He opened his mouth to respond before closing it and shaking his head.
“Please be happy for me,” she implored.
“Iamhappy for you, and if this is what you want, I’ll support it.”
“It is,” she said.
He smiled at her before kissing her cheek. “Is this me giving you away?”
She laughed. “I think so.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Elyse stirredwhen she heard the door open and rolled over to watch Saxon enter the room. She dimly recalled him pulling away from her earlier. Kissing her, he told her he was going to feed; she fell asleep again before he left the room. He crept over to the bed and smiled when he discovered her awake. Resting his hand on her cheek, he stroked her skin.
“Everything okay?” she murmured.
“Yes. Nathan and Vicky have a healthy baby boy.”
She smiled as she nestled deeper into the pillows that smelled of him. While he was gone, she’d sprawled across the bed and taken most of his side too. “That’s wonderful; what did they name him?”
“They’re still trying to decide.”
“What day is it?”
“January twenty-third.”
She had no idea if she’d been sleeping for hours or days. “Have you seen my dad?”
“I think he’s still sleeping too.”
“Good.”
She scooted back in the bed and held the blanket up for him. Gripping the bottom of his shirt, he pulled it over his head and tossed it aside before tugging off his jeans and crawling in beside her.
Drawing her into his arms, Saxon held her against him as her hand fell to his chest. He inhaled her cherry scent while he rubbed the smooth flesh of her back. Yesterday, they’d been too exhausted to do anything more than strip and climb into bed, but now he detected the accelerated beat of her heart and sensed her rising excitement as she caressed him.
Her hand slid lower, and Saxon groaned when she gripped his shaft while his hand slipped between her legs. She lifted her mouth to his and kissed him. When he opened his mouth, her tongue teased the tips of his retracted fangs until they extended.
A thrill ran through her as she flattened her palms against his chest and pushed him back. Climbing on top of him, she straddled him as she took him into her. She moaned, and her back arched when he buried himself inside her.
Saxon grasped her hips as she slowly rode him. Lowering herself over him, her breasts pressed against his chest as she whispered in his ear, “Turn me.”
Saxon stiffened beneath her; had he heard her right? When she grasped her hair and pulled it aside to reveal her tempting vein, he realized he had. While gone, he gorged on the bags of blood they kept in a room off the gym in the hopes of finishing his healing process and that she would agree to join him.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“I’m sure,” she whispered. “I love you.”
Clasping the back of her head, he drew her closer. “I love you too.”
When he sank his fangs into her throat, she came with a cry. The force of her orgasm pulled his from him, and he shuddered as she collapsed against him with a contented purr.
Rolling her over, he pinned her to the bed while he continued to feed on her. When he felt her growing weaker and heard the stuttering beat of her heart, he knew it was time to give her his blood. His heart hammered as he retracted his fangs and bit into his wrist. She was supposed to be on the brink of death to complete the transformation, but he hated seeing her so weak, and he despised being the cause of it.
Her eyes were dazed and glassy when he placed his wrist against her mouth, but a small smile curved her lips while she drank from him.
“I love you,” he whispered again as her eyes closed.
