Ami squinted her eyes at Seth and crossed her arms over her chest.
Seth held his hands out to the sides, palms up with a What’d-I-do? expression.
Marcus grinned.
Ami shook her head, rolled her eyes, and headed upstairs.
Bastien decided he had had enough from his surrogate family and ducked into the room he now shared with Melanie.
Standing beside the bed, Melanie nearly wilted with relief when Bastien entered. “Are you okay?” Even though she wore nothing but one of Bastien’s large, black T-shirts, she had been prepared to leave the room in search of him.
“Yes.” He hurried to her side, his handsome brow creased with concern. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“Seth woke me when he said, ‘As you will.’ I opened my eyes just in time to see him teleport you away.” And she had not liked the murderous gleam in those luminescent, golden eyes.
“I’m fine. We were just . . .”
“Don’t tell me you were shooting the breeze.”
His eyebrows rose.
“I guessed right, didn’t I? That’s what you were going to say?”
“Yes. And it’s scary that you know me so well.”
She almost smiled. “He had his hand wrapped around your neck, Bastien.”
Bending, he swept her up into his arms. Melanie looped an arm around his neck as he turned to deposit her on the mattress.
“He was pissed about Ami.”
“What happened to Ami? She wasn’t captured, was she?”
“No. None of the soldiers got near her. But I was the reason she was there. I was the one who put her in harm’s way. I convinced Marcus to let Richart teleport them in so she could learn the mercenaries’ energy signatures.”
“That was smart.” Melanie patted the mattress.
“Seth didn’t think so.” Bastien sank down beside her. “How do you feel? Is your stomach still upset? Would you like me to get you some club soda?”
“No. I want you to stay here and snuggle with me.”
He smiled. “I can do that.”
He scooted closer and stretched out.
Melanie cuddled up against his side and rested her head on his chest.
Much better.
Curling her arm around his torso, she raised one knee and draped her leg across his groin. She smiled when his body reacted to the contact. “I can hear your heartbeat,” she murmured.
He brushed a hand over her hair. “Your ear is right above it.”
“I could hear it from across the room when you entered. And I could hear Seth’s out in the hallway before you closed the door.”
“You’ve almost finished transforming then.”
“I could hear Lisette and the others talking upstairs. They were betting on which immortal would kill you.”
“Yeah. I heard. Since you’re one of them now, you may as well know that those guys will wager on anything.”
She rolled onto her stomach, folded her hands on his chest, and propped her chin on them. “You’re one of them, too, Bastien.”
“I’ll never be one of them. My past won’t allow it.”
“Have they all had such perfect pasts, then?”
“As far as I know, I’m the only immortal who has ever killed another immortal. You may be able to get them to forgive that, but they’ll never forget it. I’ll always be the one who lived as a vampire. I’ll always be the outsider. They’ll never trust me.”
“Seth seems to trust you.”
He snorted. “Not anymore. Not after I endangered Ami.”
Melanie hoped he was wrong about that. He really needed Seth as an ally.
She studied Bastien’s face, the tightness around his mouth. “You seem tired.”
He gave her a weary smile. “I am.”
She drew a circle on his chest with her index finger and sent him a flirty look. “How tired?”
Some of the tightness in his features eased as his smile broadened. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, now that my stomach is settled and my fever is down . . .”
“Yes?”
She drew in a deep breath. “You smell really good.”
His eyes began to glow. “So do you.”
“And I admit I’m curious about something.”
He wrapped his arms around her and shifted her so that she was stretched out on top of him. “What’s that?”
She slid up his body, creating as much friction as she could, and leaned over him, her weight propped on the hands she planted on either side of his head. Her hair fell down around them, forming a curtain around his beautiful face. Her lips hovered inches above his. She lowered herself until they were only a breath apart. “What’s it like to make love as an immortal?”
“With another immortal? I wouldn’t know,” he admitted, voice low. “I’ve never done it before.” He settled his hands on her hips. “But I wouldn’t mind finding out. Care to educate me?”
Melanie smiled and kissed him. His lips were soft. Warm. Aggressive as they took control and claimed her with the same rising passion she felt for him.
“Mmmm,” she hummed her approval. “I thought you tasted good before. Now you taste so good it’s ridiculous.” Almost good enough to make her forget the toothache still plaguing her.
His chuckle turned into a moan as she leaned back and straddled his hips. Only the loose material of his sweatpants separated them.
“I wonder if all of you tastes so good.” She rolled her hips, ground her core against his erection. Pleasure shot through her.
Every muscle in Bastien’s body tensed as he clamped his hands on her hips and held her still. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
Her heart pounded in her chest. “You can feel what I feel, can’t you?” Again she rolled her hips.
He groaned. “Yes.”
“Then there’s your answer.”
Because she could feel . . . everything. And hear everything. His heart raced, thudding against his broad chest as he slid his hands up her sides beneath her shirt and closed them over her breasts. Sizzling lightning zigzagged through her.
Could he feel that? The sparks that burned her as his thumbs found her nipples? Could he feel her arousal through his gift? This vividly?
He lunged upward, slid his arms around her, eyes bright with desire that more than matched hers.
Oh, yeah. He could feel it.
He yanked the shirt she had borrowed over her head.
Melanie smiled what she hoped was a siren’s smile.
Bastien growled and lowered his head. His lips hovered before her breast. Every breath was like a touch, the brush of warm fingers.
She moaned. “You don’t play fair.”
The low chuckle with which he responded was so full of sensual promise she nearly climaxed then and there. “I’ve only begun to play.”
His lips closed on the hard, tight bud. Sensation shot through her as he drew on it, laved it with his tongue, teased it with his teeth.
Melanie cried out and buried her fingers in his hair. His long, soft, beautiful hair.
She hadn’t realized immortals’ sense of touch could be so acute. Every nerve ending in her body tingled. By the time this night was over, she may very well become the screamer Sheldon had accused Bastien of being.
He palmed her other breast, drew his thumb over the taut peak.
Her head fell back. She rocked against him.
Bastien had never felt anything so good in his long existence.
Until Melanie leaned forward and urged him down onto his back.
Her eyes glowed a bright amber. Her dark brown hair fell down around her flushed face as she leaned over him with the smile of a temptress. Her lips, swollen from their kisses, parted, revealing the tips of her new fangs.
She was more beautiful than ever.
He surged up against her, felt the answering flare of passion that claimed her.