything a secret. This house, for example.” I gestured to the elegant bathroom surrounding us. “I don’t know what to expect from you, because I don’t know who you are.”

“Don’t say that,” he bit out. “I’ve shared more with you than anyone since…”

“Since?”

“Since my wife and daughters died.” A shadow fell across his face. “Some things break a man beyond repair, and I don’t like to dwell on my past.”

My face flushed. The death of his wife and twin daughters was a pain I couldn’t imagine.

“Do you still think about them?” I said softly.

“Of course, I think about them, Abby. And I’m sorry I haven’t told you my long, sad story, but some things aren’t worth re-living. I carry that weight with me, and excuse me if I want to try to start over,” he snapped. “I thought by not telling you about my past, I could spare you the burden, and I could spare myself the pity party.”

I pushed down into the still-warm water, underneath the bubbles, so my naked body wasn’t so exposed. I didn’t know what to say to him. I wanted to tell him that I understood, but I didn’t. I wanted to tell him that he could tell me everything, but he already knew that.

How could we bridge the divide between us? He’d walked this lonely road as a vampire for centuries, and I’d just begun. I barely understood my own body, my own cravings. He’d mastered all that years ago. We were on different levels in so many ways.

“I’m here for you, Caleb. You can count on me,” I said finally, breaking the silence.

“Can I really, Abby?” His gaze met mine, and my heart broke for him. “I’ve ruined your life.”

“Caleb. Don’t say that.”

“No? If it wasn’t for me, Greyson never would’ve found you. I’m the reason you died, and I’m the one who brought you back into this miserable life by making you like me.”

“How can you say it’s miserable, when we’re together? You saved me, Caleb.” I reached my hand over the cool edge of the porcelain tub and squeezed his knee. His muscles relaxed, and his hand reached towards mine.

“We saved each other,” he said quietly. “I want to hold you, Abby.”

I cocked my eyebrow. I still hadn’t recovered from last night’s intense limo sex.

“Nothing sexual, I promise.”

I nodded, and scooted forward in the tub to make room for him. He slipped off his clothes, and kicked them across the tile floor. Then, he stepped over the lip of the tub, and settled in behind me. The bathwater had begun to cool, and I shivered as it lapped at my breasts.

Without a word, Caleb nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck. His body heated, surrounded me, and offered a warm cocoon. His body was so hot, it burned. As a human, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. But now, it felt immensely good. The heat from his body transferred to my skin, and into the cool water surrounding us. After a moment, the bath was warm again.

“That’s some trick,” I smiled.

“There are some skills I’ve picked up over the years.” His fingers massaged my shoulders, and I leaned back on his warm chest. His lips skated across my tender cheek. I wanted to know more about him, but I didn’t want to ruin the mood by prying.

I laid silently in his arms, working up the courage to ask him the one burning question that’d been on my mind since the night I met him. If I didn’t ask him now, I might never get the nerve again.

“Tell me about the night you became a vampire. Tell me how you were killed,” I said quietly.

His body tensed around me, and his breath stopped cold. I closed my eyes and burrowed into the crook of his arm, certain I’d said the wrong thing. I hadn’t wanted to upset him, but clearly, I had.

“It was a long time ago. I’ve told you everything you need to know about it.”

“Caleb.” I leaned back into him, his body hard and cool against my heated skin. “I hardly know anything about it. You told me that your wife and daughters died. That’s all I know.”

He perched his elbow on the cool porcelain side of the tub, and held his head in his hand. “It won’t make sense to you. It hardly makes sense to me anymore. How could I be so foolish? So stupid?”

My fingertips reached back and brushed his smooth jawline. He carried so much weight on his shoulders. I wanted him to share the burden with me. I could take it.

“I don’t understand, Caleb. I’m sure you did nothing wrong.”

“No, I did. I’m not proud of it. Not proud of any of it.” He stretched his legs, and pushed his toes against the front of the tub. I regretted asking him something so personal, especially in such a romantic, vulnerable setting.

“Please tell me, Caleb.” I’d already asked the question. It was too late to turn back now.

“My wife Aria was a beautiful woman. The funniest, most caring woman I’d ever met. But she was also insanely jealous.” He paused and stroked his fingers through his dark hair. “Somehow, she got it into her mind that I was cheating on her. She was so sure of it, she wanted to get back at me.”

“What did she do?”

“What do you think she did?” His jaw tensed. “She fucked some guy from the village in our bed. When I found them, he had his dick inside her while our twin daughters slept soundly in the next room. I went crazy, mad with anger. I picked up a hot poker from the fire and smashed it over the man’s head.”

Caleb stopped speaking for a moment, and closed his beautiful blue eyes. Concentrating hard enough, I could see images in his mind of the events of that night. Dark, and intense—from a time long forgotten by most. But in Caleb’s mind, it felt like yesterday. I waited for him to begin speaking again; I didn’t want to rush him for fear he’d clam up. His voice shook as he started to tell me the rest. I couldn’t tell if the memory was too painful to tell, or if he was afraid of how I’d react. Maybe both.

“The man I attacked wasn’t just any man. He was the leader of an illegal opium trade, with ties to the Silk Road. I panicked when he turned and looked at me with his glowing, amethyst eyes. I tried to kill him with the iron rod in my hand, but nothing I did stopped him.”

“Oh, Caleb.” I closed my eyes, feeling the pain and hurt for him as if it was my own.

“He killed her in front of me, and killed our daughters, too.”

I drew a sharp breath as tears streamed down my cheeks. I hadn’t expected this story. I was sorry he had to relive the pain.

“I went crazy trying to kill him, but he was too strong for me. He took me outside and set a match to our home. I watched it go up in flames while he held me down. I begged him to kill me, to let me be with my family.” He gritted his teeth. “But instead, the bastard made me like him. He turned me into a vampire. Into a foul beast who preys on the weak, and sucks blood for sustenance. I never wanted to be this, Abby. He made me this way for all time, so that I could live with the pain of what he’d done.”

I wiped the tears from my eyes and turned to face him. “This wasn’t your fault, Caleb. How could you have known what he’d do? You were enraged, and rightly so. I understand, baby. I understand.”

“Do you?” His eyes met mine, and I saw his trauma reflected back to me. Caleb hadn’t always been a cut-throat Hollywood film director and a vampire. He’d been a good man once, with a family who he loved more than life itself.

“I’m trying to understand,” I said softly. “What became of the vampire? What became of...”

“Viscardi.” The name burned in his throat like acid. His hands balled into fists as he spoke. “I tried to kill him, but he wouldn’t die. So, I hurt him the only way I knew how.” He licked his lips and sighed. “I took the one person away from him that he ever truly loved.”

“I don’t understand…” I shook my head.

“Reina.”

“What does she have to do with this, Caleb?”

“Reina is Viscardi’s daughter, and I turned her against her father. She nursed me back to health, and she fell in love with me. But I couldn’t love her back, of course.”

It all began to make sense. Caleb’s protection of Reina came not out of love, but out of guilt. He'd manipulated her into loving him, all to spite her father. No wonder Caleb couldn’t let her go.

“I thought you said Reina was Queen of the Vampires?”

“She is, Abby. And if she had it her way, I’d be her King. Her father hasn’t been seen in almost a hundred years. Reina is alone, without a family. She,” he paused, “needs me.”

The idea of another woman “needing” Caleb sent me over the edge. I squinted my eyes to hide the jealousy on my face.

“You said that there was nothing serious between you and Reina. You said…”

“Of course, I said that. I didn’t tell you the full story, because I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

“Well, I guess you’re right because I don’t understand,” I shot back at him.

“I know you don’t understand it, Abby. But I’m telling you the truth. It wasn’t fair to Reina how I used her, and how she fell in love with me.”

“The poor baby. Both of you.” I splashed him playfully with bathwater to hide my insecurities.

“Damn it, Abby,” he groaned. “Never mind. I told you about my past, and you still haven’t told me about Owen Masters.”

“What’s there to tell?”

“From the looks of it, there’s a whole lot to tell.”

Now it was my turn in the spotlight. I didn’t want Caleb to think differently of me. I’d thrown myself at Owen in high school, and part of me would always love him. Owen hurt me so badly with his cheating, there was no way our relationship could ever be repaired. I didn’t know how to tell Caleb the truth without sounding like a silly schoolgirl. But I knew Caleb would never stop asking until I gave him an answer.

“Owen was my first boyfriend. He was…” I paused. “Important to me.”

“Your first love?”

I nodded, my face scrunching into a reluctant smile.

“Your first everything.” Caleb studied me and my every movement. How much would my face and my mind give away to him before my words had the chance to explain?

“You loved him?”

I closed my eyes and shook my head. The heat from the bath had gone, and the water now chilled my skin. My arms prickled with goosebumps, and I wrapped them around my knees to stay warm. I wanted Caleb to hold me in his warm embrace again, but he was a million miles away.

“I thought I loved him.” I licked my lips, trying to think of how to tell Caleb what I didn’t even understand fully. “I loved the idea of him. He was a Golden God, and I was a nerdy bookworm. He paid attention to me. He was nice to me.” I paused, as the words ached in my throat. “Until he wasn’t.”

Caleb’s body relaxed a little, and he shifted down in the tub so that our bodies touched again. I could feel the warmth returning to the water as his mood improved.

“I thought I knew what love was, but I didn’t. I didn’t understand love until I met you, Caleb. And that’s the honest truth.” Tears sparked in my eyes, and I tried to hold them back, but they fell just the same.

“My angel.” Caleb pulled me towards him, and rested my head on his broad, strong shoulder. The warmth and security of his arms calmed my nerves. His hands cupped my jaw and raised it up towards his lips. “When I saw you two kissing, I lost my mind. But after the dust settled, all I could think about was that he didn’t matter. I want you no matter who is in your past. As long as I’m your present and your future, I’m happy.”

“It won’t happen again.” My eyes pleaded for him to believe me. “I wish it’d never happened in the first place.”

He smoothed the hair on the crown of my head, and kissed my forehead gently. “You have your past, and I have mine. We’re not teenagers.”

“Thank God for that,” I laughed.

He smiled warmly at me. “Yes, thank God for that.” He laced his arms around me and drew me closer. My body melted into his, and I felt closer to him than I ever had before.