He thrust into her, faster, harder, and when he couldn’t get deep enough, he picked her up off that table and held her easily in his arms. He lifted her up and down, working her along the length of his cock.
He stepped on something sharp—probably a chunk of that fucking mirror—and just ignored the quick flash of pain. Again and again, he thrust into Jane.
She came for him. He felt the contractions of her sex around him. She cried out with her climax, and he was right behind her. Aidan emptied himself into Jane, coming hard and strong, coming until he could barely breathe because his need for her was so powerful.
And in the aftermath, his heartbeat slowly returned to normal. His shaking hands lowered Jane back to the exam table.
“You didn’t kill me,” Jane said.
“The pleasure almost killed me,” Aidan confessed.
She smiled at him. A smile that lit her gorgeous eyes and made his chest ache. They’d done it. They’d survived the storm. Survived the hell that came for them.
And they were stronger now. They’d stay stronger.
“I love you, Jane.” He would fight with every breath in his body to protect her.
Today. Tomorrow. Forever.
***
It was hours later when Annette slipped into the lab room in the depths of the alpha’s house. Jane and Aidan were upstairs, no doubt lost in each other’s arms. They thought the danger had passed.
She wasn’t so sure.
“I think this is a really bad idea,” Bob Heider muttered from behind her. “The last thing I want to do is piss off Aidan Locke.”
Her gaze slid over the floor—the broken pieces of her mirror. And…
Aidan’s blood. She knew it. Just the way she’d always known certain things. Annette picked up that bloody chunk of glass. The instant she touched it, her hand chilled.
It’s not over. Not yet.
“You need to run tests on this blood,” she said, giving the chunk of glass to Bob. “Run the tests and then tell me what you find—”
“No.” Not Bob’s voice. The growled word had been far too dark and deep for Bob. Paris. Shit. She peeked to the left and saw that Paris was standing in the shadows of the room. He’d been watching them the whole time, and now his gaze was on the glass. Very slowly, his golden stare rose until he was looking straight at Bob. “You tell me what you find.”
Oh, no. This wasn’t going to be good.
Because Annette strongly suspected that Jane wasn’t the only one changing. Aidan had given his blood to a vampire. He’d bonded with her. His wolf…it hadn’t attacked Jane. An alpha should have attacked her. The difference in her blood—that mix of wolf—might be enough to confuse the others in the pack so that they wouldn’t attack, but an alpha wolf should have still felt the primal urge to kill her.
Only…he hadn’t. And he hadn’t killed Vincent, either.
Because Aidan is changing, too.
The rules of the paranormal world were changing. And she was very, very afraid of what might come next…
The end.
For them all.
***
Jane rolled over in bed and smiled up at Aidan. She’d thought her chance with him was over—that her life was over.
And, well, her human life was gone. She was still getting used to her fangs—if she wasn’t careful, she’d bite her own lip. And the heightened senses made things a little confusing but…
I have Aidan.
For her, having Aidan was what mattered. He was at her side. He had her back. Just as she had his. Their bond was so deep. Deeper than blood.
Deeper than family.
“Why do you look sad?” Aidan asked her.
Jane blinked quickly. She’d thought he was sleeping. “I was…thinking about my brother.”
“Don’t.”
She gave a bitter laugh. “Not that easy.” And this was the hard part. “Aidan, I know you plan to kill him.”
“Because he fucking shot you, yes, I—”
“Don’t.”
He drew in a deep breath.
“Let me handle him. He’s my family. My responsibility.” Even though she didn’t know what the hell she was going to do about Drew. Not yet.
Kill him?
No. Because while she might be a vampire, while she might not have total control of her new self yet, Jane knew she wasn’t a murderer.
She was still a cop. And her job was to uphold the law.
To protect.
“He won’t hurt you again, Jane,” Aidan promised.
“No, he won’t.” She’d make sure of that. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Aidan’s lips. “You know…things can be easier now.”
“Easier?” Doubt was heavy in his voice.
“Just think…with all of this extra strength and power, I’ll be able to track down criminals twice as fast as I did before.”
He groaned.
“And I pity the dumbass who tries to resist arrest with me,” she added.
“Jane…”
“What? The world doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.” It wasn’t. She’d survived her change, she was with Aidan and, for the most part, she still felt like her old self. “I will use this change to help me. To help others.”
Because despite Annette’s orders, Jane didn’t intend to stop playing hero. Not now…maybe not ever.
Aidan stared at her, silent.