Wordlessly, she copied me until she matched the same amount I’d given.

Peering into it, she swirled it gently, blending gold-tinted with silver-shine, turning it into an antiqued crimson.

“So...you can heal me and I can heal you, yet separately our blood is...”

“Poison?” I took the teacup from her, placed it carefully on the ground, then grabbed her wrist and pressed mine over hers.

Blood to blood.

Fire to frost.

We both shuddered as the bond yanked hard.

Heat flared, cold surged, and the itch and prickle of healing skin hinted that whatever we’d become—whatever they’d made us—it seemed we were invincible...as long as we had each other.

Savage lust slammed into me. Dark and hot and desperate.

I wanted her again.

She gulped and shook her head, dispelling the sexual tension between us. “You’re going to be the death of me, I swear.”

“Pretty sure that’s my line.” Collecting the cup before I became too weak to ignore her, I looked to where Whisper had slunk across the room.

I clicked my fingers at my long-suffering panther.

He snarled dramatically.

Inspecting her newly healed skin, she glanced at Whisper. “Separately, it destroys, yet together...it heals. How?”

“No idea. But Whisper is going to help prove that hypothesis right now.” Directing my voice across the room, I ordered, “Come here.”

The cat shuddered and bared his teeth.

“Don’t look at me like that. You’ve eaten far worse.”

He didn’t look convinced.

I padded toward him and scratched the ear that wasn’t singed. Dropping to his eye level, I murmured, “You’re hurt because of me. You’re in pain because of what I did. I won’t be able to rest until I make up for it, alright?”

He purred reluctantly as I continued scratching him, moving my fingers beneath his powerful jaw. “Just slurp this down and I’ll get you an entire cow as a reward. A very large one. I promise.”

He scowled and eyed up the teacup of blood.

I held it out to him. “Drink.”

He sniffed, glowered at me, then gave in.

It was gone in a few dainty licks.

The effect was immediate.

Leaping to his feet, his claws sank into the floorboards as his eyes widened. A whoosh of hot air rippled over his body, rustling his thick fur.

Rook came to join us, gasping as his skin healed, fur regrew, and the oozing injuries on his ears, nose, and paws reversed. He snarled as if the sensation felt odd, shivered as if regrowing his pelt left him itchy, then shrugged it off as it was nothing more than a bug bite.

Cocking his head, he gave us an inquisitive chirp then sat down and indulged in a bath—licking industriously between his now-healed claws.

Rising slowly to my feet, the bond pulsed between me and Rook.

Our eyes locked.

We hadn’t stopped since escaping Cinderkeep. We’d burned and resurrected an entire valley, and really needed to go to bed.

I couldn’t remember the last time we’d slept horizontally.

But...I suddenly needed something else more.

Cupping her cheeks, I pulled her in for a quick, hard kiss. “I’m either going to throw you onto that bed and take you again or...”

“Or...?” She shivered as our noses brushed.

“I practice self-control and torture both of us with delayed gratification.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol.”

“Hang on. You want to drink at a time like this? But we need to talk—”

“Wrong. We need to drink.” I shrugged as if it made perfect sense. “I want to turn my mind off so we can sleep like the dead. Tomorrow is the day to figure out what the hell is going on but tonight...I plan on celebrating the fact that I’m no longer a virgin.”

Her cheeks pinked. “Hey...look at that. Neither am I.”

I smirked. “You’re welcome.”

She laughed under her breath. “I really don’t think drinking is the answer to our problems, though.”

“Oh, I think it is. Besides.” I shrugged. “I have a shit ton of revenge to reap, and before I do...I need to find a way to control my temper.”

“You mean the temper that tends to incinerate anything within a four-mile radius?”

“That’s the one.” Grabbing her hand, I headed toward the door, dragging her with me. “Let’s see if wine can help.”

Chapter Forty-Eight

I WAS PLEASANTLY...DRUNK.

That hadn’t been the plan when Lucien dragged me onto the huge terrace, overlooking the entire length of the Gaoligong Valley. We didn’t have time to drink. We had important stuff to figure out, but...he’d tempted me with dishes he’d stolen from the kitchen and kept filling my cup with pear, apple, and plum blossom wine. And as the sky slowly lightened and the sun stretched between the jagged peaks of the mountains, I hadn’t felt so relaxed in a very, very long time.

Perhaps in my entire life.

In a strange unfathomable way, I felt reborn. Like I’d stepped out of some sort of straitjacket and could finally stretch and move in ways I’d never been able to before.

It didn’t matter that Marcus was still out there...plotting to recapture Lucien. Didn’t matter that I still had to call Frank and Dillon and find out if they were keeping secrets from me.

Everything could wait because...he was right.

We should celebrate.

I sighed as I glanced at his wonderful panther who lay sprawled between our deck chairs, snoring away thanks to stuffing his face with half the cow Lucien had promised.

Stretching on my black rattan lounger, I peered sleepily at the stunning view. Mist clung to the lower slopes, drifting like ghosts between the ancient trees we’d killed and reincarnated a few hours ago. Now, they glowed in the sunrise—flocks of birds soaring, waking early to sing in the new day.

“You know...if someone had told me a few months ago that I’d be drinking plum blossom wine, watching a sunrise with a man who sets trees on fire during an orgasm—”

Lucien chuckled under his breath.

“—I would’ve assumed whoever was predicting my future was concussed and talking crazy.”

“You were concussed,” he said quietly, almost as drunk as I was. “Thanks to being stuck on a wash cycle in the Burning Phoenix falls.”

I giggled, loving the slight burn as more liquor went down and happy bubbles danced in my belly. The faintest dusting of snow flickered in the air before melting into nothing.

He watched the flakes dissolve before narrowing his wickedly hot stare on me. “Careful.”

I ducked in dramatic concern, flicking a look around the stunning estate, searching for anyone who might’ve seen. “I’m sorry. I can’t help it. I didn’t mean to—”

“I don’t care about that. It’s just, I can feel that you’re happy and...knowing you’re no longer in pain is making it really, really hard to sit here and not touch you.”

I gulped as desire wrapped thick around us.

It was becoming a problem.

I couldn’t stop the draw, the ache, the need every time I looked at him.

Tiny fires ignited on the tips of his hair.

Now, who had to be careful?

Balling my hands, I did my best to restrain myself. “You know arson’s illegal, right?”

He smiled as if he knew exactly what I was doing and relaxed against his lounger. “Pretty sure bringing about another ice-age is worse.”

“You set an entire valley on fire just because you came.”

“And you froze everything into an ecological extinction event.”

“This isn’t a competition.” I giggled.

God, this pear wine—or was it plum—was dangerously easy to drink.

The sun kept rising, weaving tipsiness with tiredness until I wanted to howl at the fading stars and give in to the shivery, delicious relief that we were alive. Lucien was okay. Whisper was fine. And I no longer suffered any pain.