If you close the curtains for a moment, I’ll leave the room, Dev, and you can keep them wide open. I thought you’d prefer to wake in a room where there were windows.

She’d been sleeping with him, he realized, keeping him company, rather than being in her own room, nested in the rock to ensure the sun couldn’t find her. She didn’t wear the beautiful peach creation she’d had on that night she’d given him the third mark. Today she wore a short pale blue lace thing that brought out her eyes, a sheer confection that showed him the shadow of her delectable body. He must really have been out of it, if he’d been wasting his time by sleeping next to that.

A smile touched her lips, but her gaze shifted to the window. Dev.

“Sorry, love.” Grunting, he pulled himself back in and shut the curtains. His body was amazingly flexible, considering everything it had been through.

“It’s the third mark. It gives you exceptional healing capabilities. Once it settles in, even very serious wounds can heal quickly, though right now you needed the help of my blood. And you’ve been out of it almost a day.”

“Hmm.” Moving back to the bed, he bent to pick up the sheet and toss it on the mattress, before he considered her. Now that the light had been blocked, she moved out of the corner, the sheer fabric molding her breasts and abdomen, whispering between her thighs. It was such a contrast to the horror of his dreams, he continued to stare at her, trying to use that powerful image, both arousing and soothing, to dispel the others.

“I’m sorry, Dev,” she murmured. “For all of it. You did exceptionally well. Lord Charles was beside himself.”

“Well, pissing that bastard off is something.” Searching for something to say, to loosen the squeezing grip of the dreams that had his heart still pounding unnaturally hard, he found just the thing. “Don’t you owe me a reward?”

“Hotcakes?” She blinked innocently. “I believe the cook is just waiting for you to drag your lazy arse out of bed.” He managed a chuckle, harsh and grating though it sounded to his own ears. Her eyes softened. Lord, a woman’s compassion could kill him at the moment. He turned away, glad for the one sliver of sun that had escaped from the curtains’ crack, keeping her on the other side of it.

Now wasn’t the moment for him to collect the prize she’d so generously offered, anyhow. The shadows were too close, and he didn’t want them to taint it.

“Dev.” Her voice coaxed at him. “Look at me.”

When at last he turned, she looked toward the line pointedly. He stepped to it at last, blocking the stream of light with his body, and extended a hand. Taking it, her fingers slim and smooth, she stepped across, so that when he moved out of that line, they were on the same side of the room, her body beneath his hands.

Lifting on her toes, she rubbed her lips against his stubbled cheek. As he closed his eyes, his hands gripped her hard enough to hurt a mortal woman. She made a soft noise of reassurance, moved closer, let him bury his face in her hair.

“I’m so glad you made it back, Dev.”

She didn’t say the wrong thing. Didn’t try to get him to talk about it, but then she didn’t need to, did she? And she didn’t tell him she was proud of him, proud of his ability to kill men who’d made bad choices, and children.

“After we get things settled here, I’m going to go to the coast to get some new things for the house,” she continued softly. “I’d like you to go with me. Will you? It will be a few weeks among the civilized.” When he lifted his head, he saw that smile again, only there was a shadow to it he found odd, like she almost expected him to say no. Or maybe, after his behavior just now, she was reconsidering.

“Don’t be daft.” Her blue eyes met his. “Dev, I couldn’t have asked more of any man or vampire than you’ve given me in these past few days. Let me take you into the city, give you the pleasures of good food and drink, and what you’ve earned from this body.” With the hint of a mischievous smile, she shifted into a turn, and he suppressed a groan because it was sheer in back as well.

She was wearing some kind of pretty trifle on her waist that had a tiny tail of diamonds to it that teased over one buttock. She was so close, that sweet curve brushed his thigh. “Then we’ll come back here.”

“You shouldn’t have slept up here,” he said, wanting time to think. “It’s dangerous.”

“Outback vampires tend to take more chances. Live on the edge.” She bared her teeth, making him snort. “After all, you have to be short of a full quid to live out here, right? Will you go with me?”

“I want to say yes, but I don’t know if I should.” Rubbing his chest as if he still felt the pain there, the tearing of flesh, he was startled to feel a different texture, and then remembered the raven. Evidence of the hold she had on him. He turned away before he could see if she registered that damning thought. “I’m not sure of my mind right now. Don’t know what or who I’d be if I went with you into the city. Things feel raw, out of sorts. Maybe it’s best if I just go. Or stay here and get your station in order.”

“Then how will I give you your prize?” She moved around him, the silk of the gown fluttering against his bare legs as she tilted her head, studied him. “I’ve got a little place in Surfer’s Paradise, right on the shore. We can take the train from Alice Springs to Adelaide, fly from there to the coast. Save our shopping for Brisbane, after we take a breather for a few days. It will work out well, because I also need to pay a call on the Queensland Region Master when we’re in Brisbane. You’d be a great help. You can coordinate the shipping of our purchases back to Adelaide for trucking out here.” She shifted closer, tilted her head, her lips so close, and of course they had to be moist. Dev would have chuckled if he thought it wouldn’t be more like a sound of despair. “You’ll like the cottage in Surfer’s Paradise. It has a nice high bed. I want to be in it with you, hear the waves hit the shore as I feel the heat of your skin, your thighs against the back of mine . . . Feel you readying yourself to enter me. You’re right, I’ve never taken a man there, Dev. You’ll be the first.” Holy hell. He really needed to put on some bloody clothes. His dog was going to be straining at the end of its leash, lunging for her in a minute. “You told me that just to get me to go.”

“Yes. I want you to go. If you’d consented to being my third-marked servant, it would be a command.” Unrepentant, she ran her fingers down his chest, her nails scoring the raven a little. “Go with me. Let me take advantage of every inch of your marvelous cock for several days. Until you’re even more exhausted than you were when you collapsed in my arms.”

“Well”—he shifted—“I wouldn’t say I collapsed in your arms. Perhaps thudded to the ground in a manly fashion, and you happened to be there to break my fall.”

She smiled, but kept serious eyes on his face. Her voice lowered. “I won’t let the shadows have you, Dev. Come with me. I’m strong enough to keep them from taking you.”

They took me a long time ago, my lady. “My cock you have. It’s my mind I worry about.”

“Let me worry about both,” she said softly. “Because I believe they both belong to me.” 16

AFTER weeding out Ian’s lot and sending them on their way, Dev wasn’t surprised that only a handful of her remaining staff and stockmen chose to leave the station. It was mostly those whom Ian had taken against their will that left, and even a couple of those told her, with some feet shuffling, that if she’d be willing to take them back on, they’d return after a visit with their families.

He understood it. Once they were exposed to something so far outside the understanding of what the world was, it was difficult to return to what they’d known before. The world of vampires was brutal, violent, fascinating, glittering and sexual. It might be difficult to return to something like mining, running a shop or working a regular station after that. The other part of it was her. When she locked gazes with you and said something in that right tone of voice, you knew she wouldn’t go back on her word. She didn’t deceive, but she sure as hell could overwhelm. Jobs were too scarce out here, and they’d wait to see how things changed. He suspected old Jim, who had the men’s respect, had also vouched for the fact she was a worthwhile boss.

So, with only a couple vehicles following, he’d driven her back across the terrain, picked up the Stuart Highway and headed toward Alice Springs. Given her plans for them over the next few weeks, traveling didn’t bother her; that was for certain. And this time, he made sure every vehicle carried those special canvases.

Of course, he was comfortable with travel himself. While he wasn’t as used to dealing with planes and fancy vehicles, he definitely preferred that to the strangeness of vampire dinner parties and their aftermath. He’d deal with the whole idea of visiting the Queensland Region Master later. Maybe he’d make sure he was way too busy handling the details involved with getting her purchases back to Thieves’ Station to participate in socializing. Yeah, she’d accept that. Snort.

Though it was in the back of his mind, always, that he could just pick up and leave, his feet wouldn’t go. So here he was, for now, and unwilling to delve too deeply into why he wasn’t running away as fast as he could.

The Wanderer’s Inn hotel and pub was the first stop they saw after they gained the tarmac of the highway. Bob, the proprietor, knew Dev, since Bob’s son had been a digger in the 39th as well. Because his place did have a store and facilities to wash up, they made the decision to stop there for the daylight hours. And of course they had beer.

When the sun hit the horizon, Danny was safely ensconced in a room. Dev adjusted the curtains to make sure no stray sunlight could get in, using some extra blankets he’d borrowed from Bob, who’d looked surprised that anyone would need extra linens for the hot daytime hours. Dev had wondered whether she wanted her own room, since she’d had to be lady of the station the past couple days. But she’d told him to get one for the two of them, and make separate sleeping arrangements for the others.