Page 102 of Twilight Destiny

He blew out a sigh. “I never wanted you to see me like that.”

“It doesn’t change anything.”

“What if it happens again?”

“Are there any other necromancers after your head?”

He looked at her, his expression momentarily confused and then he laughed, but there was little humor in it. “Not that I know of. But there are hunters everywhere.”

“Life is uncertain,” she said with a shrug. “All I know for sure is that I love you. Do you love me?”

“You know I do. I also know how your mother feels about having vampires in the family.”

“How is that possible?”

“I was there, outside your house earlier. I heard it all.”

“It doesn’t change anything,” she said again.

“No? I think you’ll break your mother’s heart if you follow in Sofia’s footsteps.”

He was right, she thought. Even though her mother hadn’t put it into words, Rosa knew it would hurt her mother deeply if she let Jake turn her. “I don’t have to decide right away.”

Tentatively, he reached for her hand, as if he wasn’t sure she would welcome his touch. “You don’t have to do it for me,” he said quietly. “I would never ask you—or force you—to do that.”

“I thought that’s what you wanted. To be my sire. Saintcrow told me you wanted to be my master so that I could never leave you.”

“I can’t deny I thought about it,” he admitted with a shrug. “To make you mine. To know you would always be mine. But I would never do it. I was not given the choice when I was turned. I would not make that decision for you.” Yet even as he said the words, he wondered if it was true.

“I do love you, Jake.”

With a wordless cry, he drew her into his arms and held her close. For a long while, neither of them spoke.

Rosa rested her head on his shoulder, content to be near him. He seemed strangely vulnerable for such a powerful creature. She could feel his strength, the preternatural power that radiated from him, yet she knew in her heart that he would never deliberately hurt her, just as she knew that he needed her in ways she didn’t fully understand.

“Where do we go from here?” he asked.

“Where do you want to go?”

“I want to take you home and make love to you.”

“And if I’m not ready?”

“I still want to take you home.”

“That’s what I want, too. But, what about my mom’s car?”

“You can call Micah and ask him to pick it up.”

She didn’t even have to think it over. Murmuring, “Let’s go,” she grabbed her handbag and then closed her eyes as Jake gathered his power around him. When she opened them again, they were in the living room at Blair House.

Dropping her handbag on a side table, Rosa sank down on the sofa and patted the place beside her. She took Kincaid’s his hand in hers when he joined her. “Do you want to talk about what happened while you were with Luca?”

“Hell, no.”

“I think it might help.”

Kincaid shook his head. Was she crazy? Why would he want to remember what it had been like, to be at the mercy of a mad man, to feel helpless, impotent? To relive the constant, agonizing pain? Or the way he’d felt lying there, unable to move or speak? Or recall the brutal way he had attacked her … He closed his eyes, remembering the warm, sweet taste of her life’s blood flowing over his tongue, easing his agony. Rosa. Rosa.