He advanced on me, arms folded. “It wasn’t important that she said things to hurt you?”

As the NST eased the small tickle of thirst in the back of my throat, I sighed. “I didn’t want to spend our time together talking about her. That would have been like letting her in our bed with us.”

His face scrunched up in revulsion. “Nothing would be like letting her in our bed.”

Major eye roll. “You know what I mean. I didn’t want us to spend our time talking about her or the poison she gets a kick out of spewing.”

He grunted, appearing dissatisfied with my response.

“She was probably hoping I’d take it out on you and that, like Sam said, I’d doubt you.”

“Gina was wrong in everything she said. Tell me you know that.”

“I know.” He’d have been castrated by now if I thought differently.

He grunted again. “Good.”

“What did Sam and Jared want to talk to you and the guys in private about?”

“They were warning us one more time not to turn all overprotective with your squad tomorrow night; reminding us that we’re supposed to watch your backs, not try to shield you and become distracted. What are you doing?”

I dialled a familiar number using my cell phone. “Calling for pizza.”

“Pizza?”

“And some wedges and stuff.” Knowing what Salem liked, I quickly placed our order and ended the call with a satisfied sigh. “Tonight we’re going to relax, eat junk, and have some alone time.”

Heat flared in his eyes; he’d no doubt interpreted ‘alone time’ to mean ‘sex’. Typical male. “Sounds good.”

“First, I have to change. Reuben tore my jeans during training, the fucker.”

“He’s still sour that you bruised his ego.” Now that Salem had gotten past his annoyance over my spar with Reuben, he was nothing but proud of the fact that I’d won.

By the time the food arrived, I’d slid into a red dress – one that was casual yet racy – that Fletcher had chosen for me. Salem had reacted just as Fletcher predicted: he’d tried to rip it off. Only once I’d promised he could remove it later was he happy to settle on the balcony. We placed all the boxes on the glass table, and each claimed a deck chair.

It was when we were almost done eating that Salem said, “You never told me how you became a vampire.”

Sitting cross-legged, I swallowed down my last wedge before responding. “My Sire, Victor, wanted to create himself a sizeable nest, so he went around attacking humans, leaving them for dead, and then ‘saving’ them. He Turned Cristiano and me on the same night, but it took us a while to realise he’d also been the one who attacked us.”

“How did you adjust to being immortal?”

“After I got a hold on my bloodlust, I took well to this life. It felt like a fresh start. And I had a cool gift, so that went a long way into making me happy with being a vampire. Cristiano…he had a harder time adjusting.”

Salem claimed the last slice of pizza, the asshole. “Why?”

“He has a son. Poor kid was the product of a one-night stand, but Cristiano was still part of his life. Spent time with him on weekends and stuff. It hurts Cristiano to stay away from him, and he hates that his son will grow up believing that he’d abandoned him. It makes him feel guilty.” Remembering the mini version of my brother, I smiled. “He’s such a sweet kid.”

“Is there anything you miss about that life?”

“I miss vodka – it’s just not the same when it’s in an NST or running through the veins of a human. I miss playing with my nephew. And I miss my dream of one day being a mom – it’s not a dream I can have anymore.”

“You’d have made a good mother.” The glint of sympathy in his eyes was at total contrast to his apathetic tone. “I’m sorry you’ll never have that.”

I was pretty sure Salem and I would have made pretty babies. “What do you miss about being human?”

A shrug. “Nothing.”

“Come on, there must be something.”

It wasn’t until he’d eaten the last of his pizza that he answered. “Okay. I miss being able to be thirsty without feeling edgy, agitated, and like my stomach’s on fire.”

Yeah, that would totally suck.

Having used one of the wet wipes to wipe away the grease from his skin, he leaned back in his seat. “You done?”

Bloated, I nodded and cleaned myself up with another of the wipes. “All done.”

“Good. Come here.” He held out his hand, and I stood and took it with a smile. He pulled me onto his lap, so that I was straddling him, and skimmed his nose along my neck. “Hmmm. I love that this scent is all over my skin and fills our apartment. But it smells a lot better coming directly from the source.” He licked my bottom lip. “I always did like black liquorice.”

I slid my hands under his t-shirt, wanting to feel his solid, defined chest. “You have to take care of this body for me tomorrow night.”

He began running his fingers through my hair. “You worried about the battle?”

“Of course. Aren’t you?”

“Am I worried about the battle? No. Am I worried that you’ll be part of the battle? Yes. Doesn’t matter that I know how strong and capable you are. I’ll always worry. When I’d see Jared panicking on assignments about Sam’s safety, I never understood why he let himself get so stressed about it – she’s strong and powerful, so what’s the big deal? But now I get it. He has something very important to lose. I never had that before.”

I scowled at him. “Your life is important.” If he hadn’t thought that way before, he’d better freaking start thinking that way now.

A teensy smile warmed his expression. “Glad you think so.” Abruptly, he wrapped my hair around his fist and snatched my head back, giving himself perfect access to my throat. His other hand cinched around my waist, tugging me closer and tilting my hips to grind me against his cock. His mouth tormented every inch of my neck – licking, nipping, sucking, and raking his teeth along my skin. One hand closed over my breast, kneading and clutching, and then thumbing my nipple.

“Are you wet for me yet, Ava?”

What a dumb question. I’d been wet since the first flick of his tongue on my neck.