She thought when Alexis had shown her passion in her bedroom, after their argument over Josie, that she had finally broken through those tough layers of steel Alexis had around her, but it hadn’t turned out that way.

Katie had been so angry at herself for ever finding Alexis attractive, far less having the biggest crush on her since she was a teenager, but the way Alexis had saved her from Josie and taken care of her since had made her think maybe her heart was right all this time.

“May I?” Alexis asked again.

Katie shook herself from her thoughts. “Yes, sorry.”

Alexis tenderly unwrapped her neck bandage, and Katie winced as the pad covering her bite was eased off.

“Sorry,” Alexis said.

“It’s okay. How does it look?”

Katie watched as Alexis examined her wound, and her eyes started to flame red, the colour a vampire’s eyes became when they felt extremes of emotion.

“What’s wrong? Is it that bad?” Katie asked.

Alexis stared silently at her wound, becoming tense with utter fury, it seemed.

“Alexis? Is the wound worse?”

Alexis closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them, Alexis looked at her and said with passion and anger, “I hate seeing her bite on you. If I ever find Josie, I won’t break her neck—I’ll sever her head from her shoulders, so she’ll never harm a human again.”

Katie was taken aback with her honesty. Her heart beat heavily, and her stomach flipped in response to Alexis’s passion. Alexis did feel deeply—she was sure of it now.

Alexis must have seen her silence as fear of her fury, because she took a breath and said, “I’m sorry. I hate to see a vampire use such violence in an attempt to feed. New bloods often do, and some vampires never learn to take what they need with care and respect.”

“I know—some are rougher than others, but my best experience came to me when I was new to giving blood.”

Alexis looked away, clearly not wanting to hear about an experience she’d had with another vampire.

“Alexis?” Katie touched Alexis’s chin and made her look up to her. “It was you. I was a blood virgin, and you slowly, kindly eased me through my first experience. I’ve never had anything close to that feeling that gave me”—Katie moved her hand to caress Alexis’s cheek—“but then you ran.”

Alexis covered her hand with hers and took a breath. “Katie, I ran that day because…”

Finally, Alexis was going to explain, to tell her the truth about that day. “Why, tell me?”

Alexis shuffled forward on her knees and put her arms on Katie’s waist. “I ran because—” Suddenly Alexis’s phone started to ring and the intense moment was gone. Alexis pulled the phone from her pocket and said, “Sorry. I have to take it.”