Chapter 8

Dinner that night was full of laughing and joyous sounds, as the three Scottish born and bred men sang and joked, and the multitude of dogs howled.

Nikola sat in his usual spot observing their mirth.

Daniel sat next to Fei Yin and continued to whisper things to her that made her laugh.

On the other side sat Gruber and Finn, their moods greatly improved despite the news of their dearly departed hound. They were drinking more alcohol than he'd been permitted the entire time he'd been here, and sang loudly when the spirit called for it.

Laren hadn't stopped smiling since they'd sat down, enjoying their company. Nikola tried not to notice the fleeting glances she would occasionally shoot his way, but he found himself every so often looking to see if she had.

He nursed his one glass of wine and ate absently, his fork every once in a while stabbing the tender piece of finely cooked venison and bringing it to his mouth, but truth be told he wasn't very hungry. Not like he ever got hungry, food was more like a social thing for him, but to keep up appearances, and just for the sake of flavor and the simple pleasure of it, he ate.

He continued to observe silently all through dinner, and through dessert, which was delicious, he noted.

Gruber and sons seemed to be the life of the party so his participation wasn't sorely missed anyways. He still cradled his half-drunk glass of wine as they moved from the dining hall to the parlor to pour even more alcohol into the groundskeeper's cup as he and Finn pulled out a chessboard determined to play a wicked round of drunk chess.

Laren went over to the gramophone and put on some light waltz music to keep the mood up. He liked the sound of it; it was all instrumental but had a beautiful beat that kept the spirits in the room up and the silence to a minimal.

She poured herself a glass of port and sat on the sofa next to Gruber to watch their game. Nikola caught himself watching her every move but did nothing to remove his gaze from her.

Laren's eyes met his with a warm smile.

"It seems we've lost part of our party," she said lightly.

Nikola smirked.

"I believe Danny boy and Fei Yin decided to go for a walk, it's beautiful tonight," Nikola said casually. "I'm tempted to go out there myself, though it's hardly as enjoyable by yourself."

Laren chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Are you insinuating something?" she asked.

"Nothing at all, just noting that it's a lovely night for a stroll, or a dance." Nikola put his glass down and stood up, walking over to her.

He held his hand out to her and Laren gave him a look.

"Nikola..."

"It's just a dance, I promise to be on my best behavior." Nikola placed a hand on his heart as if taking an oath.

He grinned down at her and extended his hand out to her again.

"Come on, dance with me," he smirked. "Don't leave me to dance to this beautiful music by myself."

Laren sighed and relented, giving him her hand.

They moved away from the sofas to a wider space in the room, where the light was dimmer and Nikola gently pulled her into a light waltz.

"I never realized you were a dancer," she chuckled.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Nikola smirked.

"When'd you learn?" she asked.

"When I was five," he said with a shrug. "I had lessons and everything."

Laren smirked.

"And how long ago was that?" she teased.

"Well over 75 years," he chuckled.

"Did your mother teach you?" she asked.

"No, my father was an orthodox priest, dancing was practically a sin in his mind. He only allowed my sisters to learn because it was almost a pre-requisite for any of them to get married. One of his charges though, an old woman he had sent me to visit daily, believed that all young boys should learn to dance. This was when he was trying to make me the picture perfect altar boy that would turn me into the priest he'd always hoped I'd become."

"I see you honored your father's wishes," she teased with a smirk.

"Oh yes, as soon as I could I took all I could pack with me and headed to Austria for school. I got kicked out of the Polytechnic for being smarter than their professors, but I learnt to speak English as a second language so that wound me up in Oxford, England."

Laren nodded.

"That's quite the history," she concluded.

"Well, you asked," he shrugged.

"True I did," she nodded.

"Answer me a few questions then," he challenged her.

"Alright." She looked up at him.

"What were your parents like?" he asked casually.

"Oh, very Scottish," Laren said with a smirk.

"As in?"

"My father was Scottish, born and raised in a family of 8 boys and 1 daughter. He was the eldest so he inherited the family home when his father died and he was all too proud to take it. Hard work was his hobby, horses were his pride, and I was his Scottish princess, my mother his queen."

"Sounds simple," Nikola teased.

"He was." Laren smirked. "My mother was the reader."

"Ah, and what made you decide to marry an Englishman?" Nikola smirked, continuing to sway her gently to the music.

"I met him in college," she said with a sigh. "He kind of charmed me with his English wit."

Nikola smirked slightly and looked down, he knew the feeling.

"So tell me about your groundskeeper," he changed the subject, not really wanting to talk about her late husband anymore.

"An old friend of the family, been here as long as I can remember. Finn was about 14 years old when I left for college. They've always been here, they're like family to me," she smiled over at her two drunk friends as they tried to play chess without falling over.

Nikola smirked at them as well but returned his gaze to her.

"There's a lot of care in this place," he muttered.

"There is," she agreed, not seeing the way he was looking at her.

Nikola didn't want to care so much for a person in a long while, and all of a sudden there she was, someone who needed him, someone he was willing to need.

He stilled and kept his gaze fixed on her. She looked up noticing they had stopped dancing, but her eyes showed no apprehension. She felt the same way and was trying to fight it, he knew she was.

He pulled back suddenly.

"On second thought I'm going to go for that walk, I think I should...find some of your clothes for you," he sighed and she nodded, stepping out of his embrace.

"That would probably be best...you can just bring them to my room when you find them all," she said, a glint of something in her eye that Nikola could not identify, only that it was an invitation to enter her most private sanctum.

She left and returned to her old friends, gently coaxing them to give up their game and sleep off their drunkenness.

Nikola was frozen for a moment, lost in thought at the implications of her allowing him into her room, and what was she truly saying.

He needed to walk it off, he decided and left the parlor.

He stepped outside and breathed in deeply, letting the cool air wash the tingling sensations from Laren's touch right out of him.

Why did he always do this? Why did he always fall for women he couldn't have? Was it just his curse or did he just prefer the challenge?

He decided he'd do a perimeter check, make sure everything was fine before retiring to another night of fitful, lust-ridden dreams that would just drive him more and more crazy about the new woman who would not return his affections. He didn't even know what his affections were, only that they were there, and that they wanted her, and ugh...

He groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face.

His head snapped when he suddenly heard a sound, it was voices...talking, people talking.

He followed the sounds over to the stable and peeked in through the window, maneuvering himself into the shadows to stay out of sight.

Daniel was stroking the mare as Fei Yin scooped oats into her feed bin.

Nikola smirked.

They had been acting like this all night. Fei Yin had no idea the way Daniel looked at her, as if she was the most delicate flower he'd ever seen.

She probably thought it was just friendliness, or whatever her young heart could come up with to excuse it. She was so tentative and meek, and Daniel was the protector sort. Quiet, smart, brave, sweet.

Nikola thought back to when he was the young man's age. He was cocky, headstrong, sure of himself, that was until he met Helen and then he wasn't sure of anything. She struck up wants and desires in him that he never knew he had until her fingers had brushed his, and he started having dreams, fantasies, her in that scarlet gown, stripping it of its layers bit by bit.

Daniel was much to sweet to have those kinds of fantasies about Fei Yin, and truly Fei Yin would never be that bold, but he did want to kiss her, Nikola could tell that much.

"Did you have fun on your travels?" asked Fei Yin.

"I slept most of the time we were on the road, but once we got there I had a time," he said with a casual shrug. "You should come with us sometime, you know, once this whole Ralph business is over."

"I'm not much of a hunter," Fei Yin blushed.

"I'll teach ya!" Daniel sprung up from his position of leaning against the stall and went over to her, standing behind her. He gently lifted her arms up, positioning them as if they were holding an invisible rifle. "Imagine. One of them buck's eating in a clearing. You aim your cross-hairs, like so," he adjusted her invisible rifle, closing one eye as if looking through the scope. "You breath in, and poosh!"

Fei Yin yelped slightly and let go of the invisible rifle with a blush and a giggle.

"I can't," she shook her head.

"Sure you can, you'd have a blast," smirked Daniel.

"No, I couldn't, besides, I need to keep up with my studies," she shrugged.

"Right," Daniel sighed disappointedly. "Maybe some other time, when you're not studying."

"You could still...teach me if you, if you wanted," she added shyly.

Daniel perked up.

"Right, then by the time you get there you'll have no problem," he grinned at her.

Nikola smirked, the cruel fatherly part of him just wanted to burst in and embarrass the hell out of them, just for kicks, but Fei Yin was already tentative as it was and he didn't want to make it worse for her.

"Spying on the horses are you?" Nikola turned to see Laren standing a few feet behind him.

"Young love, you know," he shrugged. "They make everything so difficult."

Laren smirked.

"I remember," she chuckled.

"I was just doing a perimeter check when I heard voices, I was just making sure nothing was wrong," Nikola sighed moving away from the window. "And nothing is so I'll continue my rounds."

Laren fell into step beside him.

"I'll join you," she said.

Nikola shrugged.

"Is the game over?" He said jokingly and Laren laughed lightly.

"Yes, I sent them both to bed, they should be fine by the morning," Laren chuckled.

"Ok, what are we doing?" Nikola spun to around to face her.

"We're walking," Laren said casually.

"No, this I mean, you are sending some very mixed signals right now," Nikola glared at her hard.

"I'm not, we're just chatting," she smiled at him.

"Laren, please," he sighed. "There is an obvious tension between us, and I'm pretty sure it's not just my ego talking."

"Would you prefer it if I ignored you all together?" she smirked at him.

"It would be a lot less confusing," he chuckled.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you were actually going to bring me my clothes before I retired." Laren smiled but stepped back.

"And I will." Nikola eyed her suspiciously.

"Then I will bid you goodnight." She nodded and walked away.

Nikola watched her leave, feeling as if she had deliberately dodged all of his questions.

Which she had.

What a confusing and infuriating woman. More so than Helen, at least with Helen he could tell when her no's were no's and her no's were yeses.

He shook his head.

Maybe he was just skipping a step. Everything he was feeling was still fresh in his mind, maybe she had already moved on to that flirty friendship that leads no where but is all just a game.

He sighed and decided to distract himself by finding all her clothes as he'd promised.

~~~~Elsewhere~~~~

Laren made it to her room and groaned as she leaned against the door.

She was being so juvenile. Flirting with him so blatantly even though she had told him she wanted nothing to do with him in that sense. What was she kidding, she hasn't stopped thinking about him since last night, her lust driven further by some rather heated if fantastical dream clearly out of a Bram Stoker novel.

She had been thinking about those teeth, those hands, those eyes, all day.

But it was more to it than just the straight animalistic lust for his monster. The man himself was sweet, brave, caring, protective, and...beautiful. Lithe and lean, but muscular and confident.

It made her groan just thinking about the way he had looked in that river. Hair damp and falling in front of his eyes, spiking up at its own whim. His flat toned chest slightly moving with each deep and calm breath. The sun's reflection off the water dribbling down his back...

She really needed to stop thinking this way.

She shook her head.

How was she going to last another day with him without compromising her resolve?

She stood up off the door and went over to the picture beside her bed. Stroking the face in the photo idly, pondering her position.

Without really thinking about it she put the frame in the drawer of the nightstand and distractedly pulled the clip out of her neatly done up hair, letting it cascade down her back.

She was wearing his shirt, she hadn't taken it off since he gave it to her. It still smelt of him, but it also smelt of her, the two scents mingling in her nostrils.

She looked in the long mirror on the wall at herself.

She must've been driving him crazy with this outfit. Her riding pants hugged each and every one of her lower curves, then with his shirt on top of that. No wonder he was getting mixed signals.

She quickly changed out of the riding pants and into a silken nightgown she had managed to keep out of his paws.

It was low cut, coming down just below her buttocks across her upper thighs. She kept his shirt on over top of it, not quite ready to part with it.

Then she crawled into bed, determined to distract herself with her reading. In a last shuffle she re-clipped her hair back in a clean pinch, sub-consciously baring her long neck to the unprotected eye line of the door.

~~~~Elsewhere~~~~

He trudged over the muddy hills. Paths he had travelled many times before they should be well worn by now. His tool kit in one hand, the other one clenched in a determined fist.

He walked slowly but surely, pacing himself so he could place himself at the right spot at the right time.

He stopped to look up at the sky.

It could rain, it would rain, that's what he was told, as he was to wait until it did.

He brought his eyes back to the path before him and continued walking. It would not be long now.

To any untrained eye he would've looked intimidating, but to the keen observer they would've noticed the shaking in his limbs, the hesitant look in his eyes, and the feeling he was not all too fond of going forward, but even more terrified of turning back.

Yes, Ralph McGinnis was a man trapped by fear, but too helpless to do anything about it.

Just above him, a flash of silent lightning lit up the sky.

The same lightning was seen by another pair of eyes.

Fei Yin stepped to the window of the stable and looked up to the sky with nervousness.

"We should go," she muttered.

"Huh?" Daniel stepped away from the mare.

"It's late, Lady Hayward doesn't like it when I stay out too late," Fei Yin said nervously. "Besides it's going to rain..."

"Of course, I'll walk you back." Daniel nodded and opened the stable door for her.

~~~~Elsewhere~~~~

The blinds on Laren's window were drawn, her room lit by the fireplace and a few candles.

She liked the warm glow of candles around her as she read the romantic tale, bound in leather and smelling like something from the past. Those were her favorite kind of books.

The door to her room opened and Nikola came in, dropping a pile of her clothes on her floor.

"There you are," he sighed. "That should be it."

Laren looked up and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you Nikola," she nodded.

"Not a one damaged, though they all could use a run through the laundry most likely," he smirked, welcoming himself into the bedroom.

"Good, then I won't have to charge you," Laren teased, going back to her book.

"You're friends are certainly a wild bunch," he said conversationally.

"Yes, but they're like family," she said with a smile.

"Daniel seems to have a bit of a thing for young Fei Yin," Nikola continued, wandering around the room casually.

"Yes, he does a bit," Laren tried to ignore him as he moved idly, his eyes scanning the room from top to bottom.

"It is funny though," Nikola continued. "I was talking to Fei Yin a day or so ago, she was talking about Daniel as if he was this blind man who was already in love with someone else. I don't know what she thinks but what I saw in that stable was not a meager friendly attraction."

"Yes, the air runs thick with the sexual tension, doesn't it?" Laren said carelessly. Mentally cursing herself for the slip.

"Really?" Nikola looked at her. "You're going to talk about sexual tension while you're sitting there, in that bed, looking like that...and expect me not to do anything about it?"

Laren lifted her gaze to him and smiled softly but firmly.

"Yes," she said confidently. "I do."

There was a tense moment between them as he searched her eyes. She was still wearing his shirt, and her neck was gloriously exposed. It was like she was planning to drive him crazy.

Laren's gaze slowly drifted back down to the book, and Nikola watched her, wondering how on earth he was supposed to respond to all this.

He looked to the door. He could always just leave, no questions asked, go back to his room and bash his head against the wall until he stopped thinking about her.

He looked back at her.

But he had a feeling that's not what she really wanted him to do.

He noted the picture frame of her husband which he had taken note of when he had snuck in to steal her clothes was not where it last was. He could see the dust formation on the desk of where it had been. Now why would she go and hide something like that?

In that moment he knew.

He smirked slightly and slowly made his way over to her. He gently grasped the top of the book and pulled it out of her hands, her eyes following.

"You have sorely overestimated my self-control, Ms. Hayward."

He said her name as if it was a dagger, cutting another one of her ties to the dead man in the photograph.

"And you have sorely misjudged the meaning of my words." Her eyes never left him as she spoke.

Oh, he wanted her.

"If you want me to leave." He sat down on the edge of the bed, slowly, almost cautiously, but soon it was challengingly as their eyes remained locked on each others. "Just say so."

His heart was pounding but he kept it in check as he calmly draped an arm over her middle to rest on the other side of her body, they were barely but just touching each other.

Indecision flashed through Laren's eyes momentarily.

"I want..."

Nikola cut her off by suddenly closing the gap between her and him. His kiss, though tender, was passionate, and it took less than a heart beat for her to welcome it. As if she knew that's what he would do, or maybe that's what she'd hoped.

Her arms wrapped around his shoulder and to his back, pressing him closer to her, dragging the rest of his body on top of her.

The air was soon being knocked out of her lungs as he moved from her lips to her neck as fervently as he had attacked her. His human teeth grazing the sensitive flesh over her carotid artery, then more tenderly up behind her ear.

Mindlessly she was pushing the fabric off of him, her hand willing it to slide of like the mud they had covered themselves with but a day ago.

Nikola chuckled at her insistence but continued peppering the hot open mouthed kisses on to her collarbone.

He smelt the distinct smell of his own linen and groaned, pressing his nose into the fabric of his cotton shirt.

"You're wearing my shirt," he groaned.

She liked the desperately turned on timber to his voice.

"It was cold," she said breathlessly.

He chuckled.

"You've been wearing it all day." He continued kissing her shoulder as he peeled the shirt away. "You have no idea what funky things you've been doing to my ego since I first saw you this morning."

"I can make three intelligible guesses," she teased, subtly pulling his shirt out from its neatly tucked in place in his pants. Her hands slid up his smooth back as his mouth became more preoccupied with her skin than in continuing their banter.

The dim light from behind the window flashed as another streak of lightning struck the sky.

Laren didn't seem to notice as her eyes shut closed. Nikola's lips sliding over hers again, his hand shooting out beside her to hold himself above her as she literally tried to pull his shirt and vest over his head.

"Impatient," he teased when the fabric was clearly not making it past his neck.

She smirked and unbuttoned two or three buttons down, his neck lengthening as the fabric fell away. Her fingertips dragged over his throat slightly, feeling his Adam's apple bob beneath her touch.

He nearly ripped his own shirt off the moment her lips touched his neck.

With her help he pulled off his shirt and vest, despite his suspenders and threw them unceremoniously to the ground in one heap.

Laren grasped his head and pulled him down to her, shifting it from fervent to sensual as her arms wound around his neck and into his hair.

His hands found purchase on her thighs and began slowly sliding upwards underneath the hem of her nightgown. Soon, Laren was half lying on top of him, kissing him soundly, hands on his chest.

The lightning was becoming more frequent outside.

Nikola was too distracted by her to even register it, even when she straddled his hips, her nightgown falling to the floor alongside his clothes.

She was glorious, and his breath hitched slightly.

He sat up, a hand caressing her naked form gently, ghosting up her sides, brushing the corners of her breasts to snake around her neck, grabbing the clip holding her hair and letting her blonde hair fall, framing her face.

It was all he could do not to grasp her head and kiss her passionately. His hands rubbed her back as his hips involuntarily bucked up against hers. His lips found her neck again and slid gently from her nape to the peak of her shoulder, nuzzling more than kissing.

She pulled his suspenders off his shoulders and grasped the back of his head roughly to pull him off her skin, directing him to where she wanted his attentions.

He went obligingly.

~~~~Elsewhere~~~~

Fei Yin shifted nervously in her sleep. She rolled from side to side, moans escaping her as her face scrunched up in discomfort. She was having a nightmare, or at least the beginnings of one.

He watched her silently from the shadows, beautiful and flawless she was, he had known that from the moment he met her.

He had already incapacitated the others maids, making sure they slept soundly.

He approached the bed carefully, being sure not to wake her.

She shifted again, her dream becoming more frightful.

Was she dreaming of him?

It was enough to make him pause, but he continued to approach like a hunter stalking its prey.

She groaned again then stilled.

Her conscious mind was slowly easing.

Now was his chance.

His hand reached out and grasped her mouth, her eyes shooting open on contact, her cries muffled into his palm.

~~~~Elsewhere~~~~

Faintly, a scream could be heard reverberating on the castle's stone walls but the only ones that could've heard it were distracted.

Nikola rocked into Laren slowly, lovingly, her moans drowning out any other noise he could've heard.

Her back was pressed into the old mattress, her legs wrapped around his buttocks as he continued his patient and sensual pace. He did not want this to be quick and dirty.

He peppered kisses on her neck, lips, and eyelids in counterpoint to his movements.

He had to love her at this point, the agony and confusion she had swarmed up in him in less than 24 hours was astounding and he planned to take as much time as he could to revel in his victory, a reward for his patience.

Her nails were digging into his back, forcibly trying to drive the monster out, but he held back.

He could look down and he could tell that she wanted to see him transform, to lose the tenuous control he was exerting.

But he was careful not to give into her urgings until he was ready.

He brought his lips down for another sweet and sensual kiss. Lightning flashed against the bare skin of his sweat slicked back.

"Have you ever..." her eyes slipped closed momentarily as she tried to control her breathing. "Have you ever...bitten..."

Nikola chuckled slightly and had to calm his own breathing, taking a loud swallow to moisten his throat.

"Yes, once or twice," he managed to say, his lips kissing her neck for emphasis.

"During this..."

Nikola barely registered the question. He had a few memories of Helen, and maybe a choice few other ladies he'd had the pleasure of the experience with. Helen mainly, she was his first in that respect when she had let him drink from her thigh.

He groaned, not really needing to be fantasizing right now.

"Once or twice," he answered again.

"What's it like?" Laren gasped slightly.

Nikola stilled slightly.

"Are you curious about what it's like to be marked by a vampire?" He asked almost teasingly.

"Yes," Laren looked up at him with a loving gaze.

He grinned down at her and shifted slightly, nuzzling the side of one breast with his face.

"I will say, there are some places I haven't tried," he said huskily.

Laren laughed slightly, but urged him on with her hands at the back of his head.

He let himself morph, his teeth extending slowly as he enveloped her breast with his mouth. Her almost vocal "O" was lined with pain but softened with ecstasy as the initial searing jolt was replaced with a whitewash of pleasure that she couldn't even describe. The remarkable intimacy of his teeth poised above her heart.

In a flash though he pulled back, human again, kissing and licking the wounds.

"Amazing," she gasped, opening her eyes again.

He looked up at her with a grin.

"Thank you," he teased, starting up his pace again.

She laughed with languish as she released her arms and let them flop over above her head, stretching her out magnificently for him to feast his eyes on.

It wasn't long before he was paying equal, if gentler attention to the previously ignored breast.

~~~~Elsewhere~~~~

Fei Yin came to, blinking in the bleak light. Her arms were bound in front of her and she did not recognize her surroundings.

She looked up and saw Ralph standing a few feet away watching her.

She squeaked and shifted away from him.

"It's alright! It's alright! I won't hurt you," Ralph stepped closer to her. "I've come to protect you."

Fei Yin still stayed away but her demeanor softened.

"I never meant to hurt you," whispered Ralph, shame filling his eyes. "I was told to...you have been nothing but kind to me."

"Why did you shoot arrows at me?" she asked hesitantly.

"I wasn't aiming them at you," he took a step closer. "Hurting you has never been my intention."

"But my friends, Ms. Hayward, you'd hurt them?"

"I don't have a choice. You're the only one I can protect," he kneeled before her and started undoing the knots on her bonds.

"From who?" asked Fei Yin.

"Someone who wants Ms. Hayward dead..."

~~~~Meanwhile~~~~

Nikola latched on to Laren's neck with his lips. Her speed matching his atop him.

Lying passively was not something Laren did for very long, in any capacity.

Though Nikola was too stubborn to play the submissive completely at this point, a part of them still playing their game of rivals, Nikola allowed her a modicum of control.

She rocked into him, coaxing him to pick up the pace a little and he obliged, not able to hold back his animalistic growl as they continued their dance.

Nikola's heart raced as he felt over ever curve he could reach, kissed every patch of skin available to him.

Nikola Tesla had been lover to many women over the centuries, many different women, many who brought out a different side to him, from the loving and gentle, to the rough and masculine, to the downright dominating bastard he knew he could be. With each woman he was invoked with a need when it came to loving them. With Helen, most of the time when he was with her it was a power struggle, they were perfectly matched in skill and ego to challenge each other, almost daring each other to push the lines of their strange and long friendship, it was a battle of wills as well as a battle of wits, culminated in an almost rival-like bond resulting in one of the deepest loves and the hardest heartbreaks.

With Laren, he soon realized, from the moment they met he'd almost had to prove his worth. As if all the ego in the world was not enough to show her he was the worthier man unless he proved it, and he was proving it. He had to prove that he was not George.

Laren clutched his back tighter as the pace quickened even more.

Nikola, with his new found revelation gave her dominance, falling back against the pillows, the pace slowing again. Laren fell against his chest. She looked down at him as his hands slithered to her hips, holding them gently.

Her lips curled into a smile as she sat up fully and placed her hands on his chest.

He moved slowly, letting her get comfortable before determining the pace she wanted to go at.

In a minute they were soon flying into a rapid speed.

He tried as hard to keep his eyes open, but the exquisite sensations were making it a definite challenge. She was racing to the end, and he didn't want that.

In a mad flip he was back on top, again slowing the pace down to a crawl.

His hand reached up and interlaced with one of hers, increasing the intimacy of their lovemaking.

Now supporting himself on one arm, her legs wrapping around his lithe waist, he leaned down and kissed her tenderly, his lips never leaving hers for too long.

The fall was sweet and long, and more explosive than it had been in a long time.

Even with vampire stamina he fell exhausted on top of her, and he welcomed the weight, cradling him between her thighs as she gained control of her faculties.

After a moment he rolled off to the side, heaving in a huge gulp of air. He'd rolled far enough away that there was a decent gap between them.

He looked over at her and they both simultaneously let out a joyous laugh. It still struck them as funny how far they'd come in the last two days.

In their own silent ways they were telling each other of the amazing experience they'd just shared.

Nikola held his hand out to hers and she took it. It was a simple gesture, but it warmed her to the core.

Nikola smiled widely, using their entwined hands to roll himself closer to her, wrapping his arms around her, her back against his front as the pleasant exhaustion swept over them both.