When she smiled at him and leaned closer, the scent of lemons drifted from her. “I’m going to go wait for you in your room. Watching you do all this manly work has turned me on a little.”
His mouth went dry. “Just a little?”
“Maybe a little bit more than that, but you’ll have to come find me to learn the truth.”
With that, she turned and sauntered out of the garage with a little extra sway to her hips. At the doorway, she paused to look at him over her shoulder. The saucy grin she sent him caused him to drop the socket wrench. He wiped his hands on his already dirty rag and chased her out the door.
Elena laughed as she sprinted across the open grounds and toward the mansion. She was almost to the door when he caught her around the waist and spun her to face him.
“I have to feed first,” he said before claiming her mouth in a kiss that he expected to be only the beginning of many fantastic things to come.
Elena hadn’t gone to the garage with this in mind. She’d been content to keep putting her decision off after Kadence and Simone confided in her about how agonizing the transition was. They’d both emphatically agreed it was completely worth it, but they also told her it would take some time to adjust afterward.
She was in no rush to be in pain, confused, and disoriented or to drink blood, but she was in a hurry to be with Logan ineverypossible way. He was her everything, and though he’d seemed more stable since returning here, she sensed his growing need to change her every time his eyes landed on her. Sometimes, she would turn, and he’d be watching her in such a ravenous way she wondered if one day he would snap and force the change on her.
If they were still in Arizona, that day very well might have come, but here, back with his friends and amongst his compound, he felt more secure about her safety, and he’d relaxed a little. But when they were together and when he fed on her, she sensed his growing desire to change her.
No, she hadn’t gone looking for him today with the possibility of becoming a vampire in mind, but once the words left her mouth, she was certain it was the right choice.
She was starting to melt into him when he pulled away, kissed her nose, and released her.
“I have to go now, or I’m not going to leave you, and you must have plenty of blood after the change,” he said. “I’ll shower and meet you in our room.”
Those words startled her as she still considered ithisroom. But though it had been his room foryears, he already didn’t see it that way. It only made her more confident about her decision to join him.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Elena wasn’t shockedto discover Kadence and Simone weren’t lying about the pain. At first, she tried not to reveal her misery to Logan as she gritted her teeth and resisted screaming against the sensation of her muscles tearing apart.
Every part of her felt like she was being broken down and reformed into something else. She knew what that something else was; she’d asked for it to happen. She’d expected all of this, but she still wasn’t prepared for theintensityof it.
No matter what she did, she couldn’t evade the agony digging deeper and deeper until it became a part of her marrow. Until every breath felt as if someone were taking hundreds of brands and searing them into her muscles.
When Logan rested his lips against her ear, his whispered words of love and devotion helped calm some of her suffering and the emotional turmoil churning inside her. She didn’t fear she’d made a mistake when he was holding her hand or kissing her as he placed damp cloths across her brow.
The torment in his voice made her want to reach out to him, but she couldn’t move. If she moved so much as a fraction of an inch, it only made things worse. She worried if she moved too much,allof her bones would shatter.
She had no idea how long she suffered, how often she cried out or screamed, but Logan remained beside her throughout it all. And as time inched onward at the pace of a snail, she begged for it to end soon. She didn’t know if she said those words out loud or if they ran on repeat in her mind, but it had to end.
And then, as she repeatedly slipped in and out of consciousness, one of the times she woke again, she didn’t hurt so badly anymore. The arms enveloping her as she sat propped against a solid bare chest didn’t feel like they would crush her bones. Warmth surrounded her, and so did the fragrance of lavender.
Her eyes fluttered open, and for the first time in she couldn’t remember how long, she could see without feeling as if her brain would melt out of her skull. She blinked against the influx of light, not because it stung her eyes but because she couldn’t recall the last time she could see, and it surprised her to do so now.
She took in the tiles on the wall and the large bathtub she found herself in. Logan cradled her against his chest and rested his chin on her head while he leisurely worked his hands over her knotted muscles. The bubbles in the bath were the cause of the lavender scent.
This big, strong, powerful vampire was sitting in a lavender bath with her. If she hadn’t still felt so awful, Elena would have laughed, but though it had stopped feeling like a thousand fists were battering her body, she was still sore and exhausted.
“How are you feeling?” Logan asked as he gently kneaded her thighs.
“Like crap,” she said honestly.
He nuzzled her hair before kissing her cheek. “You’ll feel better once you feed.”
Elena’s heart jumped at his words. She hadn’t realized she was hungry until then, but her mouth watered and her teeth tingled oddly as her stomach rumbled.
With tender care, she prodded her canines with her tongue and almost squeaked when they lengthened. The sensation was so unfamiliar she bit her bottom lip and then whimpered when blood spilled free.
“Easy,” Logan coaxed as he wiped the blood from her chin. “You’re okay; I’ve got you.”
