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anything other than agony right now. Guilt and worry for Vega cut through her worse than her physical wound, but this longing for him was unnerving.
    She knew part of it was biological. There was just something about him that had always called to her. But she also knew the memories she carried of them together weren’t helping things. With the not-quite-full moon overhead and few visible stars over the glistening water, the vivid vision of their first time together flickered in and out of her mind. She tried to banish it, but it was fighting for dominance over everything else.
    The oversized quilt he’d laid out. The incredibly bright moon that night. The giant pond with the weeping willow giving them ultimate privacy. His mouth and gentle hands as he’d brought her to climax more than once before he’d ever entered her—
    “You sure you’re okay?” His voice was raspy and uneven as he stepped back and closed the kit.
    Breathing hard, she looked up to find him eyeing her with a mix of warring emotions in his expression. In that moment she was very thankful he couldn’t read her mind. Guilt and lust seemed to be the most prevalent in his gaze. Her own heart rate increased as his blue eyes darkened and roved over her exposed flesh.
    “I’m fine.” Physically maybe, but inside was another story. She thought she’d been ready to face him, but being near him after so many years apart had her off kilter. She was wearing a bra, but it didn’t matter. He stared at her as if he could see everything . As if he was remembering what he’d seen so many times before.
    She felt completely bare under that heated gaze. And it was her own fault. She couldn’t believe she’d just casually stripped off her sweater in front of him. To shifters, nudity was no big deal and for the most part, it wasn’t to vampires either. It wasn’t as if she ran around naked for the fun of it, but she was old enough that she felt comfortable in her own skin.
    But that wasn’t why she’d casually stripped. Like an idiot, she hadn’t been thinking. Talking with him had felt familiar. Way too familiar. Once upon a time they hadn’t just been lovers, they’d been friends. Hell, he’d been the best friend she’d ever had. She’d been trapped by her family’s rules and regulations, rarely allowed to leave the coven unless she snuck out. They’d carried on their secret affair for six months, sneaking away anytime they could to see each other. And each time they’d ended up naked.
    Shivering as memories accosted her, she turned her back to him. As she started to pull the shirt on, his callused hand stroked along the length of her spine.
    Slow, seemingly casual, but she knew better. Power and dominance hummed in that gentle touch and sent a shower of goose bumps rippling over her skin. Instinctively she clenched her legs together as that long-forgotten ache built deep inside her. This was definitely the wrong time and the wrong place. She wanted to shake herself at the way he made her body come alive, but couldn’t do anything about it.
    “Lyra.” One word. That was all he said. But her name on his lips made her weak and stupid. He sounded so damn desperate and out of character from the man she remembered.
    Against her better judgment, she turned to face him. The need and raw hunger in his eyes not only made her stupid, it turned her knees to mush. She swallowed hard and opened her mouth to say something.
    Anything semi-intelligent.
    Nothing came out.
    He growled low in his throat as his head descended toward hers. All coherent thought and reasoning dissipated the instant their lips touched.
    Heat and fire swept through her as their tongues clashed. She felt his kiss bone deep as vivid memories resurfaced. Memories she wanted no part of. A pull and desire for him she’d long-since buried erupted from somewhere inside her, a place she’d almost forgotten existed.
    A moan built in her throat when his hand came up to the back of her neck and