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An Excerpt From: So I Married A
Vampire
Copyright © ELISA ADAMS, 2007
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.
Jane
glanced over to the window, staring out into the complete darkness of the
night through the parted curtains. Dim light from the bedside lamps lit the
room. An ice bucket with a bottle of champagne sat on a table near the bed
and next to it rested a couple of glasses. Flowers matching the ones from
her wedding bouquet sat on each bedside table. Ethan had brought her to their
honeymoon suite in the same hotel where they’d had their reception. The
suite where they’d planned to spend their wedding night. In fact, given how
hard her family and most of her colleagues could party, the reception was
most likely still going on downstairs. Did anyone even miss her? Did they
notice she was gone?
Probably
not.
The
ones who’d seen her leave had known she was with Ethan. No one would be
worried about her. They would just think they’d left to get a jump-start on
the honeymoon. After finding out Ethan’s secret, she’d told her parents she
didn’t want to deal with the traditions of cutting the cake and tossing the
bouquet. First dance as husband and wife? Forget it. She hadn’t been in the
mood for any of that. Of course she hadn’t told them the real reason. She’d
only mentioned that she wanted to keep things low-key and let everyone have
a good time. No one would even know she’d been kidnapped by a vampire.
Now
why did that thought make her panties damp all over again?
Because
he was right. They fit together. It didn’t matter what he was. Didn’t
matter what she was. Fate apparently didn’t care about such inconsequential
details in the grand scheme of things. There was the little matter of her
job being a serious conflict of interest, but did she really think Ethan was
one of the bad guys? Of course not. Out of the two of them, she was the
more dangerous one. No, she didn’t think he was a murderer or a deranged
psychopath, but he’d lied to her. In a big way. And now he’d
kidnapped her and tied her up too.
The
mattress dipped and she swung her gaze in his direction, wishing her hands
weren’t still bound. She could defend herself if she needed to but it would
have been a lot easier if she had the use of her arms. “Stay away.”
Because
if you don’t, I won’t want you to anymore.
Even
now a small part of her craved his touch. Unable to stop herself, she edged
toward him, inching awkwardly across the mattress. It was the wedding dress.
It had to be. Wearing all that tulle had somehow made her common sense shut
down. Damn it, she loved him, but she didn’t want to.
No,
she did want to. That was what the real problem was here.
Loving him went against everything she’d been taught during her training
but she couldn’t help it. She wanted him to touch her.
As if
reading her mind, Ethan reached up to cup her cheek in his palm. She tried
to shrug away but he refused to let go.
“Don’t.
Please, Jane. Stay with me here.”
“Untie
me. We’ll talk. I promise.”
“Not
yet. There are some things I want to show you first. To prove to you that I
do listen and that I’m willing to make compromises if you are.”
She
raised her eyebrows. “And what would those be?”
“You
know we’re meant to be together. It doesn’t matter what I am. I cherish
you. I can bring you more pleasure than you can even imagine.”
Something
quaked inside her. Oh man. The pleasure he’d already brought her had been
amazing. The man was nothing if not adventurous. “What do you have
planned?”
“You’ll
see.”
He
glanced toward the bedroom doorway and she followed his gaze. It was then
she noticed they weren’t alone anymore.
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