Bewitching Bedlam (Bewitching Bedlam #1)
Yasmine Galenorn
Chapter 1
“BUT WHY WON’T you paint it pink?”
Franny was standing in the middle of the kitchen. She also happened to be standing in the middle of the kitchen island, which gave the effect that she was cut off at the waist. Disconcerting to say the least, but I had quickly learned to keep my complaints about her displacement to myself. She took criticism hard, and I wasn’t up to the fallout, which included full-scale whining and moaning à la Jacob Marley. There’s nothing like waking up in the middle of the night to see a weeping ghost by your bed, staring at you with puppy-dog eyes, which was why I had banned her from my bedroom.
“We’ve been over this at least a half-dozen times. I hate pink, unless it’s fuchsia or magenta. I am not painting the kitchen pink just because you like it.” Hands on my hips, I stared at my uninvited roommate. I might have to live with her, but I didn’t have to let her call the shots. I had paid for the mansion. She just happened to be an added bonus, although I used the word “bonus” loosely.
“How do you think I feel? I can’t leave this house. You changed my favorite parlor into a media room and put that horrible monster you call a television in there. You chased me out of your bedroom. And you’re letting that…that…vampire live here.” She spat out the word so vehemently that I was grateful that she wasn’t corporeal, or I would have been hit with a mouthful of spit.
“That vampire is my boyfriend, who also happens to be one of the sweetest men around. You know perfectly well that Aegis doesn’t harm his…”
I stopped. Technically, “victim” really would be the appropriate choice of words, but I felt like a traitor using it. Aegis didn’t hurt anybody he drank from. Not unless they tried to stake him. And he never chose anybody who was anemic or diabetic. Vampires had the ability to tell when someone was low on their favorite flavor of fruit punch, or when that said punch had too much or too little sugar in it.
But Franny refused to see it my way, and I was tired of the argument. Every time she wanted me to change something, she fell back to “You let that vampire live here.” I had heard it—or a variation thereof—so many times the past month that my head was spinning.
“Franny, get this through your misty mind. You have to deal with it. Aegis lives here. He sleeps with me. Well, technically we have sex in my bedroom. He sleeps in his coffin. But whatever the case, this is my house and I’ll let whoever I want live here.” I straightened my shoulders. “Count yourself lucky that I haven’t hired an exorcist to deal with you.”
“I wish you would! I hate being trapped.” But Franny didn’t sound like she meant it.
“I could evict you myself, you know. I could banish you. Bingo! One easy spell and boom, you’d be out on your ass, wandering the highway like some lost mournful spirit. But did I do that when I found out you were haunting my home? No. I did not.”
I paused, suddenly deflating. I wasn’t going to exorcise her ass and she knew it. Oh, I was trying to sound intimidating. But considering that I was holding a stuffed unicorn under my left arm and a tray of cookies in my right hand, the threat just didn’t have the impact that I hoped for.
Franny huffed, then turned and flounced off, the long skirts of her muslin gown sweeping the floor with a ghostly swish as she vanished through the wall. She was still wearing the dress she had died in. Franny had lived around these parts of Bedlam until August 1815, when she died. She had been so wrapped up in reading her book that she missed a step and went tumbling down the staircase, breaking her neck. It was over quickly, but somehow, she had become trapped in the house. I felt sorry for her, but Franny needed to find a sense of humor, and find it quick if she wanted to go on living with me.
Shaking my head, I set the cookies down on the counter and carried the unicorn over to the rocking chair. Made of polished mahogany, the rocker was wide enough to curl up in. I had chosen it specifically for the kitchen. I had always wanted a kitchen big enough to have a rocking chair in and this mansion fit the bill perfectly. As I nestled into the seat, tucking the unicorn onto the table beside the rocker, I closed my eyes. I just needed a little rest. Just a little time out.
“Maddy? Maddy. Oh Maddy, wake up, pretty girl.” A sinuous voice echoed through the fog.
I blinked, suddenly aware that someone was kissing my nose. Jumping in my seat, I opened my eyes to find Aegis leaning over me, a grin spreading across those gorgeous lips of his. The tips of his fangs were showing—spotless and glowing white. I’d warned him to watch how much of the whitening toothpaste he used, but television commercials had convinced him that his pearly whites needed to be even brighter. I kept telling him his teeth were practically fluorescent, but they didn’t detract from just how pretty the man was. Handsome. Gorgeous. Insert adjective of your choice.
“What the—?” I blinked. “Is it night already?”
Aegis had turned on the light. Outside, the dusk was growing. I had obviously slept away part of the day, and it had to be after sunset for him to be awake.
“Enjoy your nap with Drofur, love?” His voice wrapped around me like a silken scarf, its resonance tickling me. Even though witch’s blood was an aphrodisiac for vamps, this particular vampire’s voice was an aphrodisiac for me. His voice…his hands…his body…his…
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts before they reached the X-rated stage, I looked down to see that I was holding the unicorn. I must have picked it up again in my sleep. With a blush, I realized that I had been cuddling it. I hastily returned Drofur to his spot on the table.
“Um, yeah. I guess I was more tired than I thought.” I cautiously stood, stretching as my knees and back protested the un-horizontal nap they had taken.
He was dressed for his gig, wearing tight leather pants and a leather jacket. His muscled chest was bare, his abs rippling and pale, and he was wearing a thin gold chain around his neck. Even though it was the dead of winter, he wouldn’t get cold. Or rather, he was already so cold that the weather wouldn’t faze him. Vampires didn’t emit body heat.
My breath caught in my throat. I wanted to rub my hands all over him. His hair hung loose around his shoulders, long and dark, and his eyes were the color of rich, black coffee tinged with clouds of cream. When he was aroused or hungry, crimson rings appeared around them. To top it off, he smelled like vanilla musk with a hint of cinnamon, thanks to his shampoo.
Aegis slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me toward him. “You too tired to spend a little time cuddling?” Leaning down—the man was a good seven inches taller than me—he nuzzled my neck, gently nosing behind my ear where he left a trail of butterfly kisses.
Everything in my body tensed, but it was a good tension. I wanted to rip my clothes off and press my breasts against that bare chest of his. My taut nipples pressed against the silk of my tank top. Even through the lace of my bra, the silk seemed to rub them ever so deliciously. Meanwhile, my lower region was starting to clamor, wanting in on the action.
“As long as that cuddling includes sex.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and grinned up at him.
“Then we’d better get busy.”
He swept me up in his arms. I wasn’t a lean woman. I was curvy and busty with thighs that made the floor quake when I was angry. But Aegis carried me as though I was as light as a feather. I laughed, holding on as we headed toward the staircase. My laughter echoed through the far-too-barren living room, and the sight of so much empty space sparked off a random thought.