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erratic beats until it sputtered and my heart ceased to beat.
    My exhausted body could take no more.  I went slack in his arms with the knowledge that when I awoke, nothing could tear us apart.
    His voice was soft and filled with sadness and it brought me back to the present.  "I never wanted to change you against your will.  I should have ceased the blood exchanges.  I let my feelings and emotions cloud my decisions and you paid the price for my carelessness."
    My fingers gripped both sides of his face, forcing him to meet my stare. "I was already changing.  We both knew it was happening.  It was inevitable.  I want to be with you as an equal in every way.  Now there's nothing to take me from you.  I'm yours in every way.  And if what we just did was any indication, you've been holding back."
    His thoughts turned dark and sensual as I mentioned being his in every way. I’d chosen those words carefully, knowing that it would appeal to his possessive nature.  His tongue licked across his lower lip as he considered the benefits of my now unbreakable body.  His lust rushed over me, hitting me like a sledgehammer.
    "I was helpless, vackra.  Your words haunted me.  You told me that you were dying to be with me."  Stefan shuddered as he recalled my final human moments.  "You reminded me of words I spoke almost 1,000 years ago.  There is much for us to find out."
    I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and peppered wet kisses down his neck.  "Only if you promise me that you won’t blame yourself for any of this, Stefan.  I can’t live an eternity with your guilt between us.  And I don’t want you to either.”
    His lips found my forehead and his eyes averted mine.  His thoughts were heavily guarded, as I sat wrapped in his arms.  “Stefan, I’m serious about this.  You have to let this go or this…this weirdness,” I gestured between us. “It will always be here.  We knew I’d change.  If I remember correctly, I bit you.  I drank from you.  So if you’re going to blame anyone, blame me.”
    Honestly, I was starting to get irritated with his self-pity.  It was unlike Stefan to let anything bother him the way my change was disturbing him.
    “I do not regret that you have made the change.  I only regret that it has made you more of a target.” 
    I was confused.  “No one has to know.  At least for the time being.  There really isn’t a Council left to worry about.”
    Stefan wrapped his arms around me and sprang to his feet with me securely against his chest.  He carried me down the hallway into our bedroom, and sat me down on the bed.  I scooted over to allow him to stretch his long frame out beside of me.  Once he settled, I immediately moved to drape myself over him.  My fingers drifted over the soft hair on his chest and the sharp outline of his collarbones.
    “Amir is determined to run the Council.  He is hell bent on creating a new order.”  His face was like stone as he spoke, only his lips moving.  “I love my brother, but I do not agree with his principles.  There will be no mercy for anyone that is deemed to be a betrayer of our kind.  There will be no questions, only death.”
    “What does he consider a betrayer of our kind to be?”  I asked softly.  Honestly, I was afraid to hear the answer.
    “If a new vampire exposes our kind to humans, they are considered to have betrayed our kind.  Revealing ourselves to humans without the intent of turning them would be another. Amir thinks there should be no judgment or leniency.”  Stefan turned on his side and tucked one of his long arms under his head on the pillow.  His other hand trailed through my long hair.  “Power.  It can change a person, either immortal or human.  Solveig suffered from the same affliction.  Once she had a taste of it, she let it consume her until it drove her mad.  She never should have turned Amir.  She knew of his abilities and wielded his gift like a tool for her own