Broken Vow by Zoey Marcel Page B

raunchy things that would happen to her once he'd finally get around to sharing her, but then at other times he vowed never to let another man touch her. At times she would swear Dante was bipolar. Sometimes he behaved respectably toward her and treated her like gold. At other times he treated her like his dirty little slut. There were gentle, intimate encounters where he conveyed the depths of his feelings to her and touched her soul. Then there were times of rough, wild sex that took her breath away. It was like he was two completely different men.
    Sonya stood in Dante's kitchen. He was still at work, but he'd given her a key to his apartment and she wanted to make him a surprise dinner tonight. Perhaps some Italian food. She opened the fridge to see if he had a jar of minced garlic and spotted a plastic container of some kind of thick, red, watered-down paste. Oh good, tomato sauce.
    She opened the container and froze as the familiar scent wafted up her nose, causing the blood to run cold in her veins. This wasn't tomato sauce. It was blood. Some kind of farm animal from the scent of it.
    The moment became surreal. Dante was a vampire. That was the only explanation. He told her he was a werewolf, but she'd never seen him shift. Had he lied, or was he both werewolf and vampire? It was possible. She'd heard of those hybrids.
    Another truth startled her even more and her heart nearly stopped beating in her chest. She slept with a vampire. She broke her vow. There were seven vows a crusnik was to uphold and never break. Sleeping with demons and the undead was one of them. Dante knew what she was and what he was, yet he never told her. He lied to her, damned her.
    The door unlocked and she heard him come inside. “Sonya, is that you, babe?”
    Raw shock kept the anger at bay. She turned to face him with her lips parted and the container of blood in her hand.
    Dante froze when he saw the object in her hand. “What are you doing with that?”
    “What are you doing with it?” she countered. Perhaps it was all some grand mistake. He was a werewolf. Perhaps he simply had a thirst for animal blood. He was a natural-born hunter after all. No big deal.
    “It's animal blood. I don't drink human blood anymore,” he said quietly, seeming to wait for her to pass judgment on him.
    Her eyes closed and she swallowed hard, dreading his inevitable answer. “Are you a vampire?”
    He hesitated before heaving a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I am. I was going to tell you. I just -”
    “When? When we burned in hell together?” she snapped. There was the indignant fury she expected.
    “You're not going to hell.”
    “I am now. I'm not supposed to sleep with demons and that includes the undead.”
    “Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know.” He stepped toward her, looking hurt when she backed away from him.
    “Like hell you didn't! That's why you kept it from me. Did someone send you to seduce and damn me, or did you act on your own accord?”
    “What? Nobody's trying to damn you. I honestly didn't know that you weren't permitted to sleep with vampires.”
    She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Right. Then why did you keep it from me?”
    “Because you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen and I wanted to go out with you. I knew if you found out I was a vampire, you'd reject me since you're prejudice.” His countenance saddened, dark eyes beseeching hers. “I just wanted to be with you. I'm so sorry. I had no idea it would cost you so much.”
    “Only my soul.” The idea of burning for all eternity in the lake of fire scared her to death. She couldn't go there. Damn Dante to hell for tricking her.
    “But you didn't know. I'm sure they'll forgive you. God's not going to throw you into hell for unwittingly sinning.”
    Perhaps he was right, but still, what if he wasn't? “And what if you're wrong?”
    “Then I'll take you away from there and we'll find our own paradise.” His hard, rugged features softened as he stepped closer and ran his