"She hates using compulsions," Julian continued, frantic. "Because Rose doesn't like to control anyone. She wants people to have a choice. She chose to live this time. She was fighting for the angel. f.u.c.k, she helped an angel. Doesn't that prove she'll never go so dark that she loses touch and hurts everyone?"

Luke's gaze drifted to the bed. "The angel will owe her..."

"Right, yes, fine, the angel owes her. The angel can pay her back...if you help Rose."

"The angel can kill her."

Julian stiffened. "What?"

"Angels are so much stronger than you realize. If your lady goes rogue, the angel can kill her. She can pay the debt back that way." He nodded. "Fine. Done deal."

No, nothing was done. The angel would not kill Rose. She'd have to rip him apart first.

Luke paced toward the bed. He put his hand over Rose's mouth.

"Uh, yes, so glad we worked all that out." Rayce crept forward and the floor groaned beneath his feet. "But how are you going to make her drink? She's nearly gone..."

"Don't forget, I hold dominion over the dark." Luke was his confident self once more. "And there's enough of her still in that bed to hear me. Rose...Rose, drink my blood."

He dripped the blood into her mouth.

Julian wasn't so sure that she could hear him, so he rubbed her throat, trying desperately to make her swallow...and she did.

Luke gave her more blood. She took it, but her eyes didn't open. And her skin was still too hot. "She's not getting better!"

Luke gave her more. Julian smoothed her hair away from her forehead. "Keep giving her-"

Her eyelashes fluttered. "No...more."

Luke immediately drew back.

Her breath whispered out and her gaze swung toward Julian. "I'm...okay?"

No, she was still h.e.l.l hot and shaking. She was still terrifying him. But he smiled at her. "Of course. You're better than ever." Then he looked back at Luke and Rayce. "You two, get the h.e.l.l out."

Because if something happened, if something went wrong as Luke had suggested, Julian would be there for her. He wouldn't leave her again. They'd face what came together, and he would sure as h.e.l.l never be dumb enough to try and make her leave him.

The others filed out. The door shut behind them.

"So...hot..." Rose whispered.

He scooped her into his arms and strode into the bathroom. He yanked on the cold water and sent it exploding down as he stepped into the shower, still cradling her in his arms.

Steam rose when it hit her skin.

Just like before.

"Drink, love, drink from me." His blood could dilute what she'd gotten from Leo, from Luke...his blood could link them.

Her fangs pressed to his neck. A tender bite. Her tongue slid over his skin. And she drank.

They stood like that, in the shower, the water pouring down on him, her fangs in his throat, his arms around her...for an endless time. He didn't move. He was just happy to have her there with him. Alive.

Rose.

And...

Her fangs slid away from his neck. She kissed his throat. "Don't worry. An angel isn't going to have to...put me down."

He blinked, then looked at her.

She smiled up at him. The steam didn't rise from her skin any longer. She wasn't flushed. She was perfect. "And you don't have to kill me either."

"I never would."

Her eyes were bright. "I'm not wrong. I don't want to kill and maim everyone."

She was okay. His Rose was staring at him with her sweet smile and with love in her eyes. He had to choke down the lump in his throat. "That's...that's good to know."

Her smile stretched. "I'm okay?" This time, it was a question.

"You're better than okay." He kissed her. Deep. Hard. Wild. His heart was about to burst out of his chest and he was just so- Happy.

Yeah, that was what he f.u.c.king was. He was happy. Rose had always made him happy.

Her tongue slid against his lip. She kissed him back with the same pa.s.sionate intensity and in the next moment, Julian was jerking off her jeans. He shoved her jeans to the bottom of the shower and ripped away her panties.

"Tell me to slow down," he begged because he knew he was going too fast. Too fast. Too rough. Too wild.

She laughed-the sweetest sound in the world-and her hands reached for the top of his jeans. "Don't you dare."

He stilled and stared into her eyes.

"I almost lost you. I almost lost us both," she whispered. "And you think I want to go slow now?" She rose onto her tip toes and nipped his bottom lip. "Not on your life, panther."

She still owns my heart. She always will.

She lowered the zipper of his jeans. He lifted her up against that shower wall. The water was ice cold, but he didn't care. He had his whole world in his arms.

He thrust into her. They both groaned. She was tight and wet and so perfect...

His.

He withdrew, then thrust deep. Again and again and he stroked her c.l.i.t, wanting to push her to the edge before he came. He wanted her lost to the pleasure. To feel. To love.

She cried out his name. He felt her s.e.x clench around him, and he pumped even harder into her.

Then he exploded within her. A long, hot release as his body shuddered.

Her arms were around him. She held him tight.

As tightly as he held her.

The cold water kept falling onto them. He forced his head to lift. He should move them. Get her dry. Get her warm.

But instead, he kissed her. He'd always loved her mouth.

And when he pulled back, she was smiling at him.

The most beautiful woman in the world...the woman who'd gone through h.e.l.l and come back...was smiling at him and staring at him as if...

As if I'm not a monster.

"Tell me you love me," Rose whispered.

"I love you." He'd tell her that a thousand times. A million. Every day for the rest of their very long lives. Because maybe...when he'd first got Rose to come back as a vampire...maybe he'd made a secondary deal with Luke.

I wanted to always be around to protect her. To be there, whenever she needed me.

And Luke had given him that extended life...for a price.

There is always a price with him.

Luke's words whispered through his mind. As long as you walk the earth, you'll swear to stand at my side. When the battle comes between me and Leo...you will stand with me.

He'd already planned that particular stand, so agreeing hadn't been exactly hard for him.

"I'm not...wrong," she said. But then he saw fear flicker in her eyes. "Am I?"

He kissed her again. "No. You are the only right thing in my world." He believed that to the depths of his soul.

Her smile flashed again. The fear vanished.

"But, love, do me a favor, okay? Promise me..." He turned off the blast of cold water with a flip of his wrist. "Don't ever drink from Leo or Luke again."

"I promise."

He lifted her into his arms again. He loved to hold her. He just f.u.c.king loved her. Julian gazed into her eyes.

"Julian? Are you sure...I...is something wrong?"

"No, it's right." Finally. The guilt was gone. The fear was gone. For them both. They'd chosen...each of them. And they'd chosen life.

Love.

She curled her arms around his neck. "Take me to bed. I've really had one h.e.l.l of a day."

Laughter came from him. Laughter...after everything. Only Rose could make him feel that way.

"If you think today was interesting...just wait until you see what our nights will be like." His lips pressed to hers. The kiss wasn't rough or wild. It was sweet. Tender.

"Promises, promises..." Her voice was a husky temptation.

But... "Yes." He nodded once. "I do have promises. I promise, I will love you forever. I promise...I will never let go."

Her breath sighed out. "I'll hold you to that."

And he'd hold her. Forever.

Chapter Nineteen.

Two weeks later...

"You know everything about me." Julian's voice was deep and dark and it made Rose want to shiver. They stood on the balcony, the ocean pounding against the beach below them, and she knew she was in heaven. "The good and the bad. The dark sins that stain my soul."

"I rather like your soul." Her hand reached up and curved along his jaw. The rough stubble slid over her palm. "Because I love you."

"You don't see a monster, do you?"

Rose shook her head. "I only see you."

"Maybe I should have stayed away from you..."

"You most definitely should not have." The pain, the fear-it had all been worth it. Wasn't love worth fighting for? Especially a love that was going to last forever.

"I saw you and I knew my world would change."

She had to look away from him for a moment. This talk...it was so much like the one they'd had-a lifetime ago. When a panther shifter had tried to convince a human that monsters were real.

And then death had come.

"I saw you, and I knew what I'd always been missing. For the first time, I felt complete."

That was sweet. Her gaze slid back to him. Her big, bad panther...and he was standing before her, exposing his soul.

"I never wanted you to fear me."

"I don't. I never will again." Trust went soul deep. She smiled at him. "I think you were made for me."

His eyes widened. Did he remember that he'd once told her that exact same thing? Julian cleared his throat. "And I was made for you."