for everything. Especially for Carlotta." She caressed the doll's hair. Perhaps she wasjust a child, Sara thought, to be so overjoyed with such a gift.
"I've brought you something to eat," he said, and reaching into a box, he withdrew a steaming platter, placed it on a tray, and set it in her lap. "I hope you like it."
"It smells wonderful," Sara replied. "But aren't you going to eat?"
His gaze slid away from hers. "I've eaten."
"Oh." She didn't know where to begin. The plate was piled high with chicken in a creamy sauce, vegetables dripping with butter. There was a chunk of warm bread dripping honey.
He placed a glass of wine on the table, then inclined his head. "Enjoy your meal, cara."
Gabriel stood beside the fireplace, gazing atthe flames, while she ate. The smell of the chicken sickened him, and yet he yearned to be able to sit beside Sara, to share the meal with her, as a normal man might have done.
He had not eaten solid food in centuries; indeed, the very thought made him physically ill. Fresh blood was his diet now, that and an occasional glass of red wine.
He glanced at her over his shoulder. She looked vibrant and alive. Cursed though he might be, his blood had saved her. The hideous burns and blisters had all but disappeared. In another day or two, they would be completely gone.
He stared into the flames again. Tomorrow... how long could he keep her here? How could he bear to let her go?
She'd been here but a day, and already his life was made richer. Caught in the web of sleep in his lair, he had felt her presence in the room above. For the first time in over three centuries, he had slept without feeling alone.
And yet, he couldn't condemn her to a life with him, a life that was no life at all. He couldn't let her spend her days in this dreary place, cut off from the rest of humanity, just so he could have the pleasure of her company at night, feel her nearness while he slept.
"Gabriel?"
He turned to face her, realizing she had been speaking to him for several moments. "I'm sorry, cara, did you say something?"
"I asked if you would share a glass of wine with me."
"Of course."
She watched him cross the room, his steps fluid, his cloak swirling out behind him. He moved like moonlight on water, she thought. It was as if his feet never touched the floor.
He refilled her glass and handed it to her. Smiling her thanks, she took a sip, then offered him the glass.
His dark gray eyes met hers as he turned the goblet in his hand, drinking from the place where her lips had been.
A quick heat uncurled within her as their eyes met. There was something sensual, erotic, in watching him, in knowing that his mouth was where hers had been only moments before.
She licked lips gone suddenly dry as his presence seemed to fill the entire room. The light of the fire danced in his hair, limning the ebony-colored strands with gold. The expression in his eyes grew intense, as if the heat of the flames burned within their depths. She studied the breadth of his shoulders, familiar with the latent strength that resided within him. He was dressed all in black, always in black.
He hadn't moved, and yet he seemed to be all around her, filling her senses, until all she could see or hear was Gabriel. All she could taste or touch or smell was Gabriel.
Her heart pounded within her breast, a low steady beat, like that of a distant drum.
She opened her mouth to speak his name, but no sound emerged save that of a sigh.
" Cara..." He took a step toward her, one hand stretched in entreaty. Clad in her long white gown, with the wealth of her golden hair falling over her shoulders, and the light of the flames reflected in the depths of her blue eyes, she looked like a madonna, an angel.
He folded his hand into a fist and clenched it at his side. She was an angel, he thought, and he was a monster who had no right to touch her, to want her.
He took a step backward, and she had the feeling that he was withdrawing from her, that there was more than distance separating them. The thought frightened her.