Alex was the first at Julia's side, quickly followed by Ren. Damien crouched down beside them and gave her hand a squeeze as he said, "I will tend to Véronique's wounds," then stood up and headed after her.

When Damien left Alex gave Julia a hard look and barked at her, "I could kill the pair of you for that stupid stunt."

His reaction stunned her, and it hurt that he was angry with her. Before she could look away or say anything, he scooped her up into his arms and kissed her. Once again everything else melted away as she passionately met his lips with hers. It didn't matter that she had two huge gashes on her or that Ren was staring at them. All that mattered was the love she felt for Alex.

Ren coughed interrupting their moment. "I know you two lovebirds can't get enough of each other, but rein it in. Julia's still bleeding and I for one don't want her to bleed to death because you two couldn't stop kissing long enough to patch her up."

Reluctantly she let Alex go and then Ren lifted her top off of her. The huge laceration on her side had stopped bleeding, and it distracted her enough not to be embarrassed that she was only wearing a sports-bra. She quickly looked at the wound on her arm it had started to heal as well. All she could do was gasp in wonder.

"You healing this fast is probably another reaction to the blood Mormo gave you." Alex stroked her hair and reassured her. "If I had to guess I would say it was probably the blood of a pureblood dark faerie. Our blood has the strongest effects on others."

Ren wrinkled his face and Julia asked, "What's wrong, Ren?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing. I was just thinking there's only one pureblood I can think of that Mormo would have such easy access to."

As soon as Ren said that Alex's face turned cold, and he hissed, "Thorsen," as if saying the name left a bad taste in his mouth.

Just thinking about the fact that she may have that vile man's blood running through her veins sent a wave of nausea through her. She looked away from Alex as shame washed over her.

He seemed to pick up on this; he pulled her closer to him and kissed her cheek. "You have nothing to be ashamed about. Mormo forced you to drink the blood."

Julia looked up at him and nodded. Before she could say anything Damien walked back down the stairs.

"Véronique will be fine in a day or two. You really drove that anti-dark fae sword into her leg deep," Damien said.

Ren grunted. "Serves the evil cow right. I only wish you got her in the stomach."

Julia rolled her eyes. She didn't have any ill will toward Véronique over this. She knew that in Véronique's own twisted way she was only trying to help. "What would that have accomplished? Look, I don't like her any more than you do, Ren. But she was helping me, and I for one am grateful to her."

Damien crouched next to Julia. "She has a point, Ren." Then he looked at Alex. "You should probably talk to Véronique. Let her know you're not going to kill her and everything is all right. You too, Ren."

As Alex and Ren stood up Damien said, "I'll take Julia home after I get her cleaned up."

She could see Alex's reluctance to leave. "Both of you need to let her know that everything is okay. We have other things to be worried about like Thorsen, and the last thing we need is a rift between any of us."

With that said both boys walked off in a bit of a sulk. Damien chuckled as he walked off and grabbed some bandages, a bowl of water, cloths and disinfectant. "You know, there aren't many people out there that could get either of those guys to do something they don't want to," he said as he set it all down and started to clean her up. "You should consider yourself very special." He paused and looked into her eyes. "I do."

Damien started cleaning her cheek first then her arm which had already healed and lastly the gash on her side. It had started closing up but because it was very deep, it was taking longer. He bandaged her all up. Then scooped her up in his arms and left the cellar.

Julia felt uncomfortable with him carrying her. "Thanks, Damien, but I can walk," she said hoping he would get the hint.

He smiled at her. "Why don't we take a little walk? You can stretch out your muscles before we take you back home."

Her gut told her wandering around the woods alone with him was not a good idea. But she didn't want to hurt his feelings, and she really felt like her muscles needed moving about.

Julia gave him a small nod. "Okay. But a short walk."

He set her down gently and took her hand. "You can use me for support."

They walked into the woods at the back of her house and after a few minutes Julia said, "You can let go now. I'm fine to walk on my own."

Damien complied with her wishes and they walked further into the woods in silence. He looked like he had something he wanted to say but was holding back. After a while Julia couldn't take it any longer and stopped walking.

Turning to him she said, "What is it Damien? You obviously want to say something; you're driving me crazy, just spit it out already."

Julia was about to say more but he grabbed her and pulled her into him in one swift move. Damien cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. It wasn't at all what she was expecting and she didn't react the way she knew she should've. Instead of pushing him away she let the pleasant sensation wash over her. He was gentle with her and although the kiss was nice, it lacked all the passion she felt when she kissed Alex.

The second she thought about Alex she tried to pull away but he wouldn't let her. Upset her hands shot up to his chest, and she tried shoving him away. He was like a solid brick wall; no matter how hard she pushed, he wouldn't budge.

When he finally pulled away Julia was seething. "Why the hell did you do that?" she asked trying to free herself from his grip.

"I love you, Julia. You have to know how I feel about you. I know you feel more than just friendship for me. It's been written all over your actions toward me since October."

Hearing him say that softened her a little. She had no desire to hurt him but knew she had to put an end to this. Julia rested her forehead on his chest as she gathered up the courage to say what needed to be said.

When she looked up at him, he searched her eyes for any signs of her returning his affections. When he didn't see it, his face dropped.

"Damien, I care for you deeply," her voice was soft. "We have such a strong connection between us. But the way I feel is not the way you want me to. I can only ever be your friend and I am sorry about that."

He looked away. "I don't understand, Julia. You and I are great together we have a bond. Why can't you just give us a chance?"

She sighed and thought of a way to explain how she felt that he could understand and accept. "Ren and I have a bond and we're great together. We are so close that sometimes I don't know where he stops and I begin. It has always been like that for us and it always will. That doesn't change the fact that we're only ever going to be friends. I feel the same way about you, Damien."

He stared at her not saying a word. She could tell he was trying to sort through his emotions. Then he said, "I really think you need to give us a chance and you'll see I can make you happy."

"It's not a case of giving you a chance, Damien. I'm already-"

He cut her off with another kiss. This time it was more forceful. She knew he was trying to change her mind with that kiss. When he tried to part her lips so his tongue could gain access to her mouth, she started to push him away. But no matter how hard she tried he wouldn't budge. As she was about to give up something ripped him off of her. Relief flooded her body for a split second then her eyes met Alex's. Panic and fear took over as she saw the raw carnal rage rampaging through him.

He roared at Damien like a wild beast, "What the hell do you think you are doing?" slamming him against a tree causing the bark to splinter.

Damien glared at him shoving Alex back. "This has nothing to do with you, Alex. It's between me and Julia so back off."

Alex grabbed Damien by his jacket, and then Alex cocked his fist back and punched him. "It has everything to do with me, she's my girlfriend."

Julia stood frozen, rooted to the ground terrified that one of them might kill the other. But when she looked at Damien, she could see the words Alex said hung over Damien weighing him down like a millstone around his neck. All the fire left him as he gave up.

Damien's eyes met Julia's, and he gave her an accusing look. "I see how it is. Just keeping me on the side in case he breaks your heart. Which, he will." He looked at Alex, "you don't deserve her; you never did and you never will," then he walked off.

Something flitted across Alex's eyes, Julia thought it looked like pain and regret, before he called out, "You're probably right, but she chose me."

She wanted to go after Damien and explain things to him. Explain that she wasn't leading him along. Tell him he was still important to her and their friendship meant everything to her. But when she moved to go after him Alex caught her arm and held her back.

He pulled her to him. "Let him go. He needs time on his own to work things out. Don't worry he doesn't hate you; it's me he's mad at. The last thing he could ever do is hate you."

She was heartbroken on both accounts. She felt like she just lost a best friend for good. She also felt immense guilt for letting Damien kiss her. Burying her face in Alex's chest she started to sob.

He held her tight in his arms and let her cry. After Julia calmed down enough she said, "I'm so sorry, Alex. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. We just went for a walk and it all got out of control."

"I know it wasn't your fault," he said in a curt voice without even looking at her. "I saw you trying to push him away. Come on, let's get you home."

Sensing he was angrier with her than he was letting on, she wished she could make it all go away and make everything right again. As they walked back to her house in silence, she racked her brain for a way to at least fix things between them.

When nothing jumped out at Julia, she decided to at least show him how much he meant to her. She grabbed his hand to stop him walking. His fingers laced in hers as he turned to look at her. Lifting onto her tip-toes she brought her lips to his and brushed them against his. When Alex didn't stop her or pull away Julia pressed a slow kiss onto his lips. She put all her love and passion into that kiss trying to show him he meant everything to her.

Alex responded to her unspoken words. He wrapped his arms around her waist lifting her up and kissed her back with even more ardent love. Soon they were tangled in each other's arms. Her tongue slid into his mouth and entwined with his. They stood there locked in a fervent kiss and loving embrace until the events of that evening washed away along with the rest of the world.

Alex trailed feather light kisses down her neck and his lips hovered over her neck for a moment. She felt a sharp pain as his fangs bit into her skin. The stinging caused her breath to hitch yet; she didn't stop him or back away. Something about what he was doing was extremely intimate. The initial pain faded replaced with overwhelming pleasure that it made her legs go weak.

Alex and Julia's bodies melted to the ground. As he cradled her in his arms, tenderly drinking her blood he took his nail and cut open his neck. Julia hesitated for a moment. Not because she was disgusted, but because something about what they were about to do went way beyond the bounds of intimacy. She knew so little about dark faeries and their customs and when it came to drinking blood, a lot of it was a secret. However, she remembered Alex telling her this was not something that she should take lightly. And she instinctively knew that it would deepen their relationship taking it to a new level.

Alex pulled away and said, "You don't have to if you don't want to. I will not force you to do something as intimate as blood sharing against your will."

Julia shook her head. "No, I want to do this."

She waited for Alex to cut his neck again and began to drink his blood; as he once again sunk his fangs back into her. As soon as his blood hit her tongue everything came to life, it was as if the entire world around her had lit up. Then pleasure beyond anything she had ever experienced coursed through her body. It felt as if she could feel his thoughts and feelings: all of his longing, his need to be close to her, an overwhelming sense of love that was also mixed with deep sadness, and a need to protect her, surging into her through his blood.

Their feelings swirled together and combined as they got lost in each other. Nothing mattered, other than the two of them expressing their love for one another through their blood.

******************************************

Hello all,

So things are finally heating up with our lovebirds lets hope it stays that way.

Thanks for reading and please don't forget to vote and spread the word about this book.

Xoxo J