Page 81 of Midnight Enchantment

There was nothing in the room save for an old leather-bound trunk. And one very handsome vampire clad in nothing but a pair of black sweat pants. He rested on his back on the hard plank floor. No blanket. No pillow. She should have conjured a bed for him, Lily thought. Or at least a mattress.

She stood in the open doorway for several minutes, just looking at him, admiring the sheer masculine beauty of him, the unyielding line of his jaw, the sensuous curve of his lips, his fine straight nose, the symmetry of his bare chest, his muscular arms, and long, long legs.

“If you do not stop looking at me like you, you will have me blushing in a minute.”

“Oh! I thought you were asleep!”

“I was.” He turned his head and regarded her through eyes dark with amusement. “Sheer beauty?”

A rush of heat flooded her cheeks. “You’re making fun of me.”

“No, I am not.” He held out his hand. “I am flattered.”

She stepped into the room, reached for his hand, and sat beside him. “Aren’t you uncomfortable on the floor?”

“No.”

“Well, I am.” She murmured a few words and a mattress sprang up beneath them, along with two fluffy pillows covered in blue silk cases. “There, that’s better.”

“Much,” he agreed, and tugged her down beside him. “What would Ava say about this?”

Lily made a dismissive gesture with her hand as she rolled onto her side, facing him, her head resting on his shoulder. “She’s out ‘walking’ with Mason. I’m pretty sure she isn’t thinking about me.”

He grunted softly as his hand stroked lightly up and down her thigh. “You are playing with fire, girl. You know that, do you not?”

“I’m perfectly safe,” she said, her lips twitching in a grin. “I’m a virgin and off-limits, remember?”

“As if I could forget,” he muttered. He turned onto his side so they were lying face to face, bodies aligned shoulder-to-thigh. “You are a wicked woman, Liliana Falconer. And too damn trusting for your own good.”

“You won’t hurt me.”

“Are you so sure about that?”

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”

“And the demon? Do you trust him, too? Even now, he is urging me to bury my fangs in your throat and drain you dry.”

“But you won’t,” she said, her voice hoarse and uncertain.

“No, I will not.” Lucky for her, the blood-demon was weak during the day, though no less hungry for her blood. His fingertips drifted over her lips, tracing their outline, before he covered her mouth with his.

Lily sighed as her eyelids fluttered down. She ran her hands over his bare back, feeling his muscles flex at her touch, hearing the quickening in his breathing as he deepened the kiss, his tongue dueling with hers, his hands bringing her body to vibrant life everywhere he touched.

Lily stilled when she felt the light scrape of his fangs at her throat. “Raedan.”

“Just a sip, love.”

She stared up at the ceiling as he drank from her, her whole body tense. He was right, she thought. She was indeed playing with fire.

Her breath whooshed out of her lungs in a sigh of relief when his tongue ran over the bites in her throat, sealing the tiny wounds.

“Thank you, my sweet Liliana. I need to rest if we are going dragon hunting later. Will you stay with me?”

“For a while, if you like.”

“I should like it very much.” It was a rare thing, resting with a woman beside him—a woman he loved more than his very existence. He brushed a kiss across her cheek, closed his eyes, and fell into darkness.

Lily stayed beside Raedan for an hour, content to lie there beside him, her head on his shoulder, her fingers playing in the dark hair sprinkled across his chest. He didn’t seem to breathe while he was at rest. What would it be like to spend the remainder of her life with him? She had grown up with vampires, but her father’s kind were different from Raedan in so many ways.

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