utter idiots to ignore someone as beautiful as you!”
Chloe snatched her hands from his grasp. “Do you honestly think I’m going to believe that you were so taken by my ‘beauty’ that you went to such great lengths as to use magic to win me over? Heck, it took me twenty-five years to come to love this body and you’re going to tell me that it took you only one glance?”
“Chloe, I have been on this earth for six hundred years. The women of today would be considered ugly in past generations. You on the other hand would have been worshiped. Your luscious curves immortalized in paint. Despite what you may be thinking and what today’s society wants you to think, you are a very beautiful and desirable woman. Therefore I’m glad all the others overlooked what I love about you. For one look at you with another man and I would have ripped his throat out. So deep in the throes of bloodlust I was for you.”
“Bloodlust? What’s that?”
“It’s a condition that vampires experience only once in their lives, thank God! When vampires have found their one true mate and our pursuit has been refused, we become utter fools and in some extreme cases, if the bloodlust goes on for too long, we walk the earth as raging lunatics. Fortunately I only hit the foolish state before I caved in and decided to use my powers to charm you into marrying me.
“Despite what you might be thinking, I can only manipulate your thoughts and actions, love, not your heart. And that can only be done if I’m within close proximity to you. So if you missed me in the least bit these past few weeks, which I pray you did, that was your heart dictating your feelings, not me.”
Chloe’s heart flip-flopped in her chest as the implications of Tristan’s words sunk home. From the moment she’d laid eyes on him over the roulette table at the casino, she’d experienced an instant attraction for the handsome British hotelier, but it wasn’t necessarily love at first sight, which was so popular in many romance novels. She was too pragmatic for that silliness.
However, she had to admit that during the brief time they’d spent together something had developed. Something so intense she felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach every time he was near her. And during the few short weeks they were apart, she was absolutely miserable. So if his powers were limited to only controlling a person’s mind and actions, then how could she explain her acting like a lovesick teenager?
However, for argument’s sake, Chloe decided to call his bluff. “How do I know you’re telling the truth? I-I mean, you could be using your powers right now and I wouldn’t know the difference.”
“Well, actually it’s quite simple, for charming is nothing but the power of persuasion or a form of temporary hypnosis. As I said earlier, I must be in close proximity to you for my powers to work, I must be looking—”
“Directly into my eyes,” Chloe finished for him. “Just like in the old Hollywood horror movies. And just like that day in the hotel lobby.”
Despite his affirmative nod, Chloe’s usual stubbornness won out. “Prove it,” she announced, crossing her arms across her chest and raising her chin in challenge.
Tristan leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms across his chest as well. For several moments green eyes locked with brown, with neither of them saying anything. Then a slow sensual smile touched his lips, throwing Chloe’s heart into a tailspin. Feeling slightly unnerved by her reaction, she drew the edges of her robe together in a matronly fashion.
“I accept your challenge, my dear,” Tristan replied softly before she had the common sense to withdraw it.
“W-what are you going to do?” Chloe asked nervously.
“I am going to prove to you that during the time I courted you I only persuaded you to go out with me, not become the lovesick teenager that you claimed to have become. This time you can gauge for yourself if I’m lying or
Chloe snatched her hands from his grasp. “Do you honestly think I’m going to believe that you were so taken by my ‘beauty’ that you went to such great lengths as to use magic to win me over? Heck, it took me twenty-five years to come to love this body and you’re going to tell me that it took you only one glance?”
“Chloe, I have been on this earth for six hundred years. The women of today would be considered ugly in past generations. You on the other hand would have been worshiped. Your luscious curves immortalized in paint. Despite what you may be thinking and what today’s society wants you to think, you are a very beautiful and desirable woman. Therefore I’m glad all the others overlooked what I love about you. For one look at you with another man and I would have ripped his throat out. So deep in the throes of bloodlust I was for you.”
“Bloodlust? What’s that?”
“It’s a condition that vampires experience only once in their lives, thank God! When vampires have found their one true mate and our pursuit has been refused, we become utter fools and in some extreme cases, if the bloodlust goes on for too long, we walk the earth as raging lunatics. Fortunately I only hit the foolish state before I caved in and decided to use my powers to charm you into marrying me.
“Despite what you might be thinking, I can only manipulate your thoughts and actions, love, not your heart. And that can only be done if I’m within close proximity to you. So if you missed me in the least bit these past few weeks, which I pray you did, that was your heart dictating your feelings, not me.”
Chloe’s heart flip-flopped in her chest as the implications of Tristan’s words sunk home. From the moment she’d laid eyes on him over the roulette table at the casino, she’d experienced an instant attraction for the handsome British hotelier, but it wasn’t necessarily love at first sight, which was so popular in many romance novels. She was too pragmatic for that silliness.
However, she had to admit that during the brief time they’d spent together something had developed. Something so intense she felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach every time he was near her. And during the few short weeks they were apart, she was absolutely miserable. So if his powers were limited to only controlling a person’s mind and actions, then how could she explain her acting like a lovesick teenager?
However, for argument’s sake, Chloe decided to call his bluff. “How do I know you’re telling the truth? I-I mean, you could be using your powers right now and I wouldn’t know the difference.”
“Well, actually it’s quite simple, for charming is nothing but the power of persuasion or a form of temporary hypnosis. As I said earlier, I must be in close proximity to you for my powers to work, I must be looking—”
“Directly into my eyes,” Chloe finished for him. “Just like in the old Hollywood horror movies. And just like that day in the hotel lobby.”
Despite his affirmative nod, Chloe’s usual stubbornness won out. “Prove it,” she announced, crossing her arms across her chest and raising her chin in challenge.
Tristan leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms across his chest as well. For several moments green eyes locked with brown, with neither of them saying anything. Then a slow sensual smile touched his lips, throwing Chloe’s heart into a tailspin. Feeling slightly unnerved by her reaction, she drew the edges of her robe together in a matronly fashion.
“I accept your challenge, my dear,” Tristan replied softly before she had the common sense to withdraw it.
“W-what are you going to do?” Chloe asked nervously.
“I am going to prove to you that during the time I courted you I only persuaded you to go out with me, not become the lovesick teenager that you claimed to have become. This time you can gauge for yourself if I’m lying or
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