“Megan.” He caressed her cheek, ever so lightly. “I don’t want to go on without you. I was alone for a long time and content to be so, until I met you. I’m in love with you. That hasn’t changed, and it never will. I know you love me. I know it’s risky for you to stay with me, but maybe if we leave LA, go to a small town where there aren’t any other vampires…” He shrugged. “Maybe we could start over, pretend we’re like any other couple.”
It was tempting, so tempting. But what if it didn’t work out? Did she want to try again? Risk her heart again? What if some other maniac vampire showed up? “I don’t know.”
“I promise I won’t ever leave you again, unless you tell me to go.”
And still she hesitated.
“Megan.”
She bit down on her lower lip. How could she resist the love she heard in his voice, the longing in his eyes? She had agreed, perhaps rashly, to marry him not long ago. Did she still want that? Did she really want to spend her life with a man she would never understand? Did she want to give up the chance to have a family and live a normal life?
He was reading her mind again. She could see it in the clenching of his hands, the tightening of his jaw.
“I’m sorry I bothered you,” he said, his voice tight. “It won’t happen again.”
She stared at him, her heart pounding. He was leaving. What if she never saw him again? Did she want to spend the rest of her life without him?
Preternatural power filled the air, and she knew that in moments he would vanish from her sight.
“Good-bye, Megan.”
“No!” She grabbed his arm, realizing in that moment, when he was about to leave her, perhaps forever, that she couldn’t live without him. “Don’t go!”
She frowned as a slow smile spread across his face. Pulling her hand away from his arm, she glared at him. “That’s so unfair!”
“What?”
“Oh, I hate you! You were reading my mind again, weren’t you? You knew I wouldn’t let you go!”
Chuckling softly, he reached for her, but she pulled away. “No, not until you promise to stop reading my mind.”
“I’ll do better than that,” he said, still grinning. “I’ll teach you how to block me.”
“There’s a way to do that?” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
He shrugged. “Because I like reading your mind,” he admitted. “I like knowing what you’re thinking about me.”
“So, can you read everybody’s mind?”
“Pretty much. In the beginning, it took a lot of concentration to block them all out.”
“Can all vampires do it?”
“As far as I know.”
“So, how do I block you?”
“You have to erect a barrier around your mind. Visualize it as a brick wall, or a dam, or some other structure that’s solid.”
“And that works?” she asked skeptically.
“It takes a lot of practice, but that’s the only way I know.” Seeing the look of concentration on her face, he took her hands in his and gave them a gentle shake. “Do you have to try it now?”
“I guess not.”
“So, what do you say we go to your place? I’ll grovel at your feet until you forgive me, and then we can indulge in some hot make-up sex.”
Megan laughed as she fumbled with her keys. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I know.” His hand curled over hers. “Leave your car here. I’ve got a lot of groveling to do, and I want to get to the huggin’ and kissin’ before dawn.”
Before she had time to say ah, yes, or no, they were in her bedroom. Rhys was sitting on the foot of the bed, and she was on his lap.
“Vampires,” she muttered.
Rhys fell back on the mattress, carrying her with him. When they landed, they were lying face-to-face. “Be honest, would you have me any other way?”
“No.” She might wish for him to be human, but if he was, he wouldn’t be the Rhys she had fallen in love with.
“You promised to marry me, remember?” His hand slid slowly up and down her back, a gentle caress.
“Hmm, I’m not sure that promise is still valid, since you went off and left me.”
“No?”
“No.”
He pulled her body closer to his. “I want you.”
She could feel the hard evidence of that want against her belly.
“And you want me.” His voice was a low purr in her ear.
“Are you reading my mind again?”
“No. I can smell it on you.”
“You cannot.”
“It’s a sweet, musky scent, guaranteed to drive a man wild.”
She grinned. “Are you wild?”
“Baby, you’d better believe it.” He bared his fangs. “Want me to show you?”
“Oh, Grandma, what big teeth you have.”
He leered at her. “That ain’t all that’s big.”
“Are you gonna show me that, too?”
“You bet.”
“Will I like it?”
“I’ve never had any complaints.” Rhys swore softly when she went suddenly quiet. Damn. He didn’t have to read her mind to know she was wondering how many women he had known, how many he had loved. He hoped she wouldn’t ask, but since she was a female, it was inevitable.
“Rhys?”
He blew out a sigh. Here it comes.
“Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“You can ask me anything.” He was only surprised she hadn’t asked before.
“Have there been a lot of…Never mind. I don’t think I want to know.”
“There’s only been one other woman who ever meant anything, Megan.”
“Did you love her very much?”
“I thought I did. I was a young man, a young vampire back then. I’m not sure how much of what I felt for her was love, and how much was lust, but it was nothing compared to what I feel for you. So, are you still willing to marry me, pretty Megan?”
Cupping his face in her hands, she closed her eyes and whispered, “Read my mind.”
Chapter 47
Megan turned slowly in front of the triple mirror. The dress, long and off-white with fitted sleeves and a square neck edged with lace, made her feel like a fairy-tale princess. What would Rhys think of it?
They hadn’t talked about when or where they would get married. Hadn’t decided whether to run away to Vegas or stay in town and have a judge perform the ceremony. Either way, she was going to be ridiculously overdressed. Still, a girl only got married for the first time once, and she had always dreamed of a dress exactly like this.