It surprised him when she just calmly drank and then let him go, licking the wound to seal it. He inhaled, not picking up arousal from her. “Are you in that much pain?”

She gazed at him. “What?”

“You didn’t experience any bloodlust.”

“Oh.” She grinned. “I didn’t.” She looked down. “Wow!”

He studied her arm. The redness faded fast, her skin healing at a swift rate before their eyes.

“That doesn’t suck at all. I’ve been sunburned before. It took a long time to go away.”

He scooped her up. “Did you sleep?”

“No.”

“We’re sleeping.”

He took her to bed and curled around her. She noticed the condition of his erect cock and tried to roll to face him. He tightened his hold. “Get some rest.”

“But—”

“I have three meetings in a few hours. Sleep, Kira. I love you.”

She sighed. “I guess the honeymoon phase is over.”

He chuckled. “Not even close. I’m behaving because you just got burned and you look tired. Tonight when I get back home, I’m going to spend hours making love to you.”

“Tease.”

Chapter Fifteen

Kira had cabin fever. She paced. It drove her crazy to stay inside the cramped den. Lorn had left and wouldn’t be home for hours.

Her attention turned to the kitchen and she decided to attempt food.

“Baby steps,” she sighed, scrambling eggs in a pan on the single-burner camp stove. The smell didn’t make her feel sick as they quickly cooked. She took a seat at the table and sniffed. They were actually appealing.

It felt strange to put a fork into her mouth after days of only drinking blood. The texture was one she knew well. Scrambled eggs were usually a favorite quick breakfast. She only wished she had bread. Toast would have been great with it.

She chewed and swallowed a few bites, paused, waiting to see how her body responded. A few minutes later, thrilled about having no ill side effects, she finished eating them and washed the dishes.

“I need to get out of here.” She stared at the door before crossing the room, shoving it open, and entering the lift. “I can’t take it anymore.”

Fresh air was a wonderful thing as she inhaled once she reached ground level and climbed up one of the boulders. A quick scan of the area didn’t show her Kar’s heat signature. He wasn’t within sight. She leapt off the boulder and landed in a crouch, rose up and smiled.

Scents came to her. Most of them she could identify. The wild flowers that grew in the sun patches between the trees were sweet. A slightly musky smell drew her attention to the far left and she narrowed her eyes, staring in that direction. The dense trees hid it at first but then she saw what looked like a bear.

“What are you doing out?”

She startled and spun, gawking at Garson.

“You’re supposed to stay inside Lorn’s den.”

“I didn’t see or hear you.” She paused, sniffed. “Or smell you.”

“I’m downwind. I didn’t want to be tracked here in case anyone from the clan followed to see where I snuck off to. And I rolled around in the grass. It’s an effective way to cover scents. I smelled you.”

“Do I stink?” She still worried about that since becoming a Vampire.

“You mostly smell like Lorn.” He came closer, stopping a few feet away. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“You do?”

“Vampires can carry a coppery scent from drinking blood, and rogues stink of dirt and other gross shit since they don’t bathe enough. Some carry a decayed smell.” He inhaled. “I’m happy to say you don’t.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“You don’t smell the way you did though. The human scent is totally gone. May I?”

She nodded.

He leaned in close to her throat and his hot breath fanned her skin. He sniffed deeply and straightened. “You smell like VampLycan and cooked eggs.”

“Really? Or is it just Lorn?”

“Does it matter? Anyone who comes into contact with you will read you as one of ours. It seems the blood exchange is working.”

“I was up during the day and withstood some sunlight for a short period of time before it started to burn my skin.”

“I heard.” Garson glanced around. “I was also told you promised to stay below ground. I’m your guard tonight.”

“I needed to get out.”

“I get it. We weren’t meant to remain cooped up inside small spaces.”

“I’d like to test out what I can do now. Is that okay? I’ll stay close.”

“What’re you planning?”

“I don’t know yet. Maybe see how fast I can run or how high I can jump. I’ve never had these abilities before.”

“Veso trained you how to fight.” He stepped back. “Do you want to spar?”

“Uh…no.” The notion of fighting with someone she didn’t know all that well didn’t appeal to her. Garson had never been mean to her when they’d grown up together but he’d avoided her like everyone else. She wouldn’t exactly call him a friend. “But thanks for the offer.”

His phone rang and he removed it from his pocket, glanced at the screen, and held his finger to his lips as he answered it. He pressed it to his ear. “What’s up?”

Kira heard the response with her keener hearing. “Trouble. Get back here.”

“I’m on my way.” He hung up. “Go back inside the den and lock in. I’ll be back.”

“Who was that?”

“Kar.” He spun, shoving the phone back inside his pocket. “Move, Kira. Get inside.” He took off, running fast.

Kira hesitated, torn over what to do—then took off after him.

It was easy to see Garson’s slightly glowing heat signature. He could really move though, and it took effort to keep up since she wasn’t used to running far distances in her new body. She just hoped she stayed back far enough that he wouldn’t figure out that she’d ignored his order.

She realized he headed toward the lodge and slowed a little in case the wind shifted to reveal her scent, or any noise big enough for him to hear over the ones he made as he rushed to get to Kar. Lorn would be with him.