His husky admission melted me, and I pulled his head down for a long, slow kiss. When we finally broke apart, I couldn’t help being satisfied when I saw his smoldering gaze.

Nikolas growled playfully. “If you keep looking at me like that, we’ll never leave this cabin. In fact, I might have to find the owner and buy it from him.”

More nights alone with Nikolas in the middle of nowhere? I was totally down with that. My stomach rumbled loudly. “Can we bring food next time? I’m starving.”

He laughed and rolled away from me, which was when I realized he was dressed and I was... not. A fresh blush crept up my face as I sat up and pulled the blankets around me, looking for the shirt I’d been wearing last night. It was nowhere to be seen, but I spotted my own clothes draped over a chair near the fireplace. Nikolas must have gotten up in the night to hang them to dry for me. He’d obviously tended the fire through the night as well or it would be freezing here this morning.

“Your shirt and jeans are dry, but your boots are still wet.” He grabbed my things from the chair and handed them to me, and then he went to the cupboard on the other side of the room. I knew he was giving me a private moment to dress, and my heart swelled at his thoughtfulness.

He came back and sat on the mattress holding a can of tuna, a pack of saltines, and a bottle of water. “Not exactly a five-star breakfast.”

“It’s perfect.”

He put some tuna on a cracker and gave it to me. “It’ll be daylight soon. The storm’s over, so we should head out as soon as it’s light enough.”

“How far is it to the road?”

“About fifteen miles. I won’t be surprised if we run into some of our people on the way. We’ll be home before you know it.”

Home. That word held a whole new meaning for me now. We hadn’t discussed living arrangements yet, but I knew I’d be moving out of my room in the very near future. As in the moment we got home.

He seemed to be considering his next words. “How do you feel today? Is there any change in your magic?”

His question made me realize what else was different this morning. I didn’t feel as empty as I had last night. I reached for my power. The barrier was still there, but it felt weaker, and a tiny tendril of magic slipped free.

I let out a shaky laugh. “I think it’s getting better. Whatever they shot me with must be wearing off.”

Nikolas looked as relieved as I felt. “Good. That means we won’t have to call the faerie.”

“Jealous?”

“I might have been a little jealous once or twice.” An arrogant smile curved his lips. “But I got the girl.”

I leaned over and kissed him, not caring that I had tuna breath. “You always had the girl.”

After our humble breakfast, we tidied the cabin and Nikolas put out the fire. I grimaced when I donned my wet boots and damp coat, and I reminded myself that I’d be warm and dry again in a few hours.

Nikolas opened the door, and I glanced around the cabin before I left. It looked so small and insignificant, yet our lives had changed forever in this room. I’d been half-dead when he’d carried me through the door last night, and I was leaving feeling more alive than I’d ever been.

Outside, the world was coated in a layer of glittering ice. Our breath steamed the cold air and our boots crunched over the icy crust on top of the snow. Nearby, the river roared past, heedless of the ice attempting to dam it in places.

There was no sign of Alex, but his tracks were all over the sloped roof of the small cabin. If someone had told me in November that the surly wyvern would save my life twice, I would have had a good laugh over it. But I was alive today because of him. Sure, he’d carried me off and dropped me in the middle of nowhere where I’d nearly frozen to death, but he’d rescued me from a much worse fate. I would have preferred freezing to what those vampires had in mind for me.

Nikolas tested the snow with his foot. “It’s going to be rough walking with the snow iced over. Climb on my back, and I’ll carry you.”

“You can’t carry me fifteen miles.”

His grin made me forget the cold already nipping at my fingers. “Are you willing to bet on that?”

“I don’t know. What will you give me if I win?”

He laughed and moved to pick me up. “Anything you –” Confusion filled his eyes, followed by horror. “Sara... run,” he uttered before he collapsed to the ground.

“Nikolas!” I knelt beside him, shaking him. “What’s wrong?”

“Lover boy is taking a little nap.”

My head snapped up as a huge blond vampire stepped out of the woods. My heart thudded and my limbs grew weak as four more vampires appeared behind him. One of them had what looked like a tranquilizer gun trained on Nikolas. Didn’t they realize he would wear off the drug in a minute? Please, hurry and wake up, Nikolas.

“Remember our orders,” the big vampire barked at the others as they advanced on us. “We are to bring them in undamaged.”

Them? I stood on trembling legs. “I’m the one you want. Leave him, and I’ll go quietly.”

The vampire sneered. “If we weren’t under orders to bring him, he’d be dead already. And as for you...” He lifted his hand, and I saw a small gun like the one the female vampire had used on me yesterday. Before I could react, a dart hit me in the arm. “You won’t be any trouble.”