The Knight Of The Rose Read Online Free PDF Page A

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    “All done,” he said, but as I tried to turn around, he held me in place by my shoulders.
    “What’re you doing?”
    “Shh.” Using the tip of his very cold finger, the vampire traced a line ever so slowly from the
    base of my neck, all the way down my spine, and stopped between my shoulder blades, just under
    where my bra would sit. “I’ve never seen this part of your body before.”
    “David, you can’t just co me in here, touching me l ike that, and expect me to—” I turned
    around, but my anger dissipated as the green in his eyes melted into liquid adoration.

    “You look so beautiful in that dress, Ara.”
    “I do?” I frayed my fingers down the diamantes on the bodice.
    “A beauty, I fear—” he touched his chest, “—that is a perfection I do not deserve.”
    Well, safe to say no one’s ever said that to me before.
    He placed both hands in his back pockets and lowered his shoulders—shaking his head. My
    frown broke into a grin. I just can’t resist the way he looks at me, with one eye squinting into a smile
    and the other studying me so carefully, like he’s never seen me before. All I want now is to take off
    this dress and tell the girls to go home.
    “I love you, Ara.” David laughed and kissed my cheek. “I have to go.”
    “Hurry up, Ara. What, are you still sewing the seams?” Emily joked.
    “It’s a corset, Em. Good things take time.” I turned back to look at David, but as usual, he left
    without saying goodbye—leaving me to find only emptiness.
    I hope this doesn’t become a habit of his.
    I drew a breath and quietened my heart, then stepped around the corner of the wardrobe to
    show the girls my dress.
    “Oh, my God!” Emily jumped up and ran to me. “Ara, you look like a princess.”
    Alana shook her head, walking more slowly. “No way, she looks like an angel.”
    “Look at th e way it sets off he r eyes. They’re bluer than the sky against that dress, Ara.”
    Emily ruffled the layers of my skirt, then sighed. “I wish I could find a dress like this.”
    “You will. Hey, why don’t we al l go shopping next week? We’ll find something just as
    perfect for you,” I said.
    Emily nodded eagerly. “I’m in.”
    Alana cringed. “I’d rather not—I hate shopping.”
    “Really?” I asked.
    “Yeah, I mean, not hate it, but I’d rather do other things,” Alana said.
    I shook my head. “I’m sure you and I are kindred spirits.”
    “Perhaps.” She shrugged. “Except I have better taste in boys.”
    As I turned away, chuckling softly, I caught my reflection in the window; the sky was dark,
    and though the howling wind and the pattering rain outside made my stomach sink—for fear there
    might be a storm on the way—I saw only a smile on the face of the dark-haired beauty in the glass.
    She’s me, she’s really me. And she is beautiful. This dress is definitely better than the green
    one. Once again, David has rescued me from myself.
    “Oh, my God, Ara!” Emily grabbed the tag of the dress, her mouth gaping. “Was this dress
    really a thousand dollars?”
    Crud! My shoulders rolled forward. “Actually, yes. David bought it for me.”
    “What?” Alana picked up the tag and flipped it over, searching for a sale price, I guess.
    “He wanted me to feel special. I tried to stop him, but he did it anyway.” And now I can’t see
    his face, I find it so much easier to be mad at him. He’s in so much trouble when I see him next.
    Emily sat down on my bed, her ga ze distant, her hands folded into her lap. “I can’t believe it,
    Ara. I never thought I’d see the day when David Knight fell in love.”
    “Did you not think he was capable?” I asked.
    “No. I’m sorry. I didn’ t. I was sure that, ten years from now, when we meet for our high
    school reunion, he’d be America’s most eligible bachelor.”
    She has no idea how right she is. Ten years from now, I’ll be so much older than him, and our
    high-school-sweetheart-romance will