Vail took pleasure in Victoria’s lingering stare when he removed his shirt. He had always been comfortable in his own skin, so exposing his upper body had been more exciting to him than embarrassing even though he wasn’t used to showing so much of himself to a woman. He watched her subtly, noticing that her gaze rested longer on his burnt shoulder. There was a hint of empathy in her eyes that he found endearingly human. To his kind, as long as a wound wasn’t life-threatening, it was viewed as unimportant. If his family had known about his injury, they would have been far more concerned about knowing when and where it had taken place rather than asking if he was recovering well. There was no reason for them to bother. They knew he would be fine, because he always was.

When Victoria denied that she had planned to convince him to undress, Vail just shrugged. He hadn’t really believed she would go so far out of her way for something like that, but he enjoyed the banter that came out of it. Before he could move past it, however, she drew his attention with one more surprise. He turned to look at her as she confessed that he made her feel desired and that she actually [i]cared[/i] about him. It was certainly more than he’d been expecting, but it warmed him to know she saw him this way. Their predator-prey relationship was turning out to be quite different than he had imagined. He liked the direction it was going though.

“Better me than you,” he objected when she said she didn’t like seeing him get hurt. He gestured to the spot on his shoulder where the bullet wound had been before. “Injuries aren’t the same to me as they are to a human. They’re a nuisance, but they’re temporary. I’m sure this one will be gone by tomorrow night or the next.” Shifting to sit on the edge of the bed, he bent over to take off his boots. “It’s nothing you need to be concerned about.”

With his shoes removed, he stood up to more easily slide down his trousers, so that he was just as naked as she was. (For the sake of “equality”). It felt strange to him to be so intimate with a [i]human[/i] of all women, but his unease about it was slight. Species aside, she had become someone he felt comfortable being around. He wanted to be closer to her whether good sense agreed or not.

“There. I believe we’re even now,” Vail said as he laid down again beside her on the mattress. He propped himself up on one arm and pulled her in with the other. Skin brushed against skin, and he had to fight the urge to shiver at her touch. Even though he’d imagined it earlier, there was something electrifying about actually being with her in such a vulnerable state. He trailed his hand from her back down to her rear and thigh. Her flesh was smooth and hot. He focused on that.

Though he’d come to the inn tonight to drink her blood, they had until dawn before she needed to return to her family’s manor. There was no reason to rush. He leaned over Victoria as he caressed the soft parts of her body with his fingers, enjoying the responses he was able to elicit from her when he did. A soft sigh escaped his lips, one he didn’t bother to hide. Since he was completely exposed to her, there was no concealing his arousal around her anyway. He had always found her physically enticing, and being this close to her just exacerbated that. He intended to take advantage of it while he could.