Page 23 of Sexual Appetites of Vampires

“Tell me more about vampires,” she said still finding it difficult to accept that such creatures truly existed and wondering if she would wake up and find that none of this was real.

“Our sexual appetites?” he asked with a grin.

“I think I have a pretty good idea about that.”

“Oh, darling, you haven’t even touched the surface of it yet.”

Damn if her clitoris didn’t quiver, her body ran hot, and an aching need settle uncomfortably between her legs.

“I can smell your need for me, almost taste it.” He licked his lips slowly, his eyes drifting closed for a moment. “I love the taste of you, and I quite fear I will never get enough of it.”

Think of something else, Lara, think of something else, she silently warned herself.

“Yes, Lara, it would be wise to think of something else.”

“Tell me of your grandfather and the curse.”

Michael nodded, then smiled. “My grandfather claims I am much more like him than my father, but my grandmother and mother insist that all Valaine men are alike—stubborn. My grandfather refers to it as determined. Whatever way you look at it, it is the reason my grandfather was cursed.”

CHAPTER 8

“My grandfather lived when there was great turmoil in the area that is now known today as Romania. As he often told me, it wasn’t a pleasant era. Wars raged, people were persecuted for their beliefs, and survival was difficult, but it didn’t stop him from falling in love. Unfortunately, he fell in love with the wrong young woman. She was a gypsy and one of the free ones, since most gypsies, at that time, were slaves. Her family or troupe had managed to remain free, and they intended to keep it that way. Outsiders were forbidden.”

“But your grandfather was stubborn,” Lara said with a smile. She was a sucker for a love story, though she preferred the ones with happy endings.

“Determined,” Michael corrected. “And as my grandfather has explained time and again, my grandmother was too much of a spirited beauty to simply walk away and forget. He told me that he knew from when he first laid eyes on her that he loved her, and there was no way he would ever live life without her.”

“I guess the gypsies had other ideas.” Lara’s eyes turned wide. “Wait. I think I found the spell that was used on him.” She left her wine glass on the small table beside the chaise andhurried to the nightstand, snatching up the old, battered spell book. She sat on the chaise and carefully thumbed through the worn pages. “I recall reading a few words before I dozed off.Icurse his soul. Here it is—” she shook her head. “Parts of the curse are in another language. Here you must know it. Read it.”

Michael took the book from her hand. “Not now.”

The distress in his eyes had her offering an apology. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

He turned and placed the book on the side table. When he turned back around, he asked her a question she had to stop and think about.

“What would you do if the person you loved from the depths of your soul was forbidden to you?”

After some contemplation, she said, “I wonder about love in today’s world. I sometimes think that love has become a word that is thrown around so easily that it has lost the sacred power it once held. I think sacred love has become rare and if I found someone who I loved from the depths of my soul I would fight with all I had, so I would never lose such a blessed love.”

“You would be determined.”

“Not only determined but committed to such a rare love.” She laughed softly. “And patient, since, no doubt, a love so strong would have its challenges.”

“Yes, it would, but I am confident that you would be up to the task.”

Her brow knitted and she tilted her head in question. “You barely know me and yet you have confidence in me?”

“You are like an open book to me that I have spent the last several hours reading and thoroughly enjoying, and I am eager to read more.”

She couldn’t help but wonder if the ending of the book would be a happy read for either of them, for what could the end possibly bring?

“It is after seven. I suggest we continue our talk while having supper,” he said, holding his hand out to her.

She took it and the familiar spark his touch ignited sent a sensual quiver through her body. She tempered it as best she could, but she realized that it was getting more difficult to do so. Her body was demanding what her mind was fighting and, most unexpectedly, her heart was joining in.

“I should change,” she said, stepping away from him, needing a bit of distance.

“Nonsense. Stay as you are...comfortable. Tonight is not for formality. We’ll enjoy our meal in the room off the kitchen.”

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