“But you’ve hated vampires all your life, how could you—”

“You’ve taught me that vampires have a heart. They’re not soulless creatures.” Then he looked down at himself and noticed how she followed his gaze. “And by the looks of it, vampires have an increased sex drive.” Or was it because Yvette was near him?

Yvette’s breath hitched. “I love you.”

Her words made everything right in his life. Haven pulled her against his naked body and felt his skin sizzle at the touch. The sensations the contact with her skin produced, were more intense than when he’d been human. “I was hoping you’d say that.” He gently brushed his lips against hers. “Because I’ll never let you go. You understand that, don’t you? There won’t be any running away.”

“How’re you gonna make sure of that?” Her coquettish smile told him that she was ready to play.

“Only one way to do that …” Haven dipped his head and brushed his lips against hers, inhaling her scent. “God, you smell even better than I remember.”

“Everything will be different now,” she whispered against his lips.

“Different good?”

“Better. More intense.”

Haven slid his hand down her back to the swells of her ass and drew her against his aching cock.

Yvette’s breath hitched at the contact. “And bigger.”

He couldn’t suppress a smile from forming on his lips. “If I’d known that, I would have considered this change earlier.”

“You shouldn’t joke about it.”

“Why not?”

She pulled back and slammed her fist into his shoulder. “Because you scared the shit out of me when you stabbed yourself! Don’t you ever dare do anything like that again!”

“And how are you gonna make sure I never do that?” Haven sent her own words back at her, chuckling softly.

“There’s one way I’d always know what you’re planning,” Yvette hedged, lowering her lids as if unsure about how to go on.

Haven didn’t have to ask what she was thinking of. A memory from the day before crept into his consciousness: of Amaury knowing when Nina was hurt, and of Maya telling Gabriel telepathically that Delilah had delivered a baby girl. He understood.

“You want a blood-bond.”

Yvette pulled back slightly, trying to twist out of his hold. “It’s too soon to talk about something like that. And besides, maybe what you want is different.”

Haven didn’t loosen his grip. And now that he was a vampire, he was as strong as Yvette. She’d never again be able to escape him. “Too early, huh?”

“I was just joking. Really.”

“Uh, huh.” Then he forced her head up with his hand, gripping her chin between thumb and forefinger. “I thought we were past that phase.”

“Which phase?”

“Where you lie to me, and I call you on it.”

“I wasn’t—”

He tsked. “Baby, I’m asking you again. Do you want a blood-bond?”

She averted her gaze, but he pulled her face back to him. “Because I want one. And I’d be very disappointed if you turned me down.”

Yvette’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Against his chest, he felt her heartbeat race. “Oh, Haven, are you sure? Because if we’re bonded … it’ll be forever.”

Forever was just what he had in mind. Haven stroked his hand over her cheek. “Baby, I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t sure. Or would you like me to repeat my proposal on bent knees? I guess proposing in a shower is a little unorthodox, but I—”

She shook her head, cutting him off with her next words. “I love you.”

Then she flung her arms around him and pressed herself against him.

“I take that as a ‘yes.’ ”

“Yes.” Her breath caressed his ear, sending a shiver down his body, the shockwave of it traveling all the way to his cock.

Impatient to make her his forever, he asked, “When?”

“Now.”

Now couldn’t come fast enough. “You have to tell me what to do.”

She loosened her embrace and looked at him. “We’ll make love and drink each other’s blood when our bodies are joined.”

Haven groaned. This was better than he’d ever imagined the ritual to be. At best he’d thought that there’d be a ceremony akin to a wedding, with other vampires present, while they exchanged blood by cutting their hands in the American Indian tradition. But this, well, this was more than just an unexpected threat. He realized that this was what he’d dreamed of ever since he’d met Yvette, without even knowing what it meant. Ever since he’d first tasted her blood.