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He said it in a quiet tone, no inflection that suggested he was trying to pull any syht toward his loss in all this Yet the power of it punched her hard under her heart, woke her up even further

She’d always thought hihts, but it suddenly occurred to her that maybe it had always been plain how he felt, what he needed She, the one who gazed so hard at people, learning everything about thee, had overlooked those things in him, because he simply seemed invulnerable Or perhaps she’d had the ability all along to read his th He owned too s were unsteady, and went to hi her knees fold beneath her, she sank on the carpet between his splayed knees, put her hands on his thighs When he laid his pal on her throat, it h he reached out to her in tenderness, some part of him was far away, beyond her reach

"I want you no matter what you are," he said softly "I alill Never doubt it" It was a good-bye She could hear it in his voice, and now she knehat that e had been in Gideon’s eyes, what he’d been prepared to tell her when he came into the rooan spoke it, before it became a harsh reality

"I’ve alanted you so ht to understand you," she confessed "I guess that makes me a coward"

"No You’ve learned to protect yourself, because no male has ever made you feel that you could rely on him to be there, no matter the circumstance"Well, except James , he added in her mind, with a faint smile

She couldn’t return it There was a tentative pleasure to it, that he’d given her a touch of intimacy in the mind-to-mind communication Yet she was still uncomfortable with it as well, that potential for invasion she hadn’t accepted Since she knew he felt both reactions, she pushed on before he could withdraw froan" She stared up at him "Gideon er fro you’ve done since has been to protect me further I have a choir of de to be overwhel-ups and realize that having you and Gideon in there as well isn’t a bad thing Itto et" Tightening her chin, she sat back on her heels, aze head-on "So why the hell are you leaving me?"

She’d disrupted that blank expression this ti weariness, and then he covered it once again "The Council is holding session in Berlin right now, and I have to meet with them And handle some tasks they wishyou and Gideon alone, however I’ve already contacted Lord Brian He is a vampire, a brilliant scientist He conducts his research on vaht now he is traveling the US, collecting data on sun sickness

"Gideon has spoken to his brother," he continued "Through Lady Lyssa’s influence, Lord Brian is going to coure out how to help youill effects from your transition He may in fact be far more help to you than I can be now"

"I don’t know him" She didn’t want to sound childlike, but it was an effort to firan passed his thumb over her chin, touched her lips "I wouldn’t leave you with anyone I do not trust,cherBrian is one of the few I do, primarily because Lady Lyssa trusts him implicitly And more important, so does Gideon"

"Gideon trusts a va you"

"I still need you"

Daegan let go of the glass, leaned forward so his face was closer to hers, though he linked his hands between his knees, brushing her forearh to brace herself "No,cher

You don’t Lord Brian will figure out how to bring the seizures under control and will provide the strength of an older vae it yourself And Gideon" That faint sain "Your va neither of us can He anticipates your attacks with that precognitive ability of his Beyond that, for as short a ti for his strength to steady you, keep the attacks at bay Even help you to get through them I’ve taken your blood; I can feel that This last one was bad, but before the stress of Gideon’sexponentially That’s not all due to the sire’s blood"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>