Deeper than the Night - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,35

It would have been easier to believe he was a vampire. At least vampires were, or had been, human . . . .

"You were right, Kara," he said quietly. "There's nothing wrong with your blood. Nor is there anything wrong with my blood."

He paused, and Kara stared at him, her breath trapped in her throat.

"There's nothing wrong with my blood," he repeated, and his voice was infinitely sad,"except that it's alien blood."

Alex ran a hand through his hair, determined to tell her the truth, or at least as much of it as he thought she could handle at the moment.

"Did you know Gail came to me when you were in the hospital? She thought I could help you. I don't know what drew me to your side that night, but I felt compelled to give you some of my blood. Even now, I'm not sure why."

He paused, his hands clenched into fists. "The same compulsion drew me back the next night. Then, when you were in the hospital in Grenvale, I learned there'd been some sort of drastic change in your blood, and I knew it had to be the result of mingling my blood with yours. The night I took you to my house, I caught a rat and fed it poison. When it was near death, I injected the rat with some of my blood. It recovered in less than a minute."

He paced the length of the floor, then stopped and stared into the fire. "Something in the air of your earth, the water, I don't know what, must have caused some kind of chemical mutation in my blood. I don't know what. I don't know why."

Kara couldn't speak. She could only stare at him. The rational part of her mind insisted that his story was simply too bizarre to be believed while another part, some tiny totally illogical part, had to smile. If Alex was to be believed, then Gail had been right all along. There were aliens. Perhaps there were vampires as well. Maybe Nessie did exist. And Big-foot.

Slowly, she shook her head. "I don't believe you. It's impossible."

"Maybe you'll believe this," he said, and turning away from her, he removed his shirt and trousers.

Kara stared at Alexander's back. Part of her mind registered the fact that he didn't wear anything underneath his clothes, that he was tall and broad-shouldered and perfectly formed, but even as she found herself admiring his well-muscled physique, she felt herself recoiling from the visible proof staring her in the face. A dark, diamond-shaped pattern ran down the length of his spine, feathered across his buttocks, and continued down the backs of his legs.

It reminded her of the kind of skin peculiar to the alien invaders she'd seen on an old TV series.

He glanced at her over his shoulder. "Convinced?" His voice was hard and cold and flat.

"What . . . is that?"

"It's perfectly normal."

"Normal?"

"Indeed."

Hardly aware that she was moving, Kara stood up and approached him. Hesitantly, she ran one fingertip over his spine, exploring the raised ridge of flesh that ran the length of his back. It felt coarser, thicker, than the rest of his skin, almost like soft leather. The dark stripe grew lighter in both color and texture as it continued below his waist and down the backs of his legs.

Repelled, yet curious, she touched him again, felt him shudder as her fingers brushed against his spine. Thinking she had hurt him in some way, she withdrew her hand.

But she couldn't tear her gaze away from his broad back, from that peculiar ridge of inhuman flesh. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. Alien. And even as she stared at his back, at the strangely compelling pattern on his spine, she found herself wondering if he was different from earthly men in other ways.

Riveted to the spot, she watched the play of muscles in his back as he slipped on his shirt and trousers.

Unable to help herself, she backed away from him when he turned around to face her.

"You're afraid of me now," he said, and there was a wealth of sadness in his voice.

Incapable of speech, Kara shook her head. Alien. Alien.The words repeated themselves in her mind.

The fear in her eyes pained Alex far more than he had anticipated.

"I won't hurt you, Kara," he said quietly. "I'd swear it on everything I once held dear if I thought you would believe me."

She swallowedhard, wishing she could think of something witty or brilliant to say. Instead,