Deeper than the Night - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,39
crossed her mind when Alex turned away from the window, his deep black gaze locking on hers.
"Go on," he said, his voice bitter. "Do it."
"Do what?"
He jerked his head toward the end table. "My keys are there. You can find a phone on your way home."
She stared at him. "You can read my mind, can't you?"
"When I want to."
"I asked you about that once before, and you lied to me."
He didn't deny it.
"Why did you lie to me?"
"How could I explain it?"
"I don't know. It must be handy, being able to read minds."
"I can only read yours."
"Really?"
"It's a link, forged by the blood I gave you. During the ErAdonian mating ceremony, it's customary for the man and woman to exchange a small amount of blood. Not only does it forge a strong bond between them, but it enables them to share their innermost thoughts, to communicate telepathically over long distances."
He shook his head, wishing he could think of a way to make her realize the danger she was in. "You can tell Barrett whatever you like, but he won't believe you."
"I think he will. It might take him a few minutes to accept, but once he thinks about it, hell realize it's the only explanation that makes sense."
"And you expect me to sit here and wait for him?"
"Of course not. I just want him to leave me alone. I just want to be able to go home again."
He could hardly blame her for that. He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the stark beauty of ErAdona and all he had lost.
"Do what you have to, Kara." He looked at her for a long moment, then left the cavern.
For a time, Kara stared after him, her mind reeling as she tried to sort out her feelings, tried to decide what to do, who to trust, where to turn.
Suddenly, she had to get away, had to be alone to try and sort out her jumbled emotions. With a wordless cry, she picked up his keys, ran into the bedroom, threw her clothing and toiletries into a couple of shopping bags and ran out of the cavern.
A cold wind buffeted her as she tossed the bags onto the seat, then slid behind the wheel of the Porsche.
Standing outside in the shadows, Alex watched her drive away. He could have made her stay. He could have kept her imprisoned in the cavern. He could have overpowered her free will and forced her to do as he wished. But he didn't want a mindless robot. He wanted her love, and her trust, freely given.
Standing on the ledge, he watched the headlights pierce the darkness as she drove down the mountain.
She was going.
It was for the best.
As the distance between them grew, the emptiness inside him expanded, and with it an all-consuming rage that would not be ignored.
His hands curled into tight fists as bitterness roiled up inside him. She was gone.
He felt hollow inside, lifeless, and utterly alone.
He swore under his breath, a cold fury building within him as his gaze swept over the room. She
had walked on the floor, sat on the sofa, warmed herself by his fire.
Not since he had first come here two hundred years ago had he given in to the terrible urge to destroy, but he surrendered to it now.
Like a wild thing, he stalked through the cavern. He shattered the lamp, grabbed the books from the shelf and hurled them into the fire, toppled the bookcase to the floor, ripped the sofa to shreds.
Going into the kitchen, he threw the dishes against the walls, smashed the kitchen table, broke the chairs apart as if they were made of kindling rather than solid wood.
Breathing hard, he moved down the hallway to the bedroom and flung open the door. He would destroy the bed and everything else she had touched, and her memory with it.
A long wail of pain rose in his throat as her scent filled his nostrils. Flinging himself down on the bed, he closed his eyes, and the fragrance that was Kara rose all around him, feminine, clean, provocative.
She was gone, and he would never see her again.
With a choked cry, he wrapped himself in the blanket she had used, his rage swallowed up by an overwhelming sense of grief and loss.
"Kara," he murmured brokenly. "Be well."
Chapter Twelve
Kara drove down the mountain like a maniac, her anxiety to get away from him, from what he was, making her reckless.