Her vampire lover fulfilled her every wish before she was even able to utter it. Whenever they made love, she felt his desire for her. But there was one thing he hadn’t said since the night she’d been taken. He hadn’t said the words he’d so freely uttered before he’d made love to her in his office. Did he regret having confessed to her that he was in love with her? Had it only been a temporary feeling that he realized wasn’t love after all, but mere lust?

“Aren’t you coming to bed?”

His seductive voice drifted to her, and she approached. He lifted the duvet, revealing one naked leg, and she slipped under the covers next to him. Immediately, he pulled her onto his lap, making her straddle him.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, brushing his fingers along her cheek, before sliding them into her hair.

She forced a smile. “No. It’s just, I’ve been staying at your house for a week now, and maybe it’s time…” She hesitated, not really knowing how to bring up the subject.

Blake nodded. “Yeah, I guess it’s time.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Time to talk.”

Her heart beat erratically, but she needed to say what was on her mind. “The night I got captured, you said you loved me. But you haven’t said it since.”

He searched her eyes. “Did you want me to say it again?”

Lilo dropped her lids. She hadn’t expected the question.

Blake put his fingers under her chin to make her meet his eyes. “You didn’t say it back. So I figured I needed to give you more time to let it all sink in. You’re human. You need more time than I do: a vampire’s emotions are amplified. When they fall in love, it can happen so quickly that they sometimes frighten the human they care about.” He sighed. “When you revealed at the party that you were Maxim Holt, I realized something: you have a whole other life away from all of this. I realized I have no right to take you away from your old life. I didn’t want to pressure you, that’s why I didn’t declare myself again. All I could hope for was that you’d fall in love with me in time.”

Her heart leapt. “Does that mean—”

“That I love you?” He smiled. “More than I thought I’d ever be able to love anybody. It frightened me at first, but then I realized my heart would be safe with you. And when they took you, I knew I wouldn’t survive if I lost you. What I feel is real, and it won’t vanish.”

She sighed in relief. “Oh, Blake!” She threw her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

“Maybe now would be a good time for you to tell me that you love me, too,” he said into her ear.

Lilo lifted her head and looked at him. “I love you, Blake.”

He rubbed his thumb underneath her eye. “No need to cry about that, baby. I’m sure you could have done worse than me. I’m not such a bad catch.”

She laughed through the tears.

“Lilo, there’s something else.”

She jolted a little, shifting back.

“Don’t look so frightened. It’s something good. Or at least I hope you think it’s good.”

He turned to the nightstand, opened the drawer, and reached inside. When his hand emerged, he was holding a small black velvet box.

Was this a dream? She gasped.

“Wait,” he cautioned, chuckling. “You’ve gotta let me get to it first.” He opened the box, revealing a solitaire with a beautiful round stone in its middle. “I called every jeweler in California to find a diamond the color of your eyes. I finally found one, but not even this blue diamond is as brilliant as your cornflower-blue eyes when you look at me. I want you to always look at me like that.”

She shifted her gaze away from the ring and met his eyes. “Blake, I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes to becoming my wife.”

“Yes,” she choked out, while tears streamed down her cheeks.

Blake removed the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger, tossing the box aside. Then he pulled her to him and captured her lips for a tender, but altogether too brief, kiss. Resting his forehead against hers, he said, “I’m not done yet. There’s another question I need to ask you.”

Her mind immediately went back to her conversation with Delilah and Nina. She knew what was on Blake’s mind.

“The answer to that question is yes.”

He moved his head back, looking at her. “How could you know what I wanted to ask you?”

She smiled, and ran her fingers through his hair. “Every time you sink your fangs into me, I sense it. Besides, your friends told me enough to know what a vampire who asks a woman to marry him, truly craves.”

“And that doesn’t frighten you?”

“I love your bite.”

“But the bond is more than just a bite. You’ll drink my blood, too. And then there’s the telepathic bond.”

“Telepathic bond?” Neither Delilah nor Nina had mentioned anything about that.

“Yes, a way for the bonded couple to communicate without speaking.”

She smiled. “Doesn’t every couple in love communicate without speaking?”

He chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure some of them do. But this is different. It’s like hearing the other person’s thoughts. You wouldn’t be able to hide much from me at all. Nor I from you. We wouldn’t have any secrets from each other.”

Lilo leaned into him. “I’d like that.”

“A bond is forever. Only death will sever it.”

She kissed a path along his jaw to his ear, then down his neck. “Forever sounds good.”

“I wouldn’t be able to tolerate bottled blood any longer. You’d have to let me feed from you every day.”

She moved to the other side of his neck, planting kisses along his pulsing vein. “Only if you make love to me every day.”

A moan rolled over his lips. “I have no problem with that. But we should make sure you get on the pill for a while.”

She lifted her head and looked at him. “Why?”

“I won’t be sterile anymore once you complete your first menstrual cycle after the bonding. And as much as I’d like to feel your belly grow with my child, I want you to myself for a while first.”

His words made her heart expand even more. “You’ll make a wonderful father.”