He rubbed his cock against her, pleased to find her wet with longing. He slipped into her, stretching her tight muscles as he filled her completely. She sighed in contentment as her bite eased and he filled her in every way.
Sera woke again sometime later. She felt sated, still a little tired, but utterly complete and blissful. Her head nestled onto Liam's steel shoulder. She snuggled closer as she dropped a light kiss on him. He murmured in his sleep and turned to envelop her in his embrace.
"Go back to sleep," he mumbled.
"I think we've slept enough. It's already afternoon."
"I know."
Of course he knew, she had known without having to look too. "I can't believe Kathleen hasn't come in to drag us out of bed."
"Neither can I," he admitted ruefully.
"Liam."
"Hmm," he replied sleepily.
"What can kill us?"
She knew he was instantly wide-awake. "Why?"
"Well, I am one of you. I know what I've heard about vampires, but you can go out in the sunlight, so what else isn't true?"
"Sunlight can kill us."
"Huh?"
He chuckled at the confusion in her voice. "Some of us," he amended. "We can all still go into the sunlight because we haven't become cold-blooded killers of humans. Whether the human is good or bad, their death has an effect on a vampire. The more you kill, the stronger you become, but the more limitations are placed on you. Vampires that kill lose the ability to be in direct sunlight, they will die from it. Beth can't be in it."
Anger rippled through her at the mention of Beth's name. Her hands dug into his back as a wave of possessiveness shook her. He was hers, and that was final. Liam's chuckle only served to infuriate her more. "I met Beth during the daytime." The name was bitter on her tongue.
"You met her during a snowstorm. There was no direct sunlight."
"Oh," she mumbled. "You've killed."
"Yes, I have," he grated, and he would do it again if anyone attempted to harm her. "And the sun has become more grueling for me. It stings my eyes more, burns my skin more. It also tires me out faster."
"I'm sorry."
He pulled back to look down at her. "For what?"
She shrugged as she caressed his well-muscled chest. "It's my fault the sun bothers you now. If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have killed Jacob."
An involuntary growl escaped him at the name. She smiled as she lifted her lashes to gaze at him. It was good to know she wasn't the only one who became angry and possessive. "It's not your fault," he grated. "And I will kill anyone else who tries to harm you. No one will take you from me."
"No, they won't," she promised as she rubbed his chest. "No one will take you from me either, right?"
"Right."
She feared he would meet someone else, someone better though. He would grow tired of her and move on. He could have any woman he wanted, and he already had. Eternity was a long time; there were a lot of women out there. Prettier women, smarter, sexier, better.
"Would you ever leave me?" he inquired.
"No!" she cried in horror. The mere thought of it ripped her heart to shreds and brought instant tears to her eyes. To lose him would destroy her.
"That's the way I feel, Sera. I can sense your thoughts, and you're wrong. There is no one better, no one else for me. You are it."
"But—"
He placed a finger over her trembling lower lip. "No buts. Don't you remember what David said? Together forever. The passion only grows."
"What if he was wrong?"
"He was right about everything else."
"What if you don't want me in a hundred years? What if you grow tired of me? Or you meet someone else?"
"Sera, stop it. I will never leave you, never find anyone better. There is no one better. Look in me and feel it for yourself if you don't believe me." She searched his intent gaze. "Open yourself to me."
She allowed herself to open to his thoughts. She couldn't exactly read them, not like she could when she was feeding from him, or he from her, but she could sense them. She knew he loved her and cherished her, but she suddenly sensed the full depth of his emotions toward her. It shook her to the core as she recognized in him the same feelings living within her.
She pulled out of him as she searched his intense gaze with awe. He would never leave her, never grow tired of her, she felt it; she knew it. She brushed a strand of black hair off his forehead. "Eternity is a long time."
He pulled her closer. "Not long enough."
"No, it's not," she agreed. "So what else can harm us?"
"Crucifixes and holy water are like the sunlight. The more you kill, the less you can tolerate them. Otherwise, a standard stake through the heart, beheading, and fire are the other ways."
"Oh. I've seen you eat regular food, does it do anything for us?"
"No. We can eat it, but it doesn't fill us. Eventually, you even lose a taste for it. Alcohol still affects us, but it takes a lot more for it to do so."
Sera frowned, there were so many foods she enjoyed, she especially didn't want to lose a taste for cheesecake. She winced as Kathleen's shriek suddenly pierced through her ears and into her skull. "Ow!" she cried as her hands flew to her ears.
He grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her head. Her face scrunched with pain as Danielle and Kathleen both screamed. "Look at me, Sera; listen to me, not them."
She focused herself on him as he explained how to control all her new senses and her new world.
Chapter Twenty
It was late afternoon before they
