"I explained in my letter-"

"I don't mean getting Bronson to release you. I mean dying. G.o.d."

His energy spiked with his emotions. The cascade was so warm it felt like it singed me where it landed on my skin. I bit my lip. It felt so good, so right where other vampires were so wrong. I'd thought I'd never have the chance to feel him again.

"It's not something we need to worry about now. You have a guardian who's made it known in no uncertain terms that anyone who so much as hints at being interested in you will be met with a swift and absolute response."

I turned my head so that I could press my face into his neck, breathing him in while nuzzling against the line of his jaw. His fingers drew tiny circles across my shoulder blades and down my back.

"And you're still free? Bronson was okay with that?" I grabbed his shirt and shook him. "I still don't know why you felt the need to tell him you're back."

"He released me in front of witnesses he can't dispose of. That's as official as it gets. And I had to tell him in person, before he heard rumors. The look on his face was priceless." He plucked a leaf from my hair and drew it down the side of my neck. I shivered and raised my head.

"Hi."

"Hi." I turned and pressed a kiss into his hand.

"I'm glad I met with him on the way," he said. "You and I, we have some catching up to do." He wrapped his arm around me and urged me up the hill. The others had continued their descent along the road, Thurston half dragging a gawking Mickey, and we were alone.

"So, that's it?" My fingers slipped beneath his sweater to caress smooth, whole skin, and I almost choked on the feelings that surged up inside of me. He was here. He was himself. "It's just us now?"

"Bronson wishes for your good regard too much to hold a grudge. Or to act on it, anyway." He stroked my hair back from my face and cupped the curve of my cheek. The light rose and fell in his eyes, and I couldn't stop smiling.

"You're here. I can't... You're here."

"Because of you." He shook his head as though he couldn't quite believe it.

"I'm pretty sure you knew exactly what you were doing. Other than not telling me ahead of time, which was un-f.u.c.king-forgivable."

"It was a gamble, but it was the only way to get you out. I wasn't sure it would work." He kissed the corner of my mouth, my forehead, my eyes before pulling me close again.

"You didn't think the pearls were strong enough to bring you back?"

"I wasn't sure that you would, that you wanted..." His voice roughened and my stomach clenched.

"You didn't believe that I wanted you enough that it would work? And you still walked up to him and invited him to kill you?"

His cheeks hollowed as the muscles of his jaw tensed.

"G.o.d, Mal." I pressed my hands to my temples and shook my head, almost sick at the thought. "Don't test me like that again. I can't take it, and I sure as h.e.l.l don't want you going through it. I love you."

He inclined his head. "Your heart's going a mile a minute."

"That's not fear, Malcolm."

"No?" He searched my face and I frowned. He wanted something from me and I didn't know what. I hadn't been sure what I would say to him. I love you, over and over again. But he'd neatly strategized and faced his own execution so that I could be safe and free. There might be words for that, but they weren't words I knew.

"Circ.u.mstances have changed," he said. "But I haven't. Being with vampires nearly killed you."

"I know what you are," I murmured. "And my heart is racing now, but it's not anxiety or uncertainty. It's what loving you does to me."

"You're sure?"

I smiled with trembling lips, then nodded. "I'm sure."

"It excites you?" He stepped close, his eyes bright as he backed me off the road and along the path to our cabin.

"Yes." My heel fumbled over a root.

"It makes you...pa.s.sionate?"

"You know it does, d.a.m.n it." I grinned, then flushed when my back hit the side of the cabin.

"Good." He leaned close, but his touch was gentle as his hand circled my nape. "I need you to feel that way, because you're it for me, Sydney. You're all that I want."

His words were the fuel and his lips the spark that ignited my whole body. I arched against him, digging my nails into his back to force him closer as his tongue teased mine. Power cascaded off of him, enveloping me in heat.

"You're it for me, too."

"Let's go inside," he whispered.

"You have something you want to show me?" I teased.

"Many things. For a long time. And then I'm going to take you to Detroit."

"Is that a euphemism for something dirty...and amazing?"

He laughed softly against my hair. "It's whatever we want it to be."

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Acknowledgments.

So you're an acknowledgments reader. Nice!

Books don't write themselves (the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds), and authors don't write them alone. This book was brought to you in part by the following fabulous people who contributed in their own special ways (sometimes with beatings, sometimes with bribes): I. Tiffany Allee - Thank you for being my crit partner, a fellow burrito-eater, such a surreally fast napper, and the voice of reason in the madness of long writing nights.

II. Jolanda Jongedijk - Thank you for your keen eyes, your big talent, and your almost impossibly pure mind.

III. Joshua Roots and Bettie Lee Turner - Thank you for making everything better with your beta powers and kindness.

D. Mallory Braus - Thank you for your editorial and personal support and for sharing with me all those secrets that I swear I'll never tell anyone.*

Five. Michael Mandarano - Thank you for being an excellent copyeditor and for teaching me that some Canadians are nice, despite what everyone says.

*Probably.

Also by Regan Summers.

Don't Bite the Messenger (Night Runner 0.5).

Running in the Dark (Night Runner 1.0).

About the Author.

Regan Summers is the author of the romantic urban fantasy Night Runner series. As a native Alaskan, she's used to long, cold nights but thinks they're better with a helping of action and s.e.xy vampires. Don't Bite the Messenger, the first in the series, was a finalist for the 2013 EPIC eBook Awards in the paranormal category.

end.