Seized by the Vampire Lord (Dark Lords) by Jaide Fox Read Free Book Online

back into its place, she took another book out and began to look through it in the same manner.  The handwriting was still immature, however, and so too the thoughts recorded on the pages.  Returning it to the shelf, she counted the volumes, deciding that each represented a year.
     
    Finally, she stopped when she reached the thirtieth volume and pulled it from the shelf.  Moving to the window seat where she had more light, she scanned the pages.  Her heart skipped a beat when she read the passage ‘My beloved wife…’
     
    She gasped.  It had never crossed her mind that he had been married.  Her thoughts turned chaotic.  She closed the book abruptly, her heart hammering erratically in her breast.  This, she knew, absolutely, that she had no right to intrude in.  She stared down at the book in her hands, fighting the curiosity that gnawed at her.  She desperately wanted to know what had happened between him and his wife.  Had she died long years ago, leaving him to mourn endlessly?
     
    Cerise opened the hard-cover, nervously fluttering the pages between her fingers.  Finally, unable to resist, she opened the book to the first page.  The book, she discovered, began in his thirty fifth year.  She scanned through several pages that spoke of unrest. 
    She had just discovered a passage that mentioned his beloved wife, when the door slammed open, striking the wall so hard several books fell from the shelves.
     
    Cerise jumped, dropping the book from suddenly nerveless fingers as she gaped at the man standing on the threshold.  Rage had transformed him.  He was almost unrecognizable.
     
    Leaping to her feet, Cerise nudged the book with her toe, pushing it surreptitiously beneath the drapes that surrounded the window seat.  “Daegon,” she exclaimed.  “You’re awake.”
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    Daegon’s eyes narrowed.  “Obviously this comes as a great surprise to you.”
     
    Cerise smiled at him a little weakly.  “Vampires sleep during the day, don’t they?”
     
    He eyed her for a long moment, but instead of answering her question he glanced around the room.  “Curiously enough, I was under the impression that the door to my study was locked.”
     
    Cerise glanced guiltily at the letter opener she’d left on his desk and then focused her gaze on the floor at her feet.
     
    “Ah,” Daegon said, striding to the desk and lifting the letter knife, studying it thoughtfully.  “I was wondering where I’d left my letter knife.  Where did you find it, my love?”
     
    She looked up at him wide-eyed.  “On your desk?”
     
    “I’m certain it wasn’t there the last time I looked.”
     
    Cerise took a deep, shuddering breath and decided to make a break for it.  “Well, I’m glad you found it, my lord,” she said, smiling brightly and scurrying for the door.
     
    Daegon caught her arm as she tried to rush past him, pulling her to a stop.  “Bored, my dear?”
     
    She gaped at him, wondering where this was leading.  “Why no, why do you ask?”
     
    He turned to face her, catching her other arm and dragging her up against him.  A flush of heat assailed her at the powerful, dangerous feel of him against her.  His eyes blazed with anger.  “Surely you must be, to seek entertainment in my personal journals.”
     
    Cerise felt a tell-tale crimson tide flood her cheeks.  “Your journals?” she echoed.  “You have journals in here?  I always thought that I would like to keep a journal.  I never seem to find the time for it, however.”
     
    “You have not touched them?”
     
    She forced a chuckle.  “Why, my lord, I wouldn’t consider looking in anyone’s personal journal.”
     
    “No?”
     
    “No.”
     
    “Why, I wonder, is that volume lying beside the window seat beneath the drapes?”
     
    Cerise stared at him, thinking quickly.  “You must have left it there, my lord, and forgotten.”
     
    “Alas,” he said, “I am cursed with a flawless