Page 16 of Midnight Enchantment

“You are the only one who isn’t.”

She didn’t miss the faint note of bitterness in his voice, the centuries of sadness in his eyes. “The only one?”

He nodded.

“That’s terrible,” she murmured. But she could understand it. Surely he was one of a kind. The demons wouldn’t trust him, the vampires and the witches would fear him. Why didn’t she?

Lily bit down on her lower lip when he reached for her hand and felt his touch flow through her. She waited, her heart beating double-time as he leaned toward her.He’s going to kiss me.The thought had no sooner crossed her mind than his mouth was on hers. It was the lightest of touches, tentative, gentle. And wonderful.

And she was lost. The world fell away. Right or wrong lost its meaning. And there was only the two of them. At that moment, she would have given him anything he asked for. She felt bereft when he lifted his head.

“I should go,” he said gruffly.

“Go? Why? You just got here.”

His gaze slid to her throat and lingered there. “I find you far too tempting,” he admitted quietly. “And I fear I am not strong enough to resist you at this moment. But I should very much like to see you tomorrow night.”After I’ve fed.“Will you trust me with your cell phone number?”

“If you’ll give me yours.”

“My pleasure.”

He lingered a moment more after they exchanged numbers. Just being near him was exhilarating, Lily thought. He made her feel vital, alive. Desirable. Sexy, even.

“Tomorrow night,” he murmured, his voice husky. “At seven.”

Lily nodded, her eyelids fluttering down as he leaned forward and kissed her again.

When she opened her eyes, she was alone.

Raedan cursed his need for blood as he stalked out of the hotel. Many vampires required less blood to survive as they grew older, but he wasn’t one of them. The blood-demon within him demanded to be fed at least once a night. To refuse to do so often had fatal consequences for his prey. It was only one of the many undesirable things about being possessed by the demon.

His nostrils flared as he caught the enticing scent of prey, the need to hunt momentarily driving every other thought from his mind.

Until he sank his fangs into the tender flesh of the woman’s throat and wished it was Liliana in his arms instead.

Chapter Seven

In the morning over breakfast, Lily did some serious soul-searching. She was attracted to Raedan, there was no doubt about that. Fascinated. Intrigued. She knew she should be frightened of him—and she was. And yet she wasn’t. He could easily have hurt her, killed her, even, yet he hadn’t made any threatening moves or suggestions. Last night, he had been totally honest in his reason for leaving. She understood how dangerous a hungry vampire—Transylvanian or Hungarian—could be. She had seen it first-hand. Raedan had been a vampire for nine hundred years. Surely, by now, he could restrain his impulses—whatever kind they might be.

But what if he lost control? She would be as helpless as a mouse caught in the jaws of a tiger. She wasn’t fool enough to think that her magic would save her. She had talent, yes, but she still had a lot to learn. And he was powerful as only the very old vampires could be.

She knew Dominic thought she was being foolish, and maybe she was. But it was her life.

It was close to noon when Lily donned her bathing suit, tucked a beach towel and some sunscreen into a tote bag, grabbed her keycard, hat, and sunglasses, and headed for the beach.

It was a beautiful clear day, postcard perfect. Being in the middle of the week, the beach wasn’t overly crowded. She found a suitable place to spread her towel and sat down. She smiled as a toddler let out a shriek when the water tickled his feet, watched a couple of teenage boys who probably should have been in school tossing a Frisbee back and forth. Further down the beach, a freckle-faced young girl was building a sand castle. The child let out an angry cry when a boy with the same freckles—probably the girl’s older brother—purposely knocked it down.

With a sigh, Lily stretched out on her back, closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the waves, the whisper of the surf, the call of the gulls.

An hour later, she woke with a start. A glance at her phone told her it was after four. Rising, she walked along the shore before retrieving her things and leaving the beach. She stopped at a fast food place to grab a bite to eat, then hurried back to the hotel, her excitement at the thought of seeing Raedan again growing with every passing minute.

A shower and a shampoo were the first order of business when she returned to her rooms.

Feeling like a schoolgirl getting ready for her first date, she spent an hour fussing with her hair, putting it up in an elaborate do, then taking it down and letting it fall over her shoulders. Most men liked long hair, so she left it loose. She applied her make-up, brushed her teeth, then spent thirty minutes trying to decide what to wear. A dress? A skirt and blouse? A sweater and jeans?

In the end, she decided to go casual with a pair of white slacks and a hot pink sweater with a square neck. She pinned the left side of her hair back with a sparkling old-fashioned barrette Ava had given her, and stepped into a pair of white sandals. Blowing out a sigh, she looked at her reflection in the mirror and hoped Raedan would like what he saw.

Big, fat butterflies did somersaults in the pit of her stomach when she heard his knock at the door.

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