"I love you," I whispered the moment his lips left mine for my neck, kissing their way lower, making me shiver with pleasure and anticipation.

"You can't imagine how much I missed you," he said as his hands released me from the blanket that was still wrapped around my body, while I pulled his shirt off him. "It feels like... those words, I love you, are not strong enough to describe what I feel for you, Samara..." he muttered, making my eyes fill with tears as his words made my crazy emotions escalate. I knew perfectly well what he meant, how he felt.

We stopped talking then, abandoning ourselves to the need to prove just how deeply we loved each other, how much we cared, and how we could never pull through another separation.

Later, when I laid next to him, my head resting in the crook of his shoulder, my hand over his heart, unable to fall asleep as my skin still tingled pleasantly from his touch and my heart raced still too fast, Vlad pushed a few stray curls away from my face and kissed me on the forehead. I smiled, feeling a corresponding smile in his kiss.

"So you don't need to sleep as much as before after all..." he murmured.

"I would like something to drink, shall I bring something for you, too?" I asked, sitting up.

"Wait." Vlad said, kissing me as he pushed me back down among the pillows.

He left me alone in the tenebrosity reigning under the bed's thick, dark curtains. I watched his silhouette, momentarily gilded by the golden glow of the lambent fire, disappear down the steps. He was back in no time, two goblets of wine and my locket in his hands.

I took one of the cups and drank deeply, feeling the wine's soothing warmth spread through my body, but I shook my head when he handed me the locket.

"It's for you, keep it." I said, heart soaring as I watched a happy smile flood his features when he put it around his neck. "I... was scared to bring her with me, she's waiting on the other side for us..."

"Your friend Lucas told me everything, Samara. You did the best thing," he interrupted me quickly, sensing the sadness creeping over me as my heart, soaring mere moments ago, plummeted fast. I missed Aurora so much...

Nodding, I passed him my empty cup and lay back down, snuggling into him as he joined me, pulling the blankets over us, up to my chin. The big question, my proposition for him to come back home with me when the passage reopened bubbled to my lips, but I swallowed it back. Somehow I couldn't ask that of him, not now, I needed more time to... to prepare myself for the pain I'd feel if he refused. I... I just couldn't picture him anywhere else apart from this place suddenly. As I observed his beautiful, smiling face now as he stared back at me, my idea looked surreal. He spent all those centuries here, waiting for my return, he seemed to have become such an inseparable part of this world, this ancient castle...

The unexpected observation made my breath hitch. Not wanting him to perceive another shift in my mood I kissed him, then turned around, my back to his front, letting him wrap his arms around me and pull me as close to him as possible. How could I have ever fallen asleep without him next to me... I mused, sighing contentedly.

For a long while we lay silently in the thickening darkness spreading around us as the unfed fire started to wane, the sleep still refusing to take me.

"What happened that night?" I asked, noticing that he was still awake too, when I felt his lips brush against my earlobe. There were so many things I wanted to know. "I couldn't get to the passage, they shut the castle because of the fire..."

Vlad took a deep breath,
"There was a small fire here as well, in the kitchens, but we did not have much trouble dealing with it. As soon as it was put out, I walked through the passage as I had promised you I would," he said softly. "Even my son came with me. But we didn't get far. There was a fire in the corridor in front of the Great Hall on your side, and while we considered what we should do, we saw it spread fast despite the effort of the people trying to tame it."

"I was torn." He continued, his voice morphing into a hoarse whisper. "I knew that I should simply go back while I still could, before the fire spreads too much, but I wanted to try to walk out of the castle and see if I could find you in your world instead, despite Katerina's warning that I should never stroll far from this building when I'm on your side. In the end, my son persuaded me to come back, reminding me of the other portal. I had never told you about its existence, and the possibility that you found out about it somehow was so insignificant... However, I was sure that if you knew it existed, and had the time to get there, you would try, because that's what I would have done in your place..." He paused to kiss me on my cheek. "It was so reckless, and so brave of you to walk through in Poenari, knowing who lives in that castle."

His hold around me tightened as I shivered at the memory his words pulled to the forefront of my mind.

"Shh... I'm with you now, nothing will happen to you ever again," he murmured.

"So we returned here," he continued as I remained silent. "Somehow, the fire followed us through the passage, and it took us very long to walk through... I left for Poenari the moment I was back on this side, but I arrived late, I found no trace of you there..."

Yet again, I shivered involuntarily in his embrace as I realised that he could have died then, because of that fire... The awful thought took my breath away and he pulled me closer, making me fit perfectly into him, as he lay his cheek on mine. His body was encompassing mine completely, making me feel safe.

"I was scared like never before, Samara. I didn't know where you were, what to do... It wasn't possible for me to search the Citadel without proof that they were keeping you hostage. I spoke to Rareş but he did not believe me... Making him understand anything without talking about the portals and revealing Katerina as a... witch... was impossible."

It took all my self-control not to start crying as his words kept reminding me of my time in Poenari and Andrei. But I knew that my tears would only make everything worse.

So I just turned in his arms to face him again and whispered before I kissed him, "It doesn't matter now, we are together."

When we finally fell asleep, the first lights of the new day were fighting against the few embers still glowing on the hearth for dominance over the chamber.

Then, when I woke up, to Vlad's lips sealed over mine, the room around us was bathed in soft wintery daylight.

"I must go," he whispered the moment my eyelids fluttered open, making me groan. Why does he always have to do this? "I promise I'll stay with you the entire day tomorrow, before..." he paused, his hesitation getting my whole attention.

"Before?" I prompted, sitting up and letting him adjust the pillows behind my back before I slumped against them again, pulling the blankets up to my chin as I realised that he was already dressed for the day and I... wasn't.

He raised one of his eyebrows at me questioningly, pulling my hand clutching at the blankets lower, making the blush I could feel blossoming on my cheeks spread faster.

"I don't understand why you are so shy of me still, but you have no idea how irresistible you are when you blush like that..." he muttered before he kissed me again, winning the blankets from me fast, after a few expert caresses.

"Where do you have to go so early?" I asked as I helped him dress again later, my fingers buttoning his shirt while he tried to restore some order into his hair, which looked inky blue rather than raven-black to my vampire eyes.

"It's not that early, it must be at least ten." He said, kissing me on the forehead as he donned his jacket. "Two members of the Council should come today, and... Rareş will be here the day after tomorrow too."

Vlad placed his fingers under my chin, tilting my face up, forcing me to meet his eyes, as he noticed how I stilled. I didn't want Rareş in here.

"Samara, I'm sorry. He wants to talk to you and I can't refuse. I... I need you to speak to him. You must tell him about Andrei..."

I took a step away from him, shaking my head. I didn't want to speak about Andrei to anyone.

He pulled me back, crushing me against him, his hands caressing my back soothingly.

"Samara, he must be punished, I need to know he... suffers for what he did to you. Please, I need your help. If I get to him without the Council's approval, breaking their laws, it will have consequences..."

His tender touch, as always, made me change my mind in no time. After I took a few shaky breaths I nodded into his chest, promising I would talk to Rareş when he arrived.

"I'll see you later," he said, cupping my face and brushing his lips against mine before leaving.

"Seeing that you'll be busy the whole day, I'll just... do my things today." I said, watching him walk towards the door. "I'll do my fighting practice with Lucas and then I'll see if Clara or Cook need my help..."

I did not even finish the line before he was in front of me again, towering above me.

"Did you say 'fighting'...?"

He heard you... my subconscious mocked, making me cringe inwardly. I knew the fighting would not go down very well with him.

However, I raised my chin high and stared in his eyes challengingly as I repeated, "My fighting practice with Lucas, yes."

"What do you mean, exactly?"

"Self-defence, knives, swords, maybe archery..." I listed, making him sigh exasperatedly as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Promise you'll never leave the castle without me." He said after a moment of thoughtful silence, while his eyes bored into mine, assessing, trying to gauge my reaction to his words.

"The gardens?" I negotiated.

"You can do whatever you want in the gardens and the courtyards, as long as you won't hurt yourself..."

"I promise I won't leave the castle then, thank you!" I beamed at him, wrapping my arms around his neck, giggling happily.

"I love you," He said after he kissed me again, then added once he reached the door, "Katerina asked me to tell you that she's waiting for you in your chamber."

"I love you too!" I called, even as the heavy door shut behind him, separating us.