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Marisa woke slowly, a smile on her face, as the last re love to Grigori, and it had been theexperience of her life She rolled onto her side, came face-to-face with the man of her dreams, and knew it hadn&039;t been a dreaarded thebeside her How handsolad that she had waited, glad that he had been the first entle, so tender, so eager to please and pleasure her He had made love to her three times, and each time had been better than the last

She had felt hiswith hers It had been incredible She had felt every beat of his heart, every breath, knew the same excitement, the salanced at theDark green drapes lined with black shut out theher that she had not ain He see, but was he, or was he trapped in some kind of darkness, unable to move?

She lifted her hand, hesitated, and then placed it over his heart It was beating slowly, steadily, but he didn&039;t ori?"

His eyelids fluttered open "What is it you wish?"

"Nothing, I just wondered - "

He raised one brow "What?"

"I thought maybe I mean, well - "

She started to draw her hand away, but he covered it with his own "Is there so"

"I know" His body felt heavy, sluggish

"I thought that - " She shrugged one shoulder "How can you be awake?"

"It isn&039;t easy," he replied with a wry grin Indeed, he could feel the darkness calling him "I must rest, cara mia"

"Okay" She bent down to kiss him "See ya later"

He pressed a kiss to her palm, and then his eyelids fluttered down

She watched him a moment His eyelashes were short and thick, his hair wasout of bed, Marisa went to take a shower Her body ached a little, reori had been everything she had hoped it would be, and more

He was deeply asleep when she returned to the bedroohtly on the cheek, and went downstairs

He had been busy since the last tie and the cupboards were filled with food

She opened the egg carton and found a note inside She unfolded it I love you She smiled as she tucked it into her pants pocket

There was a note inside the coffee canister: I love you You&039;re beautiful Another inside the sugar bowl: I a of you Inside the silverware drawer, she found his Mastercard, a couple hundred dollars in cash, and another note: Go buy us sole on in front of the fire

She fixed breakfast, turned on the radio, and then sat down to eat Maybe she would quit her job, she ht be fun to stay ho, or gardening, or shopping, or doing anything else she pleased

She gazed out theThe backyard was huge There was a pool, a large covered patio, a gazebo, a rose garden Of course, the yard was overgroeeds

She put her dishes in the dishwasher, poured another cup of coffee, then went out to get thepaper

She was sorry the minute she opened it

TERROR STALKS THE STREETS

VAMPIRE KILLER STRIKES AGAIN

Inside, she sat down and read the story The body of a young man had been found in a ditch near West Road

Marisa stared at the headlines She had lost count of how s there had been In the last teeks, she had refused to think about Alexi, refused to let hi else intrude on as supposed to be the happiest tinore it anyet that it had been the scent of her blood that had aroused hione blithely on, planning her wedding, having a good ti murdered, when she was partly responsible?

She had to do so the day, they would never find hiori hadn&039;t been able to find him, what hope did she have?

And yet they had to find hi a sudden need to see Grigori, she put the newspaper aside and went upstairs

Standing in the doorway, she watched him sleep What was it like for him? she wondered What was it like to live for hundreds of years? Did one groeary of living, of being forever young? She had often wished she could live forever, and now the ori make her a vampire if she asked it of hi the nearly invisible rise and fall of his chest What would it be like to be a varow old and die? Would living forever be worth the price of losing everyone she loved? It o on as she was now, but that would be iuard, never able to tell her friends what she was There would be no s with her family No more company Fourth of July picnics, or vacations at the lake No children

She felt a tug at her heart There would be no children for her in any case, not as long as she was ori

If she called his name, would he hear her? If she crawled into bed beside hiori?"

She ori?"

His eyelids fluttered open and he gazed up at her "Cara, is so?"

"No I was" - she shrugged - "lonesome for you"

He held out one arm in silent invitation and she slid under the covers

"Does it bother you to be awake during the day?"

"No, but it is difficult, when the sun is high"

"Maybe I should let you rest"

"No" He hugged her to hi"

"That&039;s what I was going to do, but then I read the paper We&039;ve got to do soot to stop hiot to be a way He can&039;t be infallible"

"If he has a weakness, I have yet to find it" He smiled lazily as he took her hand in his and licked her palm "I have a weakness, cara ht as he licked the inside of her wrist "I think I can guess"

"Can you?" He rained kisses on the inside of her arm, licked the bend of her elbow