“I know you said I have nothing to fear, but I’m scared, Rook,” she whispers through shuddering breaths. “Everything you and Gammy said…it’s all so big. And dangerous. And I…” She sucks in a breath. “I just can’t lose you. I can’t fucking lose you.”
I pull back just enough to look at her.
Her eyes are red and glassy and full of fear she’s been holding back since we left her grandmother’s house this evening.
“You’re not going to lose me,” I say firmly.
She shakes her head. “You don’t know that.”
“I do,” I reply. “Because us not being together isn’t an option. My entire being revolves around you and me, Kylie. I’ll do everything I have to do to keep you safe.”
Her hands clutch at my shirt like she’s anchoring herself. “Rook—”
I cut her off with a kiss.
And I kiss her like I mean it when I say she’s safe. Like I mean it when I say I’m not going anywhere. She kisses me back with the same intensity, her fear bleeding out into the space between us until all that’s left is heat and need and the quiet understanding that we’ve chosen each other.
When I lift my head, I rest my forehead against hers.
“I’ll carry the fear,” I tell her. “All of it. You don’t need to.”
Her lips tremble. “You can’t do that alone.”
“I’m not alone,” I say. “I have you.”
That seems to settle something in her.
She kisses me again, and when I lift her into my arms, she lets out a small laugh through her tears and wraps her legs around my waist as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.
I carry her to my bedroom—ourbedroom—down the hall, kissing her the entire way.
I lay her on the bed and slowly remove our clothes.
Nothing about this moment is rushed. It’s slow. It’s steady. And it’s focused on us. On just being together.
When I slide my hard cock inside her, she’s wet and aching and needy, but I don’t move with haste. I move with care and gentleness and every ounce of love I feel for her.
“Feed on me, Rook,” she whispers into my ear before pressing her neck to my lips.
Her blood calls to me like a fucking beacon. And my mouth is already watering at the thought of sinking my teeth into her skin and tasting her. Hell, it only makes my already hard cock harder.
But I swallow down the urge and lean my forehead against hers, locking our eyes while I continue to move my cock inside her.
“No,” I say gently. “Not yet.”
She frowns. “Why?”
“Because I’ll never take from you at the expense of your well-being,” I tell her. “Not tonight.”
She studies my face, and I hear her mind trying to find a way to get me to feed on her. She wants it as much as I want it; I have no doubt about that. But her safety and health will always come first for me. I simply can’t feed on her if I feel it’ll make her weak.
“I love you,” I tell her. “Fuck, I more than love you, Kylie.”
“I more than love you too, Rook.”
Eventually, we come together—slowly, deliberately—letting the world outside the cabin walls fall away. The fire crackles. The night presses close. And for the first time since this all began, I let myself believe that here, in this place, she’s truly safe.
I hold her until sleep takes her again. And I spend the rest of the night listening to the quiet thrum of her heartbeat and the steady breaths of her lungs.
