“Drink from me,” she urged him, drawing back and gathering her hair away from her neck. “Take all you need.”
God help him, he didn’t have the will to refuse. He sank his fangs into the soft column of her throat and drank, then drank some more. Her blood rejuvenated him instantly, mending torn flesh and muscle, repairing bullet-shattered bone. The rounds embedded in him were pushed out one by one. They clinked against the bathroom tiles as they fell.
On a shivery sigh, Naomi stroked her fingers in his hair and held him close as he gave himself over to the power of her healing, intoxicating red cells. As his body knit back together, desire roared through him.
He wanted her, but not here. Not like this. When he made love to her next, he wanted to do it slowly, reverently. He wanted to make love to her as his mate.
He groaned and swept his tongue over the twin punctures, sealing them closed.
“I need you,” he whispered against her skin, his voice rough with emotion. “Not just in my blood, Naomi. But in my life forever.”
He pulled back and took her face in his palms, his transformed eyes bathing her milky skin in a warm amber glow. “I love you so much. For a few minutes tonight, I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to tell you that again. When I saw Slater take you up in that elevator and I wasn’t able to reach you in time . . .fuck. I was so afraid I was going to lose you.”
She shook her head, leaning forward to kiss him. “I love you too, Asher. I never want anything to separate us.”
“Nothing will,” he assured her, then blew out a harsh breath. “I was so damn proud of you tonight. Even though it scared me shitless to see you take Slater on the way you did, I was in awe of you, the fact that you don’t run from any challenge. No matter how much I might wish you would.”
She laughed softly, pressing her forehead to his. “I guess I’m a lot like my mom. It’s strange how much I realize that now. I thought she was weak, but Slater’s confession proved just the opposite. She stood up to him. In the end, she took him on too. And he killed her for it.”
Asher cursed, fury flaring in his gut. “I wanted to make him suffer in his final moments.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I saw what you did . . . with your gift.”
He couldn’t deny it. “That was the first time I ever savored a death. Now, every time I think about what he did to you and to Michael, even to your mother, I’ll remember his horror. I’ll remember his hopelessness and I’ll like it.”
“Asher.” She caressed his cheek, her gaze tender. Then she bent her head and began to kiss the patches of his chest and torso that weren’t riddled with mending wounds.
“You’ve healed me, Naomi. In places you can’t see too. But you’ve also ruined me. I never want to know what it’s like to live a day without you in my life.”
She looked up at him. “I’m not going anywhere. This is home. Right here,” she said, lifting her head to kiss his mouth. “And right here.” She placed a kiss to the base of his throat, then another to the center of his chest, where his heart banged strongly behind his sternum. “And right here.”
Asher smirked. “Keep going. I’m all yours.”
She laughed and stood up, taking his hand as she reached into the shower and turned on the water. “Let’s work on the rest of you first. But I definitely want to come back to that idea.”
CHAPTER 27
Naomi stepped out of the master bedroom wearing Asher’s T-shirt, her hair still damp from the shower. As much as she wanted to lose herself in the comfort and passion of his arms, her thoughts were also on the little girl inside the house with them.
She crept up the hallway and smiled to find Penny sound asleep on the sofa, Sam’s big body wedged tight against her on the thin cushions. The child slept as if she hadn’t had a good rest for weeks, and maybe she hadn’t. As quietly as she could, Naomi walked over and retrieved a crocheted afghan and placed it over both the snoring dog and the girl.
She stepped back, simply gazing at the peaceful scene, her heart clenched with contentment.
“Hey.” Asher’s low whisper caressed her senses as he came to stand beside her in nothing but a loose-fitting pair of gym pants. His wounds were all but vanished now, the worst of them nothing but raised pink marks on his golden skin. “Sam’s in his glory.”
Naomi nodded. “I can’t stop thinking about the rest of them. The other kids back in the city.”
He placed a soft kiss to her shoulder. “We’ll go back tomorrow night, as soon as the sun’s down.”
“What if we don’t find them all, Asher?”
“Then we’ll go back again the next night, and the one after that. Until we bring them all home.”
“Home,” she murmured, turning to look at him. “I like the sound of that.”
“Me too.” He lifted her chin and brushed his lips over hers. “Come with me, Naomi. The girl will be asleep until morning.”
He brought her back to the bedroom and closed the door silently behind them.
