He did not respond to my statement, and he did not need to—I knew the truth. Instead, he began to undress, and as I watched him peel his soaked clothes from his wet, hard body, a delicious warmth simmered inside me.

Naked, he approached the bed, and as he sat, I turned toward him.

“We will each need to feed before tomorrow,” he said.

“You say that as if it is a bad thing.”

“It is not a bad thing,” he said, trailing his fingers down the side of my face. “Are you afraid of me?”

“I have never been afraid of you,” I said. “Even when I hated you.”

I was lying, but only a little. I had been afraid when Dis had taken him over. But I had been afraid, too, when she had tried to take over the night of Efram’s resurrection. I would not say those things aloud, and if he discovered them, it would have to be because he read my mind.

He smiled and leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine.

“I love you,” he said.

I smiled and placed my palm against his cheek. “Why does it feel like you are saying goodbye?”

“I just want you to know,” he said. “I want you to always know.”

I knew what he was doing—it was not a matter of just in case, it was a matter of when I lose control.

I watched him a moment, wanting him—his come, his blood, his love. Those were the things that would make him mine, that he would remember in the face of Dis’s control. I worked my shift over my head, appreciating the way Adrian’s eyes darkened with lust.

Naked, I straddled him, and his hands dug into my ass as he settled me over his heavy arousal.

He tipped his head back to hold my gaze and I whispered over his lips, “Kiss me.”

His hands moved up, over my back and to my shoulders, and as his mouth found mine, he ground against me, his tongue matching the pace at which I moved against him. I moaned and started to push him back, but he shifted first and pushed me into the bed.

His hand swept down my body, and I widened my legs, desperate to feel his touch. I was swollen and hot and completely void, and when he ran his hand over my heat, he moaned, breaking our kiss.

“So fucking wet,” he said, and let one finger slip inside, then another. “Fuck.”

He sat back, gripping himself as he curled inside me. As he watched me, I moved my hand to my swollen and sensitive clit, teasing him at first but soon becoming lost in the sensation as I increased the friction against it.