Rhage came awake sometime the following afternoon. The first thing he did was reach out blindly for Mary, but he stopped himself, not wanting the burn to kick in. He didn't feel strong enough to fight it.

Opening his eyes, he turned his head. She was there beside him in the bed, asleep on her stomach.

God, once again she'd taken care of him when he'd needed it. She'd been unflinching. Strong. Willing to face off against his brothers.                                                                            

Love filled his heart, swelling it so much his breath stopped.

He put his hand to his chest and felt the bandages she'd put on him. Working carefully, he removed them one by one. The wounds looked good. They'd closed and no longer hurt. By tomorrow they would be nothing more than pink streaks, and the day after, they would be gone.

He thought about the stress his body had been under lately. The change. The surges around Mary. The sun exposure. The whipping. He was going to need to drink soon, and he wanted to do it before the hunger kicked in.

Feeding was something he was scrupulous about. Most of the brothers stretched out the hunger for as long as they could stand it, just because they didn't want to bother with the intimacy. He knew better than that. The last thing he needed was the beast with a case of bloodlust¡ª

Wait a minute.

Rhage took a deep breath. There was the most amazing... emptiness in him. No background buzzing. No itchy drive. No burning. And this was even though he was lying right next to Mary.

It was... only him in his body. Just himself. The Scribe Virgin's curse was gone.

But of course, he thought. She'd taken it from him temporarily so he could make it through the rythe without changing. And she was obviously giving him a respite so he could heal, too. He wondered how much longer the reprieve was going to last.

Rhage exhaled slowly, air easing out of his nose. As he sank into his skin, he reveled in the perfection of peace. The heavenly silence. The great roaring absence.

It had been a century.

Good God, he wanted to cry.

In case he did and Mary woke up, he put his hands over his eyes.

Did other people know how lucky they were to find moments like this? Moments of resounding quiet? He hadn't appreciated them before the curse, hadn't even noticed. Hell, if he'd been blessed with one, he'd probably just rolled over to go back to sleep.

"How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?"

At the sound of Mary's voice, he braced himself for a blast of energy. Nothing like that came. All he felt was a warm glow in his chest. Love unfettered with the chaos of his curse.

He rubbed his face and looked at her. Adored her so intensely in the quiet darkness that he was afraid of her.

"I need to be with you, Mary. Right now. I have to be inside of you."

"Then kiss me."

He pulled her body against him. She was wearing only a T-shirt, and he slid his hands underneath, spanning her lower back. He was already hard for her, ready to take her, but with nothing to fight down, stroking her was an exquisite pleasure.

"I need to love you," he said, throwing all the sheets and blankets from the bed. He wanted to see every part of her, touch every inch of her, and he didn't want anything in the way.

He pulled the shirt up and over her head and then willed candles to light around the room. She was resplendent in the golden glow, her head turned to the side as she looked up at him with her gray eyes. Her breasts were tight at the tips already, the swells creamy white under her pink nipples. Her stomach was flat, a little too flat, he thought, worrying about her. But her hips were perfect and so were her sleek legs.

And the juncture below her navel, that sweetest piece...

"My Mary," he whispered, thinking about all the places he wanted to go on her.

As he straddled her legs, his sex jutted straight out of his body, heavy, proud, demanding. But before he could lean down to her skin, her hands found his length, and he shuddered, sweat breaking out all over him. Watching her touch him, he let himself go for just a moment, giving free rein to the purity of his desire, the uncontaminated ecstasy.

When she sat up, he didn't know where she was going. "Mary?"

Her lips parted and she took him into her mouth.

Rhage gasped and fell back on his arms. "Oh, my... God."

With all the other females he'd had since the curse, he hadn't let any of them go down on him. He hadn't wanted it, hadn't liked them touching him above the waist, much less below it.

But this was Mary.

The suction and the warmth of her mouth, but most of all the knowledge that it was her, stole his strength, putting him at her mercy. Her eyes stared up at him, watching him as he swam in the pleasure she gave him. When he sank back against the mattress, collapsing, she crawled up his thighs, advancing. He cradled her head in his hands, arching into her mouth as she found a rhythm.

Right before he went over the edge, he shifted his hips away, not wanting to release yet.

"Come here," he said, pulling her up his stomach and chest, rolling her onto her back. "I'm going to be in you when I finish."

Kissing her, he put his hand on the column of her neck and swept down the center of her, stopping over her heart. It was beating fast, and he dropped down, pressing his lips to her sternum and then moving to her breast. He suckled her as he slid his arm around under her shoulder blades and lifted her closer to his mouth.

She made an incredible noise deep in her throat, a breathless gasp that brought his head up just so he could look at her face. Her eyes were closed, her teeth clenched. He kissed a path down to her navel, where he lingered and licked before moving to her hip. Urging her onto her stomach, he parted her legs and cupped her core with his palm. The silky wetness that coated his hand had him shaking as he kissed her hip and her lower back.

Slipping a finger into her, he bared his fangs and ran them up her spinal cord.

Mary moaned, her body curving to meet his teeth.

He stopped at her shoulder. Nudged her hair out of the way. And growled as he looked at her neck.

When she tensed, he whispered, "Don't be scared, Mary. I won't hurt you."

"I'm not afraid." She shifted her hips and clenched her wet heat around his hand.

Rhage hissed as lust ripped through him. He began to pant, but took comfort. There was no vibration, no god-awful hum. Just her and him. Together. Making love.

Though he did hunger for something else from her.

"Mary, forgive me."

"For what?"

"I want to... drink from you," he said into her ear.

She trembled, but he felt a warm rush where he penetrated her and knew the shakes were from pleasure.

"You really want to... do that?" she said.

"God, yes." His mouth closed on the side of her throat. He sucked her skin, dying to do so much more. "I would love to be at your vein."

"I've wondered what it would feel like." Her voice was husky, thrilling. Good lord, was she going to let him? "Does it hurt?"

"Only a little in the beginning, but then it's like... sex. You'd feel my pleasure as I took you into me. And I would be very careful. So very gentle."

"I know you would."

An erotic surge pounded through him and his fangs unsheathed. He could imagine sinking them into her neck. The sucking. The swallowing. The taste. And then there would be the communion of her doing the same to him. He would feed her well, let her take as much as she wanted¡ª

Her doing the same?

Rhage pulled back. What the hell was he thinking? She was a human, for chrissakes. She didn't feed.

He put his forehead down on her shoulder. And remembered that not only was she a human; she was ill. He licked his lips, trying to persuade his fangs to retract.

"Rhage? Are you going to... you know."

"I think it's safer not to."

"Honestly, I'm not scared of it."

"Oh, Mary, I know. You aren't afraid of anything." And her courage was part of the reason he'd bonded with her. "But I'd rather love your body than take something it can't afford to give me."

In a quick series of moves he rose above her, pulled her hips off the mattress, and entered her from behind, sliding deep. Heat roared through him as she arched under his invasion, and he ran one of his arms between her breasts, holding on to her upper body. With his hand, he twisted her chin around so he could kiss her.

Her breath was hot and desperate in his mouth as he slowly extracted himself from her core. The surge back in made them both groan. She was so incredibly tight, squeezing him hard as a vise. He got in a couple more controlled thrusts and then his hips took over, moving of their own volition until he couldn't keep contact with her lips anymore. His body pounded into hers, and he shifted his hands to her waist as he held on.

Her chest dropped down to the bed and her face turned to the side. Her lips were parted, her eyes closed. He let go of her torso and planted his fists in the mattress on either side of her shoulders. She was so small underneath him, dwarfed by the thickness of his forearms, but she took all of him, from tip to base, over and over again until he was lost.

From out of nowhere he felt a wonderful stinging in his hand. He looked down and saw that she'd curled around one of his arms and closed her mouth on the base of his thumb, biting.

"Harder, Mary," he said hoarsely. "Oh, yeah. Bite... hard."

The little burst of pain as her teeth sank into him shot his pleasure through the roof, taking him to the very verge of coming.

Except he didn't want it to end.

He pulled out and quickly turned her over. As she landed on her back, her legs flopped to the sides as if she didn't have the strength to hold them up. The sight of her open to him, glistening for him, swollen from him, nearly had him releasing all over her thighs. He dropped his head and kissed where he had been, tasting a little of himself, a little of that marking scent he was leaving all over her body.

She cried out wildly as she climaxed. And before her pulses faded, he shot up over her and plunged back inside.

She called his name, nails scoring his back.

He let himself go over the edge while looking into her wide, dazed eyes. With nothing to hold back, he came over and over again, pumping his flow into her. The orgasm kept going and he rode the waves that overtook him. The ecstasy seemed to have no end, and there was no stopping it.

Not that he would have if he'd had the power to.

Mary held on to Rhage as he shuddered once more, his body seizing, his breath coming out of him in a rush. He groaned deep in his chest, and she felt him jerk and release again inside of her.

It was a shattering kind of intimacy, she so calm, he in the throes of some kind of multiple orgasming. With her concentration undiminished by passion, she felt every small thing in his body as well as each heavy thrust. She knew exactly when another release was coming for him, could feel the trembling in his belly and thighs. It was happening now, his breath catching, his pecs and shoulders going tight along with his hips as he surged again.

He lifted his head this time, lips peeling off his fangs, eyes squeezed shut. His body contracted, all his muscles tensing, and then she felt the movement deep inside of her.

His eyes opened. They were glazed over.

"I'm sorry, Mary." Another spasm overtook him, and he did his best to talk through it. "Never... happened... before. Can't stop. God damn."

He let out a guttural sound, a mixture of apology and ecstasy.

She smiled at him and ran her hands up his smooth back, feeling those thick muscles grab bone as his lower body drove into her again. She was saturated between her legs and deliciously hot from all the heat pouring off of him. That wonderful smell of his bond for her was thick in the air, the dark fragrance surrounding her.

He heaved himself up on his arms, making as though he were going to pull out.

"Where are you going?" She wrapped her legs around his hips.

"Crushing... you." His breath sucked in again on a hiss.

"I'm perfectly fine."

"Oh, Mary... I..." He arched again, chest coming forward, head falling back, neck straining, shoulders bulging. Good lord, he was gorgeous.

Abruptly he sagged, his body going completely limp on top of her. His deadweight was immense, more than she could bear and still breathe. Fortunately, he rolled away and tucked her against him. His heart thundered in his chest, and she listened as it slowed.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked roughly.

"Not at all."

He kissed her and withdrew, lurching into the bathroom. He came back with a towel, which he gently eased between her legs.

"Do you want me to start the shower?" he said. "I've, ah, kind of made a mess of you."

"Hardly. And no, I just want to lie here."

"I can't explain why that happened." He frowned as he pulled the covers and blankets back on the bed and over them both. "Although... well, maybe I do know."

"Whatever the reason, you're incredible." She pressed her lips to his jawline. "Absolutely incredible."

They lay together quietly for a while.

"Listen, Mary, my body's been through a lot lately."

"It sure has."

"I'm going to need to... take care of myself."

Something in his tone of voice was off, and she looked up at him. He was staring at the ceiling.

A chill shot through her. "How so?"

"I'm going to need to feed. From a female. Of my species."

"Oh." She thought of how his fangs had felt traveling up her spine. And remembered the shiver of anticipation when he'd nuzzled her neck. Shades of his night out had her pulling back. She couldn't go through that again. Waiting in his bed, knowing that he was with another woman.

He took her hands in his. "Mary, I have to feed now so I can stay in control. And I want you to be with me when I do it. If it's too difficult for you to watch, at least you can be in the same room. I don't want there to be a question in your mind about what happens between myself and the female."

"Who will you"¡ªshe cleared her throat¡ª"drink from?"

"I've thought about that. I don't want it to be with anyone I've had."

So that should narrow the pool down to what, five women? Maybe six?

She shook her head, feeling like a bitch.

"I'm going to call on one of the Chosen."

Tell me they are toothless hags, she thought. "What are they?"

"Primarily they serve the Scribe Virgin, our deity, but for a while they serviced unmated members of the Brotherhood for blood. In modern times we haven't used them like that, but I'm going to contact them, see if something can be arranged."

"When?"

"As soon as possible. Perhaps tomorrow night."

"I'll be gone by then." As his expression went dark, she didn't give him a chance to speak. "It's time for me to go."

"The hell it is."

"Rhage, be realistic. Do you honestly expect me to just stay here with you forever?"

"That's what I want. So, yes."

"Has it occurred to you I miss my house, my things, my¡ª"

"I'll have them moved here. Everything."

She shook her head. "I need to go home."

"It's not safe."

"Then we're going to have to make it safe. I'll install an alarm, learn to shoot, I don't know. But I have to get back to my life."

He closed his eyes.

"Rhage, look at me. Look at me." She squeezed his hand. "I have things I need to do. In my world."

His lips tightened into a slash. "Will you let me have Vishous install a security system?"

"Yes."

"And you will come stay here with me some days."

She took a deep breath. "What if I say no?"

"Then I'll come to you."

"I don't think¡ª"

"I've told you before. Stop thinking."

His lips found hers, but before his tongue slipped inside and stole her ability to be logical, she pushed him back.

"Rhage, you know this isn't going anywhere. This... whatever it is between us. It's not. It can't."

He rolled over onto his back, putting an arm behind his head. As his jaw clenched, the cords of his neck stood out.

She hated this; she really did. But it was better to get it all out. "I appreciate everything you've done for me. The sacrifice to keep me safe¡ª"

"Why did you get so upset the night I went out?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you care that I'd been with someone else? Or did you just feel like a little rough sex and needed to hide behind a reason for it?" His eyes shifted to hers. The blue was neon sharp, nearly too bright to look into. "Listen, the next time you want some hard grind, all you've got to do is ask. I can play it like that."

Oh, God. This anger was not what she'd wanted. "Rhage¡ª"

"You know, I really got into it. I liked that domination shit you threw out. Liked the sadistic part, too. Tasting my blood on your lips after you bit my mouth? Huge turn-on."

The cold tone of voice was awful. His flat, glowing eyes were worse.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But¡ª"

"In fact, I'm getting hard right now, just thinking about it. Kind of surprising, considering how I spent the last twenty minutes."

"What exactly do you think the future holds for us?"

"We'll never know, will we. But you'll stick around until nightfall, right? If only because you need me to take you home. So let me see if I can get myself tuned up again. I'd hate to waste your time." He reached under the covers. "Damn, you're good. I'm hard as a baseball bat."

"Do you know what the next six months are going to be like for me?"

"No, and I'm not going to know, am I? So how about some sex. Since that's all you want from me, and because I'm enough of a pathetic loser to take you any way I can get you, I guess I'd better hop to it."

"Rhage!" she shouted, trying to get his attention.

"Mary!" he mocked. "I'm sorry, am I talking too much? You'd rather have my mouth doing something else, right? You want it on yours? No, your breasts. Wait, lower. Yeah, you like it lower, don't you. And I know just how to do you right."

She put her head in her hands. "I don't want to leave you like this. Fighting."

"But that's not going to slow you down, is it? Not you, not superstrong Mary. No, you're just going to go out into the world¡ª"

"To be sick, Rhage! I'm leaving you to go be sick, okay? I'm going to the doctor's tomorrow. There isn't some huge party waiting for me when I get home."

He stared at her. "Do you think I am so unworthy that I cannot attend to you?"

"What?"

"Will you not let me attend to you in your illness?"

She thought about how hard it had been for her to see him in pain and not be able to make the hurt go away.

"Why would you want do that?" she whispered.

Rhage's mouth went lax, as if she'd struck him.

He shot out of bed. "Yeah, fuck you, Mary."

He jabbed his legs into a pair of leather pants and snapped a shirt from the dresser.

"Get yourself packed, sweetheart. You won't have to put up with a stray dog anymore." He pushed his arms through the shirt's sleeves and pulled it over his head. "I'll get V to hardwire your house ASAP. It shouldn't take him long, and until he's done, you can sleep somewhere else. One of the doggen will show you to your new room."

She leaped off the mattress, but before she could reach him, he pegged her with a hard look, stopping her dead.

"You know, Mary, I deserve this. I really do. I've done the same thing to so many, just walked away without giving a shit." He opened the door. "Although the females I screwed were lucky. At least they never remembered me. And man, I'd kill to forget about you right now, I really would."

He didn't slam the door on the way out. Just shut it firmly.