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Chapter 1

I was born in a sest of seven sons There was an old legend that decreed that the seventh son of a seventh son was destined to becoht terrified me Va The thought of drinking blood sickenedforever in darkness that leftfear of the night As far back as I could remember, my dreams had been haunted by naed row up to be a vampire Numerous times she had held me in her arms and assured me that it was only an old wives&039; tale Why did I never see the truth in her eyes?

As I grew older, rew er nameless, or faceless It was a wohts, a woman with olive-hued skin and hair as black as coal A woman whose amber eyes burned with the fires of the damned

When I turned two-and-twenty, I fell in love with the blackshter A year later, ere married, and for the next five years I knew only happiness Our one sadness was that AnnaMara failed to conceive, but I, being soht since My fear of the dark ed up in AnnaMara&039;s sweet eht while we lay entwined in each other&039;s ar my child Only then did I realize what true joy was Ah, those blissful days and nights when life was full and perfect, when my love&039;s belly swelled with child, and each day saw our love grow stronger, deeper

Our daughter was born on a sunlitdawn, and her mother with her Unfortunate, the midwife said The child had come too soon; AnnaMara died of childbed fever I buried thehter, and ht

Alexander sat back in his chair and stretched his legs He had named his heroine after his consort AnnaMara, with hair like yellow silk and eyes as brown as the soil of earth He had not willingly thought of her in centuries, yet now, just seeing her naht it all back_the love they had shared, the happiness they had once known She had nahter AnTares AnTares, the only child he had ever fathered The only child that would ever be born to hi before his eyes He had not loved a woman since AnnaMara There had been other women in his life, paid professionals who had eased his lust, but no special woman, none he dared trust with the reality of what he was

Only now, after more than two hundred years, had he found a woman whose heart he wanted to win, a woman in whom he yearned to confide But he dared not love her

For her sake, he dared not love her

Kara sat on the swing in the backyard, staring at the hills that rose to the east beyond Moulton Bay As always of late, her thoughts were on Alexander Where was he tonight? What was he doing? Did he spend his every wakinginto the distance, wondering what she was doing, thinking, wearing?

Seven weeks Seven weeks since she had seen hi between the Surely, if he had felt even half of what she still felt, he would have called After four weeks, she had put her pride and good judgment aside and tried to call hi for an Alexander Claybourne, or for A Lucard

She&039;d read all his books Twice The first tihtened her The second tih each story No ht be, he always carried a heavy burden or harbored a dark secret, and he was always a man alone, afraid to love, afraid to trust A coincidence? A silent plea for help? Or was she just being fanciful?

Where was he? Why didn&039;t he call? Why hadn&039;t he co of him?

"Kara"

His voice, so soft that she wasn&039;t sure if she&039;d actually heard it or if hertricks on her because she wanted so badly to see hi to hope, she turned toward the sound of his voice And he was there, a tall, dark figure silhouetted against the blackness of the night

"Alexander"

Slowly, he moved toward her A strayin front of her, as tall and broad-shouldered as she re and black and windblown, fraular face

"How have you been?" he asked

His voice was as soft as a prayer, as intimate as a lover&039;s caress

"Fine," she replied "And you?"

"Fine," he said "As always"

"How&039;s your new book coaze s on h sos?"

"Kara"

She leaned forward, waiting for his next words, hoping he would tell her that he hadonly of her

He atching her closely, his gaze fixed on her face She could feel the heat of it, the power of it At thathe wanted to hear, done anything he asked Though they weren&039;t touching, it was al her cheek

And then he took a step back, releasing her froaze

"Alexander" Her voice was shaky, uncertain

"What do you want from me, Kara?"

"Want?"

"I&039;ve been much in your mind these past weeks"

Kara stared at hihts I feel your loneliness, your restlessness" He clenched his hands to keep fro for her "What do you want of "