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Her hand squeezed his. Julian waited with bated breath. Leah’s eyelids fluttered, then opened. Her hazel eyes, more gray than green today, glittered with love and happiness.
“I love you too.”
Feeling alive for the first time in a thousand years, Julian leaned down and kissed her. She sighed against his lips, a soft and sweet sound that kicked his desire into overdrive. He suppressed the urge to go fast and kept the kiss gentle and light.
Neither of them said a word after the kiss. Julian cherished that perfect moment with only them in the room, without any intrusion from the outside world.
“You haven’t told me why I was in surgery,” Leah said after a few minutes.
Right. He’d forgotten about that. After he explained about the implant, Leah sighed, then smiled.
“Good. Now Dmitri won’t be able to meddle with my life anymore.”
“No, he won’t.”
Julian soaked in the contentment emanating from Leah. In the short time he’d known her, he could count on his fingers the number of times she’d looked this happy and comfortable.
He planned to make her feel this way every single day of their eternity together.
“How long do I have to stay in the hospital?”
“I’m not sure. But if you have some of my blood, we can leave tonight.”
“Do it.”
Leah watched, fascinated, when Julian’s claw extended over his right index finger, and he sliced into his other wrist. Blood welled. He placed his wrist over her lips.
“Drink, before it heals.” His deep voice was hypnotic. Irresistible.
The blood tasted strange on her tongue, thick, smooth, and a little salty. Leah had trouble swallowing the first bite, but the effect was instantaneous when she did. Power slammed into her and made her dizzy. Before she knew it, she swallowed another mouthful and was ready to fight off vampires. It was a hundred times more intense and potent than the Organization’s injections.
Smells and sounds she’d never heard before bombarded her. Conversations from the other side of the building. The crackling of the lights in the hallway. The anguished cry of a grieving parent outside in the yard. A squirrel running up a tree a hundred yards away.
If that wasn’t overwhelming enough, her and Julian’s combined scent, a mixture of wild forest and cinnamon, along with their arousal, filled her nostrils.
Was this how it was for him?
Stop. She shivered from the intimacy of his voice brushing against her mind. The link between them was invisible to the eye, but to her, it felt as substantial as a thick rope tying them together.
The noise was overwhelming. Through it all, the steady beat of Julian’s heart anchored her. She licked the last droplets of blood and took a deep breath.
“You’ll get used to it in a little.”
Leah said nothing, closed her eyes, and counted to thirty. The sounds and smells diminished until they were no longer overpowering, though her senses remained sharp.
The incessant pain in her head also disappeared. She hadn’t noticed it until it was gone and peace and quiet settled over her.
When she opened her eyes, she smiled seeing Julian hovering over her, his gaze touched with concern.
“You ready? We don’t have to rush it.”
“No, I want to go.”
Leah sat up with Julian’s help. Together, they pulled out the IVs attached to her as well as all the other medical equipment monitoring her. The machine next to her beeped a long note. A second one gave out a shrill alarm.
“That can’t be good,” she muttered.
Footsteps pounded down the hallway. A group of people rushed in, all looking rather haggard.
