When she turned in his arms, she expected to see a smile.
Instead, his brow furrowed and concern darkened his features. “Never look back when you’re racing through a forest at preternatural speeds. Running into a low-hanging branch at human speeds is bad enough. Doing it when you’re running faster than you can drive…”
She winced. “Yikes. You’re right. Would I even survive that?”
“Not if it decapitated you.”
“And if it didn’t?”
“Maybe. You heal even quicker than I do now. And I could summon Seth to speed the process or reattach any limbs you might lose. But I’d rather not test it.”
“Me either. Maybe I should just avoid forests altogether.”
He shook his head. “There are trees in the suburbs and the city, too. Run the gauntlet often enough and tracking the position of every obstacle in front of you will soon become second nature.”
Nodding, she leaned into him. He had been training her vigorously since the day after she had awoken sporting glowing eyes and retractable fangs.
He also hadn’t let her out of his sight. Her transformation had terrified him. Apparently her heart had stopped a few times. And her fever had risen so high that they’d had to submerge her in an ice bath to bring it down. Nick had sunk into the frigid water with her and held her close to keep her from hurting herself in a desperate and delirious attempt to escape the cold.
He was such a sweetheart.
Kayla remembered none of it. Nick had confessed it all when she had awoken. And his haggard appearance, the tears that had sparkled in his glowing amber eyes when he’d told her how afraid he’d been, had made her newly strengthened heart ache.
Drawing in a deep breath, she marveled for the millionth time over the vast array of scents she could now detect. Soil. The decaying leaves beneath their feet. The birds nesting in the tree to her left. Water from the stream a mile away. Two raccoons foraging for food. A possum doing the same. An owl. A plethora of plants. The smoke from distant hearths.
And Nick. His scent was the best. His was her favorite. She would never get enough of it.
Drawing in another deep breath, she savored it. “You smell so good.”
His arms tightened around her as he dipped his head and nuzzled her hair. “You do, too. Especially when you want me.”
She smiled. “I always want you.”
“I know.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “But do you want me enough to spend eternity with me?”
Leaning back to look up at him, she quirked a brow. “I did transform for you.”
Much to her surprise, he shook his head. “You transformed for Becca.”
Kayla stared at him. “What?”
“You were worried about Becca. You transformed for her.”
He didn’t really believe that, did he? That she had only transformed so she could have more time with her daughter? “I love Becca.”
“I know you do.”
“I love you, too, Nick.”
His lips tilted up at the corners. “I know.”
“Do you?” she asked, studying him carefully. “Do you really?”
His brow puckered.
“You know I didn’t just transform for my daughter, right?”
He said nothing.
“Nick, I transformed so I could be with you.”
He started to shake his head, then paused and stared at her as though he was unsure whether to believe it.
“I was concerned about Becca,” she told him. “How could I not be? I’m all she has. And I always want to be there for her. But what you and I have… what we share…” She shook her head. “Do you know how rare that is?”
“Rare enough that I’ve only experienced it once in four hundred years,” he responded. “I’ve only ever felt this way with you, Kayla.”
And oh, how those hoarsely uttered words touched her. “I just found you, Nick. I didn’t want to lose you. And the idea of spending the rest of eternity with you…” She patted his chest above his heart. “That is why I transformed. That is what I want. Eternity with you.”
He cupped her face in his big hands. “I want the same.” He pressed his soft lips to hers in a light kiss that nevertheless carried the full weight of his feelings for her. “I love you, Kayla.”
“I love you, too.”
He kissed her again, longer. Then he raised his head and met her gaze. “Will you marry me?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
Again he took her lips in a kiss, this one deep and devouring.
Her pulse picked up, her rapid heartbeat matching his as he coaxed her lips apart. She moaned when he slid his tongue inside to stroke hers. His scent suffused her, heightening her arousal. He had once told her she was an aphrodisiac. That’s exactly what his scent was to her, rapidly escalating her hunger, her need.
Their breath shortened as his big hands roved her form, cupping her breasts, teasing her nipples through her shirt and bra. She arched into him, rising onto her toes to align her hips with his, rubbing against the long, hard length behind his fly.
Now that she was immortal, her every sense was heightened. Hearing. Sight. Smell. Touch. Taste. And all of it made her ache to have him inside her. “Immortal sex is the best sex ever,” she gasped between kisses.
“Sex with you is the best sex ever,” he murmured. “Your eyes are glowing.”
Her hazel eyes glowed green, something rare in the Immortal Guardians world since almost all of them had brown eyes that glowed amber.
She trailed kisses along Nick’s jaw, practically climbing him in her need to get closer. “Are we far enough from David’s place to keep the others from hearing us?” They had spent the two weeks since her transformation in North Carolina at the home of David, Seth’s immensely powerful second-in-command.
A favorite gathering place for Immortal Guardians on the East Coast, David’s home was always packed with immortals and their Seconds.
“No.” Nick groaned as she rocked against him. “We’re still within a five-mile radius.”
Shit. “Then they can hear us?”
“Mm-hmm.” He pressed a hot kiss to her neck and nipped her earlobe.
Damn, he turned her on. But as much as she wanted him to take her right now against the nearest tree, she had no interest in providing audible porn for the others.
Breaking contact with him, she stepped back.
Cold air rushed between them but did nothing to dispel the heat that raged inside her.
She took another step back, touched her neck, then slid her hand down to cup one breast. “You want me?”
A sexy growl rumbled up from his chest. “Yes.”
“Then you’re going to have to catch me.” She drew her shirt over her head and let it fall to the ground. “I’ll leave a trail for you to follow.”
His amber eyes brightened.
Kayla took off through the trees, putting on a burst of preternatural speed that would give her a great enough lead to pause and discard a shoe here, a sock there, her pants, her bra…
Once she put enough distance between herself and David’s home, she halted. The space wasn’t really big enough to be called a clearing. But the trees around it parted just enough to allow a soft bed of grass to grow.