Dark Seduction (Vampire Royals of New York #2) - Sarah Piper Page 0,39
The contact made her heart skip—a soft beat that sang to him, drawing him closer. He couldn’t help it. As long as they were in the same room together, he couldn’t not touch her—no matter how badly he needed to keep his distance.
“You’re the most courageous woman I’ve ever met, Charlotte. I won’t have you doubting it. Not in my presence.”
Her cheeks darkened, a shy smile touching her lips. “Is that an order, highness?”
“Indeed.” He returned her smile, sliding his thumb across her lips, recalling how she’d done it to him in the dining room. The sweetness of her blood made his mouth water, and he leaned in closer, desperate for another taste…
“Cheese!” she said suddenly, pulling out of his grasp. “We need cheese.”
She darted for the refrigerator, and Dorian grabbed his wine, tipping back a healthy swig.
Bloody hell, the whole situation was growing more impossible by the second.
“So,” she said, dodging his gaze as she grated a block of white cheddar into a large ceramic bowl, “any other ideas?”
Several, including but not limited to blurring you up to my bedroom and tying you to the bed, devouring you with kisses, and fucking you until you forget everything about your life but the feel of my punishing cock sliding between your thighs…
“Dorian?” she said, and he blinked, taking another sip of wine.
“Right. What if we temporarily relocate you and Sasha to one of my properties in London, then let the robbery play out, at which time I’ll have the thieves arrested onsite?”
“And then what? My sister and I live out the rest of our lives as fugitives? Rudy has connections, Dorian. Even if you had him arrested—hell, even if you took him out—the moment we set foot back in the States, we’d be dead. And that’s assuming his guys didn’t track us down overseas first.”
“Fair point. All right, I could relocate my most valuable pieces to Tribeca. If they break in here, they’ll only find a fraction of the estate, and perhaps they’ll give up, moving on to something more lucrative.”
“No good.” Charlotte set the bowl of cheese on the table in the nook, then rummaged the cupboards for dishes and utensils. “Other than the Hermes and LaPorte painting, which I didn’t mention because of the connection to my father’s murder, they already know what’s here. If it’s gone when they make their move, they’ll know I warned you.”
Dorian bit back a curse. Of course they knew what was here. Dorian had been sleeping with a spy.
He reached for the bottle of wine, dumping the rest into his glass, the whole situation crashing down on him anew. What a fucking mess.
“For fuck’s sake, Charlotte. You really took me for a fool.”
Wisely, she didn’t deny it.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life regretting that I betrayed you,” she said softly, staring at the plate in her hands. “I’ve said and done a lot of fucked up things, hurt a lot of people… But you, Dorian Redthorne—you’re my one.”
“One what?”
Glancing up from the plate, she shrugged and said plainly, “I let you get away. Regrets don’t get much bigger than that.”
She held his gaze for so long, he was certain it was a dream. He bloody well wanted it to be—some garish nightmare from which they’d soon awaken, tangled together in his bed after another passionate night. He’d kiss the spot on her neck just beneath her ear, and whisper to her about the craziest dream he’d ever had.
“Artwork aside,” she said, returning her attention to the table, “what would you do with the cars? No way. It’s too complicated.”
Dorian’s stomach bottomed out. “They’re planning to go after the cars as well? Bloody hell, Charlotte. How do you live with yourselves?”
“I don’t,” she said. “Being a thief? It’s not a glamorous life. It’s not a life at all. I don’t have friends. I don’t date. I don’t work or explore new things or go on adventures. The dresses, the hair, the makeup… It’s all funded by the operation. The only thing that gets me through the day—every day, no matter how terrible—is Sasha. When she showed up on my doorstep, everything clarified. My issues didn’t matter anymore—not like that. She’s my whole life, Dorian. My everything.”
“I understand you love her, Charlotte, but she shouldn’t be your sole reason for living.”
“No, and I shouldn’t be stealing. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this mess. I shouldn’t have let Rudy sell off my father’s estate. I shouldn’t have done a lot of things, but