Carpathian 12 - Dark Melody

She said it quietly, intuitively.
    There was a small silence, the space of several heartbeats. "I am from an ancient lineage," he admitted softly. "I have gifts, special gifts granted to me."
    She smiled in the darkness. "I am very glad we met, Dayan. There is something wonderful and beautiful about you. When I'm with you I feel as if I could go on forever. The words to your songs and the beautiful music you play are exceptional. I love the sound of your voice, speaking or singing."
    He curled her hand against his chest, so that she could feel his heart beating strongly beneath her skin, right through his shirt. She could feel the heat of his skin, the call of his masculine body as his muscles moved subtly. Above her head, Dayan smiled, his smile slightly wolfish. "You are deliberately trying to direct the conversation away from your childhood." He was secretly pleased by the sincerity he detected in her mind. He had placed no compulsion on Corinne, nothing to enhance her feelings for him. He was relying on the fact that she was his true lifemate, yet he had not bound her to him with the ritual words.
    He feared their forced parting during the daylight hours might be too difficult for her strained heart.
    "Why would you want to hear a boring story on such a beautiful night?" Corinne kept her head down, not wanting to look into his eyes when they saw far too much.

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    "I want to know everything about you, Corinne," he said softly, his voice sheer black magic in the dark of the night.
    How could anyone refuse the beauty of that voice? She took a breath, let it out. "The bad memories are of my mother drinking. I can't really recall much of her doing anything else. There were always men and awful little rooms we lived in, stuffy and hot. I spent all my time listening to music. I'd sneak out and find places where there was live music." She tossed him a quick grin. "It was an advantage being small – I could fit anywhere, and using telekinesis, I could remove locks and open heavy doors."
    His hand moved over her hair in a small caress. He had to touch her. He could feel the contrasting emotions accompanying her memories.
    "I lived for music. I dreamed it and heard it night and day in my head. It kept me sane when I was alone.
    It balanced my world, was something I escaped into. And then, of course, I met John and Lisa and their father."
    There was such a wealth of sadness in her voice, Dayan gathered her into his arms, gently, protectively, his body sheltering hers in the dark of the night. He held her as if she were fragile porcelain, a precious treasure. "I'm grateful you had John and Lisa." And he meant it. John had saved Lisa's life and protected Corinne. He had done his best to create a family for them. Dayan was grateful someone had been there for her when he could not.
    "Don't fall in love with me, Dayan," she murmured softly, pleading with him. She was fighting for him, wanting him to understand he couldn't feel so strongly about her. It was going to be bad enough with Lisa; she couldn't bear for Dayan to count on her and then lose her too.
    His hand cupped her chin, tilting her head so that her eyes met his steady gaze. "I know you better than anyone has ever known you. How could I not love you when I see into your mind and heart? You are everything to me. I know you cannot understand, and to you it does not make sense, but to me – a wanderer with no one to love him, no one to chase away the demons – you are a miracle."
    "Is that what I do for you?" She smiled in spite of herself, the thought beautiful to her. "Do I really chase away the demons?"
    Without hurry, almost lazily, he bent his dark head and took possession of her mouth. He was gentle; there was nothing but gentleness in Dayan when he touched her, a gentleness so at odds with his enormous strength. But his mouth was pure magic, opening a door to a world she had never known existed before he had come into her life. His mouth was masculine and hot, dominating hers; the very earth shifted beneath her feet so that she clung to him for support. He swept her up against his hard frame, yet he held her with exquisite tenderness, infinite tenderness. His mouth was sheer magic.
    He swept Corinne into another world, one of passion and exotic fantasies. One she had never dared to imagine. She might chase away demons for him, but he was something altogether different to her. Unreal.
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