Even Dorian, a man she’d been inexplicably drawn to from the start—the proverbial moth to the flame.
“It is,” he finally replied.
“You blurred me up to your bedroom?” Charlotte let out a nervous laugh. “I think you were confusing my screams of protest with my screams of passion.”
“Not likely. I can assure you, the difference isquitedistinct.”
“Then let me make something evenmoredistinct. This?” She gestured between the two of them. “…isnothappening. And don’t youdaretry any of that compulsion bullshit again. There’s a word for that, Dorian. Forcing a woman to—”
“I’ve already told you—I didnotcompel your desire. Even if it were possible, it’s a line I would never cross.”
“Why?” She folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against one of the bed’s oak columns. “Because you’re such a nice chap?”
His eyes blazed again, two embers in a face of stone. “Because even the most evil among us have their limits.”
A shiver rolled through her body, but she stood her ground. “Then how does it work? You just… erase people’s memories whenever you feel like it?”
Dorian shoved a hand through his hair, clearly flustered.
But Charlotte wasn’t going to let this drop.
“A skilled vampire can compel humans to forget recent events or conversations,” he said. “He can manipulate memories to make you believe you saw something other than the truth. He can order you to perform certain acts, or say certain words, or even take your own life. But hecannotcompel a woman to want him.” He stepped closer, trapping her against the column, glaring down at her with those intense eyes. Then, brushing his fingertips across her collarbone and taking a deep draw of breath, “He cannot compel her body to respond to his touch, nor to create theunmistakablescent of her darkest desires.”
Charlotte closed her eyes, the shiver finally breaking through, rattling her from head to toe.
It would’ve been so easy to give in. To push aside everything she’d seen tonight—to bury it with her guilt and shame and all the other dark things she kept locked in a box—and fall into his eager embrace.
But she wouldn’t. Not this time.
She looked up at him again and shook her head. “I’mnotsleeping with you tonight, Dorian. Forget it.”
Dorian sighed and took a step back, breaking their connection. “I didn’t bring you here for sex, Charlotte.”
“So we’re gonna sit around and play Scrabble, then?” She shoved against the column behind her, but it was as immovable as solid stone. “God, this thing was probably made in the middle ages.”
“Renaissance, actually.” He glared at her, broody as ever.
“Seriously? Fine. I’ve got a better game. Twenty questions. Me first.” She popped her hands on her hips and glared right back at him. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you’re a… a bloodsucking vampire king?”
“And when, pray tell, would I have done that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe before you—”
He rushed at her again, wrapping her in another impossible embrace, pinning her arms at her sides. His mouth was so close, she thought he might bite.
Images of their insane kiss in the basement flashed through her mind, the coppery tang of blood lingering in her mouth.
“Before Iwhat?” his whispered. New fire raged in his eyes, a hot mix of lust and anger, and beneath his firm hold, Charlotte felt the unmistakable power coursing through his veins. It wasn’t just his superstrength, his speed, his commanding tone. It was something that ran much deeper, pulsing from the very core of his being.
A two-and-a-half-centuries-old vampire king…
Charley swallowed the knot of fear in her throat, trying to remain absolutely still. She didn’t think there was a right answer to his question, and even if there was, she didn’t trust herself to keep her voice steady.
But rather than press her for a response, Dorian simply released her, turned his back, and headed for the door. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll return as soon as I can.”
“Wait. That’s it?” She followed after him, mind reeling from the whiplash he’d caused. “You dropped the biggest bomb in history on me, and now you’re leaving?”
“You’ve made it quite clear you’re not looking for company tonight.”
