Twisted

like that don’t have to happen.”

“Maybe he’ll heal. Maybe—”

“Mary Ann stole his ability. There is no healing from that.”

“Just like there’s no turning a human into a vampire?” She’d once told him that was impossible, too.

“I…I…oh! I still want to put her in a sleeper hold. Forever! I know how. Riley taught me.”

O-kay. Time to abandon that subject before she worked herself into a rage, and Chompers came out to play. Which would cause Junior to come out to play. Besides, Aden had a feeling he hadn’t seen the last of Riley’s wolf. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part, but honestly? He trusted his feelings.

He’d known he would meet Victoria before he’d ever laid eyes on her. Because of Elijah’s visions, yeah, but as Aden was learning, the souls shared their abilities with him. And when they left, those abilities remained. Elijah wasn’t the only psychic in this body. Aden was, too.

The reminder gave him pause. Could Aden peek into the future?

“Let me go, Aden. Now.” The chill of her breath stroked his chest.

“Not yet. I want to talk to you about something.”

“What?” she asked, reluctantly.

“I know you don’t want me to feed off you, and I respect that.” Even though he still wanted her blood more than anything. At this point, he doubted that was ever going to change. “Are you afraid I’ll revert to the mindless being I was inside the cave?”

“No. If that were a possibility, it would have happened after you drank my blood from the goblet.”

He believed the same. “Are you afraid I’ll see the world through your eyes?”

“No. I mean, you haven’t yet. You still could, of course, but the thought doesn’t bother me. You have before, and really, you already know everything there is to know about me.”

“Then tell me what’s going on in that head of yours. Please.”

She traced a pattern on his chest, the tip of her finger tickling him, sensitizing him. “You won’t like it.”

“Tell me anyway.”

Her lips pressed against the most sensitive spot, his heartbeat rushing up to meet her. “You know how you’re becoming a vampire?”

“Yes,” he said, and in that moment he knew where she was going with this. He knew, and he didn’t like it. An insidious cold invaded his bloodstream.

“Well, I’m becoming…human. Completely human.”

Bingo.

“My skin, it’s like yours was. Easily cut. I can’t teleport anymore. I can’t use my persuasive voice. And I’m eating human food. I had a hamburger before I returned with Mary Ann’s lunch. A hamburger! And I enjoyed it.”

So many changes. Too many changes. “Do you still need blood?”

“Not me, not anymore, but Chompers does. His roar…at first it was stronger, because he was so hungry, but now it’s weakening. He’s so quiet, I’m almost afraid he’s…he’s…you know.”

Yeah. Dying.

Aden pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to align his thoughts. He should have realized the truth himself. After all, this made perfect sense and explained so much. Her chilled skin, her reluctance to do the things she used to do. When he thought about all the chances she’d taken lately, all the chances he’d asked her to take, he wanted to knock a few holes in the wall.

Barring that, there was only one other thing he wanted to do.

“Okay. Here’s our new plan. You’re going to feed off me, and I’m going to feed off you. Another blood exchange, just like in the cave.”

Her cheek rubbed against him as she shook her head. “We don’t know how we’ll react. How they’ll react.” The beasts.

“Exactly, and it’s time we found out. We’re being proactive now, remember? We’re not simply reacting, we’re causing.”

A breath shuddered from her, gusting this time. “All right. You’re right. I know you’re right.”

Good, because his mouth was already watering, desperate for a taste. And maybe he was pushing for this because he craved it so badly, not because he thought it would save them, but just then, he didn’t care. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

He rolled on top of her, and she softened against him, turning her head to the side to offer her hammering pulse. His gums started aching, throbbing really, and he ran his tongue over—fangs, he realized, shocked to his soul. For the first time, his teeth were as sharp as razors. Not as long as Victoria’s, but noticeably longer than they’d been.

“You first,” he rasped, wanting her as strong as possible for his bite.

A tremor moved through her, but then she was licking his neck, sucking, warming his blood, biting, drinking, and unlike before, her bite hurt, no chemical shooting through his vein, numbing him, but he didn’t care about that either, he liked that she was taking what she needed from him; it was what he’d begged her for since the moment he’d met her. And when she finished, he was doing the same to her, licking, sucking, warming, biting, drinking.

She moaned, the sound echoing through the room. Her fingers scraped through his hair. “That feels good,” she rasped.

Then he was the one moaning. So sweet, so delicious, filling him, flowing through him, strengthening him, quieting Junior, consuming them both. He was rubbing against Victoria before he registered that he was moving at all, but she didn’t seem to mind, seemed to like it, meeting his every motion with one of her own.

But soon that wasn’t enough for either of them. Aden pulled his teeth from her neck, surely the most difficult thing he’d ever done, but he didn’t want to take too much, had to protect her, even from himself, and she groaned in disappointment. He couldn’t move away from her.

“Aden,” she said on a husky catch of breath.

“Yes.”

“More.”

“Biting?”

A soft, glowing smile. “More everything.”

As if he needed further prompting. He kissed her until he was forced to come up for air, and then he kissed her again.

Sometime during that second kiss, their clothes disappeared and their hands began exploring. He hurt, but he’d never felt so good. He needed more as she’d said, but couldn’t take much more. His thoughts were short- circuiting. This was everything he’d thought it would be, only better. So much better.

“Too fast?” he rasped. “Should I stop?”

“Too slow. Don’t stop.”

“C-condom,” he said. He didn’t have a condom. And he couldn’t be with her without one. He wouldn’t risk pregnancy. There were STDs out there, he knew that, too, and even though he knew she didn’t have one, that vampires were immune to human diseases, he wasn’t going to be stupid about that, either.

“I…brought one. After our conversation in the forest, I’ve been carrying one. All the time.”

The crinkling wrapper at last made sense. If only he’d known at the time.

She wiggled out from under him to get it, and he mourned the loss of her. She was back a few seconds later, and they picked up where they’d left off.

Not once did the souls comment. Not once did Junior roar. Or maybe Aden was simply too consumed with what he was doing to notice them. There was only Victoria, only here and now. Their first time. His first time.

His…everything.

TWENTY-FIVE