“We’ll talk about it another time. Now is not the time.”

“I can agree with that.”

He saw her staring at the lamps, probably fascinated by the new light spectrum she could see. “Can I kiss you?” he whispered.

She cocked her head. “Will it hurt?”

He leaned forward, tentatively reaching for her. “I’ll try to be very gentle.”

She nodded, still staring at him. He braced himself on the sides of the tub and bent down to give her a whisper of a kiss.

“Oh.” She breathed out with a small smile. “Wow.”

“Didn’t hurt?”

“No.” She blinked back more tears. “Kiss me again.”

“I love you,” he said before his mouth met hers in another soft kiss.

“I can feel your amnis,” she whispered. “It’s like another layer of skin. All over. Moving.”

“Do you feel yours?”

He could see her eyes narrow as she filtered through the flood of senses. Then, she smiled and looked up. “Yes.”

“Soon, you’ll learn how to make it cover your skin like me. That’s what will let you heat your skin, keep your senses manageable, all of that. Your amnis is both a weapon and a shield. A second skin is an excellent way of thinking about it.”

Even as he spoke, he could see her close her eyes and furrow her eyebrows in concentration. When he reached out to touch her hand, she didn’t flinch. A layer of amnis already covered it and she knit their fingers together, palm to palm.

“Do I look different?” Her eyebrows shot up, and she lifted fingers to her mouth. “I have teeth!”

As soon as she touched them, her fangs descended even more, and it took every bit of control he owned not to lean over and lick them. He wanted to pierce his tongue on her teeth and let his blood flood her mouth. He wanted her to sink her teeth into his neck. Into his chest. He wanted her to feed from him as he had fed from her. Giovanni pushed back the growl in his chest and focused on her eyes.

“Ith kin’ of hard to talk with theeth,” she mumbled, speaking around her descended canines.

Her strange lisp broke him out of his trance, and he laughed. “You look the same, Beatrice. Just… paler skin and longer teeth. You’ll get used to the teeth.”

He kept chuckling, and she flicked her fingers at him. A splash of water rose from the tub and hit his face.

“Okay,” she grinned. “Thath’s going to be awthume.”

He couldn’t stop laughing. “And you’ll be able to save my shirts if I lose my temper now.”

She swallowed and her fangs seemed to retract. “Just… all sorts of benefits to controlling water, aren’t there?”

Giovanni smiled as she leaned back against her side of the tub. He reached for her foot underwater and touched it. She flinched for a moment before her toes relaxed and he set both her feet on his lap.

“Are you really mad at me?”

He stared. He didn’t want to argue with her on her first night as an immortal. She would be far too volatile. “There’s no use in anger toward you. It’s done.” He paused. “And I know it was your decision.”

“Are you mad at Tenzin and my dad?”

“Yes,” he growled.

“Why?”

“Because they were planning this and they didn’t tell me. They went behind my back.”

“So did I.”

He sighed and let his head fall back. “Maybe I just don’t want to be angry with you. It’s easier to be angry with them. I don’t like it when we fight.”

She smiled and reached a hand over to pat his as it lay on the side of the tub.

“Just as long as you realize it’s not logical. I’m more to blame than they are.”

“Tesoro, I realized long ago that logic departs me when it comes to you.”

She grinned again, which exposed her fangs. He couldn’t help himself. He leaned over and cupped her face gently before he kissed her. His tongue delved into her mouth and searched for them. When he found the slick lengths, he flicked the tip of his tongue against them and purred when he heard her moan. She moved into the kiss, and her fangs fell more. They were long, sharp, and slick with the taste of his blood as he cut himself.

He recognized the moment the blood touched her tongue. She tried to pull him closer, but he pushed her away gently. “Hungry?”

She nodded, still eyeing his mouth.

Giovanni wanted to take her right then, but he knew she needed to feed. Plus, the minute she left the tub, her senses were going to overwhelm her again. It would be days before she was even partially in control of her body. He certainly hoped there were no emergencies they would have to deal with. He rose from the tub, feeling her hungry eyes on him as he wrapped himself in a towel.

“Stay here. I’m going to find you some blood.”

“No people!”

He smiled. “I’ve already made arrangements with Nima. She has fresh donors waiting. Nothing to worry about.”

Her mouth fell open as she stared at him. “Oh, blood sounds so damn good.”

Giovanni cocked an eyebrow at her. “Well, Beatrice, that’s hardly a surprise. You’re a vampire.”

She grinned with two gleaming white fangs. “Yes, I am.”

Chapter Fourteen

Penglai Mountain, China

November 2010

“When are you two going to start talking again?”