Sliding closer to me, he raised my hand to his lips and brushed a light kiss across my knuckles. “I think you should give me a chance. We could do amazing things together.”
“I think you’re only interested in me because I’m going to be Titania, otherwise I’d never get a second glance,” I countered, tugging my hand away.
Taking that as a challenge, Zach scooped me up into his lap as he had in the limo, except this time he turned me so I was straddling him. He kissed me senseless, leaving no doubt that he found me attractive. One hand rested on my hip, while the other slid up my back, drawing me closer. I should’ve fought him, zotted him with a spell that’d stand his blond hair on end, but instead I leaned into him. He continued to kiss me, hungry and eager, and then he moved to my neck. Lightly his lips brushed against my skin, and I nearly yelped with surprise, but he held me in place.
“Please, Catherine. Just a small bite,” he murmured against my throat. I shivered, frozen and afraid to breathe, struggling to find my voice. Taking my silence as permission, the vampire sank his fangs into my skin. Magic washed over me in a sharp, fast wave that made my back arch and hands clench into fists against his chest. The spell was stronger this time, and it completely overwhelmed me.
He drank greedily, though in my weakened state I probably tasted as appetizing as a flat diet soda left out on the counter all day. The hand at my hip slid up my side and caressed my breast through my blouse. My eyes closed as I let myself enjoy the sensations. I was so deeply enthralled, I didn’t even notice that he’d stopped drinking until I felt his lips brush my collarbone. The buttons of my blouse were undone, and I realized my bra was soon to follow. The thought was sobering enough to finally give me focus.
“Wait. I can’t-I can’t do this,” I stammered breathily.
“Why not?” His eyes had faded to a pale green, and it startled me. I suddenly became aware of the strong scent of smoke, and wondered how I hadn’t sensed it sooner.
“I can’t,” I repeated, shaking my head. What the hell are you doing? Squirming away from him, I retreated to the other end of the couch and hastily buttoned my shirt. Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair, and after a long moment he nodded.
“All right. I’ll escort you back to your room, but this conversation isn’t over.”
Yeah, I was afraid of that, but at least the make-out session was over, and that was good enough for now.
Chapter Twenty
I went to bed as soon as I could, eager to crawl under the covers and hide from the embarrassment. After drifting off to sleep I soon found myself in the middle of the grove once again. This time a large flat rock appeared in the middle of the clearing, and I sat perched atop it. I hugged my knees to my chest, and the skirt of my long robes was tucked around my feet. The sound of my weeping was the only noise in the summer night. I sobbed in confusion, regret and sorrow, as though my heart was broken. I didn’t know what to do anymore-I had a knight in shining armor who didn’t want to ride off into the sunset with me, and a vampire who wanted me to be his evil queen. Gods help me, but the vampire’s offer was sounding more appealing with each passing day.
“Don’t cry, sugar.” Looking up, I saw Lex kneeling next to me, and he rubbed my back soothingly.
“You don’t know,” I replied, shaking my head.
“Know what?”
“What I…” I shook my head again, unable to answer. Lex frowned, and then he brushed my hair out of the way and examined my throat. I knew there weren’t any marks-I’d looked-but he cursed as loudly as he would have if there’d been a stream of blood trickling down the side of my neck.
“Damn it, I told him to leave you alone,” he growled.
“Why do you care, when you don’t even want me?” Surprised, I clamped a hand over my mouth-had I really said that? Out loud? Lex looked about as startled as I was, and he rocked back on his heels.
“You know that’s not true.”
“Yes it is. Why aren’t I enough for you?” I asked, the question ending on a shrill, hiccuping sob.
“I never said that, Cat-”
“You don’t have to, I know it’s true.” Rising to my feet, I glared down at him. “But that’s fine. I don’t need you.”
A loud crack of thunder startled me, and a chill wind blew through the grove. I looked up at the night sky, expecting to see rain clouds rolling in, but the stars were still bright above us.
“You don’t mean that,” Lex said. He gazed up at me, confused, and I folded my arms across my chest.
“I won’t waste my life waiting for you to decide what’s most important to you.”
“I’ve already made my decision. Marry me.”
I blinked, startled. “What?”
“Marry me. In fact, why not right here and now?” Rising to his feet, he took my hands in his.
“Because we’re in the dream realm. Nothing’s binding here, don’t be silly.” Frustrated, I tugged my hands away.
“‘Why should Titania cross her Oberon?’” he quoted, smiling slyly.
“Because I can’t trust you. You’ll just end up resenting me and then you’ll leave. Titania and Oberon aren’t exactly a healthy example to base a relationship on.”
“We’ll work it out.”
“Yeah, ’cause that worked so well before,” I snapped, scowling at him. “You’re not my Oberon. You never were. Just leave me alone.”
The wind picked up, whipping my hair behind me as another rumble of thunder sounded. Lex glanced around and then cursed viciously. Lightning flashed, splitting the sky, and my heart beat wildly. He stood ready to protect me from the danger invading our grove, and then he turned and gripped my arm.
“Don’t let him bite you again, Cat. It’s poison. He’s trying to control you-”
And just like that the dream was gone, and the rest of the night was quiet and empty.
In the morning my clothing order arrived, including a few items I knew I hadn’t requested but apparently Zach thought I needed. At least his fashion choices were more conservative than Laura’s, so I let it slide. True to his word, Zach showed up to take me out to dinner that evening. The vampire continued his attempt to convince me that he was Prince Charming instead of the Prince of Darkness, probably hoping that if he won my heart I’d continue speaking to him after I left. I learned that part of his master plan included escorting me to the opening of the new show in his art gallery the night before the full moon, where I’d get to do my best arm-candy impression in a dress that cost more than my last semester at college.
Harrison spent the majority of his free time trying to romance me. More dinners, more movies, a thrilling tour of Vampire Central and the many luxury amenities within it, all with magician political commentary and the things we could do together to change things for the better. It began to make sense-I could see myself working with him, using my influence to impact the future of magiciankind.
Though I was loathe to admit it, with all the time we spent together I started to tolerate him a bit more. I even let him kiss me good night at the end of our pseudo-dates-it seemed reasonable that if allowing the vampire kiss me kept him happy enough to keep his word and let me and Mac leave when the moon was full, then I should just endure it. And as much as I complained about Zach’s status of walking corpse, the kissing wasn’t a horrifying experience. For the most part, if I didn’t already know he was a vampire, it’d be hard to tell. Zach kept himself reasonably warm to the touch, the miracle of spray-on tan gave his skin a healthy glow, and his smile was harmless since real vampires don’t sport constant fangs like movie monsters. When he wasn’t attempting vamp magic he smelled only of cologne and a slight scent of soap. If I didn’t have such a scarred past and a turbulent present, I could have fallen for Zach’s act. He’d even worked his way into my subconscious, because now when I dreamed, I dreamed of Zach.