Page 66 of Midnight Enchantment

His gaze searched hers, as if he was looking for the truth. And then he leaned forward and kissed her lightly. “I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me to leave,” he said, quietly.

“Oh, Raedan, I do love you so!” She threw her arms around him and he fell back on the sand. Drawing her down on top of him, he rolled onto his side, carrying her with him. He showered her with kisses—her brow, the tip of her nose, the hollow of her throat—before settling on her lips in a long, searing kiss she felt from the roots of her hair to the soles of her feet and everywhere in-between.

Breathless, she gazed at him. He was so beautiful, she thought, and she loved him beyond words.

“Beautiful?” he asked, stifling a laugh.

“It isn’t polite to eavesdrop on someone else’s thoughts.”

“Sorry, love. I think you’re beautiful, too.” She was so close, her hair silky where it brushed his cheek, her scent intoxicating, her skin warm and smooth. And he wanted her. Wanted her with every fiber of his being.

There’s no one else on the beach for miles,whispered the blood-demon.You can take her body, take her blood, and wipe the memory from her mind. No one need ever be the wiser.

No!

You want to. You know you do. Even now, the scent of her life’s blood is calling to you, to me. To me,” he chortled. Remember your promise, vampire.

Raedan tensed as he felt the demon’s power unfold inside him, reminding him of the excruciating agony he had felt the last time. He couldn’t face it again, he thought, nor could he ask Liliana to sacrifice her blood for him again. And he couldn’t make Liliana his wife, couldn’t be with her night and day, not with the demon forever clamoring for her blood. Sooner or later, he would take too much and in so doing, he would kill her. And destroy his own will to live.

Pulling her to her feet, he transported the two of them back to Ava’s front porch. “I must go.”

“What?” Her gaze searched his face. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“I will call you later,” he said, his voice tight with pain as he vanished from her sight.

Lily stared into the darkness, wondering what had just happened. And then she knew.

He had left her rather than feed the demon her blood. He had left because he didn’t want her to see his suffering.

Tears burned her eyes as she opened the door and stepped inside. One way or another, they had to find a way to destroy the blood-demon before it destroyed Raedan and the love they shared.

In his lair, Raedan writhed on the floor in blinding agony, his body contorted with pain and bathed in crimson sweat while the blood-demon screamed threats and obscenities in his mind.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lily woke with a start as a sharp pain tore through her. She bolted upright, knowing immediately that the horrendous pain she felt was Raedan’s. Flinging the covers aside, she ran to Ava’s room and threw open the door, only to come to an abrupt stop when she saw that Ava wasn’t alone in bed. Mason lay beside her, one arm curled around her shoulders. But there was no time to absorb that now.

“What is it?” Ava exclaimed, drawing the covers up to her chin. “Is the house on fire?”

“It’s Raedan! The blood-demon is torturing him. I’ve got to go to him.”

“Liliana, do you think that’s wise?”

“No, but I can’t let him suffer when I can stop it. I just wanted to let you know that I was going.” With a last contemplative glance at Mason, Lily left the room and closed the door behind her.

Muttering under her breath, Ava slipped out of bed and into her robe. “I’ve got to help, if I can.”

“I guess our secret is out,” Mason drawled.

“Oh, shut up,” Ava muttered, though there was no malice in her voice. “I guess I can’t tell her to practice what I preach anymore.”

Lily had assembled all of Ava’s magical implements when Ava arrived stepped into the room. “Maybe you should do it,” Lily suggested. “Your magic is stronger than mine.”

Ava shook her head. “You’re closer to him than I am. You should be the one to do it.”

Gathering her power around her, Lily gazed into the mirror. “Power of earth, wind, and fire, reveal to me what I desire. Show me Raedan’s lair.”

She held her breath as the mirror’s surface shimmered with bright colors that gradually turned to black and gray and midnight blue before separating to reveal a small house located on a narrow stretch of deserted beach. “I know this place,” Lily murmured. “Raedan took me there the other night. Send me there, Granny. Hurry.”

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