"I saw how frightened you were outside."
"I saw them rip Karl apart! They would have gotten me, too, but I managed to teleport away. And then I was all alone, hiding like a rat in the caves, searching for my father and brothers and never finding them, feeding off Nazis every night. I-I killed so many." She slumped in a kitchen chair and covered her face as tears ran down her cheeks. "I'm a monster."
The room was quiet except for her sniffles. She'd done it. She'd let him see inside her coffin of horrors. Let him see her for what she really was. And now he would look at her differently. Instead of seeing love in his beautiful blue eyes, she would see utter disgust.
"Vanda." He crouched beside her.
She covered her eyes so she couldn't see.
"Vanda, you lived through a hell no person should ever have to endure. You lost your family, your lover, your mortality. In those camps, you witnessed the worst kind of cruelty a human can inflict on another. You lived in constant fear and despair."
She lowered her hands. "I killed them. I didn't have to. I acted just like a Malcontent. I'm no better than they are. I know you hate them. So, I know you'll hate me."
"Come." He took her hand, pulled her to her feet, and led her to the sink. He pumped water onto the kitchen towel. "You were at war, Vanda. War is an ugly monster that forces people to do terrible things they would normally never do."
"It's no excuse."
"Yes, it is." He wrung out the towel. "When you came across those guards in the camps, you were an intruder. They would have killed you if you hadn't killed them first. It was self-defense." With the towel, he wiped the tears from her face.
More tears seeped from her eyes. "You - You can forgive me?"
"Of course. I - " He tilted his head. "Oh, I see."
"See what?" That she didn't deserve to be loved?
He dampened the towel once more. "I see why you have so much anger and frustration. It's not because you need my forgiveness. I have nothing to forgive." He wiped her face again. "Vanda, the problem is within you. You're not able to forgive yourself."
She blinked. "I did terrible things."
"It was war. And you did what you had to do to survive."
"You don't think I'm a monster?"
"No. I think you're an incredibly brave and beautiful woman."
A surge of relief swept through her. It flooded through her, washing away a heavy load of guilt and remorse. "I was so afraid you would hate me."
He smiled. "I love you. And I'll keep saying it till you believe me."
For the first time she actually did believe it deep inside. For the first time in many years she felt worthy of love. She smiled back. "I do believe you. And I love you, too."
Still smiling, he dampened the towel with water. "I'm glad you finally told me everything."
Vanda nodded. The coffin in her mind was wide-open. It was still there, and it always would be, but it didn't look scary anymore.
She gasped when the wet towel was suddenly pressed between her legs. "What are you doing?"
He rubbed the towel against her. "I believe you requested two rounds of lovemaking: one with the beast and one with the gentleman." He rinsed the towel off, then began washing himself. "The gentleman is at your service."
"Phil, wake up." She nudged him. "The phone's for you."
He jerked awake and sat up.
"It's Connor." She offered him the cell phone. When it had started ringing, she'd moved with vampire speed to find it. It had been in his jeans in the cellar.
She'd answered it while levitating back to the ground floor. Then she'd levitated again, to the loft where she and Phil had made love a few hours earlier.
"Hey, Connor." Phil listened on the phone. He sat up straighter. "That's great!"
Vanda perched on the edge of the bed, listening. From what she could overhear, it sounded like Laszlo had completed the tracking device. It would be daylight on the East Coast in about five minutes. As soon as Sigismund was in his death-sleep, the device would be implanted in him. Then they would accidentally let him escape right after sunset. They hoped he would lead them straight to Robby.
"Yeah, I'll fight," Phil said. "Just send someone to get me."
Vanda swallowed hard. Of course, Phil would want to fight. He was probably good friends with Robby. They'd both been stationed at Jean-Luc's place in Texas.
If something happened to Phil, how could she bear it? She'd lost so many loved ones to war.
"I'll need a sword," Phil continued. "I only have a handgun here."
He wouldn't die like Karl had, Vanda told herself. He had super strength and speed. For the first time, she realized how grateful she should be that he was a werewolf. A normal mortal wouldn't stand a chance.
"Right. I'll be ready." Phil hung up.
"So the battle will be tonight?" Vanda asked.
"We hope so." He looked her over. "Your hair's wet."
"I got bored. There's nothing to do here. At least, not when you're asleep." She poked his foot. "I found some shampoo and washed my hair in the kitchen sink." She'd also put on the western clothes Brynley had bought.
She stood. "How do I look?"
He smiled. "You're the best-looking purple-haired cowgirl I've ever seen."
She huffed. "I should take my whip to you."
"I should peel those jeans off you."
Her mouth twitched. "You have a one-track mind."
"I can't help it. I'm an animal." He pulled her onto the bed, and she giggled.
He tugged at her shirt, popping the snaps open.
"Wait." She rested a hand on top of his. "Do we have time? I'd hate for your sister to walk in."
"Let me check." He climbed out of bed and peered out the little window in the loft. He might be looking at the full moon, but Vanda was scoping out the heavenly body. Strong back, gorgeous rump. Her skin began to tingle. Good God, she could get excited just looking at him.
"We have almost an hour." He turned to face her.
She sucked in a breath. He was already thick with arousal. "You started without me."
His gaze drifted to her jeans and his nostrils flared. "No, I haven't."
She struggled to unsnap and unzip her jeans. Meanwhile he strode to the foot of the bed and removed her boots. His bare skin took on a red tint from the glow of her eyes.
He seized the hem of her jeans and yanked them off. "You have five seconds to remove your underwear or I'll shred them."
She wiggled out of her panties and feigned a shudder. "Oooh, I'm scared. The big bad wolf's in town."
With a grin, he stalked toward her on his hands and knees. "My, what sweet legs you have." He nipped at her thigh.
"The better to squeeze you with, my dear." She sat up to remove her bra.
His eyes gleamed blue. "What sweet br**sts you have."
"The better to entice you with, my dear."
With a growl, he shoved her back on the bed. He drew a nipple into his mouth and suckled.
She moaned. "What a great tongue you have."
He looked at her with twinkling eyes. "The better to eat you with." He nibbled down her belly.
Moisture rushed to the apex of her thighs just in time to meet his inquisitive, insistent tongue. Within seconds she was squirming and panting. He teased her clitoris with the ruthlessness of an animal.
She squealed as a climax jolted through her. He watched her, a wolfish grin on his handsome face.
"Ready?" He moved between her legs.
"Wait." She rested her hands on his shoulders. "After dressing like a cowgirl, I have a strange desire to ride."
He chuckled and fell onto his back. "Saddle up, sweetheart."
An hour later Vanda sat in bed relaxing and drinking from a bottle of cold synthetic blood. She stretched her legs, feeling the pull of sore muscles. She couldn't even recall how many orgasms she'd had over the course of the night. It had been one long delicious, forbidden night of sex, mixed with heart-wrenching confessions that made the lovemaking even sweeter.
She felt the tug of sleepiness. The sun must be nearing the horizon. She sipped more blood. Phil had brought it up to her in the loft. He'd washed up at the sink and gone to the cellar to put his clothes back on.
From the clunk of cowboy boots and clanking of pans, she could tell he was in the kitchen now. Her nose twitched, catching the smell of coffee.