acquiescing to Nina's demands. He should have remembered how spiteful she could be. He should have done anything, promised anything, to temper her anger. Perhaps it wasn't too late...
"No!"
Startled, he glanced down at Sara to find her staring up at him, her wide blue eyes filled with jealousy.
"Don't even think of going to that... that woman."
"It might be for the best, cara."
"No."
"Sara, she has the power to hypnotize others to do her will. If she manages to destroy me, you'll be at her mercy."
"I don't care. I won't let you go to her."
Gabriel raised one black brow. " Youwon't let me?"
Sara shook her head. "You're mine now. I won't share you with her or any other woman."
"Ah, my sweet Sara, what a tiger you are."
"I love you, Gabriel."
"Sara..."
"I know," she replied. "I know." And taking him by the hand, she led him into her bedroom and closed the door.
"Are you sure, cara?"
She looked deep into his eyes, remembering the nights he had come to her in the orphanage, the nights he had taken her to the ballet, to the opera. He had saved her life, turned her dream of being a ballerina into reality. She had once thought him an angel; now she knew that he was not an angel at all, but a man who was cursed to spend his life in darkness, a creature of the night.
The man she loved.
"I'm sure, Gabriel," she whispered.
"Are you?"
He turned her so that she was facing the looking glass in the corner, and then he stood beside her, his arm wrapped around her waist.
They stood side by side, but only her reflection stared back at them.
"I'm a vampire, Sara Jayne. I can only share half of your life. I can't give you children. I'll never grow old. Can you live with that?"
She glanced at Gabriel, standing beside her, and then stared at the mirror again. She could hear him. She could touch him, yet he cast no reflection at all.
"Sara?"
"Are you still trying to get rid of me, Gabriel?" She reached up to caress his cheek, but in the glass she was touching only empty air. "Don't you know that's impossible?"
"I just want you to be sure."
With a sigh, she took him in her arms and kissed him, her tongue seeking his as she rubbed her breasts against his chest. "I'm sure, my angel," she whispered. She ran her hands over his shoulders, down his arms. "Very sure."
With a low growl, he swung her into his arms and carried her to the bed. Eager now, he removed her clothing, his body trembling with yearning as her soft curves were revealed to his gaze. How beautiful she was! And she wanted him. It was incredible.
When he started to undress, she stayed his hand, then bent to the task herself, letting her hands glide over his chest as she removed his shirt, reacquainting herself with the hard planes of his body.
He groaned low in his throat as her hands aroused him. And then he couldn't wait any longer. Pressing her down to the mattress, he covered her body with his, her name a sigh on his lips as their bodies merged and became one.
She held him close, murmuring his name over and over again as the passion between them burned hotter, brighter, rivaling the energy and the heat of the sun.
She was all the light he would ever need, soft and warm, her touch filling the emptiness of eternity, driving the loneliness from his heart.
He felt her shudder beneath him, heard her gasp his name. A moment later, he threw back his head, his body convulsing one last time.
For a long moment, he held her close, his face buried in the curve of her neck. Knowing he must be crushing her, he rolled onto his side, his body folding around hers, holding her close. Too soon, the dawn would be upon them. But for now, for this brief span of time, she was his to hold, and to love.
He stirred with the coming of dawn, and his movements awakened Sara. Propping herself up on one arm, she watched him dress.
"Where are you going?"
He made a vague gesture with his hand. "I need to find a new lair."
"Stay."
"No."
"Why not?"
Why, indeed? She knew what he was; he had no need to hide himself from her.
"You can rest in here, as you did before."
"I would have your promise that you won't enter the room until nightfall."
She sat up, the covers tucked under her arms, and he thought