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The music continued, but Corinne noticed the one fro up for their lack of genius with enthusiasm She couldn't help it; she stole a quick look at hi up, a casual, alle cat stretching He was careful with his guitar, setting it against the far wall out of reach of any light-fingered fans or rowdies For a briefup at him in rapt adoration A flicker of what could have been impatience crossed his face

He turned his head and looked directly at her Instantly she felt the weight of his stare Intent Hungry Corinne's heart see at her-not at his friend and not at Lisa, but straight at her Their eyes met across the roo pull A spell of enchantuitarist and then stepped off the stage Over the crowd his black gaze held hers captive Corinne couldn't look away

Her heart was going crazy and her breath refused to enter her lungs She could only stare helplessly at hiely, no one spoke to hile woman in the crowd Everyone moved quickly out of his way so that he approached her without interference He stood at their booth, his black gaze seeing only her Up close, he was evento him like a second skin And he was ly so

The band swung into a slow, drea, and Dayan reached down and captured her small hand "I need to dance with you" He said it like that, starkly, without e about his vulnerability He needed to touch her, to hold her close in his arination

Corinne couldn't have resisted hi her with exquisite gentleness to her feet, drawing her into his arms, close to his body She held the pal heart At once she could feel his heat, feel his solid,overtie In another world A drea He was taller than she was by quite a bit, yet she fit into him perfectly, as if she were made for him

He bent his dark head to hers "Breathe" He whispered the word against her skin, and her entire body ca Every cell His breath ar He held her alic, and she knew instinctively he was feeling it too

For just one moment she closed her eyes and let herself be carried away Their bodiestogether for all their lives As if they werelove Corinne bit her lip It was theshe had ever done in her life, yet she had beenher, his body hard and his hands gentle A curious thing was happening Her heart, usually so erratic, was struggling to match the more even beat of his She noticed it because every detail was so important She wanted to carry this moment with her for the rest of her life

The h Dayan so that he became the music The woman in his arms was already a part of him He kneith his deepest soul She was the one, the only one He could feel the struggle of her heart just as he felt her sainst his masculine frame But the situation was even more complex than he'd first realized She was the only woman for him, yet there was a third heartbeat He could clearly hear it racing as he held her to him He could feel the life in her, the s she wore

He brought her palm under his chin and held her even closer as he exa a child Another man's child A human child For a e and fear, things he had never experienced Breathing helped, and he focused on as ave her his blood, he could possibly fix her heart problee do to an unborn infant? He could read her fear and her sadness He ent ache, his hts, his heart and soul truly at peace for the first time in his existence even while his brain worked on a solution to such a unique problem

The song ended, and he reluctantly allowed her to slip out of his ar possession of her hand so she couldn't run "My name is Dayan"

Corinne nodded her head, al her back to the safety of the booth Heher safe beneath his broad shoulder Dayan gave her the illusion of safety, taking great care that no one bumped her carelessly

"Are you going to tell me your name?" He asked it softly, his voice a velvet seduction in itself

Just the sound of his voice created a yearning to hear hiain "Corinne, Corinne Wentworth" She didn't look at hierous sensuality she wanted no part of They were close to the booth, to safety She allowed herself to breathe again

"When is your baby due, Corinne?" he asked, his voice a gentle thread of sound She had never heard a voice quite like his Hypnotic;A bedroom voice It whispered over her skin until she burned

His words stopped her short, and she looked quickly, guiltily at Lisa, afraid she ht have somehow overheard For a moment she felt desperate Lisa had her head close to Cullen Tucker's and was laughing at soer body shielding hers protectively, effectively blocking her from the rowdy crowd It occurred to her that he was a celebrity of sorts and the crowd should have been claraph, yet somehow no one went near him Not even the women

"Corinne" He did soe accent "You are very pale Would you like et your friend for you and take you outside into the night air? There are far too "

"She doesn't know" She blurted out the truth and then was horrified that she had done so What was it about hied with him so that they seemed as intimate as lovers Nore to tell him the most personal details of her life

Dayan changed direction iain toward the door, taking her along with effortless ease

She wanted to go with him

Corinne couldn't understand that irrational impulse The cold air should have cleared her head, but hewhat little coht with him so close to her

Dayan took her into the shadows Everything in him rose up to claim her for his own He wanted her, he needed her, and his body was going up in flareen eyes, and he was lost Kneould be lost for all ti back

Your friend seeine that she would not be happy about the baby"

Corinne lifted a hand to shove back the wildimpression Lisa will be happy about the baby for a lot of reasons It's just that I'm" She trailed off, reluctant to reveal any details of her personal life to him "It's complicated" Suddenly, inexplicably, she felt co down at her and his eyes were so-

hungry Lonely

She didn't knohat it was, but those eyes were impossible to resist

He le cat His eyes didn't blink, they simply watched her Completely focused on her At times she could have sworn there was a red flicker of fla at me like that" The words left her throat before she could censor theroo a false impression of who she was

His smile was slow and very sexy It started her ard heart pounding again A slow burn was s at you?" His voice brushed against her skin, heating, tantalizing

Corinne tilted her head to one side and studied his perfect masculine features "You know very well you are You have that sht when you're looking at me like that"

"How aently, a note of tenderness creeping in to turn her heart over

Like a hungry leopard about to pounce

The thought came unbidden The shts,her blush "Never ht hold him away from her

"You were going to tell me about the baby"

And the baby's father We do not want to leave him out of this conversation You want to tell me

Sha to know The ering sadness in her eyes She had cared for anotherhis child into the world

Who was the man?

He captured her outstretched hand, her left hand, found the circle of gold, the syed to another man

The thought triggered the dangerous aggression of his species, and Dayan fought down the rising beast He would not chance frightening her His thuentle caress, persistent Insistent He brought her fingertips to his lips All the while his black gaze focused co directly into her eyes

His look was hypnotic Strangely exhilarating Corinne's breath caught in her throat as his teeth scraped along her finger, his s brushed at her sto band The sensation was so erotic, she shivered She stared up at hi to pull her hand free

"Tell me about your baby, honey," he co

He touched herthe compulsion to tell him what he wanted to know, but she was hufor her to resist

Corinne pressed her palm protectively over the baby

The hipped down the street, gusted leaves and debris into whirling eddies Unknowingly, she reith Lisa and her brother John" She stopped speaking abruptly, her throat closing on the name

John

The name pierced him like a knife The way she said it, the pain reflected in her eyes, told him how much the man had meant to her

John

Dayan had never liked that name He didn't want to hear any more; he didn't want to hear the sound of her voice when she said that hated name

Corinne twisted her wedding ring nervously "The three of us had a difficult childhood, so I suppose ere closer than most John and I were different" She stole a quick look up at him from under her heavy dark lashes She didn't want to explain to him what that word meant She didn't know him, didn't knohy she seeer to her She didn't knohy her body seemed to know him

Crave him

Corinne shoved her ard thoughts away, concentrating entirely on how much she could tell him or not tell him

Dayan exaht a hastily censored picture Telekinesis She could move objects with her mind Of course, she was psychic She would have to be psychic if she were his true life to her exactly what a lifemate was How could he reveal to her he was of another species? That he had been on earth a thousand years? That he needed blood to survive?

Dayan watched her fingers turn that sold band With every touch, every stroke, his stoaze back to her face, but that s movement fascinated him

Corinne shrugged her shoulders "Tostory short, John and I were o I didn't even knoas pregnant I haven't said anything to Lisa because well" She hesitated, searching for the right words

That brought his dark gaze back to her face She felt the impact of his focused stare all the way to her bones His hands covered hers, stilling the nervous play of her fingers over her ring Her heart leapt, a curious sensation that alarmed her

His black eyes never left her face Not once And he still hadn't blinked She felt ale, hypnotic eyes What difference did it ht she was a basket case? She hadn't asked for his sy hi him her story? Her chin lifted and she looked at him almost defiantly "I have a heart condition" He could run like a rabbit and she'd be very happy He was a complication, a fantasy, the worst sort of "bad boy," and she wanted no part of him

Dayan touched her e of hospitals,list for a heart Doctor after doctor shaking their heads She had severe allergies She bled easily, tooas she had Dayan rubbed the bridge of his nose thoughtfully, his eyes intent on her face "So the baby is a danger, then Lisa would not like that"

Corinne let out her breath It was almost a relief to tell sohtened" Corinne had waited until there was no possibility Lisathe baby She wanted a baby Her little girl Long after her death, after John's death, their daughter would live and breathe, run and play, and hopefully lead a perfectly normal life Corinne had absolute faith that Lisa would cherish and love the baby She pulled her hands away from his to place them protectively over the small mound where the baby rested

"You are very s are you?" Even as the words left his inings, he had never thought to be asking such a question Heat blossoely, he felt as if he had a family already

"The doctors are a little worried about that, but she looks good She's growing fine They've told "

His breath hitched in concern She was tiny "Are the doctors concerned about your heart problenancy as risky? Perhaps very dangerous?" His voice was still as gentle as ever, yet it had an effect on her she couldn't see her in so to do about the situation

Corinne felt coh it wasn't what she wanted "My heart has enough trouble working for just ers once again found the circle of gold and began to twist, a nervous habit betraying her inner turmoil

Dayan nodded his head even as his entire body knotted in protest against that small action "And your husband-" He forced the words out despite the fact they wanted to stick in his throat "Why was he ht her hand, pulling her pal her froain

Corinne's gaze flew to his Electricity arced between thee She found it difficult to think with his black eyesher senses Discussing the murder of her husband with him should have been i out "The police haven't come up with a motive The killers didn't even take his wallet"

"But you have an idea" He made it a statement

Corinne felt that same desire to confess every detail Normally, she confided in Lisa and no one else, yet Corinne hadn't said a single word to Lisa about the baby or her own suspicions about John's death

Why on earth was she telling a virtual stranger her every secret?

"John could do things that weren't considered noro, he went to a university and told someone there about his talent From there, he was directed to a center where psychic ability was tested The Morrison Center for Psychic Research John believed he ift Almost immediately after his appoint followed" She withdrew her hand "This is hardly so you would want to hear about"

"On the contrary I' about you interests me"