Bewitched, Blooded and Bewildered by Robyn Bachar Page A

and soul. I knew he had a part for me in his evil plans, but not this great a part. He really did want me to be his evil queen. His partner, lover, confidant. He was terribly lonely, and I was the only woman who didn’t want him for his wealth or power. I hadn’t wanted him at all, until now. Please, Catherine, his thoughts whispered against mine as he kissed the side of my throat.
    “What do you want from me?” I asked.
    “I want you to stay,” he said. “Stay with me, Catherine. There is so much we can do together. I promise I will never betray you. I will never leave you.”
    Like Lex did, I finished silently. Lex had walked away from me twice. What did I owe him? Still… “You can’t promise that,” I argued. “You can’t guarantee you won’t get bored and move on. Your mentor’s gone through more men than Elizabeth Taylor.”
    “I’m not like Laura. If you let me, I will love you forever.”
    Forever was a long time when dealing with a vampire. I hesitated, looking up into his green eyes, which had faded to a pale, watery hue. They were the eyes of a monster, I knew that, and when he bit me again all I could think of was the feel of his body against mine. Yes . I wanted this so badly. To be taken, craved and consumed.
    Mine, he thought, the sound a purr against my mind as he undressed me. There were no more arguments or second thoughts as he devoured me with his mouth and hands, leaving zero doubt that he desired me. I lost all sense of time, overwhelmed by the pleasure of him as he made love to me. I climaxed again and again as he pushed me to my limits. Finally, Zach collapsed on top of me and kissed me passionately. He caressed my face, and his eyes returned to normal as he gazed down at me.
    “I love you, Catherine.”
    I jolted awake and sat up in my bed, gasping for air and clawing at my throat. Dread shivered through me as I realized that miles away Zachary Harrison had awakened from the same dream, and he had enjoyed every bit of it. This was way worse than your average nightmare.
    “Cat? What’s wrong?” Lex asked.
    “I’m gonna be sick,” I announced.
    I stumbled out of the bed on wobbly legs and into the master bathroom, where I promptly yarked up the remains of my dinner. It was awful, the kind of drunk-sick where your stomach demands to get rid of every last drop of alcohol you were dumb enough to binge drink. I wanted to purge the memory of Harrison from my system, and each thought of him touching me inspired another heave, and a new round of crying. Damn him , I thought we were done with this kind of manipulative bullshit.
    I flinched when I felt a pair of hands holding my hair back. Lex. Now that was true love. When I had nothing left, I sat back on my heels and tried to gather the energy to move and the control to stop sobbing.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    “Worst. Dream. Ever.” After a loud hiccup, I attempted to pull myself to my feet, and Lex helped me up. I stuck my head in the sink and splashed cool water on my face and then reached for the mouthwash.
    “Do you want to talk about it?” He was watching me closely, probably wondering what the fuck was going on.
    I spat the mouthwash into the sink and burst into fresh tears. I couldn’t tell him. There were no words that could explain the dream to him or make me feel okay about it. It would only add fuel to the bonfire of hatred Lex had for Harrison. Lex wrapped his arms around me and I shook as I cried.
    If Lex hadn’t rescued me, would I really be in Harrison’s bed in vampire central right now? Could I have betrayed him that easily? Given up on us and given in to Zach? Talk about being seduced to the dark side. No…Lord and Lady, maybe Lex was right. Maybe I was that close to walking away.
    “I love you,” I said, the words almost incoherent.
    “I love you too, sugar,” he murmured against my hair.
    “I’m sorry. You won’t leave me, right? I know you’re mad about the Harrison thing because you think I don’t