The handsome man nodded ruefully. “Ah, right. Of course.”

“We should have known it would never be that easy,” the satyr said sadly as he met my eyes. His were bright green and beautiful. “Any pain?” he mouthed at me, and I shook my head, keeping my eyes firmly on his so I didn't gawk at his nakedness.

“How did he find you and your bedmate?” interjected Swarthy.

I pursed my lips at the word “bedmate.” I'd been called that before by one of Ryu's friends back when we were at their Territory's Compound. I hated that word.

The very edges of Ryu's mouth twitched at my reaction, although the smile did not reach his eyes. “I have no idea. But everyone's back on high alert. If anything, he's gotten even stronger since we last saw him.”

At that moment, a slender, elegant, slightly flappery woman with bright red hair cut in a precise bob came and stood beside the tall, gawky youth. She put a hand on his shoulder before turning to Ryu.

“Is your bedmate all right?” the woman inquired politely. My pursed lips evolved into an ick face.

“Her name is Jane, and, yes, I think she's okay,” he said, gathering me closer so that he could stand.

When Ryu was on his feet, I peered around me at the group gathered about us. They were all looking at me with equal curiosity. I wished I wasn't being held like a doll but was unsure whether my legs would hold if Ryu put me down. I was shivering, although I didn't feel cold.

“Hi,” I said, gritting my teeth against the shakes wracking me. “I'm Jane.”

One by one they introduced themselves. The tall boy was Julian, whose crooked grin propelled him from cute to absolutely adorable. Next to him stood Swarthy, who told me he was Daoud as he gave me the sort of smile that could remove a girl's panties at fifteen feet. Caleb the satyr was next, prodigious manhood and all. I was very grateful to him for healing me, but I couldn't deal with his oh-so-full monty. I suppose the goat haunches made wearing pants virtually impossible, but that's why the gods created ponchos. Next was the elegant woman, who was named Camille. She watched me intently, as if I might have some answer she'd been waiting for. Ryu told me that these were his personal deputies. Finally, there was a big burly man with a short blond crew cut who comported himself with a military bearing. His name was Stefan, and Ryu said that Stefan was like their police chief. Other creatures milled about, but they seemed to be the supernatural version of beat cops. Occasionally, one would approach the burly blond with questions.

Speaking of questions, I had about a million. But with all the hustle and bustle, I couldn't get Ryu's attention.

“Caleb, Daoud, get us home,” Ryu said. “Camille, my car's parked at the Pru. Will you collect it for me, please? The rest of you, finish up here and we'll talk tomorrow. I want reports ASAP. Stefan, the scene is yours.” The blond man bowed slightly, already moving off toward his people.

Camille and Julian also inclined their heads. Julian gave me a friendly wave that I returned with a tired smile before Camille turned on her heel and strode off, Julian pacing loose-boned behind her.

We followed Daoud and Caleb toward an SUV parked right outside the garden. As Ryu settled me into the backseat, Caleb got into the driver's seat. He barely fit, and I noticed that his horns had shredded the material on the top of the car. Suddenly, Daoud was leaning toward me from the front seat. With a wink, he passed me a lollipop that I could have sworn he pulled directly out of his pants.

“Get well soon.” He grinned, winking at me as Ryu gave him the gimlet eye. I buckled myself in as Ryu closed my door and joined me from the other side. I settled back into my seat as I felt my lower back start to ache.

When we got home and I dredged up the energy to speak, my vampire, much like Lucy, would have a lot of “splainin'” to do.

I didn't wake up till the voices were saying good night. We were at Ryu's door, and I was once more cradled in his arms. I must have fallen asleep again.

“I never nap,” I blearily informed Caleb and Daoud. Daoud looked confused and Caleb gave me a tolerant smile before they both walked away.

“Two naps in one day,” I continued to marvel as Ryu carried me inside and up to his bedroom. His face was set in a grim mask, granting me my first glimpse of the Ryu that other people called “sir.”

“I'm sorry our romantic holiday was a bust,” I said, as we entered Ryu's room. For some reason, I wasn't that freaked out about the attack. Don't get me wrong, I knew it would hit eventually. But for right now, post-shock and post-nap, I felt strangely calm about the whole thing.

Ryu shook his head, remaining silent.

He sat me down on the edge of the bed before pulling off his boots. Then he knelt to remove my own over-the-knee, black, high-heeled, piratey sex boots, gifts from Iris. I loved these boots even more than I loved my Converse, not least because I felt like some sort of swashbuckling slattern while wearing them. When he'd managed to wrestle them off, Ryu stood me up to undo my tight, stretchy black trousers, sliding them down my legs. My black lace panties followed. Finally, he lowered me back to the bed to remove my red corset-style top and the black lace basque I wore underneath. He still hadn't spoken a word to me, and although his hands were gentle, his eyes were hard.

When I was naked, Ryu slid both of us to the middle of the bed, his arms scooped under mine and viselike against my still-aching ribs.

Then he draped himself over me, fully clothed, his cheek pressed to mine. I nuzzled at his neck, trying to inhale his warm balsam scent. He was so heavy that I struggled to breathe, but Ryu needed this, whatever “this” was, so I lay still. After a full minute, I felt his lips trace the curve of my ear and then brush downward over my cheek to my neck. He raised himself up, straddling my thighs, and he finally spoke.

“Turn over. Onto your stomach,” he commanded.

I met and held his gaze for a moment before I raised my hand to his cheek. He turned his face slightly so that he could kiss my palm, and as he did so, he closed his eyes. For that split second, I saw the pain on his face: all the fear, guilt, and rage he'd felt for me radiated from him in a white-hot blaze of agony. I stroked my fingers down his jaw and then did as he'd asked.

When I was settled on my stomach, Ryu traced his hands down my spine, trailing that telltale healing warmth, and then followed them with his lips. He painstakingly stroked his hands over my sides and up my ribs, before indicating to me he wanted me to turn over. Once I was settled on my back, he continued to heal me, concentrating on my ribs and sides. I touched his hands with my own, trying to reach through his guilt and anger to find my Ryu beneath this unsmiling mask. He answered my touch with his lips, meeting first my own mouth and then my breasts.

I started in on the buttons of his shirt, suddenly wanting to feel him pressed against me in the same way he'd obviously needed to feel me just moments ago. Ryu was still working on my ribs, but he released his hands for a moment when I went to pull his shirt off his arms.

I undid his belt buckle and trousers, trying to push them down over his hips before I realized they were going nowhere while he was still straddling my legs. At my gently touching his knee, he scooted down my body and moved his thighs between mine. I pushed his trousers down and opened myself to him, wrapping my legs around his hips to draw him inside of me. Ryu never ceased healing me as he surged into my body.

I raised my hips to him as I pressed my heels into the small of his back. I wanted Ryu to meet me where I was: wild and a little frightened still, but mostly happy to be whole and healthy and feeling the warm rasp of my lover's skin against mine. Answering my body's none-too-subtle demands, Ryu braced his palms on the bed as his passion betrayed his own adrenaline-roughened emotions. All gentleness ceased as his hips pounded into mine relentlessly. He held himself above me, staring into my face. I felt like Ryu was imprinting me with his gaze and I raised both hands to trace my fingertips over the hard set of his mouth.

As if activated by my touch, Ryu spoke.

“Don't you ever scare me like that again,” he said, his voice nearly breaking.

It wasn't often that Ryu let his guard down to show me how much he truly cared about me. I knew he did care, but he was so slick, so sure of himself, that sometimes it was hard to figure out what was really him and what was just his public persona. So seeing him like this made my heart feel heavy and full, and I wanted to tell him I'd been scared, too. That he'd saved my life tonight, and I was grateful to him for so many things. But he knew exactly how to touch that place deep inside of me that turned my body on even as it turned my brain off. So I only managed a throaty whimper.

My whimper turned into a moan as he upped the pace. We were both close, propelled by passion and fear and our greedy need to prove ourselves still alive and still able to feel, and when I felt the steady rhythm of his hips grow erratic, I reached my fingers down between us as I tightened myself around him, precipitating my own nearly catastrophic release.

I knew I was practically screaming my pleasure, but the crescendo of blood pulsing in my ears was so loud it blocked out almost all sound.

But I did hear Ryu repeating, “Never lose you, Jane… never,” until he buried his fangs in my throat and his own orgasm overtook him.