Deeper than the Night - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,51

I've never felt this way about another woman. Never."

He took a deep breath, unable to ignore the guilt that rose in his heart as he realized that what he had felt for AnnaMara paled beside the love he felt for Kara. He had never loved any woman the way he loved this gentle earth woman; should he live another two hundred years, he knew he would never love like this again.

"I'm sorry, Alex. I know I have no right to be jealous. I know you loved her."

He nodded. "But it was never like this, Kara. I loved her. I would have died for her, but she never filled my heart, my thoughts, my very soul, the way you do."

"Oh, Alex . . ."

Touched to the depths of her being, Kara slipped her arms around his neck. "I love you, Alex. Maybe I am jealous, but I can't help it. I . . . I wish I could have been the first woman in your life."

"Ah, Kara," he murmured helplessly.

Blinking back her tears, she smiledup at him. "I'm going to make you forget those other women, Alexander Claybourne. If it takes the rest of my life, I'm going to make you forget there was ever anyone else."

"I'm at your mercy, natayah,"he replied, grinning. "Do to me whatever you wish . . . ."

"I'm serious." She dragged her hands down his chest, raked her nails along the insides of his thighs, then ran her palms along the sensitive flesh of his spine. "I'm going to burn those women out of your mind and heart."

"I'm already burning," he said, his voice silky with desire. "Can't you feel the flame?"

"Oh, yes," Kara said, laughing softly as the evidence of his desire swelled against her belly. "Oh, yes."

And then she was on fire, too, writhing in the inferno of desire that burned between them, and for Kara there was only Alex, and for him there was only Kara, always and forever Kara, burning away the memories of the past, and he knew his life hadn't truly begun until he met the woman he held in his arms, and in his heart.
Chapter Fifteen
Kara woke slowly, unwilling to surrender the beautiful dream she'd been having. And then she felt Alexander's breath caress her neck, felt the welcome weight of his leg lying across hers, the heat of his palm curved over her breast, and she knew it hadn't been a dream at all.

Turning her head, she saw Alex sleeping beside her. Thick black lashes lay upon his cheeks. His lips, full and sensuous, were slightly parted. She watched the steady rise and fall of his chest, marveling anew at the width of his shoulders. Just looking at him was enough to make her heart beat fast, make her yearn to touch him, to run her fingers over his chest and feel the smooth warmth of his skin. How strong and handsome he was! And how much she loved him, this man from a distant planet.

Two hundred years, she thought. He had been on earth for two hundred years. The things he must have seen, the changes, the wars, the advancements in science and medicine, and yet how infantile it all must seem to him. His people had achieved space travel in a time when her ancestors were still commuting by horse and buggy.

Two hundred years, and in all that time, he had been alone. She ached for him, ached in the deepest reaches of her heart and soul, as she tried to imagine what it had been like for him, a stranger in a strange world, afraid to reveal the truth of who he was, afraid to trust those around him, forced to live forever in the shadows.

The curve of his jaw tempted her touch and she traced the outline with her fingertip.

"I'll make it up to you," she whispered. "I don't know how, but I will. I promise."

"Make what up to me?"

His voice, low and husky with sleep, startled her. "You're awake," she exclaimed softly.

He made a soft sound of assent as he opened his eyes. Placing one hand behind her head, he drew her closer, claiming her lips with his. "What are you going to make up to me, Kara?"

She shook her head as she felt a faint blush creep into her cheeks. "Nothing."

His lips nibbled at her ear. "Tell me."

"I was thinking how awful it must have been for you these past two hundred years, living alone, needing . . . someone to love