Page 41 of Enchant the Dawn

“I’ll let you know when it happens.”

So he wasn’t yet thirty. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Is your sister a vampire, too?”

“No. Just a witch.”

Just a witch. He said it so casually, as if everyone had witches or vampires in their family. “So, are your parents vampires or witches? Or both?” She had never heard of vampires having babies.

“Mom’s a witch. Dad’s a vampire.”

Maddy ate in silence for a moment, then pushed her plate away, her expression serious. “Have you ever killed anyone?”

“A hunter, a few years ago.” He shrugged at the disapproval in her eyes. “It was me or him.”

She considered that for a moment as she sipped her wine.

“Anything else?”

“When you . . . you take people’s blood, does it hurt them?”

“No. I’m told it’s quite pleasant.”

“Pleasant! Who told you that?”

“Who do you think?”

Maddy frowned. Certainly the people he preyed on didn’t fill out questionnaires. Did you enjoy being bitten? Yes or No? Check the appropriate box.

“Want to give it a try?”

“I don’t think so!” she exclaimed, although she had to admit she was suddenly curious. And then she had another thought. What did vampire blood taste like?

“Some people find it addictive,” he said, watching the conflicting emotions play over her face. “Want a taste?”

“Will it hurt me?”

“No.”

She worried her lower lip between her teeth. Surely one taste wouldn’t hurt. “All right.”

Dominic bit into his wrist and held out his arm.

Maddy stared at it and then, before she could change her mind, leaned forward and licked his wrist. Warmth and a feeling of sensual pleasure washed through her. Startled, she looked up at him.

“I told you it was pleasant,” he said.

Pleasant was an understatement, she thought. “You should sell it on the Internet,” she said. “You’d make a fortune.” And then she frowned. She had tasted his blood. Had he ever tasted hers? “You said you could make me forget that we met. Have you ever made me forget anything that happened between us?”

Damn. He hadn’t seen that coming. Should he admit the truth? Or tell her a lie? In the end, the truth won. “I drank from you a couple of times. No more than a small taste,” he added quickly. “I swear.”

She lifted a hand to her throat. “You bit me?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I can make you understand how it is, what it’s like. I felt there was a connection between us the night we met, and the temptation to taste you . . .” He made a vague gesture with his hand. “I just couldn’t resist it.”

She’d felt that connection, too, she thought. “That might explain the first time it happened,” she allowed somewhat grudgingly. “But not the second time.”

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