Free Dark Melody by Christine Feehan Page A

different. He was a danger to them, to the women as well as the men. He saw the wary way Syndil always looked at him. She had been attacked by one of their own, Savon, after Savon had turned vampire. Darius had destroyed the vampire, but it had been a close thing.
    Dayan knew the others worried about him, and it had disturbed him that he felt nothing at all. Just alone. Always and forever alone. He was not afraid of Darius and his power, as he should have been. He was Darius's second-in-command. Darius felt tremendous loyalty to him, and they had exchanged blood on more than one occasion when one or the other had been wounded. It enabled them to communicate privately; it also enabled them to track one another at will, no matter how great the distance.
    "You aren't alone, Dayan; never think that," Corinne whispered, aching for him. She heard the loneliness in his voice and she wanted desperately to comfort him. Dayan brought Corinne's fingers to his mouth once more, kissing them gently instead of crushing her to him as he wanted. She had changed his life for all time. He could return to his family now without worry, without the threat that he might turn vampire and have to be hunted and destroyed. He would never have to read in their minds their worry over him, sense their pity and sorrow, their fears. He could feel the love he held for them all, instead of just remembering it. Corinne had done that just by being in the world for him to find. All the long centuries had been worth the wait. All the loneliness, all the terrible emptiness.
    Corinne filled him with hope again. No one would be completely safe until she was bound to him, until the ritual had been completed, but Dayan could breathe easier. He had found her at long last, his Corinne. She would save him, and with him, any that he might have endangered.
    "I wish I could read minds," Corinne teased. "You go very quiet and you never exactly answer my questions. What happened to our conversation regarding those men in my house? It seemed very important to me."
    "Was it?" His voice was that perfect whisper of sound. "I find you the most important thing in my life. It is difficult to keep my mind on anything else, but since it is of such importance to you, I will try."
    He was staring down at her as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world. His black gaze drifted over her face, possessive, hungry, aching with need… with some inner torment she didn't understand. He was looking at her the way a man looks at a woman he wants to spend the entire night making love with.
    "Eternity making love," he corrected, proving he really could read her mind.
    Her eyes widened in astonishment. A blush worked its way up her neck to her face, putting color into her cheeks. She realized it could be embarrassing having Dayan read her mind. She thought about him way too much. Thought about every detail of his appearance – his long, thick hair as shiny as a raven's wing, his black eyes, so intense and needy, his sculpted mouth, perfectly chiseled, molded and shaped into a sensual masterpiece. Half laughing, embarrassed that she couldn't control her wayward thoughts, she put her hand over her eyes to block him out.
    "Do not do that, honey," he reprimanded softly. "Do not ever do that. I would not be happy if you did not find me attractive."
    "You're too attractive," she confessed. "Not real. I don't exactly have these kinds of feelings every day."
    His perfect white teeth flashed at her. "That is a relief."
    "Now you're laughing at me." She tried to stifle the yawn welling up. "It's almost morning and we haven't gotten anywhere with this. Did you call the police? Is it safe to go back into our house?"
    Dayan shook his head. "Maybe to get a few things, but you cannot stay there. When those two men do not return to their people, others will be sent after you. The first place they will look is your home."
    "You didn't call the police, did you?"
    "Why would we want to do that? The police