Page 39 of Valley of the Shadow
She understood it now. Her blood and body worshipped him. His touch adored her.
Natalie didn’t have any words. Not a single one could even touch the measure of her feelings.
He was everything. And she finally understood.
She was everything.
Baojia watched Natalie as she drifted in a postcoital haze. She’d drunk more stored blood and fallen into a semiconscious trance, sinking back into the bed of earth Lucien had prepared for her. He could feel her amnis in his body and knew that it was chaotic and confused. But it was also happy. Content.
Wild and happy. Confused and content.
Yes, he knew this woman.
He couldn’t contain his smile. He felt like he might be smiling for centuries. So much for the stoic and cynical enforcer; he might have to find a new line of work.
He played with her hair and watched her face. Every tiny hint of expression was a new wonder. What was she thinking? Was she cold? Warm? Hungry?
They were both completely filthy, but she didn’t seem to care at all. He would have to adjust his thinking. For her, being in the earth would be as soothing and familiar as the water was for him. The grit wouldn’t bother her skin any more than seawater bothered his. It would be an adjustment for someone as fastidious as Baojia, but he would happily adapt, especially if getting dirty resulted in that level of sex on a regular basis.
Relieved. That’s what he felt. He was massively relieved.
Her eyes hadn’t changed. They were still the same clear blue that reminded him of sun-splashed water. Her laugh was the same. Her awkwardness and her honesty. She still craved his bite. Plus he no longer had to be painfully and carefully gentle when they made love.
Baojia felt as randy as a sixteen-year-old boy.
“Hey, George?” Her voice was drowsy.
“Yes, Natalie?”
“I really love you.”
“I really love you too.”
“Can we just have lots and lots sex for an entire year?”
His laugh started low and got louder, filling the room. “I forgot how newborns tend to have a one-track mind.”
“Yeah, okay, but can we?”
“We can stay in here for a few nights at least. After that, you might want to explore the outside world.”
“I don’t know.” She turned toward him, and her fangs were down again. “The outside world can be really overrated.”
Chapter Eleven
“Are they gonna be weird if my fangs come out?”
“They love the fangs.”
“Are you sure?”
“Trust me, the kids love the fangs. You’re gonna end up showing them over and over until your jaw aches.” Baojia kissed her temple. “Just relax.”
It had been two weeks since Natalie had changed, and she finally felt steady enough to hold a normal conversation. They had kept her stimuli simple for the first week. She and Baojia slept in the stone room on the ground, the earthen floor Lucien had built literally grounding her chaotic emotions and reactions.
The second week, they’d moved to a room in the far back of the house that jutted up to bedrock. Lucien and Makeda stayed in the house with them. They ate together. Played card games and watched movies. She was distractible and erratic, moved to tears in a heartbeat and snapping with anger over minor things.
Natalie likened it to the absolute worst case of PMS she’d ever had. Only on steroids. Lucien and Baojia were confused, but Makeda backed her up.
