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Not yet.
His brows rose. “What do you mean, not yet? The bond?”
She’d accidentally slipped into telepathy. “Right. Not yet.”
“But soon. Tell me you’ll really think about it.”
“I will. Of course, I will.”
With that, he relaxed though he continued to kiss her, to nuzzle her throat, to thank her for feeding him. “You have no idea how wonderful I feel now, free from pain, satiated as I’ve never been before. I can’t thank you enough.”
“I’m glad I could do this for you. It seems like such a small thing.”
“Sweet Goddess, it is so much more than you can imagine.”
She wrapped her arms around him and held him close for a long time. It wasn’t but a few minutes, however, before sleep began curling in her brain. The night had been full of stress and surprises. Having sex had eased her and all she wanted was to close her eyes.
He left her body just as she was drifting off. She felt him kiss her cheek then a minute later tuck a washcloth between her legs. She turned on her side and fell into the beautiful oblivion of sleep.
~ ~ ~
Stone showered up and when he returned to bed, Aralynn was sound asleep. With her features relaxed and her eyes closed, with her dark red hair in a fan around her shoulders, she almost looked like the queen herself.
He’d never noticed it before, which made him wonder if Aralynn was perhaps related to Rosamunde, maybe even her daughter.
It hardly mattered who Aralynn’s parents were, however, even if it meant that Rosamunde was somehow related to her. He’d come to love her, to value her deeply and to trust her in the short time he’d spent battling beside her. What the queen lacked in boldness, Aralynn had a thousand times over.
He slipped into bed, drew close and spooned her, sliding his arm over her waist. She caught his hand in hers and in her sleep held on tight. “I’m so sorry, Stone,” she mumbled. “I’m so sorry.”
He chuckled softly. What on earth did Aralynn have to be sorry about?
He fell asleep for the day to thoughts about how blessed he was to have her in his life.
~ ~ ~
Rosamunde awoke to the smell of coffee, but not just any coffee. What was that spice?
She rolled onto her back then the rest of the way to face the other direction. For a moment, she buried her face in Stone’s pillow and drank in his vampire scent. Even his pillows had the rocky streambed scent that she’d grown to crave. Desire once more curled between her legs. Memories of all that they’d done together, the pleasure he’d given her and what she’d returned happily, danced in her mind.
She couldn’t remember being this happy in her entire life.
The protective shutters had already retracted for the night, which meant she’d slept a long time. The back of the house faced west and there was just a hint of the setting sun, the faintest glow in the distant horizon.
Her wolf’s hearing allowed her to detect Stone’s bare feet on the slate floor and the smell of the coffee grew stronger.
She was about to flip over in bed when awareness dawned and she touched her face, her shoulders, her arms. She glanced at her hands. She wasn’t looking at Aralynn’s hands at all.
Somewhere in her sleep she’d become Rosamunde.
She drew in a deep breath and transformed back to her wolf-self.
A second later, Stone appeared in the doorway. “You’re awake. Good.”
She pushed herself up with her hands. “Good eventide, Mastyr Stone.” She gasped. Aralynn wouldn’t offer such a formal greeting, but Rosamunde would.
He frowned as he handed her a steaming mug of coffee.
She thought a hard shift of subject might help. “This smells heavenly. What’s in it?”
