Page 32 of Enchant the Dawn

“Sometimes I think you’re Mr. Cinderella.”

“What?”

“You always leave at midnight. Will you turn into a pumpkin if you stay longer?”

“I don’t think so,” he said, chuckling.

“Stay a little longer.”

Dominic settled back on the sofa. He always left at midnight because it was the perfect time to hunt. But if Maddy wanted him to stay, he was more than happy to oblige her. He didn’t have to feed every night, and when he did, he never took much. But he was a vampire. And he craved the taste. His gaze moved to the sweet curve of Maddy’s throat. He’d been wanting another taste ever since the first one.

“I’ve been wondering,” Maddy said. “What do you do for a living? You’ve never said.”

“I’m a partner in my grandfather’s business back in Hungary.”

“Oh? What does he do?”

“He runs a large family organization that provides health care.” Another lie, he thought. And yet, in a way, it was true. Andras cared for the needs of his people—not so much their material needs, but protecting them from hunters and making sure the mortal families of any who were killed by hunters were taken care of. Like St. James’s widow and child, who would never want for anything as long as they lived.

“Sounds important.”

“Lives depend on it.”

“How long will you be here, in New Orleans?”

His gaze caressed her. “I may never leave,” he murmured, and kissed her again, kissed her until she was mindless, breathless. Unable to resist any longer, he spoke to her mind, and then he bit her ever so gently. Only a sip of her life’s blood—warm, sweet, like nectar on his tongue.

Wishing he dared take more, he sealed the tiny wounds in her throat and kissed her again.

* * *

“Things seem to be getting serious between you and Maddy,” Ava remarked when he returned home that night.

“You could say that.”

“You’re supposed to be looking for Knights,” she reminded him.

“I know. And you’re supposed to be concocting a spell to help me find them.”

“Perhaps it would be faster if I removed the protective spell that shields your presence and let them find you.”

“Is that your way of saying you can’t locate the Knights?”

“Not at all. But if we let them find you, you can decide when and where to be found.”

Dominic grunted softly. “Maybe you’re right.”

“Let’s think about it for a day or two. It’ll take me that long to perfect the spell I’m working on, and then we can decide which way is best.”

“I’m in love with Maddy.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“It complicates things, doesn’t it?”

“It does, indeed.”

“What should I do?”