Later, after the sky darkened into night there was a knock at me door before Silas entered. His expression tight, my stomach sank. It wasn't good news.

"The council has summoned me," he stated stiffly.

It wasn't a surprise but I felt a flurry of panic, I grasped my hands together and wrung them. My eyes wide and alarmed shot to his, needing something like an assurance that everything would be okay even if it was a lie.

"I knew it," I murmured in a horrified whisper, putting my hand to my face. My worst fear was starting to unfold and I had no way of stopping it. Everything was focussed and intense.

"You will come with me tomorrow."

It was the last place on earth I wanted to go but I would not allow him to go without me. It wasn't like I could protect him, that thought was laughable. I was far too weak but I still could not even entertain the thought that of him going alone.

"Do you trust me?" His eyes bold in the way they held mine.

I nodded, slowly. "I do."

He would not allow them to harm me, I knew that as I knew the sun would rise in the morning. But I feared what it would cost him. I could not fathom any harm coming to him or our sons.

The survival of vampires was not enough for me to believe that the council wouldn't use some sort of measure as punishment. There could be a great deal of pain without death.

I had already survived the lethal side of his kind and knew what they were capable of.

He held his hand out to me, I nervously took it and he pulled me closer to him.

"Come here," he murmured. His voice an octave lower, it made my stomach stir nervously. His eyes dark and intense and I swallowed as I let him close the distance between us.

He stared deeply, like he could see straight through any pretense of control I believed I held. "I will keep you safe Avery. You do not have to fear the council."

It was impossible to breathe when he was this close. I wet my lips.

Memories of our time together resurfaced and I felt every cell of my being come alive. I hadn't felt it in a while. Not since the last time we had been together. It felt like a lifetime ago, so much had happened since then.

"You don't know how good it is to have you back," he murmured softly. I was transfixed, staring at his mouth, remembering how the touch of it to mine was enough to spiral my world.

Despite all the danger, I didn't want to be anywhere else but there standing in front of him with my hand in his. Our bodies close, feeling the attraction between us like a magnetic pull.

He moved closer, his lips just above mine and I held my breath.

"I want you Avery. All of you."

I closed my eyes feeling his words wash over me like a tingling feeling bringing my senses alive. I could not deny him. He made me want things I had no right to want.

His fingertips trace my chin and I opened my eyes and meet his. My past forgotten. There was only him.

"I want you in my bed tonight."

My breathing increased as my pulse quickened.

His intention was clear without his statement. My heart fluttered and I felt breathless as he put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him but he held his mouth from mine.

I flickered a look to his mouth before lifting them up to meet his gaze.

"Tell me you want the same Avery. Tell me you want me as much as I want you." His eyes drew me in.

What I felt for him was more the just a physical attraction, it went deeper than that. I loved him and therefore would deny him nothing.

I would have him any way he wanted me. If that made me weak, then so be it.

I stared at his mouth wanting it on mine.

"Say it Avery. I need you tell me what you want."

I couldn't look away or deny what I wanted.

"I want you." Three simple words that slid the power back under his control.

Any independence I had fought for was gone in his presence. I couldn't fight what sparked between us.

He touched a finger to my jaw and traced is softly. I drew closer, addicted to how he made me feel. I closed my eyes, fully focused on how he made me feel with the slightest touch.

"You are mine Avery, always."

When he said things like that I couldn't remember any reason to be angry with him.

"Always," I murmured in confirmation.

I would do anything he wanted while he touched me like that.

His lips touched mine and I moved my hands hold him close as he deepened the kiss. I groaned against his mouth as his tongue slid against mine. I had never been more alive.

His hand rested on my neck as he kissed me walking me back until my back hit the wall and then his knee separated my legs shifting our bodies closer.

I gasped needing him inside me more than I needed air to fill my lungs, or blood to quench my thirst.

His mouth moved to slid along my neck. I felt the scratch of his sharp teeth against my skin. It was erotic, I wanted more.

I panted as he sucked gently on the cut.

"I need you," I murmured wrapping my arms around his neck bringing his attention back to my mouth.

He picked me up and carried me over to the bed. He settled me down before he knelt beside me.

I lifted myself up to meet his desperate kiss pulling him down with me. His moved above me, separating my thighs to settle between them, pressing his harness against my heat.

Then he head down lifting my dress up and discard my panties. Then his mouth was there. Between my thighs and I clenched the bed covers, fisting my hands as I groaned.

The feeling was indescribable and I slid a hand into his hair. He sucked and licked and then I gasped as I climaxed. My body shook, my fingers held his silky hair. And then I felt the sharp slice of his teeth into my skin. Then he began to feed off me.

It lifted me higher, like I was flying. I gasped. His tongue slid over the punctures before he moved above me.

"I can't wait," he muttered, slipping his hand gather my dress up.

I held my breath in anticipation. I didn't have to wait long before he sank into me in one full long thrust.

I held onto him as he rocked into me, bringing me closer to my climax.

Sweat, heavy breathing and groaning as he joined our bodies in the oldest dance of time. I needed him, only him.

"Please," I begged when I felt on the peak of an orgasm edge closer. I needed it so bad.

He captured my mouth with his as he slammed into me. Again and again. Until I crashed over the edge, holding onto him tightly feeling pleasure pulse through me. I gasped as it washed over me, again and again. Never ending.

Until. It did end when he shuddered into me.

I held him while trying to catch my breath. I could not regret anything we had just shared. It had been beautiful and honest.

This was how he felt about me and I for him. The rules of his kind didn't dampen it. My place in his world did not take anything away from it.

We were both free in what we felt and the pleasure we took.

He lifted his head from the crook of my neck to press a kiss to my mouth. He rarely showed affection outside of sex. This was different. This time it meant more.

Maybe it had taken almost losing me for him

My throat and the bite of the inside of my thigh throbbed like a possessive beacon. I belong to him. No matter where I went, he would always own me.

My heart and my last breath.