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Tracyrose after a restless night If she drea quickly, she checked out of the motel, then stopped at a nearby cafe for breakfast

She feltFears were always less scary in the light of day; there was comfort in the presence of other people And, if Do the day She blew out a sigh There was noifShe&039;d seen too er

She ate a leisurely breakfast - hot cakes ss She didn&039;t often indulge in such things but thisthe cafe, she stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few snacks and sodas for the road, filled up the gas tank,then turned onto the freeway, heading north She turned the radio on to her favorite country station and settled back for a day of driving Perhaps she&039;d go toCanada , she thought Maybe she would meet one of those sexy Mounties and settle down and raise a fareat northwest

Dominicrose the instant the sun slid behind the horizon Dressing quickly, hein the center of the living rooh the house She wasn&039;t hoht

Where was she? He cursed softly Had he not respected her wishes all these centuries, had he taken her blood as he so longed to do, there would now be a bond between them, a connection that would lead hi upstairs, he went into her bedrooone

Jaw clenched, he went to her studio If he needed further proof that she was gone, he found it here Though several canvases re she had done of hi

She had run away Run away froh hi in the driveway, he unleashed his senses It was easy to pluck her scent from the air, to follow the near invisible tracks of her car&039;s tires

"You will not escape ray mist, he followed her trail

To the freeway

To the ht

To the cafe where she had eaten breakfast

To the grocery store, the gas station, and back to the freeway

And, at last, to the motel where she slept, unaware that he watched her

Tracywoke slowly Eyes closed, she stretched her ars;then , with a yawn, she sat upTiain She had covered several hundred ht At this rate, she&039;d soon be crossing the Canadian border

She frowned as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed Soht

Rising, she padded across the floor and opened the drapes

And looked out over a huge yard surrounded by an enorain? It was a silly question, and she knew it, but she pinched herself anyway Ouch! She was definitely awake

Fear was a cold, hard knot in her belly as she slowly turned and glanced around the rooe and square There were tall, narros set in three of the walls; the bed she had slept in took up s covered the hardwood floor There was an ar table andchair stood between one pair of s Her suitcase sat on the floor near the door

Where was she?

And how had she gotten here?

She didn&039;t like the answer that quickly came to htgown, then went to the door and tried the latch, surprised when it opened Stepping through the doorway, she found herself in a long, dark corridor Her bare feet made no sound on the dark red runner as she tiptoed toward the head of the stairs and peered over the railing She listened for a moment and then, convinced there was no one there, she tiptoed down the winding staircase and hurried toward the front door

It didn&039;t appear to be locked, but it wouldn&039;t open

Frowning, she wandered fro the draperies as she went

The house was bigger than any she had ever seen, including her own There was a living roo room, a library whose walls were lined with shelves filled with books, a large room with a polished oak floor - a ballrooh the kitchen and pantry, noting they were both stocked with food There was a music room that held a very old piano, a violin, and a harp There was another rooht be the solarium

She tried every door, every- they refused to open Were they locked froht Zone bed and breakfast?

Going back upstairs, she poked her head into the roo roolad to see that the house seemed to have all the modern conveniences, except a telephone Anda single mirror in the whole place

The last room she looked into see table,a half -dozen es, a couple of easels, and several blank canvases in a variety of sizes The case that held her paints and brushes sat just inside the door, along with the blank canvases and the easel she had brought fro to the rooe of the bed Hoas she going to get out of here? She hit her head with the heel of her hand Her cell phone! Why hadn&039;t she thought of it sooner?

Grabbing her bag, she ruht her hereaside and glanced at her surroundings It was a pretty room The walls were covered in old-fashioned paper with pink cabbage roses The ceiling was high; painted angels and nyht-iron candelabras on the walls, a small Tiffany lamp on the cherrywood table beside the bed The bedspread was a deep, dusky rose, as were the heavy draperies at the s

Hunger drove her downstairs once again In the kitchen, she went through the cupboards They were fully stocked with canned goods, bread, crackers, Jell-O, cake e, ar, salt and pepper, spices and condi else she could possibly want, including the iteerator held milk, cream, butter, sodas, lunch meat, and several kinds of cheese; the freezer was filled with etables, and three kinds of ice cream

At least she wouldn&039;t starve to death

But where the devil was she?

And who had brought her here?

She couldn&039;t believe that someone could have taken her out of theher Nevertheless, here she wasWhich brought her back to her original question

Where was she?

After eating a bowl of cereal and sliced peaches, she went through the house once again, trying every door and , but to no avail In the living room, she picked up an iron poker, turned her face away, and swung the poker at theThe glass should have shattered, but nothing happened

She stood there for several ned to the fact that there was no way out, she went into the library, found a copy ofWutheringHeights , and curled up in a chair She spent the rest of thethe bittersweet love story of Cathy and Heathcliff

After lunch, she went upstairs, laid out her paint brushes, set up a canvas, and spent the rest of the afternoon painting the view out her bedrooan to set that fear once again began to make itself known

She wasn&039;t surprised when Do black cloak over a black shirt and black trousers His feet were encased in soft black leather boots Though she had refused to admit it, she had known, on some deep level of awareness, that this was his house

He inclined his head in her direction "Good evening I trust you found everything you needed"

"Yes" Her fingers clenched around the brush It was hard to speak past the luh why she should thank hiht her here without her consent, after all

He took a step into the room

She took a step back

He lifted one brow "Are you afraid of ht you here because I wanted you here"

"Why didn&039;t I wake up?"

"Because I did not wish you to"

The fear in her throat ealed in her stomach She started to ask another question, but before she could for in front of her, only inches away She gasped, startled She hadn&039;t seen him move

"I will not hurt you, my best beloved one"

"Where are we?"

"This is my house"

"But where are we?"

"Ah We are in a distant corner ofMaine "

"So, I&039;uest who can&039;t leaveSounds like prison to ain I will not be shut out of your life this time I will not share you with another This time, you will believe This ti to keep me locked up inside this house?" She stared down at her hands, noticing, for the first tihtly, her knuckles hite "And what if I believe and I still don&039;t want you? Still don&039;t want to be what you say you are?"

"Then I will let you go"

"Why won&039;t the doors or s open?"

"Because I did not wish them to, but they will open for you now"

"Did you take lared at hihtened

Gently, he took the paint brush from her hand and dropped it into a can of turpentine "Coh it sounded like an invitation, she knew she had no choice When he offered her his hand, she took it Together, they walked down the stairs The front door opened at a wave of his hand and they stepped outside

The night was cool and clear A fullthe trees and flowers in a wash of silver Electric lights illustone path that led around the side of the house and through a wrought iron gate that opened into an enorrew in the distance Closer at hand were flower beds filled with roses and shrubs There were trees cut into a variety of shapes: a bear standing with one paw raised, a unicorn looking over its shoulder, an elephant standing on its hind legs, a giraffe, a whale, a seal, a dragon There were a number of fruit trees and, further down the path, a sazebo stood in the h wall surrounded the yard and the house She rew near the wall It wouldn&039;t be too difficult to shinny up one of the trees and clihtened on hers "The wall is electrifiedTo discourage vandals"

Tracylooked at hi beyond the wallsave a large forest," Dominic went on "The nearest house is thirty htingale House?"

"I did not say I lived here Only that it belongs to me"

"And what am I supposed to do here? Oh! The seascape! I&039;m supposed to ship it to Mr Petersen next week"