“Right here, love.” He pointed at the nearly hidden turnoff up ahead. “Make the right at the tree trunk, then drive all the way to the end.”
Charlotte downshifted, navigating them onto the rough road. A few moments later, they arrived at the end, no more than a small dirt clearing among the trees.
They were, as he knew they would be, alone.
“Dorian, this is incredible.” Charlotte stepped out of the car and walked a few dozen yards to the edge, a rocky ridge that sloped down into the valley a hundred feet below. Beyond, the Catskill Mountain range stretched out before them, red and gold in the autumn morning light.
“Why do I recognize this place?” She turned, hitting him full on with that bright, copper-eyed gaze. “It’s like a painting come to life.”
“Precisely.” He pointed at a rocky outcropping several feet away. “That’s where Cole Diamante sat to paint—”
“Fall of Secrets!Of course! I’ve seen that painting a hundred times at the Met. It was Diamante’s last landscape. After that, he moved on to portraiture, but he never achieved the same level of critical acclaim before his death. Too bad, really. His portraits are exquisite too.”
Dorian laughed at her exuberance. “Is there anything about art you don’t know?”
“I didn’t know this place was here.”
“Well, thereissomething else you don’t know about Cole Diamante, but if I share this secret, you must promise not to tell a soul.”
“I swear it.” She made an X over her heart, her eyes sparkling.
“Cole hasn’t passed on—he’s only retreated from the public eye.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“Quite. He owns this land, and he’s a former associate of mine, though he doesn’t venture out much anymore.”
“But that would make him over a hundred and fifty years old!” She narrowed her eyes. “Vampire?”
“Wolf shifter, actually.”
“Seriously? So wolf shiftersarea thing?”
“Yes, though they’re increasingly rare. They mostly travel in packs and stick to their own kind, generally preferring the forests to the city. Cole is a lone wolf—always has been.”
“I can see why he likes it out here. It’s beautiful.”
The breeze picked up, blowing her hair into a wild frenzy around her head.
Charlotte didn’t squeal, didn’t try to smooth her hair back into place. She only laughed, throwing her arms out and twirling into the breeze, spinning until she was out of breath and the air finally stilled.
When she stopped and looked at him again, there was so much light in her eyes, it nearly blinded him.
“You’rebeautiful, Charlotte D’Amico.” He grabbed her and pulled her close, pressing his lips to hers. She stiffened in his arms, but then relaxed, parting her lips for him as he drank her in, her mouth warm and soft, her gentle murmurs stirring him into a frenzy.
Entirely too soon, she broke their kiss and gave him a playful shove, glaring at him with a mix of amusement and annoyance. “Just talking, remember?”
“Forgive me.” Dorian gave a slight bow. “I was… overcome.”
“Don’t let it happen again.” She found a flat spot on the ridge and took a seat, patting the space next to her for Dorian to join her. When he did, she said, “Okay, enough about shifters. I need Vampire 101, lightning round. Ready?”
“What’s a lightning—”
“Garlic. Myth or fact?”
He laughed, understanding her meaning. “Myth. Like any good gourmet, I adore garlic.”
“Holy water?”
