“Not particularly,” she admitted with a flash of her blue eyes. “I was only trying to get you to come here. You know, classic honeymoon. Sweet young wife teaches wizened old grouch how to have fun. That sort of thing.”

“Wizened old grouch?” he echoed in astonishment. “The old part I can accept, even the grouch. But I am definitely not wizened.” In punishment he tugged her hair.

“Ow!” She swung around and glared indignantly at him. “ Wizenedsort of seemed to fit. You know, wizard, wizened.”

Gregori crushed her hair to his face to hide the sudden emotion overwhelming him. The fragrance of flowers and fresh air surrounded him. So this was what he had sought all those long centuries. Fun. Belonging. Someone with whom to share laughter and teasing and to make even the difficult moments in life beautiful. She was so much a part of him, he couldn’t return to a barren existence again. He would never choose to stay in the world without her.

“Do you think I am too old, Savannah?” he asked softly, taking strands of her hair into his mouth. So soft. So much like silk but even better.

“Not old, Gregori,” she corrected gently. “Just old-fashioned. You have a tendency to believe women should always do as they’re told.”

He found himself laughing. “Not that you do.”

She tilted her head back, a not-so-subtle hint for him to resume brushing. “I wish you would understand that I can’t stand by and watch someone get hurt because of me.”

He sighed audibly and allowed several heartbeats to go by before replying. “I should never have taken you with me and placed you in such a position, ma chérie.For that I apologize.”

“I want to discuss this,” she insisted, clenching her fist.

He pushed aside the thin shirt, bent his head, and touched his mouth to her bare shoulder. The sensation was as intimate as sin. “There can be no discussion. We put this to rest last night. I will not do this, not even for you. You must understand who I am. You are in me, as I am in you. You know how I feel. I can do no other than to protect you. That is who I am.”

“Do you have to be so inflexible about this, Gregori?” Savannah complained. But he was right; she already knew the answer. It was impossible to be in his head and not feel his implacable resolve.

“The storm is passing over us. Do you want to go to the bayou this night?” he asked softly, separating her hair deftly and beginning to weave it into a thick braid.

She loved the feel of his hands in her hair, his fingers massaging her scalp, tugging so gently on the thick length of braid. She reached up to place a palm over her bare shoulder, the exact spot where his lips had touched her. “I would love to go to the bayou with you.”

He smiled at her, his silver eyes molten mercury. “We can observe wildlife for a change. No vampires.”

“No weird society types,” she added.

“No mortals in need of rescuing,” Gregori said with intense satisfaction. “Get dressed.”

“You’re always taking my clothes off, then telling me to get dressed again,” Savannah complained with her infuriating smile, that little sexy one that drove him mad.

He turned her around to face him, caught the front of her shirt, and drew the gaping edges together to cover her tempting body. “You cannot expect me to dress you myself, do you?” he asked, leaning down to brush her lips with his. She actually felt her heart jump in response. Or maybe it was his heart. It was nearly impossible to tell the difference anymore.

It took Savannah mere moments to be ready. Hand in hand, they walked into the courtyard. The rain was now no more than mist, but the water was still inches deep on the tiles. Gregori brought her hand to his mouth. “I will never look at this place in quite the same way, ma petite?” he said softly. His voice whispered over her skin, black velvet that slipped over her body and seeped into her mind. His voice was purity itself, so beautiful that no one could resist it, least of all her. Savannah found herself blushing, the wild color creeping up her face.

His laughter was soft and husky. His body was already beginning to shape-shift as he launched himself skyward. Savannah watched with pride as his body compacted and iridescent feathers covered the raptor’s shape. He was beautiful, with sharp eyes, razor-like beak, talons, a powerful body. She didn’t have the expertise to change in mid-air, but she held the image he gave her in her mind and felt the peculiar wrenching of bones and muscles heralding the change.

Sensations were completely different. Like the night she had run free as the wolf, Savannah now had the senses of a bird of prey. Her vision was sharp and clear, her eyes enormously wide. She spread her wings experimentally, then flapped them in the light drizzle. They were much bigger than she had anticipated. It delighted her, and she flapped them harder so she could create a wind, causing waves in the water standing in the patio.

Are you having fun?Gregori’s voice held a hint of laughter.

This is so cool, lifemate,she answered. Her rapidly beating wings lifted her into the air. The light mist was already passing overhead. The air was warm and heavy with the promise of moisture, but she soared high, reveling in her ability to do so.

Gregori’s larger, stronger body dropped over hers, close and protective, guiding her in the direction of the bayou. As high up as they were, the sharp eyes of the raptor could spot the smallest of movements below. Details were vivid and clear. Even colors were different. Infrared vision, heat sensors—Savannah wasn’t certain what it was exactly, but the way she perceived the world was a different and unique experience.

She dipped beneath Gregori and soared away from him, turning sideways and circling high above him. In her mind she could hear him swearing. As always he sounded arrogant, elegant, Old World, completely in command. Laughing, she caught a thermal and rode it up over the river. The male dropped down to cover her with his huge wings, fencing her in. Spoilsport!she accused him, her touch in his mind a whisper of lightness, of invitation to join in her fun.

You are in a great deal of trouble, mafemme. He knew the threat was empty when he made it; he would give her the world. But why did she have to be such a little daredevil all the time?

Anyone choosing to live with you would have to have a sense of adventure, don’t you think?Her soft laughter played over his skin like music, like the gentle breeze blowing from the mountains in their homeland.

Even within the bird’s body, he stirred to life, need and hunger rising to become a part of him. Relentless. Demanding. Savage in its intensity. It was more than simple lust. More than hunger. More than need. It was all of it merged together with a tenderness he had never conceived he could feel. When she was at her most outrageous, her most defiant, that was when his heart melted. What I think is, you had better do things the way I want you to do them. Shape-shifting is no simple thing.

Everybody else does it,she objected, darting out from beneath him.

The male raptor dove at her, coming in fast and as straight as an arrow, plummeting toward her out of the night sky. Savannah, inside the female’s body, gave a little shriek of fright, her heart pounding at the unexpectedness of the attack. It came out a strange caw, startling her so that for a moment she forgot what she was doing and nearly shape-shifted back into her own body.

Savannah!His voice was a soft command, hypnotic, impossible to ignore or defy. He held the vision of the bird in her mind, completely merging his mind with hers so that they were one. The male bird of prey once more flew in to cover the female’s smaller body, guiding her over the city and canal to the dark bayou.