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“That should be enough,” Drak said, pulling me out of my momentary fugue. I removed my lips and wiped my mouth as the vampire reached for Omaera’s wrist, swept his tongue across the puncture mark, and sealed it.

“Now try going through the wall,” Omaera said, pointing to the same place she and Drak walked through earlier. “We need to make sure it works.”

Sighing. I stalked over.

“You can’t hesitate,” she added. “You have to just walk through with confidence.”

It was comical that she was already an expert after just learning about themagical passageway thirty minutes ago.

“Withconfidence,” she said again, then snickered and turned to Zandren. “No, you’re right. He’s not lacking that at all. I just don’t want him to face-plant into the rock.”

I could have sworn the bear chuckled as I took a deep breath and, without hesitation—or at least very much—walked toward the flat slate mountainside with the crevice in the center.

“Eyes on the crack,” Omaera instructed.

“That’s always where I focus.” I shot her a cheeky smile before reaching the wall, not slowing down, and thankfully, walking right through and out into the most gorgeous meadow filled with wildflowers.

“Oh, thank god,” Omaera said behind me, making me turn around. “It worked.”

I went to her, taking her mouth instantly.

There was zero hesitation on her end, and she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back with the same level of passion and need. My cock was hard in seconds, and the intense craving to drop her into the soft grass, peel off her clothes, and bury myself inside of her, was more than all-consuming. Was this because her blood now ran through my veins?

“We can’t,” she said, out of breath as she broke the kiss. “We need to get back.”

There she went again, reading my mind. It was hot, but also disconcerting. Would my thoughts ever be my own again?

“Sorry,” she said, dropping her gaze to the ground. “I’ll try to stay out of your head.”

Shit.

Cupping her face so she couldn’t look anywhere but at me, I pressed my forehead to hers. “Don’t ever apologize to me, angel.”

She blinked at me. “I’m still learning how to go in and out of your mind and emotions. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to read them.”

“Stop. Apologizing.” I kissed her again, hard, fierce, and passionate, then pulled away, keeping her head in my hands so we could only look at each other. “I love that you’re in my head. You’re already in my heart. And now your blood isin my veins. We’re more connected than ever and I fucking love it. It’s just taking some getting used to, is all. But I don’t want you to stop. I don’t want you to leave. I want you there, always. You’re my mate. My forever. And you’re welcome to all my thoughts—even the super depraved ones.”

That made her smirk, which was what I was going for, breaking the tension.

I grew serious again. “You’re still learning, and our Mate Bond is still growing. Don’t be hard on yourself. You’ve come a long way in a month.”

Her expression turned sad. “It feels like so much longer than a month. It feels like a lifetime.” That made me smile, which caused her to chuckle mirthlessly. “I know that sounds stupid. Considering that I’m only twenty-two and you’re hundreds of years old. You’ve literally lived many lifetimes. So I’m sure this month feels like no more than a few minutes of your life.”

My heart softened for her. “We spend our whole lives waiting for our mate. Even though I’ve lived for centuries now, my life didn’ttrulybegin—at least not in my heart—until I met you.”

Affection filled her gaze and this time her smile was real, and I could feel the love radiating out of her. “For a pyromaniac psychopath, you know just the right things to say.”

I shrugged. “Sometimes. Sometimes I stick my foot in my mouth.”

Lacing her fingers through mine, she tugged me back toward the rock wall. “As much as I would love to spend more time here with you, we really should get back.”

I nodded, and together we stepped back into the woods where Zandren—still in bear form—was rubbing his big ol’ hairy ass against the rock wall and groaning in delight while Drak did … vampire things? I really wasn’t sure what the big bat was up to. His hands were behind his back and he slowly paced along the rock wall. Then, making a square along the tree line, he returned to the rock wall. He was a weird fucking dude, there was no doubt about that.

“What are you doing?” Omaera asked him, releasing my hand.

Even though there was no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t acutely aware of her exact proximity to him at all times, he acted like he was surprised to see her, and his brows darted toward his hairline. “Scoping out possible attack points,”he said, continuing to wander like an old man out for a stroll.

“Can you show me?” Omaera asked.