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It is an old story
But one that can still be told
About a man who loved And lost
Shannon took copious notes, swearing at the inefficiency of a penlight for writing in the ain at the narrow ar a notepad Especially when the jerks on either side of her seerowled a sigh, shoved the meaty arm to her left out of the way and whispered loudly,
"Hey, do you er would keep her es burned into it Taith hair and eyes that matched her name, and a porcelain-doll face, and a s a star, her overly dra herself Her fearlessness Her stubbornness Shannon wanted to reht, best friend forever Not the pale, naked body sprawled on the ruossa over her paper-white neck God, not that
The guy in the next seat grumbled and shifted as far away frouely aware of the spreading applause The gradual quieting The sense of expectation in the crowd The deep,that he would need a volunteer from the audience A sudden burst of movement and loudly voiced offers from the female spectators distracted her only for a ht and continued writing
"The wo It would be easy for him to lure one anywhere he wanted Still no one who can tell ht between"
Her pen stopped on the pad and a cloud of frigid air seelanced up, toward the aisle three seats away He stood there, a tall, shadowy forht up with hi his ivory skin see toward her And his eyes, huge and round like an owl&039;s, seeods and the pain of a thousand hells, focused on her, keeping her prisoner
"You,There was still no shred of evidence that the man was a twisted murderer Only a matter of circumstance and her own suspicions "Me, what?"
His lips curved upward His gaze fell to the notepad, the penlight and the pen she&039;d been juggling all evening, then juain "What&039;s your name?"
"Sh-Shannonbut, I--"
"A round of applause for the lovely Shannon, our courageous volunteer"
He said it loudly, waving toward her with a flourish and a ripple of that shi her in a pool of hot white brilliance that did nothing to chase away her ominous chill She squinted as the applause swelled His hand closed on hers, big, warht, purse, everything, avalanched to the floor as she was jerked to her feet
She gave her hand a tug, but his grip was as good as any pair of handcuffs ever invented He pulled her along at his side Her protests went unheard beneath the noise of the crowd and the accoht and onto the stage She could either fight him and look like an idiot, or accept this fiasco with a ht the vain bastard could use a good kick in his oversize ego
He looked into her eyes, and again, his lips curved It didn&039;t go far enough to qualify as a s and find it aing his black eyes for Tawny&039;s light brown ones wide open, glazed, forever blind
His grip on her wrist eased He frowned down at her and his hand slid down to clasp hers They stopped center stage Behind thelanced over her shoulder, saw a clear pane of glass balanced across the backs of two chairs
"The lovely Shhannnon--" he drew the consonants in her name out until it sounded like an incantation "--is about to assistthe very laws of nature of Mother Earth"
She told herself not to lose her anger to the ever-growing tide of uneasiness that could easily become fear Killer or not, he couldn&039;t very well hurt her right in front of thousands of onlookers She stiffened her spine
"If you think I&039;rated, lanced sideways at hihten on hers
"Of gravity itself," he went on
He had a way of speaking that was utterlyto caress every syllable before releasing it It ainst your oill
"This way Shannon" Mist shot up fros to twist and writhe in time with the erotic ent beat He led her to the makeshift table, waved an aruided her up a pair of wooden steps as the silken music swelled, his every movement in perfect synchronization with the beat
"Lie down Shannon And prepare to be swept away"
She shivered a little, wondering if he spoke in those slow, e She lay back on the cool glass, her gaze never leaving his face Even his breaths and the blinking of his eyes were grace epitoraphed He circled her once, one ar as he ers at his throat, he whipped the cloak fro it outward, draped it over her He drew it up froht up to her chin
The fabric was heaven, satin inside and out She wanted to rub it against her cheek The scent that invaded hershe&039;d s doard His fingertips closed her eyes She stiffened, again thinking of Tawny
"Relax, Shannon Don&039;t move Let your muscles melt at my command Break the bounds of earth Free yourself fro away the angry tears the iht to her eyes Da ician in the world if he didn&039;t Damien the Eternal She&039;d have rolled her eyes if they&039;d been open More like Damien the Master of Optical Illusion Butabout hie to stop thinking about Tawny long enough to find a hint of who&039;d killed her
And how? For the love of God, how?
She focused herstill as he&039;d instructed She didn&039;t want to break this contraption and get du happened Shannon heard a collective gasp from the audience and opened one eye Da a chair in one outstretched hand She frowned a little The chair that had been propping up that end of the glass? But her body was still horizontal
He set the chair down and walked to her head, pausing to lay that feather-light hand over her eyes again, closing theh She&039;d paid to see the damned show She certainly couldn&039;t see it with her eyes closed, and she wasn&039;t about toat the head of thedown at her face He pursed his lips when he saw that her eyes were open, but she didn&039;t close the He bent, and she kneas pulling the other chair frohtened he held the chair, whirled around and threw it off stage right
When she could see hiain he had a plastic hoop in one hand He ran it over and under her, then around her body, back and forth to des held her aloft
The hoop was tossed aside, as well He leaned over her face "Concentrate with lee, he pulled the cloak over her head That would teach her for not keeping her eyes closed, she i
She heard hinize Then there was a strange sort of vibration She felt the glass under her back an to clutch it with her left hand, but his caught hers and held it still Her chilled fingers, surrounded by his graceful, warm hand She alers with him Weird notion Luckily, he released her before she had tilass slip out frorew louder, faster She ree How the hell-The cloak was ainst the denim of her jeans as it slipped down her body Damien stood there, stark-white shirt opened at the collar to reveal adark curls showed on his chest He stood a few feet behind her, arms outstretched, palms up, eyes closed as if in concentration He had incredible lashes for aabout him was pretty incredible Shannon kneny better than anyone, and she had a feeling Taouldn&039;t have left the theater that night without at least offering As he lifted his hands and the drums pounded frantically, Shannon seeher and higher she floated, until she had to close her eyes to keep fro dizzy
Then she just stopped, far above his head She dared a peek doard He was staring up at her He stepped forward "To me Shannon," he called loudly, firue with Then he bent his elbows, snapped both fingers The music stopped all at once and she fell It lasted an instant, the sensation of pluh space, the certainty that the landing was going to hurt like hell, the urge to scream out loud She bit her lip and landed in his arms
She blinked in shock He stared down at her, and his sht to his chest, and the sensation was alien to her She thought sheTawny&039;s alley-cat ht He lowered his head, touched her forehead with his lips She was sure he&039;d burned a brand into her skin by the touch of his mouth But that was stupid It was theher feel ripples of pleasure race up and down her spine Not the touch of a man Never the touch of a man
The crowd&039;s roar almost deafened her He looked away froaze They were on their feet every last one of theht to the rafters
But her attention strayed back to the ant line of his jaw, the aquiline nose And the light gathering brilliance somewhere deep within those jet eyes He loved this He absorbed the adoration of the crowd the way the desert absorbs the rain He was in sheer ecstasy He allowed
The curtain lowered in front of theht her shoulders, turned her to one side and pushed gently "Offstage, Shannon Watch froehand hustled toward her and Da close to her ear, "You onderful" Then the short redhead gripped her ar chair and ran out of sight, a clipboard clutched in one hand