She was making demands of him? No one did such a ridiculous thing without experiencing the severest of consequences. He decided the terms of every action. Yet, somehow, her fearlessness made him proud. S, my mate should be brave. Anything else would bring me dishonor. Nonetheless, she is demanding her liberty. Why?

Niccolo scolded her with his eyes. "Do you believe I wish to hurt you? After I saved you?"

"Are you really a vampire? Was that-that thing back there really going to eat me?"

Since he hadn't spilled the beans personally, there was no Pact-violation on his part. Niccolo nodded. "S and s. However, I will not hurt you. My only wish is to protect you-to see you safe, mio cuore."

Helena cocked her head.

She did not believe him? No one ever questioned his honor! And lived. His pride quickly dissolved into admiration once again.

Yes, of course, my bride should be the cautious type. This will ensure her survival. He smiled inwardly. Perhaps, the universe was smarter than he thought. It was beginning to appear that his mate had all the right traits. Physical and mental. He was going to enjoy learning her. Thoroughly.

His cock began to swell once again. Contain your passion, man. Remember, you cannot join with her until she has been transformed. His mood instantly soured.

The device made another odd sound. "Here. Push this," Helena demonstrated how to engage the device.

His mood modestly improved; she trusted him enough to help. Very encouraging. Niccolo's attention moved to the phone. "Speak," he commanded it.

A voice came out over the speaker. "Rodrigo! You useless idiot! You'd better have Niccolo on his way to Sao Paolo!"

Niccolo was amazed by how the small device transported the wretched woman's voice. "I am not on my way anywhere," he answered.

There was a long pause. "Niccolo?"

"Yes, Reyna."

Niccolo held his index finger to Helena's mouth. He did not want the queen finding out about his new human.

"Where the hell have you been?" Reyna barked.

Niccolo shrugged. "Long story. One I do not care to share." Especially not now. His bride was listening and he did not want to scare her away.

"You refuse to answer?"

"I have not had a meal in three-hundred years and must feed. What do you want of me, Reyna?" He knew his attitude might anger her further, but there was only one thing she hated more than impertinence: cowardice.

"Insolent fool! Tell me where you've been," Reyna demanded.

"Buon. I'm here now and have taken care of the issue which detained me. That is all you need to know."

She growled. "Fine. Get your sweet ass down to Sao Paolo. There's a pack of Obscuros eating tourists-reds and oranges by the handful like fucking M&M's!"

Niccolo did not want Helena to hear this. It might shock her to know that Vampires hunted humans according to the color of their auras. Good vampires preyed only on those with gray or black auras-humans who were beyond redemption. Of course, the sweetest treats were the good apples with red, yellow, and orange auras-Forbiddens like Helena. The only exception was for the queen who had a pool of willing blood slaves with auras somewhere in the middle of the rainbow.

"Sao Paolo. As you command," Niccolo responded casually to mask his concern. The queen's reaction was far too...gracious.

In fact, I sense a twinge of...relief? Yes. That is what he felt radiating distantly through their blood bond. What had happened in the world? Must be bad if she's so willing to take me back.

He then thought about what it meant to return to her service, a scenario he had not anticipated. It is merely for three more months, man. You can manage.

"Go find something to eat," the queen barked. "Sentin and Rodrigo will be watching your every move. If you even think of running again, they will call me, and I will personally deal with you. Understand? Now, hurry the fuck up and get your ass on that plane!"

A plain what?

"And Niccolo...after your job is complete, you come straight to me; I'm not done with you yet."

Niccolo looked at Helena. He could sense the turbulent current of fear and confusion coursing through her. He could not help but want to comfort her.

Just as soon as I am certain the situation is safe, I will be comforting you in many, many ways, mio cuore. But for the time being, he could not risk Helena's life; she was his ticket to freedom, though he did not know how this freedom would come about.

"Sentin. Just Sentin will be escorting me. I intercepted Rodrigo in the jungle attempting to dine on a Forbidden."

There was a long silence, then, "I guess that explains why you have his phone." Reyna sighed. "Dammit. I had plans this weekend. He was going to cat sit. Well, I guess you've returned just in time. I imagine many of the less honorable men have been bending the rules since you..." She screamed loudly, "Took your fucking vacation! Get to work! And clean it up before I change my mind about taking you back!"

The words Call Ended, flashed across the tiny screen.

Niccolo let out a long, slow breath and then turned to Helena. She was still trembling.

"Please, just let me go back to my friends."

Niccolo grabbed her hand and planted a lingering kiss on her palm. "That is exactly what I plan to do." He held up the phone. "Give me your coordinates so I may converse with you on this device when the time comes to send for you."

He could sense her emotions. Deception. She did not want to return to him. She was afraid. She was also intrigued.

He added, "And do not think of hiding from me, Helena. I am thirteen hundred years old now, and you are my mate. I will hunt you. I will find you."

Chapter 4.

Three weeks later The nocturnal salty breeze carried the sound of crashing waves into Helena's second story window. Although the ocean was a full four blocks away, the soothing crests often sounded as if right beneath her window. It was normally her favorite thing about living in the lax beach town of Santa Cruz. But since her return from Mexico, nothing made her happy.

Being alone in the enormous yellow house didn't help either. Her mother was staying at Aunt Rita's in San Diego-her first vacation in a long time.

Helena nibbled her thumb, glared at her cell phone, and then flopped down on her white bedspread, arms sprawled to her sides. It was eight pm. When would he call? When would he send for her? What would she do when he did?

"You're obsessed! Stop it!" It had been weeks since her return, yet her mind had never left that dark night in the jungle. The memories haunted her every moment of the day and every second of her dreams-when she managed to sleep. Tonight was not one of those nights. Tonight she'd dwell again on his final parting word: "forever."

That night, after Niccolo surprisingly informed Helena he would let her go, they'd hiked through the jungle for an hour, and he'd asked all sorts of bizarre questions. How did people travel? What weapons were prevalent? Who was currently at war? What form of currency was best?

Helena explained all about cars, the Euro, planes, bombs, and guns. Then the Middle East. Niccolo listened with fascination to every word. When they finally reached a road, she wondered how he would react to seeing a car. Was he really thirteen hundred years old? How could that be physically possible? He'd also mentioned having waited three hundred years for her. Asleep. The absurdity of that statement swam endless laps inside her head. Not only from a scientific standpoint, but also because she had the worst luck with men. They always seemed intimidated by her independence. To imagine a male like Niccolo waiting around just for her? It made her insides liquefy.

Oddly enough, she wasn't hung up on his vampirism. Maybe because her field of study, Evolutionary Biology, was grounded in the improbable becoming reality. Take the overly endowed Argentine lake duck, for example, with a member the length of its body. Or the Madagascar sucker-footed bat with real suction cup feet.

When it came to Nature's will, wasn't anything possible? Even nocturnal human-like creatures with super strength? Who drink blood, and live for thousands of years, and look like they just walked off the cover of Hotty Magazine, and...She shook her head. Okay. Maybe not.

From another world, then? She had witnessed Niccolo flag down a blue pickup that night by merely whispering, "Stop your mechanical carriage."

After the driver pulled smoothly to the side of the two-lane highway, Niccolo instructed him to take Helena to her hotel and guard her with his life. The driver nodded with an obedient, empty gaze and waited for Helena to get in. As she was about to step inside the cab of the truck, Niccolo unexpectedly pushed her against the side of the vehicle and slanted his mouth over hers. His hands cradled the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. No one had ever kissed her so passionately, with such desperation.

Before she knew it, she was indulgently stroking his tongue with hers and within moments, he had her aching. She knew that only the feel of his skin, of their bodies merging, could possibly extinguish that little blaze-okay, forest fire-scorching her insides.

Niccolo broke the kiss, leaving her breathless. "If I don't stop now, I will not be able to. And you must go before they catch up to me," he'd said.

Helena had nodded, her mind a jumbled mess of hormonal overload and adrenaline.

"Helena, remember what I said. Do not think of hiding from me. I need you, and I've never needed anyone."

"I-I don't understand," she'd replied.

He placed a soft kiss in the corner of her mouth. "You were born for me-to save me from this hell. I will not rest until we are together again and you are safe with me...forever."

That powerful word haunted her every breath. Even now as she paced across the hardwood floor of her immaculate room. Why was his life a hell, and why did he believe Helena would rescue him? Did he intend to make her like him? "Forever" carried a lot more weight when it was said by a vampire. Regardless, she knew she wouldn't be content until she saw him again.

I am certifiable.

"Dammit. Where the hell is he?" She glared at her pink cell on the nightstand.

As if magically complying with her wish, the phone suddenly rang, making her jump.

Caller unknown. Helena's heart nearly stopped. She plucked up the phone and listened for several moments before answering. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lena! What's going on?"

"Ann?" Helena asked, hiding her disappointment.

"Yup! Where are you, girly?"

Helena sighed. Helplessly pining away at..."Home. Is everything okay?"

She heard a gasp on the other end. "I'm calling from a payphone, sitting here all alone with bags of plates and cups. You forgot, didn't you?" Ann was irate.

Helena's mind raced. "Nooo. How could I forget? It's so...important...Okay. I forgot. What are you talking about?"

"Yeah. Weird. Considering the surprise beach party thing was your brainchild..."

Oh hell! "Jessica's birthday." It was a girls-only bonfire party. She had to go pick up the drinks, logs, cake, everything. And the party started in an hour.

"Be right there." Helena slammed down the phone and scrambled to her closet. Crap. Okay. Jeans. Find jeans. She turned and began digging through a pile of neatly folded clothes in a basket on the floor. Dammit. She tugged open her top dresser drawer. "There you are!" Helena had few pleasures in life, but she never skimped on comfortable well-fitting jeans: classic straight leg, ultra-low waist.

"Helena, my love," she heard a deep voice whisper from behind.

Helena gasped and held on tight to that breath.

Jeans clutched to her chest, she turned slowly toward the voice.

There was no one there.

"It's official. I'm obsessed."

Helena arrived just as the dozen other guests showed up. She'd invited all of the girls from their surf club and a few close friends from the university-mostly Wino Wenches. After summer was over, they'd all be going off in separate directions to start their lives. Jess was taking a job in Seattle. Ann in Chicago. Some of their grad school classmates were going on to doctorate programs out of state.

Helena had planned to live with Aunt Rita and work for an ecological disaster response organization based in San Diego. Helena had loved her internship, cataloging mutating bacteria from the Gulf Coast last summer, and only wanted to get back into the field. She loved learning. She also had a mountain of school debts to pay and wanted to work for a few years before going for her PHD. If she went. For the first time ever, her future felt like a murky pond instead of a wide-open road paved with possibilities.

Helena looked up at Jess who'd just arrived and realized the event was in her honor. A satisfied grin swept across Helena's face as Jess squealed with delight and hugged everyone while laughing hysterically about being duped.

Helena realized how much she would miss seeing her friends every day. They'd been her rock these last years and filled a void left by not having much family around.

Helena pasted on a smile. The party must go on.

She passed out sodas for the drivers and beers to everyone else. She then popped in an old Beach Boys CD. Everyone sang and laughed, ate cake and talked about their plans for the future. Everyone except Helena. She just listened and soaked them in, knowing it would be the last time they'd all be together.

Life felt so short.

Just after midnight, the party died down and the guests said their goodnights. Helena plopped herself down in the sand between Jess and Ann. They stared at the dwindling flames, listening to the low crackle of the logs and the crashing waves in the background.

"Thanks Lena, that was the best birthday I've ever had," Jess said and squeezed Helena's hand.

Helena put one arm around Ann and the other around Jess. "Love you guys."

"Love you too, Lena," Ann said.

Helena wished she could bottle this one moment in time and keep it safe forever.

Forever. She sighed inwardly. How silly. Nothing is forever. Change was the one constant in the universe; this much she knew. Lately, the air was thick with it, like a sticky mist blanketing everything around her. Even her bones knew it was coming.

Seeking refuge from her dark thoughts, her mind gravitated toward those deep chocolate-brown eyes and thick mane of shiny black hair. She sighed. Was he her future? Her new steady rock in the endlessly evolving universe?

"Heeey. Got any for us?" a gruff voice spoke out from behind them.

Helena sprang up and turned to find a hulking man staggering toward the fire. He looked disheveled and was clearly inebriated.

"This is a private party." Helena crossed her arms.

The large man stepped into the firelight, providing a better look. He wore only a leather vest and dirty jeans. His heavily inked biceps were the size of footballs, which he made a point to display by crossing his arms over his chest.

"Private? Don't be rude. I don't like rude people." Another six men approached and stood behind him.