THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

swallowed to try to moisten her suddenly dry mouth.
    “But since my reversal, all I can feel is your doubt, your anxiety, the worry that you trapped me into this relationship when you—”
    “I did trap you.” Her face burned with embarrassment at having this discussion in front of a stranger, but she couldn’t let that stop her from saying what must be said. “But I swear to you, Del, I didn’t mean to.”
    “You are blameless, Ainsley. It would not have happened had I not still been keeping secrets from you. And if you call that a trap, every man should be so lucky as to fall into one so sweet.”
    Despite her best efforts to control her breathing, a sob escaped her. “But you have choices , now. Choices you didn’t have before.”
    “I do. And one of those choices is to embrace the blood-bond again, soberly, thoughtfully, and of my own volition. That’s why I brought Aiden here tonight, to turn me back. It will take a matter of about thirty hours, but my vampiric powers should be restored. We can have it back, Ainsley, if that’s what you want.”
    She started to cry in earnest, lifting the hem of her sweater to stem the tide. Delano handed her a handkerchief, which she applied to her cheeks, then used to blow her nose.
    “Just give the word, my love, and Aiden will do it.”
    “Are you saying you love me still?” She swiped at fresh tears. “That you’re ready to shackle yourself to me, forsaking all others, even though … even though…” Even though it will literally kill you when I die. She couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
    He grasped her face in his big hands. “Yes, that’s what I’m saying. I love you, Ainsley Crawford, and I am yours as long as you want me. That didn’t change just because of the reversal. Nor did my commitment to the vaccine and my life’s work of turning back the rogue tide.”
    Her hands went to his chest, possessed of a mind of their own. “Do you want to go back?”
    The ambivalence in his eyes raked her raw sensibilities.
    “Ainsley…”
    “The truth. Please , Delano.”
    He sighed. “One of my aims all along was to reverse my own mutation, which I saw from the beginning as a vile curse, visited upon me against my will by a vampress who thought that was the path to owning me. All these years, I’ve sought to return to what I was. That’s been my aim for so long, I knew nothing else.”
    “And now?”
    “Now, I no longer want it. Not at this price. Not without you.”
    The tears brimmed again, distorting his precious face. She made no attempt to stem them this time.
    “And what if you can have your mortal life back, and me too? Would you choose to have Aiden turn you then? Either way, I will stay with you. And either way, your life expectancy will be constrained.” She brushed back a lock of his hair, which had fallen forward. “I swear, if I could be turned, I would ask Aiden to do it for us both, right now, so that we have eternity together. But we can’t. Not with my blood.”
    He pulled her face closer and kissed her eyelids, one at a time. “Then I choose to age with you. You may not see the evidence of the blood-bond, and you may not be able to slip into my mind with the ease you did before, but sweetheart, it’s still there. It has to be. Because I feel like I’d die without you.”
    The breath she’d been holding rushed out of her. “Oh, me too!”
    Suddenly his arms were around her. She circled her own arms around him lightly, mindful of his injured ribs. His mouth closed on hers, kissing her like there was no tomorrow.
    When next they looked up, Aiden had left the lab.
    “Ainsley?”
    She smiled at how thick his voice sounded. “Yes?”
    “How ’bout we find Aiden again and get him to turn me so my ribs get better in the next five hours. Then I’ll be ready to make love to you the way I want. All we have to do is lose the condoms, and I’ll eventually turn back again…
    She laughed against his neck. “Trust me, Dr. Bowen. Making love won’t be a problem,” she murmured into his ear, before biting the lobe delicately. “I’m a nurse, remember? You’re in good hands.”
    “Oh, I know it, Nurse Crawford.” He laughed, but when he pulled back, his eyes sobered. “You want this, don’t you? Truly?”
    She smiled up at him, her heart brimming. “Truly, I do. I want to be yours and I want you to be mine. I want to wake up in the same bed with you every morning. I want to have the right to touch you like this. I