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She hoped not.

All this time, Julian watched her, his blue eyes half-hidden behind hooded lids. Leah gave him one long lick that drew a groan from him. She wanted to taste more of him, to take her time, but she was impatient. First, she had to satiate this insane, undeniable hunger.

She licked him again before rising above him and sinking down, watching and loving his pupils dilating and his eyes flashing the faintest hint of red. Neither of them moved when he finally entered her. She savored the feel of him stretching her, his tip rubbing against the most sensitive part of her.

He lifted his hips and rocked against her. All restraints shattered. Leah pushed against him, her hips having a mind of their own. His large hands, on either side of her hips, held her and moved her in tandem, setting a brutal pace but one that still prevented her from reaching her orgasm.

There was one more thing she wanted. Something that meant more to her than physical pleasure. The connection between them was a living, breathing thing within her, a connection that wasn’t complete, that yearned for its other half.

Leaning down, she hugged Julian’s head to her throat.

“Now!” she demanded.

Julian no longer had a reason to refuse. He rolled them over, his body never stopping. His fangs dropped, and he bit into her neck, where her blood had called to him since the moment they’d met.

He groaned, his body shuddering, the second her blood touched his tongue. The taste of her was divine, with the same hint of her honeysuckle and cinnamon and so, so sweet. Her blood coursed through him, filling him not only with the strength but with a searing heat that spread like wildfire through his system.

The empty place in his chest expanded and stretched and attempted to swallow him whole. Leah tightened around him. His body spiraled out of control. He pounded into her with an uncontrollable frenzy as he swallowed more of her blood, blood that continued to fill the emptiness.

“Julian, I…” Leah’s words were a harsh gasp as she clung to him, her nails dragging down his back.

Julian couldn’t stop any more than he could stand in the sun. The force driving him was an instinctual need of his race that had been imprinted on his kind before he was born. He never worried about hurting her, about taking too much.

This was how it was meant to be.

When Leah clamped down hard on him, her scream echoing into the sky, stars flashed behind his eyes. His body exploded. Agony, tangled with ecstasy, lanced through him. Everything that was him, every cell, every thought, every memory, erupted out of him like a bomb and re-formed seconds later.

He was a whole new person.

Yet still the same.

With the last bit of his strength, Julian rolled Leah on top of him before collapsing. His chest burned with his soul’s blinding light and Leah’s loving essence, the two forever intertwined.

When her bones didn't feel like jelly anymore and her lungs had enough air, Leah propped her chin on her elbows and looked up at Julian.

“What is it?” he asked, his tone relaxed and sleepy.

“Am I a vampire now?”

Julian stared at her, surprised, then laughed.

“What? I’m serious. I guess I should’ve asked earlier. I mean, I won’t be mad if I am. I don’t want to drink blood, but I don’t know if that’s because there’s no one around.”

His fingers tangled around her silky locks, and she turned into his touch. “Trust me. If you’d been turned, you wouldn’t be able to ignore the need for blood. The mating bond doesn’t turn you into a vampire.”

Leah was thoughtful for a second. She didn’t feel any different. Wait, that wasn’t true.

Their connection had grown, solidified. It was no longer invisible, no longer an erratic diaphanous feeling. Now it was a glittering, thickly corded rope binding them together. Mentally, she tugged at it, which sent a small wave down the bond. She could see him on the other end, a bright and formidable presence.

Will I keep growing old?It felt effortless to speak to him.

No.His response was strong and clear.Our lives are connected now. My life is yours. You won’t have a vampire’s strength or speed or senses. You won’t grow wings like us, but you’ll be immortal, just like me.

“Good,” Leah said aloud, still preferring to talk than converse mentally. “Now you don’t have to turn me.”

A shadow flitted over his eyes. “You’re not invincible. Your body is still human.”

Meaning she could still die, especially with the life they would lead. She pressed her lips to his in a gentle kiss as his fear and vulnerability stabbed into her.