He turned to her and swept her into his arms, pressing her against his hard, muscular chest and holding her as if he never wanted to let her go. She wrapped her hands around his neck and covered his mouth with her own. She kissed him with all the passion and love she felt, trying to reassure him that nothing would alter her feelings for him.
He kissed her back with equal desire, then whispered against her hair, “No, love, he is not one of the bachelors. You met him at the airport on your way here.”
She thought back over her trip to Fiji, and her brow furrowed; then her back stiffened. “The only person I met—”
“Was the handsome Romanian,” Guy answered for her.
She uncurled her arms from his neck so they hung limply at her sides. “But you said you didn’t know him. You lied to me?”
He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Yes.” He took her chin in his hand and brought her lowered gaze up to meet his own. “Whatever you think of me after tonight, remember one thing, Melody. I love you. And I’ve never uttered those words to anyone before.”
Oh, how she’d wanted to hear those words, but not like this. “I don’t care about your brother, and I don’t care who your family is. All I care about is you. So if you’re about to destroy what we have, don’t tell me any more.” She covered her ears with her hands.
Gently, he brought her hands back down to her sides. “Dear, sweet Melody. I’m afraid not wanting to know is not going to make this go away.”
Her chest tightened. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this.”
“I have no choice. I could never live with myself if I wasn’t completely honest with you. Especially knowing how you value honesty above all else.” He tightened his arms around her and she buried her face in his shirt.
“I am not who you think I am.”
She lifted her head and looked up at him. “If you’re not really a count, so what? Actually, I’m relieved. I was having trouble seeing myself as a countess anyway.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I’m afraid that’s not it. I am a count. But I have no fortune. My home has fallen into ruin. So you see, my motives for coming here were not honorable.”
Her mouth went dry, and she swallowed hard the lump that was threatening to choke her. This couldn’t be happening. She’d left Hope for a secluded tropical island to get away from the gold-digging men who’d been hounding her, and she’d fallen right into the arms of the biggest offender.
She wriggled free of his hold and backed away from him. “You’ve been using me for my money?” She wanted to scream at him, but her words came out as little more than a squeak.
“At first.” He hung his head. “I was given an ultimatum by my father to find a wealthy bride in sixty days or lose my legacy to my brother. Melody, I had no choice. Theo is horrible. You have no idea what he is capable of.”
He lifted his head and his eyes locked with hers. “That was then, before I met you. It has nothing to do with now…the way I feel about you now. I love you. Not your money.”
She looked at him skeptically. “Why should I believe you?”
He shrugged. “I have nothing to gain by lying.”
Her ears rang and her muscles ached. She felt as if she’d been run over by a truck. She didn’t know what to think. “Then why tell me this now? Why confess at all? Unless it was to ease your guilty conscience.”
“Because I can’t continue this charade any longer.”
“What charade? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Or what this has to do with why I was in the rainforest in the middle of the night dressed only in my nightgown. What did you do to me?”
He walked over to the bed, sank onto it, and held his head in his hands. “Five hundred years ago, a curse was put upon my family. My grandfather tried to develop a potion that would reverse the spell, but he was burned at the stake before he could test it thoroughly. My brother, the evil monster that he is, put you in a trance and tried to steal you away from me.”
“Guy, you must know how all that sounds. I mean, come on. A curse, spells, a trance? I don’t believe in hocus-pocus.”
He raised his head and looked at her. His eyes were dark and tortured. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth.”
Obviously, he wasn’t going to tell her what really happened. At least not now. What did it matter anyway what his motives had been? He’d saved her from his brother, and if he loved her now, then wasn’t that all that mattered? Despite her better judgment, she sat next to him.
“I am a vampire.” His voice broke, and a look of tired sadness passed over his features.
“What?” She must have misunderstood him. “Did you say you were a vampire?”
He nodded.
A tumble of confused thoughts and feelings assailed her. “Okay, I know you wouldn’t joke at a time like this, so that means you must be delusional. And that also means I’ve fallen in love with a madman. So, Guy, please, I’m begging you. Tell me the truth.”
“I am.” He held her gaze with such a burning intensity that she knew he wasn’t lying.
It took a second for his words to sink in, and when they did, her skin prickled with fear. “But how can you be a vampire? I’ve seen you out in the sun. And you eat food. You don’t drink blood.”
“My grandfather’s potion makes me appear human and able to do all the things you do. But if I stop taking it, all my vampire traits will return.”
“And what then?” She shrank away from him. “Will you drink my blood?”
His expression darkened. “Believe me, I don’t want to.”
“But you will. Was your plan to make me a vampire too?” When he didn’t answer, the tension stretched ever tighter between them. “Will it be very painful?” Images of long, sharp fangs piercing her neck appeared in her mind.
“That depends. I’ll be as gentle as possible.”
“What if I say no? Will you go away and let me live my life, or don’t I have a say in this?”
He drew in a sharp breath. “I won’t force you to do anything.”
Her heart squeezed in anguish as the reality of what he was and what he wanted her to become began to sink in. “I want to have children someday and be able to grow old.”
“You will. We’ll have lots of children. And we’ll even grow old together. Vampires age, just very, very slowly.”
This was all too much for her to take in right now. “I need time to think. I have to be alone.” Her steady voice masked her inner turmoil.
She didn’t have to tell him a second time. He rose from the bed, his shoulders hunched, and left the room without looking back. A moment later, she heard the front door open, then shut.
With trembling hands, she covered her face, as a war of emotions raged within her. A warning voice in her head told her to beware. A life with Guy would bring danger and uncertainty. While her heart told her a life without him would be passionless and empty.
Torn between commonsense and emotion, she left the bure and, like a zombie, headed down to the beach. Sand sifted between her bare toes and a broken seashell scraped the bottom of her foot, but she didn’t feel the pain. Nor did she feel the rush of cold over her skin as she entered the water. She pushed forward until the water reached the tops of her thighs. Staring out across the sparkling azure water, she watched the dawn break over the horizon and wished for an answer. But it never came. Later, when she returned to her bure, she collapsed on the bed and fell asleep, still having no idea what she was going to do.
CHAPTER NINE
“Wake up! Wake up!”
Someone was shaking Melody’s shoulders and screaming in her ear. It took a while for the fogginess to leave her head, and she cracked an eye to see who had been so rude as to awaken her from her dream. She caught a glimpse of bright copper hair, then focused on Sugar’s face. Frown lines creased Sugar’s foundation and drooped the corners of her painted red lips.
“You must have had some night last night, girl. I’m one for partyi
n’ and all, but you look awful,” Sugar scolded. “I sure hope whatever you did with whoever was worth it.”
Memories of last night came flooding back, and she grabbed the blankets at the foot of the bed and pulled them up over her head.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Sugar yanked them back. “I don’t care if you’re still hungover, you’re getting up.”
“I’m not hungover,” Melody moaned.
“Well, hungover or not, you’ve slept most of the day away and in about an hour you’re going to announce to the world the bachelor you’ve chosen as the man for you. Now come on.” Sugar took hold of her arm and pulled her up. “I know I’ve said many times that I’m an artiste, but I ain’t no miracle worker. So get going. I turned the shower on.” Sugar pushed her toward the bathroom.
Melody heard the spray of water from the doorway. Although she could care less that they were filming the last episode of Dream Girl today, she was freezing, and a hot shower would do a lot toward warming her up. She let the water pummel the back of her neck, relaxing her stress-tightened muscles. Just as she started to feel a bit better, Guy’s face would come to mind and she’d be filled with misery again.
She grabbed a bar of coconut soap, lathered up her skin, and watched the suds rinse down the drain. If only she could wash away her memories too.
Just when her tired, cold body had begun to warm, Sugar pounded on the bathroom door. “Hurry it up in there, hon. We’ve got lots to do.”
Melody let the water stream over her head one more time before turning off the shower. She grabbed a large, fluffy towel, dried off, and slipped into her robe; then she took another towel and wrapped it around her head. She padded over to the fogged mirror above the sink and wiped clean a section using her palm. Boy, she was a mess! Dark circles and bags under her eyes, sallow skin… Sugar really did have her work cut out for her today.
When Melody went back in the bedroom, the first thing she noticed was the gorgeous gold sarong laid out for her on the bed.
“You like?” Sugar asked with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. “The producers let me pick it out for you myself. After all, I have come to know your taste, right Mel?”
She was able to muster up a faint smile. “I like it just fine.”
Sugar patted an armchair by the window. “Come and sit down and tell me what’s got you so sad.”
Melody plopped down. With a big sigh, she said, “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“At the beginning’s usually good.”
“Do you know why I agreed to be the Dream Girl?”
Sugar shook her head as she removed the towel from Melody’s hair. Long strands cascaded down her back, wetting her robe.
“Because I was tired of men only being interested in my money.”
“And you thought these men would be different?” Sugar asked, combing through her hair.
“Yes… No… What I mean is, I didn’t really care why the men were here. I thought if I pretended to fall in love and staged a phony engagement, everyone would leave me alone.”
Sugar lifted a penciled-in brow at her. “So then what’s the problem?”
“I never planned on actually falling in love.”
“Like I said. What’s the problem? Don’t he love you?”
Melody sank lower in the chair. “That’s not it. I’m pretty sure he does. It’s just that he’s not at all like what he led me to believe. I mean he’s totally different.”
Sugar ran the blow dryer over Melody’s hair. “Different’s not always bad. Different can be good.”
“Oh, believe me. In this case, it’s very bad.”
Sugar clicked off the dryer and came around to stand in front of Melody. “I’m a firm believer in love conquers all. If I loved a guy and he loved me back, I’d do everything I could to make things work out. Sometimes you’ve just gotta compromise, Mel.”
Compromise. How does one compromise with a vampire? She thought about that as Sugar applied her makeup; then she went back over her life. She thought about all those dateless years spent reading her beloved books and dreaming about the wonderful hero’s she’d found in those pages. But those men didn’t keep her warm at night or bring her chocolate kisses.
She thought about the long, lonely years ahead of her. Someday her friends would marry, and where would that leave her? A spinster. That’s where. Love didn’t come around often. Lucky for her it happened this once.
Maybe a compromise wasn’t such a bad idea. After all, becoming a vampire might not be so awful. She could spend a thousand years with Guy. Melody waited for Sugar to finish applying her mascara, and then she sprang up from the chair and bolted out the door.
“Wait.” Sugar chased after her with makeup case in hand. “I still have to apply your lip gloss.”
“It’ll have to wait,” Melody shouted over her shoulder as she raced in the direction of the men’s bures.
“Where are you going?” Sugar caught up with Melody and sprinted alongside her.
Melody shot her hairdresser a huge grin. “I’ve decided to take your advice. I’m going to compromise.”
— : : —
Perspiration rolled down Guystof’s neck. His stomach wrenched with pain. He’d taken the last of the potion, but there had barely been enough to wet his tongue. What did it matter anyway? There was no need for him to continue with this charade. No need for him to appear human. Melody knew the truth about him. And despised him. His stint on Dream Girl was over. He looked down at the foot of the bed where his bags were packed. As soon as these pains subsided, he would be on his way home. Not only had Theo won, but Guystof had lost the only woman he’d ever loved.
When the door burst open and Melody charged inside, he could barely believe his eyes. Another woman, a makeup artist, if his memory served him, though he barely took notice of her, hovered in the doorway.
Melody came around to the bed, concern etched on her face by the lines on her forehead. “What’s wrong? Are you ill?”
Guystof rolled onto his side and brought his knees up to his chest. “Is it that apparent?” he moaned.
“And why are your suitcases packed? We haven’t had the final elimination yet.” Then, as if it just occurred to her, she leaned over him, her hair brushing his neckline and smelling like coconuts, and said, “You’re leaving, aren’t you? You weren’t coming to the ceremony. You were leaving me.” Her eyes blazed with anger.
He bit back a groan. “You shouldn’t be here, Melody.” He lifted the belt to her bathrobe. “And certainly not dressed like this.”
She looked down at the silk print robe as if for the first time she realized what she wore. “That doesn’t matter. What I care about is you. What’s wrong?”
“That potion I was telling you about. The one my grandfather made… The one I’ve been taking…to appear human. It’s been making me sick. Maybe I haven’t been taking enough.”
“How much are you supposed to take?”
“I started with one drop a day. Must have gotten up to five, maybe six.”
“How long have you been getting sick?”
A sharp pain stabbed at his side, and he grimaced. “Awhile. Right after we met.”
“My poor darling. You’ve been suffering all this time and never let on.” Melody scanned the room. “Where is that remedy? Let me get you some more.”
He held his stomach in pain. “There is no more.”
“What can I do?”
“There’s nothing you can do. It usually goes away after a while. I’ll be fine alone.”
“Well, I’m not going to leave you alone. Not now. Not ever.”
He tried to sit up, but the pain held him down. “What are you saying?”
“What I should have said last night. I don’t care who or what you are. I love you. And nothing will ever change that.”
He touched the side of her face with his fingertip. He’d never get over the silkiness of her skin. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“For the first t
ime in my life, I know exactly what I’m saying.” She leaned over farther and whispered in his ear, “I just have one question for you, Count. What’s it like being a vampire?”
“It’s a very lonely existence unless you have someone to share it with.” His gaze locked with hers.
“My thoughts exactly.” Her eyes smiled back at him.
“You would do that for me?”
“Absolutely. I’m willing to compromise.”
He curled his arm around her neck and pulled her down on top of him. His mouth found hers, and he kissed her with all the joy he felt in his heart.
“Ah, hmmm.” Sugar cleared her throat. “I don’t mean to interrupt you two lovebirds, but—” She tapped her watch. “It’s getting late.”
Melody looked over at her. “You’re right. I’d better get dressed.” Then she turned her attention back to him. “And you, can you make it to the elimination ceremony?”
“Nothing on earth would stop me.”
She kissed him again, then pulled back and studied him. “You’re so unnaturally pale today. We have to do something with your skin.” Melody’s gaze went to the doorway. She motioned for Sugar to come inside.
“Guy’s not feeling well. Would you put some makeup on him to give him some color?” she asked.
Sugar winked. “Of course, hon, that is my job, after all.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you both at the beach, pronto.” Melody blew Guystof a kiss good-bye and dashed from his bure.
He sat up in bed and watched Sugar set up her makeup case. She pulled out a tube, squeezed some flesh-colored cream into her palm, then came over to him and, with a small sponge, applied it to his face. He didn’t especially like the feel of it on his skin, but if it helped make him look normal, he’d put up with it.
When Sugar finished with him, she handed him a mirror, and to his surprise, he looked remarkably healthy. “You’ve done a fine job. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Just take care of my girl,” she warned.
Guystof wished he could promise her he would, but that wouldn’t be the truth. He was a vampire and knew well the dangers that came along with that. The most he could say was, “I’ll do my best.”
Date with a Vampire Page 12