Page 20 of Midnight Enchantment

In the morning, Lily sat down at the small mahogany desk in the hotel bedroom and wrote her brother a letter. A text would have been faster, but that could have been traced.

Dear Dom:

I know you’re worried about me, but I’m fine. For the first time in my life, I’m free to do as I please, when I please, with whom I please. Raedan is not the monster everyone thinks he is. Nothing untoward is going on between us, I promise. He’s been a perfect gentleman. Please call Mom and Dad and tell them I’m fine and that I’ll be returning to New Orleans soon. I just needed a chance to be on my own for once. Give Ava and Maddy my love and hug the baby for me. Love ya, Lily.

She folded the letter, slipped it into an envelope and addressed it to her brother, careful not to add a return address. She frowned as she sealed the flap. The postmark would let them know she was in California.

And then she smiled. She was a witch. She didn’t need the United States Post Office to deliver her mail. She would send it Air Lily.

She spent the day at the beach again—walking along the shore, building a sand castle, lying in the shade of a rented umbrella, reading a paperback book she had bought in the hotel gift shop, and indulging in a king-sized Snickers candy bar.

Later in the afternoon, she bought a hot dog and a coke from a street vendor, then took another walk. She loved the scent of sea and sand, the way the waves rushed endlessly to the shore. She wondered about Raedan. Was he trapped in the dark sleep of his kind during the day? Or was he ancient enough that it was no longer necessary? Did he have to feed often? She knew some vampires fed less as they aged. And some fed often just because they liked it. Hungarian vampires were more human than the other kind. They didn’t have to rest during the day, though most did, simply because they preferred the night. They were able to consume regular food, though they did require blood from time to time. They didn’t kill their prey. Raedan had been a vampire a very long time. It bothered her to know he had probably taken many lives in the course of his existence.

And then there was the demon thing. How did that affect him, exactly, and how had he become infected with a demon in the first place? She had never even known such things as blood-demons existed. Of course, if there were witches and vampires, why not demons? There were stories in the Bible of people being possessed by evil spirits, but Raedan didn’t act like a man controlled by some demonic, malevolent being. Could she live with him if he was?

The thought brought her up short. She was falling in love with him, of that she was sure. But did she want to spend the rest of her life with him? Of course, it was a moot point at the moment. For one thing, he hadn’t asked her. And they had only known each other a matter of days. Maybe what she felt wasn’t love at all, just infatuation for the most remarkable man she had ever met. How was she to know? There hadn’t been very many men in her sheltered life. Her father and her brother had seen to that.

As the air cooled, she headed back to the hotel. She had plenty of time to worry about the future, she mused as she took the elevator to her room. If it was love, it would last. If not, she would enjoy it while she could. But there was no time to worry about it now. She had a date in a couple of hours.

Raedan showed up promptly at seven. As usual, she couldn’t help staring at him. He looked runway model handsome in a pair of black jeans and a dark-blue jacket over a white pullover.

He grinned at her expression. “I think you look great, too.”

“What? Oh! You’re reading my mind again!”

“Sorry. Force of habit.”

“Well, stop it!” Lily glared at him, wondering, as she did so, how she could have forgotten that vampires had that ability when she had been surrounded by them her whole life? Oh, lordy, had he read her thoughts the night before?

“If you’re not too angry with me, where would you like to go tonight?”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“A walk? A movie? A moonlight swim? Dinner, if you haven’t eaten.”

“I called room service earlier. I’m not sure about swimming at night.”

“You would be perfectly safe.”

“I don’t know. Maybe a movie, instead.”

“Whatever you wish.”

She flushed as his gaze met hers, because he was what she wanted. And she was sorely afraid he knew it.

It was Friday night, the latest superhero flick had just opened, and the movie theater was crowded. They managed to find two seats together about ten rows from the front. A little too close for Lily’s liking, but she didn’t care because Raedan was beside her, his muscular thigh brushing hers, his shoulder, too, if she leaned just a little to the left.

As the lights went down, he reached for her hand.

It was hard to concentrate on the screen when he was so close. His thumb caressed her palm, his masculine scent tickled her nostrils. They should have gone swimming, she thought. Because right about now, she could use a splash of cold water to cool her off.

When she risked a glance at Raedan, she found him looking back at her. His teeth flashed in a knowing grin as he leaned toward her and whispered, “I want you, too,” before he claimed her lips with his.

“Raedan, not here,” she whispered, pushing him away.

“No one can see us,” he assured her. “We’re in our own little world.” He lifted the arm of the seat between them so it was out of the way and then he kissed her again, lightly, and when she didn’t protest, he deepened the kiss, his tongue finding hers as his arm curled around her shoulders, drawing her body closer.

Our own little world, she thought as he kissed her again and yet again, each one a little longer, a little more intimate, than the last. She forgot where they were, forgot there was anyone else in the theater. There was only Raedan, his arm around her, his lips evoking feelings and sensations she had never experienced before, never dreamed existed. Sensations she never wanted to end.

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