At least Victoria seemed to desire his touch as much as Vail craved hers. He relaxed into the mattress as she drew closer and nestled her head beneath his chin. Her lithe body fit comfortably against his, staving off the slight chill in the air with its warmth. He was glad he had ventured to put his arm around her. Their current position was quite comfortable, only adding to the bliss he already felt after achieving physical satisfaction with her. He was nearly tempted to fall asleep as he was, though he knew he needed to remain alert so they wouldn’t linger at the inn too long. They still had time left before dawn, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have a deadline to observe.

As she joked about him trying to get rid of her, he rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the faint smile that pulled at his lip. Like her mischievousness, he found her bold humor endearing. Her willingness to poke and tease a man she barely knew was something that separated her from the other human women who lived their lives in boring meekness. It wasn’t very respectful, but respect for social convention’s sake was overrated anyway. He much preferred when she spoke her mind without fear of how she would be perceived by him. Her honest personality was refreshing, and he knew he could expect her to tell him what was on her mind without any tricks or games.

He liked her unapologetic affection too. While he had been nervous to even wrap one arm around her midriff, she seemed to have no trouble cuddling up to his side and even nuzzling his chin with her head. Her obvious comfort helped him relax enough to stroke her back with his hand, less concerned about her opinion now that he could see that she enjoyed their closeness just as much as he did. It was funny how quickly they had gone from predator and prey to [i]this[/i]. He never would have imagined there would come a day when he would call a human his lover. Yet, here they were, resting in each other’s embrace in the hazy euphoria of post coital felicity.

Despite his query about her sleep, Vail was glad that Victoria preferred to stay longer with him. He was content lying beside her until the minute they had to leave. As she settled down against him with the intent to rest, he closed his eyes as well. Of course, he wasn’t going to let himself drift off with her, since one of them had to keep track of the time, but he wanted to unwind a little too. As long as he made sure he didn’t grow too tired, he was confident he could last until close to dawn.

He passed the rest of the time by letting his mind wander to meaningless things and simply enjoying the feeling of Victoria’s body pressed warmly against his. Knowing she was probably more tired than she let on—he didn’t know any humans who operated nocturnally like his kind did—he let her sleep until about an hour before sunrise when he finally roused her with a gentle shake of her shoulder.

“We should get going,” he murmured, stifling a yawn as he sat up on the bed. Even though he was used to staying up all night, it was nearing the time when he would normally settle down to sleep for the day. His exhaustion was beginning to catch up with him, and he could feel it. “Will you contact me the same way next time?” he asked, attempting to keep his thoughts off his weariness by conversing with the Crest heiress.