Free Bound to the Vampire by Selena Blake

Dameon could see that.
    “We are still in the honeymoon phase,” Izzy reminded him with a sexy little grin.
    Shade groaned and pulled Izzy closer against his side. An uncomfortable feeling ricocheted through Dameon's chest and he ignored it. But, since he’d never been one to let an opportunity pass him by, he drew Valencia into the conversation, wondering if she'd squirm.
    “Always a fun stage in a relationship, wouldn't you agree Val-dear?”
    For a moment she looked startled. He'd put her on the spot and gotten just the reaction he'd hoped for. She was lost in thought and if she wasn't guarding those thoughts so closely he would have reached out to her mind to see if she was thinking of him. Remembering them and those months that they’d been blind to the world.
    “Yes. Fun.” She stared at Izzy and he could see the wheels turning in her mind. She wanted to say more but did not because she valued Izzy's friendship. Interesting.
    And far more restrained than the Valencia he’d known in the past. What lessons had she learned since they’d parted? Probably many of the same ones he had.
    Trust wisely. Keep your enemies close.
    “How did you and Dameon meet?” Izzy asked.
    Dameon felt five pair of eyes turn his way. He glanced at Valencia and saw the war in her gaze; she seemed to be holding her breath. But regal as ever, she turned and offered her friends a tight lipped smile.
    “That's a long story.”
    “Not so long,” Dameon said.
    Her mouth screwed to the right, a sign that she wasn't as emotionless as she wanted him to believe. Clearly, she wanted to forget about the passion in his room. She wanted to wipe her mind of his kiss and the way she’d begged him.
    Dameon couldn’t forget. Wouldn’t forget. He could still taste her on his lips and knew that one taste would never be enough.
    As they had a few hours before, her eyes flashed with silver but she blinked and the specs were gone.
    Oh Val…time had been brutal to both of them. She was more beautiful than ever, although he did miss her long hair, and yet, she was more closed off than ever.
    She’d been fire two centuries ago. Now she was ice.
    Did she think about that day as often as he did? Did she yearn to step back in time? What would she change?
    Another couple appeared, arm in arm. He’d seen them at the Masquerade and Valencia quickly introduced them as Grayson and Coco. They gave Izzy and Shade a run in the love department.
    Dameon rose from the loveseat so they could sit together.
    “Dameon was just telling us how he and Valencia met,” Izzy informed the new comers with a twinkle in her pale blue eyes.
    Dameon took the empty space next to Valencia and they accepted new goblets from the waiter. It was tempting to reach for her hand, to see if the fabric of her dress was as soft as it looked. There’d been a time when he wouldn’t have resisted such an impulse.
    That’d been the happiest time of his life. How did she push it to the back of her mind so easily? Why did it not burn in her gut? Why did she not ache with everything they’d lost? Why had she left him at the altar in front of everyone, alone instead of confronting him?
    “Let's hear it,” Shade said and dumped another glob of ketchup on his plate.
    “We met at an old ruins in the country,” Valencia said as if it were an inconsequential detail.
    When she didn't elaborate he stretched his arm across the back of the iron loveseat, ignoring the awareness tingling through him. Such was the life of a bonded vampire. Her lure would always tempt him. Always remind him that he was taken, bound, ruined for all others.
    He forced himself to be casual when what he really wanted to do was touch her, flash them back to his room and finish what they’d started. But he restrained himself, talked his cock off the ledge and regarded their audience.
    “The moon was full that night. Crisp. Early autumn. We were both far from home, but that didn't matter to Valencia. She was fearless. I saw