The Vampire Pendant by Sheri Whitefeather Read Free Book Online Page B

you held back.” She sat forward and looped her arms around his neck. “The man has restraint.”
    “Oh, yeah?” He stood up and scooped her over his shoulder.
    “Don’t you dare!” She protested, sensing that he was going to toss her, head over pink-tinged ass, into the pool.
    Sure enough, he did. She went sailing and hit the water like a bomb. But she managed to latch onto him, forcing him to fall in, too. Together they made an even bigger splash.
    They came up for air, laughing and spewing the taste of chlorine. Then they went for the taste of a kiss. Then the flavor of each other’s bodies, until they couldn’t take another minute of foreplay and went full bore.
    Fucking good and wickedly hard.
    When Anthony and Tessa returned from the play, they went for a walk in the garden outside their bungalow. It was a lovely evening, Anthony thought. The show had been brilliant, the kind of entertainment that charmed you long after it was over, and now he and Tessa were immersed in scattered moonlight and tropical plants.
    “It seemed real,” she said.
    “The play?”
    “Yes. But that’s because I know that magic actually exists. Do you think that the realm Mathieu is from is as enchanted as Oz? That his castle is paved in gold?” She clutched her necklace. “Or dappled in rubies?”
    “The only part of his castle I saw was the jewelry room, so there was plenty of gold and precious stones around.”
    “I can only imagine.”
    “He’s extremely rich and powerful in his world. When he swooped down to save us, the air swirled around him. His energy was electrifying.”
    “Is he young and handsome like a storybook prince? White-haired like a wizard? Or something in between?”
    “He appears to be in his twenties, and he’s handsome. But he’s a king, not a prince, and he’s thousands of years old. If Simone had her way, she would slice his throat and let him bleed to death. But it takes a Jinn dagger to kill a genie, and those types of daggers are nearly impossible to find. In Muslim and Islamic cultures jinn is another name for genie, and Jinn daggers are protected by Allah’s angels.”
    “Why would Simone want to murder Mathieu? He saved your lives.”
    “Because she thinks that being imprisoned in jewelry is worse than death. She would have preferred to be staked.”
    Her voice turned quiet. “I understand how she feels.”
    “Why? Because having your face damaged was worse than death? What happened to the flippant attitude you had earlier?”
    “It’s gone, I guess.” Silence, then. “So tell me, what does Simone look like?”
    “She’s a fair-skinned brunette with blue eyes and a lilting accent. I was quite taken with her on the night we met. But she proved to be too temperamental for my tastes. I’m not saying that I don’t care for her. I do. But she’s explosive.” He laughed at the irony. “Like Mathieu. They would probably make a good match. He could handle her temper, I’m sure.”
    “Gosh, don’t tell her you said that.”
    “Believe me, I won’t.” He glanced over at Tessa, concerned for her future. “I wish you felt differently about yourself. That your appearance didn’t dictate how you lived your life.”
    She stopped walking and turned toward him. “Promise me that when this is over, you won’t ever try to see the real me. I want you to remember me this way.”
    He frowned, caught in the guilt of his lie. Now he wondered if he should have told her from the start that he’d already seen her true appearance. That he knew exactly what she looked like behind the veil of magic. Or that whenever he chose to see the real her, he could.
    “Promise me,” she insisted.
    “I promise,” he replied, not having the heart to admit the truth. But still, he went ahead and changed her in his eyes, so he could look upon her scarred face. He reached out and caressed the damaged skin, too. If she knew what he was doing, she would cringe with shame. “Let’s go inside.”
    “What