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Jackson put the glass down and rolled his shoulders. Not a twinge or pinch or sting anywhere. He peeled off the bandage on the side of his face and felt the smooth new skin beneath. His whole body still tingled, still healed. His crazed senses dialed back several notches as the blood spent its power on fixing him. “Better.” On a more grudging note, he added, “Thank you.”

Dominique studied him, his eyes darkening. “Will you accept another gift?”

“Gift? What kind of gift?” Jackson tried to sound casual, though he was instantly wary.

“Truly a gift. For your birthday, if you will. It is soon,non?”

“Day after tomorrow.” He straightened. “All right. Sure.”

Instead of the wrapped package Jackson half-expected to appear out of thin air, Dominique extended his hand. “Do you trust me?”

A nervous snort escaped him. “Do you really still need to ask that?”

“Then give me your hand.”

Not just his hand, he realized. More like the vein in the wrist attached to that hand. Dominique was asking for his blood again. Still more amazing was that Jackson wasn’t about to bolt from the room—or say no. Not anymore. He held still as those uncanny teeth pricked his skin, tried not to imagine a supernatural awareness flowing through his brain, and definitely refused to think about any dreams he had after the last time Dominique had gotten his teeth into him.

It lasted only seconds before the vampire withdrew and sealed the punctures with a swipe of his tongue. His eyes glowed with golden light. Jackson fell into them without resistance, and he never even flinched when Dominique spoke, his voice seeming to resonate from another reality.

“From this moment on, Jackson Striker, no blood-drinker, no matter how strong, can wield power over you. No compulsion will ever touch you again without your permission. Your mind is now—and always will be—free.”

24

Lock and Key

Dominiqueclosedthedoorbehind Jackson and turned back to Cassidy, tucked into the sofa’s corner. She played with a strand of her loose hair as she watched him.

“That is quite the birthday gift,” she mused.

“It is a weapon against his greatest fear.” Jackson’s spirit felt less battered now than the last time he had touched it. Stronger, too, but still unsettled. “Also, he might truly need it before we are done here.”

She unfolded her legs and sighed. “Well, if that man wasn’t half in love with you before, I suspect he is now.”

“More than half,” Dominique said, coming closer and making no effort to hide his pleased smile. Jackson’s deepening trust and friendship was like a fine wine to his blood-drinker soul.

Cassidy raised a quizzical brow. “Oh? Should I be jealous?”

He held out his hand to her. “You know better.” If Jackson’s affection was the wine he enjoyed sipping, Cassidy’s love was the emotional banquet that sustained him.

She let him pull her to her bare feet. “Prove it.”

“Avec plaisir,” he purred and drew her close, kissing her deep and slow until she melted against him with a languid moan, her question thoroughly answered.

Earlier tonight, she had come into his arms, exhausted, the moment he awoke in the back of the closet. “What is it,mon coeur?” he asked.

“I need you. I just need you.” And with that, she had undone him in ways no one else ever could.

Now he continued to hold her, his fingers moving on her back, in her soft hair, asking a question without words or thought. She replied by taking his hand and leading him into the bedroom. She had enough of waiting and delays and excuses. As did he.

He didn’t hesitate when she took him into her arms, his teeth finding their mark a second later. For a beat or two, reality was suspended as her intoxicating blood swept him away into mindless bliss. Then, her presence swelled in his awareness, warm as a tropical sunrise, calling him back from the brink and creating the unique entity that was forged of them both.

The lovemaking that followed was marked by a sharp new edge. Her roiling hormones saw to that, as did his growing desperation, and the danger that hung over them both. Together, it left them powerless with need—for each other, for release, for life.

In the aftermath, as they lay in a boneless sprawl, their memories flowed together like the confluence of two rivers, one light, the other dark. Bit by bit, they examined them. She experienced his pain and dread at becoming trapped in the execution chamber. He felt her acute anxiety at Jackson’s news of the explosion.

Too close. All of it too close.

You need help, she thought, and studied his memories of Isao.I like him. There’s something steadfast about him. Like Aubrey.