Ender Mont had known nights of passion in his distant past, but little memory remained.
His experiences as a human were difficult to recall and blurry at best. He had not been with a woman since becoming a vampire. At first, his only need was to satiate the hunger for blood that ruled his every waking thought. When that stage eventually passed, he became consumed with the duties of his family. A part of him thought he pushed away human contact because so little of his humanity remained.
Caroline shifted in his arms, her gentle snores interrupting his thoughts now and again. He traced the line of her bare shoulder with a calloused hand and breathed a sigh. Her slender leg curled over his under the blanket, and he fought the urge to wake her. Desire and need had overtaken him when she professed her love for him. A possessiveness to mark her his own, to bind her mind, body, and soul, had overridden every sensible thought in his mind.
