Zack lifted his head, his eyes hot. “I’m willing if you are.”

“What?” She stared at him. “Are you reading my mind?”

“So it would seem.”

“But . . . how is that possible?”

“I told you, the more often we share blood, the stronger the link becomes.”

She blinked at him, her mind racing. “Zack . . . could you turn me?”

“What?”

“Make me a vampire like you are.”

“Why on earth would you want that? You’ve got the best of both worlds now.”

“I know, but I want to be able to zap myself across the street or across the world. I want to be able to dissolve into mist. Or turn into a wolf.”

“If you want to zip across the country, I’ll take you. As for dissolving into mist . . .” He shrugged. “It comes in handy now and then, I’ll admit, but mostly it’s overrated.”

“But being able to turn into a wolf, now that’s cool. I watched you when you were fighting Nadiya’s men. It gave you a real advantage.”

“I can’t argue with that.”

“So, will you?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know if it’s possible to change from one kind of vampire to another. Even if was possible, what would your parents think? What would your father think?”

“That’s a silly question. We both know he’d be against it. I’m not sure about my mom.” Kaitlyn bit down on her lower lip. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. If she was a vampire like Zack, there would be no more shared meals with her mom, no more going out to lunch together and then on a shopping spree, no more balmy days by the lake. Of course, when she married Zack and they went back to Tahoe, she wouldn’t be doing those things very often anyway.

“Think about what you’d be giving up,” Zack said.

“The sunlight,” she said, thinking aloud. Would she be happy, living in a world of darkness? Never seeing the sun again, or feeling its warmth on her face? “And food.” She would miss real food—apples and oranges, artichokes and tomatoes, a good steak. Chicken and rice. And chocolate . . .

“Once it’s done, darlin’, you can’t undo it.”

Kaitlyn nodded, He was right, of course. She needed to think it through. And there was no hurry. In the meantime, she was wasting precious moments with the man she loved.

She smiled a slow, seductive smile, her fingertips trailing across his lower lip. “So, where were we?”

His mouth closed around her finger. He sucked it gently. Heat shot straight through her. With a moan, she wrapped her arms around him, her breasts pushing against his chest.

Zack bit down on her finger, then covered her mouth with his. She was driving him crazy. His hands moved restlessly over her back as he deepened the kiss. He needed to stop, now, before stopping became impossible. Instead, he held her closer, tighter.

“Katy . . .” He struggled for control, but it wasn’t easy, not when she was wriggling on his lap, not when the scent of her desire and her blood made it difficult to think of anything else. Not when he knew that she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.

Moaning softly, she slid her hands under his shirt, her nails raking his chest. “Zack.” He heard the desperation in her tone, the urgency. The need.

“I know,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Believe me, baby, I know.” He pulled back, putting some space between them. He took several deep breaths. “I can’t do this,” he muttered. The bench was metal. The ground was wet. “Not here.”

She nipped at his ear. “Then let’s go somewhere else.”

It would be easy to take her in his arms and transport them to a hotel in the city. Easy, but not smart.

“No one will know,” she said.

“I’m not going to take you out here, in the mud,” Zack said. “And leaving Wolfram could be dangerous.”

“My bedroom?” she suggested.

“And have your mother or father walk in on us?”

“We could lock the door.”

He laughed. “Yeah, like that would fool your folks. Or keep your father out.”

“Don’t you want me?”

“More than you know.” He snorted softly, unable to believe he was turning her down. He had bedded a lot of women in a lot of places, but Kaitlyn was a forever woman, not a quick roll in the hay. He wouldn’t take her out in the open, like some rutting stag, or defile her in her father’s house. And while he was pretty sure they’d be safe at a hotel in town, he wasn’t going to take a chance on putting her life at risk.

“Zack.”

“Sorry, darlin’,” he muttered. “But one of us has to stay rational.”

“Why? I’ve always been a good girl,” she said, her voice smoky with desire. “Can’t I be bad, just once?” He was weakening; she could see it in the sudden heat in his eyes, feel it as his arm tightened around her waist. A thrill of excitement shot through her. Tonight, she thought, tonight she would be his in every sense of the word.

The thought had no sooner crossed her mind when she suddenly found herself standing in Zack’s arms in the main room of the castle.

“I guess you really meant no,” she said sulkily.

“I smelled one of your kind out there, just beyond the wall.”

“What?”

Before he could explain, Drake appeared in the room, bare-chested and barefooted. His gaze moved quickly over Kaitlyn. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, fine.”

“You smelled him, too,” Zack said.

Drake nodded. “Stay here. I am going out to have a look around,” he said, and vanished from the room.

Just then, Elena came hurrying down the stairs, tying the sash on her bathrobe. “What’s going on? Where’s Drake?”

“He went out to have a look around,” Zack explained. “Someone’s out there.”

“Nadiya?” Elena asked, worry furrowing her brow.

“No.”

Elena wrapped her arms around her waist. “I wish this was over.”

Kaitlyn looked up at Zack. “Me, too.”

He grinned as he pulled her against his side. “So do I, darlin’,” he whispered for her ears alone.

“I don’t like this,” Elena said. “Drake should have been back by now.”

She had no sooner spoken the words than he appeared at her side. “Whoever it was is gone,” he said, slipping his arm around her shoulders. “I think he was just checking to see if we were still here.”

Zack nodded. “Was it anyone you recognized?”

“No. It was most likely one of Lucien’s kin. I would have recognized the scent if we shared the same blood.” Drake paused a moment, then said, “You and Kaitlyn were outside earlier. Stay inside.”

Zack nodded. It galled him to take orders from another vampire, especially when that vampire was younger, but in this case, Drake was right. Another vampire couldn’t enter the castle without an invitation, but that restriction only extended to the house itself. Anyone, friend or foe, could have come over the garden wall.

Drake came forward to kiss his daughter good night, then he swung Elena into his arms and carried her swiftly up the stairs.

Zack stared after them, wishing he had the right to sweep Kaitlyn into his arms and into his bed, to make love to her until the sun chased the moon from the sky. And he would, just as soon as she was rightfully his.

He wasn’t sure where this newfound code of honor came from, but it was sure as hell playing havoc with his love life.

Zack prowled the halls and corridors of Wolfram Castle long after everyone else had gone to bed. He paused outside Kaitlyn’s door just to listen to the even sound of her breathing, to assure himself that she was safe.

Now and then, he heard an errant sound from her parents’ bedroom that told him Drake was making love to his wife, perhaps for the last time.

Returning to the main hall, Zack paced the floor in front of the hearth. He needed to call Scherry and check on things at the club. He needed to feed.

He needed Kaitlyn. Needed her as he needed blood to survive. Needed her goodness in his life. That knowledge, combined with the fear that he might lose her, scared him right down to his socks. He had never needed anyone before. Not even Colette. He had loved his pretty dancer, though his love for her, when compared to what he felt for Kaitlyn, was like comparing a match to a forest fire. He had grieved when Colette died, but her passing had barely made a ripple in his existence. He had laid her to rest and moved on. But if he lost Kaitlyn . . . He stared into the cold ashes of the hearth. Kaitlyn. She had insinuated herself into his heart, into his very soul. If he lost her . . . He shook his head. Without her, his life would no longer be worth living.

As if his thoughts had conjured her, Kaitlyn floated down the stairs toward him, a raven-haired vision in a long white gown that billowed behind her. Her bare feet made no sound as she closed the distance between them.

Standing on tiptoe, she kissed his cheek. “What is it that troubles you so?” she whispered, her gaze searching his.

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her up against him. “Are you reading my mind now, Katy darlin’?”

“Not exactly, but I felt your distress. What’s bothering you, Zack?”

“I’ve never been afraid of anything before,” he said, his voice so low she could scarcely hear it. “But I’m afraid of losing you. Afraid of what it would do to me.” He lifted a lock of her hair, let it sift through his fingers. “I love you, Katy.”

“I know.” She cupped his face between her palms and kissed him lightly. “Don’t be afraid. In life or in death, I’ll always be with you.” She pressed his hand to her cheek. “Come to bed with me, Zack. Let me hold you until you fall asleep.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he muttered, but he didn’t resist when she tugged on his hand. Like a man in a trance, he followed her up the stairs and down the hall to her room.