Don't Bite the Bridesmaid Read Online Free PDF

swing harder than that to take me down.”
    A tentative smile rose, but her blush remained. “You okay?”
    “I’m fine. Here, let me show you how it’s done,” he said.
    She quirked an eyebrow at him and lined the ball up again. “Okay.”
    “Set your legs a little farther apart, and keep your wrists straight.” He closed the distance between them to help her with her stance and ignored the little jolts of electricity that ran up his fingertips as he touched her softly on her shoulders, then her arms.
    “Bend here,” he murmured, touching the small of her back, a slight brush of his skin on her dress. He was close, too close. The smell of her filled his nose and he fought not to lean in and see if her hair was as soft as it looked.
    She took in a quick breath. He stepped back.
    “Don’t swing like it’s a baseball. Tap it.”
    She swung at the ball slowly, and it rolled forward into the hole.
    “Yes!” Alice yelled. She bounced up and down a couple of times and then gave him a quick hug before pulling back with a dazzling smile on her face. “Thank you.”
    His reply caught in his throat.
    She seemed unaware of his discomfort. Turning to her sister, she said, “Next game is all mine.”
    Alice performed better through the next few holes. She didn’t break any records, but no balls flew at his head either, so he counted that as a win. Noah went first at the last hole, and managed his first hole-in-one for the night. Alice cheered him on, and he gave her a mock bow.
    “I have to make a call,” he said when Alice positioned herself to hit the final hole.
    She waved at him and he walked to the entrance of the golf area, handing his club off to the attendant along the way. Glancing around to ensure he was as alone as possible when trapped on a ship with thousands of tourists, he hit Charles’s name on his phone. It rang through to voice mail.
    “Call me when you get this. I need an update.” He hit end and then tracked down another number on his contact list and dialed it.
    “Yeah,” an emotionless voice said.
    “What’s happening, Alex?”
    “Charles requested an audience. Could be a couple of days. They aren’t happy you left the city,” Alex replied, his tone still calm.
    Noah had the sudden urge to reach through the phone and shake the detached man on the other end of the line. Alex was old, older even than Noah, and he didn’t even bother to pretend to feel things anymore. He hadn’t always been that way, but centuries of life would do that to a vampire. And Alex had been old when Noah was made vampire. His lack of humanity was exactly the sort of thing the bonding was supposed to prevent in Noah, but he’d be damned if he’d let The Council decide his fate like that.
    “I’m not going through with it.”
    Alex snorted, and Noah tensed. That was the closest thing to emotion he’d heard from his friend in far too long.
    “Unless they give you a stay, you will go through with it, my friend.”
    Noah tapped his fist lightly against the wall, forcing down the urge to really hit something. That was the crux of it, wasn’t it? The Council wasn’t disobeyed, not when it really mattered. And they took bondings very seriously.
    A fact Alex knew all too well.
    “It’s not so bad,” Alex said.
    Now it was Noah’s turn to snort with derision. “You’ve been bonded for five years and haven’t set eyes on your so-called bride since the wedding.”
    “Exactly. Like I said, it’s not so bad.”
    Noah ran his hand over his hair, not sure what to say, but unable to hang up just yet. Alex was loyal to a fault, and he always did what he needed to in order to help his friends, but it had been a long time since he’d displayed much humor. It was a treat, but held dangerous hope.
    “I don’t want to be tied to someone I don’t at least care for. Hell, I don’t want to be tied to any woman. Not like that. Not even for a mere decade or two.”
    Long silence filled the line. “It’s…a