No words were spoken, but Vail could sense a tangible shift in Victoria’s determination as she took first one step and then another. He watched her closely with his hands still resting loosely against her body, prepared to catch her if she stumbled but not holding her up while she tried to walk. Although he’d only told her to try taking two steps, he remained quiet as she pushed herself to take more. If she was strong enough to handle it, there was no reason to stop her from trying. He was impressed by her resolve to recover as quickly as she could, shuffling tentatively forward until she couldn’t hold herself upright any longer.

The excitement in her voice brought a smile to his lips, and he nodded. “I knew you could,” he responded confidently. Her firm squeeze of his hand had been reassuring too. Already, her grip was stronger than it had been when she was mortal, and it was exciting to think about how much more powerful she would become once she had fully recovered from the ordeal of being turned. She hadn’t even touched human blood yet. He shook his head faintly to himself, marveling over her potential. He never would have considered it before, but it was starting to seem like she was going to be a vampire to be feared once she came into her own as an immortal.

When she collapsed into his arms again, he caught her, true to his word. Her laugh was melodious, and it coaxed a chuckle out of him as well. Carefully, he brought he back to the bed, where he sat her down next to himself on the edge of the mattress to rest for a moment, wrapping one arm around her midriff to pull her into his side. He was still eternally relieved that she was awake and moving about again. Ever since the sound of her first heartbeat, all of his fears that he’d lost her forever were washed away. She was alive, and they were safe in Scotland, far away from the vampires who had tried to take her away from him before.

“Let’s break for now,” he decided, wanting to give her weakened body time to rest before she went at it again. It was still hard to tell if she would be able to make it all the way to the summer house before the end of the day. If worse came to worst, they could always borrow a walking cane to give her some support if she was determined to come with him to see his family though. And he didn’t mind carrying her if she became tired while they were out of the manor.

Turning his head toward her, he studied her fair-skinned face for a moment before cupping her cheek in his free hand to guide her into his lips in a kiss. He wanted to let her rest after trying to walk, but that didn’t mean they had to sit perfectly still until she was ready to try again. Having missed her dearly while she’d been a corpse, he would indulge himself in her familiar touch at least a little.