He laughs. “I’m telekinetic, remember? You’re not going anywhere.”

“Oh, right.” The truth of that gets through to me, has me relaxing, just a tiny bit, the death grip I’ve got on him. And for the first time since we started floating, I really look at the sky around us.

“Oh my God,” I whisper. “This is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jaxon just laughs and pulls me back in, this time with my back against his chest so I can see everything and feel him wrapped around me at the same time.

And then he spins us around and around and around through the lights.

It’s the ride of a lifetime, better than anything Disneyland or Six Flags could ever dream up. I laugh all the way through it, loving every second of it.

Loving the thrill of whirling across the sky with the lights.

Loving the feeling of dancing through the stars.

Loving even more that I get to do it all wrapped in Jaxon’s arms.

We stay up for hours, dancing and floating and spinning our way through the most spectacular light show on earth. On one level, I know I’m cold—even wrapped up in the jacket, with Jaxon curled around me and the aurora borealis spread out across the sky in front and behind me—but on all the important levels, I barely feel it. How can I when the joy of being here, in this moment, with Jaxon makes it impossible to focus on anything else?

Eventually, though, he brings us back down to the parapet. I want to argue, want to beg him to keep us up just a little bit longer. But I don’t know how his telekinesis works, don’t know how much energy and power it took for him to keep us up there as long as he did.

“And you thought vampires were only good for biting things,” he murmurs into my ear when we’re once again standing on solid ground.

“I never said that.” I turn in to him and press my mouth against his neck, loving the way his breath catches in his throat the moment I put my lips on him. “In fact, I think you’re good for a lot of things.”

“Do you now?” He pulls me closer, drops kisses on my eyes, my cheeks, my lips.

“I do.” I slide my hands into the back pockets of his jeans and revel in the way he shudders at my touch. “Though, not going to lie, the biting is pretty impressive too.”

I lift my mouth for another kiss, but he steps away before I can press my lips against his. I start to follow him, but he just smiles and rubs his thumb across my bottom lip. “If I start to kiss you now, I’m not going to want to stop.”

“I’m okay with that,” I answer as I try to plaster our bodies together.

“I know you are.” He grins. “But I have something I want to do first.”

“What could possibly be more interesting than kissing me?” I joke.

“Absolutely nothing.” He drops a quick kiss on my lips and then takes a big step back. “But I’m hoping this comes in a close second. Shut your eyes.”

“Why?”

He gives a heavy mock sigh. “Because I asked you to. Obviously.”

“Fine. But you better still be here when I open them up.”

“You’re in my room. Where else would I be?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not taking any chances.” I narrow my eyes at him. “You have a bad habit of disappearing whenever things get…interesting.”

He grins. “That’s because I’m usually afraid if I stay any longer, I’ll bite you. Now that I know you don’t mind, I won’t have to run quite so fast.”

“Or you could just not run at all.” I tilt my head to the side in an obvious invitation.

His eyes go from their normal darkness to the pure black of blown-out pupils, and I shiver in anticipation. At least until he says, “You’re not going to sidetrack me, Grace. So just do us both a favor and close your eyes.”

“Fine.” I pout a little, but I do as he says. After all, the sooner we get past this, the sooner I’ll be able to kiss him again. “Do your worst.”

His laugh is a warm breath of air against my ear. “Don’t you mean my best?”

“With you, I never know.” I wait impatiently for him to do whatever it is he’s going to do—at least until I feel his chest pressed around my back and his arms on either side of me. “What—?”

“You can open your eyes now,” he says.

I do and then nearly fall over in shock. “What…?”

“Do you like it?” he asks, his voice soft and uncertain in a way I’ve never heard from him before.

“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” I lift a trembling hand to the necklace he’s holding just a few inches in front of me, brush my finger across the huge rainbow-colored gemstone hanging in the center of the gold chain. “What is it?”

“It’s a mystic topaz. Some jewelers call it the aurora borealis stone because of the way the colors flow together.”

“I can see why.” The cut of the stone is incredible, each facet carved to highlight the blues and greens and purples within it so that they bleed into one another even as they stand out. “It’s gorgeous.”

“I’m glad you like it.” He lowers the necklace until the stone rests a little below my collarbone and fastens it around my neck. Then he steps back to check it out. “It looks good on you.”

“I can’t take this, Jaxon.” I force the words out even though everything inside me is screaming for me to hold tight to the necklace and never let it go. “It’s…” Huge. And I can only imagine how much it cost. More than everything I own put together, I’m pretty sure.

“Perfect for you,” he says, nuzzling the pendant aside and pressing a kiss to my skin underneath it.

“To be fair, I’m pretty sure it’s perfect for any woman.” Of its own volition, my hand creeps up to hold on to the stone. I don’t want to give it back. “It’s so beautiful.”

“Well then, you’re well-matched.”

“Oh my God.” I groan. “That was ridiculously sappy.”

“Yeah,” he agrees with a little you’ve-got-me shrug. “And you’re ridiculously beautiful.”

I laugh, but before I can say anything else, he’s kissing me, really kissing me, and anything I was going to say flies right out of my head.

I open to him, loving the way his lips move over mine. Loving even more the way his tongue brushes against the corners of my mouth before he gently scrapes a fang across my lower lip.