Honeymoon Bite (Golden Vampire Legacy) by Sharon Hamilton

know about that.”
    “And how would you know about that?”
    “Because I am the same. The same as you.”
    A mixture of relief and fear filled her. Finally, she’d met someone she could talk to about the event that occurred in Italy a month ago. She was afraid of finding out the truth about what she was. She knew she was not human. There was a part of her that didn’t want to know what that really meant. She would use this chance to ask anyway.
    “So what exactly am I?”
    “You are one of a golden vampire. Goldens are very rare.”
    “ Vampire . Okay.” She held out her hand into a ray of sunlight flooding through the coffee shop window. “See? I don’t seem to catch fire, and being in the sunlight isn’t at all painful.”
    She saw his eyes dance with something more than humor as she waved her hand around in the sunlight, twisting her fingers and arm in different directions, demonstrating for him.
    He raised his fingers to touch the same ray of sunlight, then smiled when he noted her watching his fingers glisten in the bright light, unharmed. “As I said, you are golden vampire, like me.”
    “As opposed to the dark ghouls that run around in rags all the time and sleep in coffins? The ones that can’t come out in the sunlight?”
    “Exactly. Actually, some of the dark vampires are among my best friends. But each breed usually stays with their own kind.”
    He was struggling with words. “We are able to live in the sunlight. But we still need to feed. We mate for life. We have children who are born and raised human. They make the choice whether to remain human or turn when they enter puberty.”
    “And so you chose to become vampire. You were born human?”
    “Yes. Just like you. I had a normal human childhood.”
    “But I was human. Neither one of my parents was vampire. My kind is human.”
    “Not any more, Anne.”
    The truth of his words wounded her. He was right. No longer was she anything close to the same woman she was when she left on her honeymoon. She could pretend. But she could never go back. She was permanently altered. And now would live . . .
    Forever?
    “But, I prefer to live as a human.” Anne knew she had it in her to adjust. No one had to know. And she didn’t have to join any weird vampire coven, either.
    “You will need help,” he said.
    “I’ve adjusted just fine, thank you very much. So far.”
    He nodded and then smiled back at her with those eyes and she wilted. She felt her will, her control waning. His body sat before her like a magnet, drawing her into some dark, strange journey she hadn’t asked for. She’d been made, not born this way. Someone had stolen her human life from her. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she needed information. How had this happened?
    “There are things you must be curious about, Anne. Let me help you.”
    She wasn’t sure she trusted him, regardless of the undeniable attraction to his lean body and the way she felt just listening to his voice, feeling his presence, his strength.
    “Look. I acknowledge I am no longer human, thanks to that bitch who almost killed me in Italy. Do you know her, as well?”
    “Unfortunately, I do. Her name is Maya.”
    “Well, if she’s part of your little group of friends, no thanks. I’m much safer on my own. Your crowd a little too dangerous for me. I’m better off in the company of my own kind, as you say. My husband and my family . . . of origin.”
    “He cannot protect you. I can.”
    She agreed with him. Robert would never be able to protect her, even if she wanted him to. He was a louse and a coward. Always had been.
    ”You talk about protection. Why wasn’t I protected when I was attacked by this woman?”
    “She won’t hurt you again. She has been enjoined from contacting you personally. She’s bridled.”
    “Bridled, as in a horse?”
    “Yes, similar. ‘Restrained’ may be a better word.”
    “So then it’s up to me to protect my family and friends from her kind?”
    “Our