Her thick dark lashes swept upwards in a graceful move. “Only if you behave.”

“Depends on what you call behaving.”

She chuckled. “I think I’m going to have my hands full with you. Your dog has much better manners than you.” She turned to the pooch and rubbed his neck. “Don’t you think so, Z?”

With two steps he was at the door, pulling her up and against him. “I can behave, but I’ll need an incentive.”

“What kind of incentive?” her voice was breathy, and despite the thick clothes she wore, he smelled her blooming arousal.

“A little treat afterwards.” Zane pressed his hips into her, letting her feel what he had in mind. He was used to his constant hard-on by now and had given up trying to hide it or trying to get it down. There was no point. Portia would get used to it, and by the looks of it, she didn’t mind his constant hunger for her one bit. She hadn’t turned him down once yet.

In fact, it appeared as if she’d bloomed and opened up like a beautiful flower in the summer. Everything about her was more feminine, softer, and more sensual than before. Even her movements had become more graceful. She was all woman now.

“I see you have a present for me.” She rubbed herself against him, confidently and seductively.

The dog’s impatient barking made him shift his gaze away from his prize. “I’m afraid you’ve spoiled him already. We’d better take him out, or he’s going to interrupt us later …”

“ … and we don’t want that,” she finished his sentence.

Minutes later, they were playing in the snow, chasing the dog and each other. There was sufficient light from the cabin to illuminate the flat ground in front of it, and Zane’s vampire night vision allowed him to survey the area, making sure they were alone. Despite his carefree attitude, he never forgot his training. He was still her bodyguard. But things had changed. Now he protected her because he loved her and couldn’t bear losing her. If anything happened to her, it would destroy him.

But there were still obstacles to overcome until he could make Portia his. She wasn’t of age yet, and from all he’d heard about her father, he knew he wouldn’t consent to a union between them. It left him no choice but to wait the few weeks until she turned twenty-one. Then she could make her own decisions.

Sure, he could mate with her now, but her father could appeal to the vampire council and nullify their union. And their decision would be clear: Zane would be in the wrong, and Portia would be taken from him. As a blood-bonded mate, it would mean certain death to him. While Portia as a hybrid would be able to continue eating human food, his body would only accept her blood as nourishment after the blood-bond. Deprived of the only blood his body would recognize, he would starve.

If Portia were a full blooded vampire, things would be different. They would feed off each other but not at the exclusion of other blood. But a hybrid’s blood initiated the same changes in a blood-bonded vampire male as a human’s blood did. Both Samson and Amaury had experienced this change when they had blood-bonded with humans. Now they were entirely vulnerable and dependent on the women they loved. At their mercy. At the same time, they had bestowed part of their immortality onto their mates: as long as their human wives drank their vampire husbands’ blood, they wouldn’t age. But they remained human.

And while he wasn’t bonded to Portia yet, Zane felt as much at her mercy as if he were. And strangely enough, the thought didn’t frighten him.

A snow ball hit him squarely in the chest. He stared in the direction it had come from.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Portia offered with a laugh that reached all the way to her eyes.

“Not for sale.” She would get into his head soon enough. Once they were bonded, they would have a connection more intense and intimate than any human couple could ever dream of. He could barely wait for that moment when their bodies and mind connected, never to be separated.

Bending down, Zane gathered some snow in his hands and formed a ball. His aim was dead on, and he hit her sweet bottom as she ran away from him. He chased her, knowing it was what she wanted.

Z ran between him and his target, tripping him just as he reached her. As he fell, he snatched her and brought her down with him. She landed next to him, and he didn’t waste any time pinning her down in the snow. Portia wouldn’t feel the cold at her back, just as he wouldn't have. Not only was she dressed in a warm jacket, her hybrid body tolerated extreme temperatures as well as his vampire body did.

Stretched out above her, his head close to hers, he issued his demand. “Now for my prize.”