Vampire Betrayed (Vampires Destined) Read Online Free PDF Page A

city.”
    “I’ve never been to Paris at all,” she reminded him, still smiling. How could she stop when the day had been perfection? Joaquin was almost too good to be true, and since the day she’d stumbled on a broken piece of concrete as she walked along Charleston’s Battery, she’d been caught in his embrace. Everything about him was magical, surreal, and yet so magnetic, she couldn’t stop touching him.
    His hand curled around her cheek. “What are you thinking, ma chérie?”
    She looked up into the swirling depths of his dark eyes. “That I’m dreaming.”
    He returned her smile, and the beauty of his face took her breath away as it always did. “Then allow me to make your dream one of exquisite beauty.”
     
    Ariana bit down hard on her lower lip to stem the tide of tears while her hand fisted in the curtain. The night had been so magical, so perfect. They’d covered every inch of the city or so it seemed.
    Joaquin had shown her his favourite places—around the Eiffel Tower, from the L’ Arc de Triomphe to Concorde Square, from the Louvre to the Palais-Royal gardens and Notre Dame. They’d held hands and talked through the hours as he pointed out the sights and explained the history behind them.
    And then he’d taken her back to the Eiffel Penthouse just before sunrise to complete the night with champagne and a bubble bath in the bathroom with its opaque walls. 
    Ariana had never felt so alive as when they’d made love beneath the heated water while the lights of the city blinked all around them. It was as if they were a part of the night, surrounded by twinkling stars.
    It was that night she’d fallen in love with him.

* * * *
    “Are you feeling better, darling?” Charon sailed into the bedroom, carrying a tray laden with coffee and toast. “I thought you might want something in your stomach.”
    Ariana lifted a hand to dissuade her. The thought of food made her nauseous. “No, thanks. I’m feeling okay, but just not ready to face something to eat yet.” Her head throbbed, and she wished she could remember what had really happened.
    The alley didn’t make sense, but Charon provided no other information. Ariana knew herself too well. She’d never gone traipsing through an alley late at night in her life. Not with friends and certainly not by herself. If she wanted to go for a walk, she always headed to Battery Park. There was something about the cannons and the fleeting glimpses of history that cleared her mind.
    “Are you listening to me?” Charon’s voice had sharpened.
    Looking up only caused her head to hurt more. “I heard you. I’m still trying to figure out this whole alley thing.”
    Charon waved a hand.  “You really need to get your strength back. Stop worrying about things you don’t remember. The doctor said those memories might never return.
    Suspicions growing stronger, Ariana shook her head and immediately regretted the movement. The pain in her head reminded her to stay still. ”I’m just not buying that. I’m sorry, but I don’t walk down dark alleys, Charon. Never have before so it doesn’t make sense that I would now.”
    “Perhaps you were running from someone. Did Joaquin return?” Charon sat on the edge of the bed. “His scent is strong in your house, and it’s possible you could have been running from him.”
    She wished she could remember. Ariana squeezed her temples in an effort to concentrate, but not even a hint of memory returned. Perhaps because there was nothing to remember.
     “Regardless, you don’t want anything like this to happen to you again. You have to protect yourself, Ariana.”
    A note of pleading entered the redhead’s voice that only upped Ariana’s suspicions. She understood being concerned about someone, but having such dogged anxiety about someone you didn’t even know, that made her question the woman’s motives.
    Besides that, she wasn’t fully convinced Joaquin would come back. Maybe she was being too starry-eyed,