“Quinn drove away with a few broken ribs and a broken jaw,” Eric told me, his voice quite neutral. “Bill will heal tonight, if he hasn’t already.”

I considered that. “I guess you had something to do with Bill being here?”

“I knew when Quinn disobeyed our ruling. He was sighted within half an hour of crossing into my area. And Bill was the closest vampire to send to your house. His task was to make sure you weren’t being harassed while I made my way here. He took his role a little too seriously. I’m sorry you were hurt,” Eric said, his voice stiff. He wasn’t used to making apologies, and I smiled in the darkness. It was almost impossible for me to feel anxious, I noticed in a distant kind of way. And yet surely I ought to be upset and angry?

“So they stopped fighting when I hit the ground, I hope.”

“Yes, the collision ended the . . . scuffle.”

“And Quinn left on his own?” I ran my tongue around my mouth, which tasted funny: kind of sharp and metallic.

“Yes, he did. I told him I would take care of you. He knew he’d crossed too many lines by coming to see you, since I’d told him not to enter my area. Bill was less accepting, but I made him return to his house.”

Typical sheriff behavior. “Did you give me some of your blood?” I asked.

Eric nodded quite casually. “You had been knocked unconscious,” he said. “And I know that is serious. I wanted you to feel well. It was my fault.”

I sighed. “Mr. High-handed,” I muttered.

“Explain. I don’t know this term.”

“It means someone who thinks he knows what’s best for everyone. He makes decisions for them without asking them.” Maybe I had put a personal spin on the term, but so what?

“Then I am high-handed,” Eric said with no shame whatsoever. “I’m also very . . .” He dipped his head and kissed me slowly, leisurely.

“Horny,” I said.

“Exactly,” he said, and kissed me again. “I’ve worked with my new masters. I’ve shored up my authority. I can have my own life now. It’s time I claimed what is mine.”

I’d told myself I’d make up my own mind, no matter how Eric and I were tied by our blood exchanges. After all, I still had free will. But whether or not the inclination had been planted by Eric’s blood donation, I found that my body was strongly in favor of returning the kiss and of trailing the palm of my hand down Eric’s broad back. Through the fabric of his shirt, I could feel the muscles and tendons and the bones of his spine as they moved. My hands seemed to remember the map of Eric’s topography even as my lips remembered the way he kissed. We went on this way very slowly for a few minutes as he reacquainted himself with me.

“Do you really remember?” I asked him. “Do you really remember staying with me before? Do you remember what it felt like?”

“Oh, yes,” he said, “I remember.” He had my bra unhooked before I’d even realized his hand was back there. “How could I forget these?” he said, his hair falling around his face as his mouth fastened on my breast. I felt the tiny sting of his fangs and the sharp pleasure of his mouth. I touched the fly of his jeans, brushed my hand against the bulge inside, and suddenly the moment for being tentative was over.

His jeans were off, and his shirt, too, and my panties vanished. His long cool body pressed full-length against my warm one. He kissed me over and over in a kind of frenzy. He made a hungry noise, and I echoed it. His fingers probed me, fluttering against the hard nub in a way that made me squirm.

“Eric,” I said, trying to position myself underneath him. “Now.”

He said, “Oh, yes.” He slid inside as if he’d never been gone, as if we’d made love every night for the past year. “This is best,” he whispered, and his voice had that accent I caught occasionally, that hint of a time and place that were so far distant I could not imagine them. “This isbest ,” he said again. “This isright .” He pulled out a little, and I made a choked noise.

“Not hurting?” he asked.

“Not hardly,” I said.

“I am too big for some.”

“Bring it on,” I said.

He shoved forward.

“Omigod,” I said through clenched teeth. My fingers were digging hard into the muscles of his arms. “Yes, again!” He was as deep inside me as he could get without an operation, and he glowed above me, his white skin shining in the darkness of the room. He said something in a language I didn’t recognize; after a long moment, he repeated it. And then he began to move quicker and quicker until I thought I would be pounded into pieces, but I kept up. I kept up, until I saw his fangs glisten as he bent over me. When he bit my shoulder, I left my body for a minute. I’d never felt anything so good. I didn’t have enough breath to scream or even speak. My arms were around Eric’s back, and I felt him shudder all over as he had his own good minute.

I was so shaken I couldn’t have talked if my life had depended on it. We lay in silence, exhausted. I didn’t mind his weight on me. I felt safe.

He licked the bite mark in a lazy way, and I smiled into the darkness. I stroked his back as if I were soothing an animal. I felt better than I’d felt in months. It had been a while since I’d had sex, and this was like . . .gourmet sex. Even now I felt little jolts of pleasure ripple out from the epicenter of the orgasm.

“Will this change the blood bond?” I asked. I was careful not to sound like I was accusing him of something. But of course, I was.

“Felipe wanted you. The stronger our bond, the less chance there is he can maneuver you away.”

I flinched. “I can’t do that.”

“You won’t need to,” Eric said, his voice flowing over me like a feather quilt. “We are pledged with the knife. We are bonded. He can’t take you from me.”

I could only be grateful I didn’t have to go to Las Vegas. I didn’t want to leave home. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be surrounded by so much greed; well, yes, I could. It would be awful. Eric’s big, cool hand cupped my breast, and he stroked with his long thumb.

“Bite me,” Eric said, and he meant it literally.

“Why? You said you already gave me some.”

“Because it makes me feel good,” he said, and moved on top of me again. “Just . . . for that.”

“You can’t be . . .” But hewas ready again.

“Would you like to be on top?” Eric asked.

“We could do that for a while,” I said, trying not to sound too femme fatale. In fact, it was hard not to growl. Before I could even gather myself, we’d reversed positions. His eyes were intent on mine. His hands went up to my breasts, caressing and pinching gently, and his mouth followed after his hands.

I was afraid I was losing control of my leg muscles, I was so relaxed. I moved slowly, not very regularly. I felt the tension gradually beginning to build again. I began to focus, to move steadily.

“Slow,” he said, and I reduced the pace. His hands found my hips and began to direct me.

“Oh,” I said, as a sharper pleasure began to seep through me. He’d found my pleasure center with his thumb. I began to speed things up, and if he tried to slow me after that, I ignored it. I rose and fell faster and faster, and then I took his wrist, and I bit with all my strength, sucked on the wound. He yelled, an incoherent sound of release and relief. That was enough to finish me, and I collapsed on top of him. I licked his wrist lazily, though I didn’t have the coagulant in my saliva that he possessed.

“Perfect,” he said. “Perfect.”

I started to tell him he couldn’t possibly mean that, as many women as he’d had over the centuries, but I figured,Why spoil the moment? Let it be . In a rare moment of wisdom, I listened to my own advice.

“Can I tell you what happened today?” I asked after we’d drowsed for a few minutes.

“Of course, my lover.” His eyes were half open. He was lying on his back beside me, and the room smelled of sex and vampire. “I’m all ears—for the moment, at least.” He laughed.