Dark Melody Page 0,35

needy against hers.

The moment they were outside in the cool evening air, Corinne wrenched herself away from him, then turned to glare at him. "You had no right to do that to her. And don't even try to play innocent."

He didn't look at all remorseful as his possessive gaze drifted over every inch of her. "You are even more beautiful than I remember from last night. When I woke, I thought I might have dreamed you up. My night fantasy."

His voice was mesmerizing, so beautiful Corinne found herself wanting to hear him speak more. She wished he had his guitar in his hands so she could listen to him sing. No one had ever called her a night fantasy before. She was certain she wasn't beautiful, but he made her feel beautiful. For a moment she could only stand there, blinking up at him, caught in his spell.

Corinne bit her lower lip hard to wake herself up. "You must have been a poet in another life. Or a gigolo. Stay on track here, Dayan. I'm not letting you off the hook."

"I did not want your friend to be falsely attracted to me," he said quietly, without any embarrassment, yet modestly, almost humbly. "Sometimes women think they want me just because I am performing on stage. I will admit to you, I influence them to turn away from me. Perhaps I did so a little too strongly in her case."

Corinne was astonished that he'd told her the truth. When he looked at her with those black eyes, his hair tumbling onto his forehead, all she could think about was kissing him. "Did you make her want to be with Cullen?" she asked suspiciously.

"I would not do such a thing." A mischievous grin softened the edges of his mouth. "I did send Cullen to your table. The moment you walked in, I knew you were the one who held the other half of my heart." She tilted her chin at him. "Are you influencing me?"

"I hope so. I want you. I need you in my life. I am not using mind control on you, but I am attempting to be very charming. Is it working?"

He could melt a woman's heart at sixty paces. "No." She said it very firmly, but inside she was doing a slow burn. "I don't want you influencing Lisa in any way. It makes me very uncomfortable."

"I know you love her, Corinne," he said softly. "Anyone who is family to you is my family. I would not do anything to harm her or belittle her worth. I will protect her as if she were my own sister."

Corinne took a deep breath and forced herself to look away from him. Staring into the gathering darkness, she tapped out a nervous rhythm with her bare foot. "You can't feel this way about me so fast, Dayan. The truth is, I'm not going to live very long. I'm not saying that to make you feel sorry for me; it's a fact. I've faced it, but Lisa hasn't. You need to be practical, Dayan. It's hard enough with Lisa pretending all the time - I feel like I have to protect her from the truth. I don't want you to be that way too." For no reason at all she felt tears burning behind her eyes. Not for herself - she had gone beyond dreaming - but for him, for that utter loneliness she occasionally glimpsed in the depths of his eyes.

Dayan caught her chin firmly in his fingers, forcing her to face his glittering black eyes burning with such intensity. "You will not die, honey. I will not allow such a thing. Make up your mind to live in this world, because you will share your life with me. I will allow nothing less."

"You don't understand, Dayan," she replied gently. "The doctors - "

"Are human," he interrupted. "And they are very much mistaken. I agree we will take precautions until such time as one of our healers can examine you, but you will not die. Is that perfectly clear? You do understand me in this, and you will obey."

She found herself laughing at his sheer arrogance despite the gravity of their conversation. "Dayan, you can't just command someone to live. I have a bad heart; I've had it for years. I'm carrying a child. My heart isn't going to last forever."

His black gaze bore straight into hers until she felt as if he