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ago, I would not be here today. And you’re right. It’s time I put the past to rest and looked to the future.”
    Roger had been transfixed by the scene played out in front of him. Now, he saw a chance to lighten the atmosphere. “And this Chris guy might just be the one to help you with that,” he said.
    “Well, it’s a little early.”
    “Nah. I knew soon as I looked at the big guy here,” Roger continued, beaming up at Marcus. “And Ron knew the first time he clapped eyes on Jean-Claude. And Micah—”
    “All right, Roger,” Marcus said, chuckling. “I think we get the picture. You’re a great believer in love at first sight.”
    The friends smiled as the moment of tension passed, but later, alone in his room, his cousin Andorra’s words rankled in Carlos’ mind. Was it so obvious to them all that the past years of his existence had been spent searching for what he could never find—a devotion as deep and as rich as the love he’d shared with Miguel?
    So many times, in his loneliness, he had considered himself fortunate in having family and friends he could turn to for solace and companionship. Most of all, Andorra, his cousin, to whom he had run on the night he had been savaged by vampires, knowing only she could help him. If he had listened to her warnings, of course, there would have been no need for her protection. If he had not ventured into the den of darkness, lured by the handsome lord whose reputation was anything but pure. If he had resisted the carnal desire with which the man infused him, then all that had transpired would have been… Been what? Nothing…
    Nothing .
    Carlos groaned as these dark memories flooded his mind. He had ignored his cousin Andorra’s warning, even though he knew of the dark realm from which she too had tried to escape those years ago. He and Andorra had been the only survivors—the rest of her family taken in a hideous and terror-stricken manner. For years he had tried to put these terrible BOUND IN BLOOD
    J. P. Bowie
    30
     
    memories to rest. Why now were they foremost in his mind? Why, after the most wondrous evening he had spent in as long as he could remember?
    But some memories linger, and he would never forget his and Andorra’s flight to France to try to stop the Comte d’Arcy from making good his promise to kill all of Andorra’s family if she and her younger brother Anton did not give themselves up for his pleasure.
    They had arrived too late. Anton had committed suicide rather than be a vampire’s plaything, and the Comte had taken a terrible revenge, killing Andorra’s parents and sisters in a brutal and callous fashion. How Carlos had missed her during the years of her seclusion when she had shut herself away from the world to mourn the loss of her family and to never forgive the monster who had taken them from her.
    Wrenching himself from the memories his cousin’s words had brought him, he brought before him the sweet vision of the young man he had made love to so few hours ago.
    “Christopher,” he whispered. “Can you be the one who will heal my soul? I did not erase the memory of our time together as I have done with so many others in the past. I have a deep and desirous wish to see you again. To hold you again. To love you again.” Carlos sighed as he brought the image of Chris’ face into sharp focus. The fine bones, the tousled fair hair, the large light-blue eyes that had so quickly darkened with lust during their lovemaking, the soft, full mouth…
    He’d had sex with many mortals over the years, but few had touched him as Christopher had. Just as Andorra had pointed out, it was his habit to make those young men forget him, often after their first meeting, and as Andorra had also stated on more than one occasion, even though she knew it angered him, he did it only because none, not one, could ever compare with Miguel.
    Of course, she was right.
    Miguel had not only been a beautiful man in appearance, his soul had held a radiance