Aurora held onto him, the feel of his climax adding to her pleasure.

He looked up at her, his ice-blue eyes full of affection and other emotions that touched her heart and warmed her. She knew what he needed from her now and she would give it to him, and she would fulfil that desire she could see in his beautiful eyes.

She would never let him go.

CHAPTER 17.

It was cold. Aurora huddled into the furs and reached out for Snow, wanting to cuddle into him. Had the fire gone out? She groped around and froze when she realised that Snow wasn't there.

He was gone.

She shot into a sitting position, the furs falling away from her bare body. Snow's jumper and t-shirt were on the floor with her dress, but he was nowhere to be seen.

The door was open a crack, allowing snow to blow in from outside. A steady white streak of it had built up on the wooden floor and was melting further inside the cabin, leaving a wet trail.

Aurora was on her feet in a flash and dressing. She hadn't felt him stir, not since she had woken to find him growling in his sleep, tormented by his past in the form of nightmares. She had soothed him back into a calm state and had tried to stay awake, but must have drifted off again.

Now he was gone and she wasn't sure where, and whether he was lost to his bloodlust.

The fact that he had left half of his clothes behind told her that he was. No sane man would go out into arctic conditions in only jeans and boots.

Vampires didn't feel the cold as keenly as mortals did but they weren't almost immune to it as angels were. She had become chilly while out with Snow by the lake, her bare feet and hands numbed by the cold, but it hadn't pained her. Merely inconvenienced her and slowed her reactions. Snow could freeze to death out there. Could he die of exposure?

She wasn't going to wait around to find out.

She grabbed a large fur from the pile on the floor, wrapped it around herself and headed out into the darkness, closing the door behind her to keep some of the warmth inside.

She scoured the bleak dark landscape for a sign of him and spotted a trail leading down into the valley.

Where had he gone?

There was a settlement near the lake now. Dread chilled her insides as the arctic wind froze her on the outside. She refused to give in to that fear. Snow wouldn't have gone there and he wouldn't harm others. He wouldn't prove her master right about him.

"Snow," she called out to him and struggled against the wind as it howled across the valley between the imposing rugged mountains. She couldn't even fly in these conditions and the gale blew snow into her eyes, stealing her vision. She ran blindly into it, her eyes on the trail Snow had left for her. "Snow!"

The wind cut through her clothes, chilling her skin and stiffening her limbs, making it hard to keep moving. She pushed onwards, determined to find him, her limited senses dulled by the weather. She cursed this cold land and hoped she didn't end up as a meal for a rogue polar bear.

Or Snow.

Aurora shook that fear away and squinted into the wind. She was getting close to the lake now and the trail was heading straight towards it, not veering down the valley to her right, towards the settlement.

A growl cut through the noise of the wind and she pushed on again, doing her best to run in the deep snow.

A shape loomed in the wintry darkness, prowling out of the shadowy trees that edged this section of the concealed lake.

"Snow?" she called out again and halted when he looked over at her. His bloodied lips peeled back off enormous fangs as he snarled at her, a wild and lost male, feral and vicious.

Her heart stopped.

Had he attacked someone?

There was so much dark blood staining his mouth and chin.

Would he attack her next?

He turned and growled at something, and then whirled back again, snarling in the other direction. Could he sense danger? It set her on edge and her heart beat harder, lurching in her chest and crawling up her throat.

She edged a step closer to him and he turned on her again, red eyes burning like hot coals in the darkness, pinned on her.

"Snow?" she whispered, trying not to startle him because she liked her throat as it was. In one piece.

He growled again, low and vicious, gaze scanning the darkness around them.

The wind cutting across the valley buffeted her and caused icy flakes to swirl and dance across the white ground but didn't seem to affect him. He had to be freezing though. He was shirtless as she had expected. She needed to get the fur around him and get him warm before the cold did any permanent damage, or killed him.

She hoped that vampires couldn't die from exposure.

Snow jerked one arm out towards her.

Aurora jumped backwards and almost lost her footing in the slippery snow, and her heart nearly leaped clean out of her throat too.

He showed no sign of attacking her though or lowering his hand.

She looked at it and frowned. He was holding something.

A dead bird.

He huffed and offered it again. He expected her to take it.

Her eyes widened. Mercy, he was re-enacting the night they had first met, only with a difference. He was powerful and experienced enough to capture the owl this time. He unleashed a low feral grunt and glared at her, his crimson eyes narrowing and the pale slashes of his eyebrows coming together.

Aurora took the hint, feeling it was wise not to hurt his feelings and curious about his behaviour. She gingerly walked over to him and took the dead owl, holding it by the very tip of one of its broken wings. Poor thing. She wished she could give it new life but it had been dead too long.

Snow stared at her, red eyes watchful. Waiting.

For praise?

Aurora managed to smile in spite of her nerves, hoping he would think she was proud of him. Very proud. It took a really skilled hunter to kill a defenceless owl. She didn't let her sarcasm taint her smile. If he saw it, he would probably go in search of something bigger to kill in order to impress her, and bigger around here was either humans or bears.

She didn't want Snow fighting either of those things.

Snow rose to his full height and puffed his bare chest out.

She smiled properly now, unable to contain it. Somebody liked to have his ego rubbed.

Aurora studied him as he moved through the snow and beckoned her to follow. Was he lost to his bloodlust or not? It was hard for her to tell. His eyes were red, his claws and fangs extended, and speech seemed beyond him.

Yet he was aware of her and who she was, and he wanted to please her.

The wind howled across the valley and Snow was in front of her in a flash. Her heart shot into her mouth again. He didn't attack her though. In a lightning quick move, his large hand had pressed against her hip and he had guided her behind him. He unleashed a deafening roar into the icy darkness.

He was protecting her.

From what exactly?

He snorted like a beast and sharply turned his head this way and that, scanning the darkness and keeping her behind him the whole time, holding her close to his immense body. She could feel no animals nearby. No threat.

Snow growled, his powerful back and arms rippling with strength and menace. The wind came again, blasting against them, and he tensed and snarled.

Her heart went out to him.

Aurora released the fur she held around her shoulders with one hand and touched his bare back. "It is only the wind, Snow. We are safe."

He perceived even nature as a threat when lost to his bloodlust, unable to distinguish that it was the wind making that terrible howling sound.

"Snow?" she whispered and stroked his freezing skin. He looked over his shoulder at her and then released her hip and turned to face her. She slipped her hand into his. He was trembling and it wasn't only from the cold. He feared. He thought the wind was a beast wanting to harm them.

He wanted to protect her and possibly even felt he might fail. He feared for her safety.

He was incredibly gentle as he held her hand, staring down at it with a blank expression on his face.

She took the lead, luring him back towards the cabin and leaving the fur behind in the snow. She had a feeling that if she discarded either his hand or the owl in favour of the fur that Snow would be upset with her, and she didn't want to push him into a darker rage than the one that gripped him already.

Aurora looked back at him, smiling when he glanced at her and then looked back down at their hands. He blinked, palmed her fingers with his other hand, and frowned.

He wasn't evil or a threat to anyone when he was like this. Not really. Not anymore. He was more of a threat to himself.

He suffered and struggled to comprehend things that were obvious to everyone else. He thought the weather was a danger to himself and to her.

He felt things though, noble feelings that strengthened her belief that he was in there, trying to master the darkness and drive it back. He had hunted for her because he wanted her to be proud of him, not ashamed. He wanted her to believe him strong and capable, because she had seen him weak and vulnerable.

The wind howled across the valley.

Snow twisted her into his arms, shielding her from it, taking the gust against his back. The moment it had passed, he snatched the dead owl from her and bit into it, holding the carcass in his mouth. He scooped her up, cradling her in his strong arms, and carried her through the snow, long strides devouring the distance to the cabin.

Aurora stared up at him, shocked by his behaviour.

The wind blew again, driving snow across their path and against their bodies.

Snow growled and tightened his grip on her, holding her closer. He snarled whenever the gale blasted across them.

The owl dripped blood all over her white dress but she decided it was unwise to ask him to put her down. He clearly felt an intense need to protect her and she didn't want to upset him or make him feel he had done something wrong.

She had never seen this side of his bloodlust before.

She had seen him fight it whenever he felt someone at the theatre was in danger, and had believed that it was because he desired to protect them. Now he was protecting her rather than hurting her.

He was deep in his bloodlust, she no longer doubted that, but he was still extremely aware of her, and wanted to keep her safe. Could she get through to him even when he was in this state?

Was this behaviour the result of his containment at Vampirerotique and his efforts to control his bloodlust by using a strict feeding plan?

It was possible, and it was equally probable that he was unaware of his progress because of the course of action he always took when his bloodlust emerged.

Chaining himself whenever his affliction seized control might have had a negative effect, sending him into a deep rage because he felt vulnerable and felt the need to protect himself from others.

It could have concealed this change in him. Her vampire might have more control over himself than he knew.

Snow shouldered the door open and kicked it closed behind them. He spat the owl onto the floor and gently set her down in the main small room of the cabin, but didn't let her go. He held her at arm's length and thoroughly checked her over from head to toe.

His grip on her tightened and his gaze froze on her left side.

His crimson eyes darkened and he growled, exposing his fangs.

Aurora looked down and saw the blood on her dress.

He thought it was hers. He thought she was hurt.

His expression twisted, rapidly turning as black as his eyes were, and he snarled and flexed his fingers against her arms.

It changed whenever his gaze flicked to her face, a brighter corona of red pushing through the black in his irises. He looked as though he was either going to go back out into the night to find the culprit and destroy it, or mollycoddle her.

Aurora gasped when he grabbed her dress and yanked it up, exposing her lower half to the chilly air.

He dropped to his knees and she shivered when he placed his hands on her. They were freezing. She tried to get away but he growled and held her firm. His handsome face turned dark and deadly as he shoved her dress up further, evidently seeking the wound.

There were a few spots of blood on her stomach above her left hip. It must have soaked through the layers of her dress.

Snow hesitated, gaze flicking between her stomach and his bloodied hands, and then downwards.

What was he thinking?

He startled her by ripping the lower half of his right trouser leg.

It got stuck on his boot when he tried to pull it off and he fell onto his backside, grappling with it. Eventually he realised he had to take his boot off. He shredded the laces, tore the offending boot off and hurled it across the room. It hit the wall with a hard thud and dropped to the floor. He paused and looked up at her, eyes wide.

She held back her smile. It was sweet of him to want to do something and to ruin his clothes to achieve it. She was curious about what he intended to do with the wet material though.

Her heart melted again when he lowered his head and secretly cleaned his bloodied face with it. He didn't want to dirty her. She couldn't contain her smile now. It was more than merely sweet of him to worry about such minor things. It touched her deeply and made her feel loved and precious.

He was gentler this time when he lifted her dress to reveal the spots of blood on her skin. Part of her felt she should tell him that it wasn't her blood and he didn't need to do anything for her, and the rest of her told it to shut up and let him do as he wanted with her because it was incredibly endearing to have this powerful male fussing over her even when in the throes of his bloodlust.