Deeper than the Night - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,88

to cause you any more trouble."

"Then don't." She patted the mattress invitingly.

Alex shook his head. "Kara, please . . ." The words, meant to be a firm denial, fell from his lips like a prayer. "I'm only thinking of you."

"I know, but I'm a big girl, Alex. I can make my own decisions. You promised to love me and defend me," she reminded him quietly. "You promised me your life, Alexander Claybourne, promised you would be mine for as long as you lived. Have you forgotten?"

"No."

"Have you stopped loving me?"

"No."

"I promised to stay by your side in good times and bad. Would you send me away and make me break that promise?"

He groaned low in his throat, as if her words had pierced his heart.

"Would you?"

"To save your life, I would do anything. Anything. Even send you away."

"You've never done me any harm. Giving me your blood saved my life."

"Getting you pregnant could be fatal."

"I'm willing to take that chance."

"I'm not."

"Isn't it a little late to worry about that now?"

Her words cut through him like a knife through water. What if she was already pregnant?

"I didn't mean it like that," Kara said quickly. "I only meant we've already made love numerous times and nothing bad has happened. Maybe you're worrying for nothing. Maybe you were right, and it isn't possible for us to have a child."

"And maybe it is." He looked at her, sitting on the bed, her beautiful blue eyes warm with love, and wondered what kind of monster he was that he wanted nothing more than to go to her, to wrap her in his arms and bury himself deep within her.

"You're not a monster, Alex." She smiled as a low groan rumbled in his throat. "Now you know how I felt when you were reading my mind."

"Kara, what am I going to do with you?"

"Love me, Alex. Just love me as I love you."

"With my dying breath, natayah."

"Prove it."

He shook his head. "Since I can't make you listen to reason, I'll make a bargain with you."

She tilted her head to one side. "A bargain?"

"No morelovemaking between us until we're sure you're not already pregnant."

"And then?"

A muscle twitched in his cheek. "One of us will be neutered."

"Neutered!" she exclaimed, horrified by the idea. "What's wrong with just using a contraceptive?"

"None of them are foolproof."

"Neutered." She said the word as if it tasted bad. "Which one of us?" Kara shook her head as his gaze slid away from hers. "No, Alex, I can't . . ."

"I can't go to a hospital, or a doctor's office, Kara. I can't take a chance like that."

"But . . ." She bit down on her lower lip. She wanted to shout at him, to scream that she wanted children, his children if she could have them.

"Perhaps it's time for you to re-think our relationship, Kara, to make sure you understand what you're giving up."

Kara stared up at him, mute. She didn't want to re-think anything.She didn't want to live without Alex, and yet the thought of permanently putting an end to any hope of having children silenced the denial that rose to her lips.

"I'll sleep on the sofa," Alex said, and leftthe room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Kara stared at the door. To be sterile. Never to have children. Even adoption might be out of the question. She didn't know what legalities were involved in adopting a child. She was certain that Alex must have a phony birth certificate. He drove a car, so he probably had a driver's license. He earned money, so he probably had a social security number. A harsh laugh escaped her lips. In two hundred years, he had probably accumulated numerous forms of identification.

Alien.

Two hundred years.

It hit her then, really hit her for the first time. Alex was an alien. He had told her that people were the same all over, and yet he was still from another planet, another race of people. What if she did get pregnant? What might the result be? Images of newborn babies flashed through her mind babies with four arms and two heads, babies with skin like leather, babies with three eyes . . .

She was letting her imagination run wild and she knew it. Alex was perfectly healthy and so was she. If they were able to conceive a child, there was no reason why they couldn't have a perfectly formed baby. It was far more likely that she would be unable to conceive at all, and that brought her