He took her hand gently in his and slid it lower, but only far enough to hold it cupped beneath his chin. She shifted slightly, turning on her side to face him, her eyes closed. She sighed softly but didn’t wake up.

His chest swelled. He couldn’t believe this had happened to him, this miracle in the form of a human female.

Claire.

His Claire.

His woman.

The double-chain at his neck vibrated softly, and it was all he could do to keep from touching her. Love had come to him, crashing through his life in the most incredible way, washing away the darkness of the past four hundred years.

Claire had done this not by offering him a simple path to freedom, but by binding him with chains.

He dipped his chin and kissed her fingers very gently. He didn’t want to wake her up. He was content to lie beside her, to let her sprawl, to watch her sleep.

The coming days would be difficult.

Adrien had contacted him just a few minutes earlier, mind-to-mind, letting him know that rumors had shot through the vampire world to the effect that Daniel had located what was now believed to be the last remaining extinction weapon. The Siberian lead wasn’t the only one Daniel had been pursuing.

A battle was heating up, maybe a decisive one that could end with Daniel’s subjugation of the entire vampire world—or if luck would fall just this once to Adrien, Marius, and himself, with Daniel’s destruction.

Claire’s eyes opened slowly. “I really liked the first part of whatever it was you were thinking, and yes, I’ve been awake since you took my hand, but this last part has tensed me up something bad. What’s going on?”

Lucian rolled onto his back, still holding her hand, which caused her to slide in his direction and press her naked body up against his, right where he wanted her. “Sorry, sweetheart. I went from savoring your presence in my life to thinking about you-know-who.”

“Ugh. Please don’t speak his name, at least not before I’ve had my morning, I mean evening, coffee.” She hugged him and sighed. “So what gives?”

“Adrien contacted me a little bit ago.” He tapped his forehead. “Woke me up, too, which was fine, just a little unsettling.” Their shared Ancestral status was allowing them to communicate more easily than ever before.

At that, Claire shifted to lean up on his chest and look him in the eye. “So why are you so distressed?”

“It’s just a feeling, Claire, but I think things are going to heat up. I think we’re in for it.”

“Oh, is that all?” Her brows rose.

He chuckled softly and ran a thumb down her cheek and over her lips. “Thank you for that.”

“For what?”

“For what you always do—making me laugh.”

She sighed, pushing herself up to reach his lips with hers. She kissed him soundly. “You’re welcome.”

“I’ve been thinking that once this business with Daniel is settled, you’ll want to reconnect with your family.”

He felt her sudden alarm through the chains and wasn’t surprised when she lifted up a little more and stared at him. “Lucian, I’m not going back. My life is here, with you. I can’t believe you would even think…”

“Hey, you’ve misunderstood.” He tugged on her to bring her back against his chest once more. “I want to go with you, at night of, course. To meet your family. We’d go together.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “Oh, I see. It’s possible, then? I mean, I thought I had to choose permanently against returning to Santa Fe.”

“I won’t kid you, it’ll be difficult, but we can manage it. If we need to establish a home base in Santa Fe, and live there part-time, we can do that. But there will come a point, especially as it becomes clear that I’m not aging—and you won’t either, by the way…”

“Yes, I know. I mean, I talked to Lily yesterday. They said that humans bound by blood-chains don’t age as fast as ordinary humans. So that will be a big problem.”

“Exactly. And so long as the vampire world is kept secret, at some point you will have to separate from your human family.”

“Hey, what if we faked annual visits to a plastic surgeon?”

He laughed. “Okay, whatever. We’ll figure this out.”

“I have no doubt about that, but thank you.” He felt a sudden wash of sentiment flow through her. “I just never thought I’d see any of them again.”

“You will. I promise you that, with all my heart. We’ll make it work.”

She kissed him again, lingering this time, and her voice pierced his head. So is there any reason why we have to get up right away? Does Adrien need you, or Rumy? Or can we stay here for a few minutes, say about twenty, although with your vampire speed it could be much quicker. She shivered with pleasure.

He drew back, laughing some more and gazing into her soft brown eyes. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, more than I thought I could ever love anyone.”

He shifted her to lie on top of him once more and held her tightly against him. “Gabriel is coming over in a couple of hours, so we’re not expected to show our faces until then.”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful. We can take our time.” She squeezed him as she spoke.

Yes, he’d take his time. He’d work her body backward and forward, letting her know over and over how grateful he was that she’d shown up in his life and changed everything.

In just a few short days, she’d become his light and his hope, having bound him with a set of blood-chains that had replaced the dark chains of his childhood.

He could never repay her for a kindness he doubted she could ever truly comprehend. But by God he’d spend the rest of his days letting her know he loved her.