Dark Melody Page 0,9

slightest interest in any woman.

Now Dayan's body language shouted that he felt protective, even possessive, of Corinne. There was something else, something in Dayan's eyes that had never been there before. A flicker of something dangerous. Cullen had assured Lisa that her sister was perfectly safe with Dayan, but now he wasn't so certain.

"Perhaps we had better get the ladies out of the wind," Dayan drawled. "Cullen, let's escort them to their car, and then I'll pick up my guitar." His voice brushed over Corinne's skin again like fingers.

She shivered in reaction. At once he drew her into the shelter of his arms. "I should have realized it was too cold out here for you," he said softly, apologetically, his breath warm against her neck. His body was hot and hard against the satin softness of her cool skin. "I was being selfish, wanting you to myself."

He glanced at Lisa, and she unexpectedly found herself leading the men to her small sporty car, wondering why it was suddenly so important to her to get Corinne out of the wind. Dayan kept possession of Corinne, handing her carefully into the front seat. "Where can we meet you so we can talk in a quieter atmosphere?"

He asked it softly, his black eyes suddenly on Lisa's face.

Lisa blinked and blurted out her address, something she would never normally do. Corinne stared at her in horror. Lisa clapped a hand over her mouth guiltily and watched as Dayan reached casually across Corinne to buckle her seat belt.

Hard and defined with muscle, his body brushed Corinne's. He smelled of spice and woods. Totally masculine. He dwarfed the small car. His chin nuzzled Corinne's hair. "I am not a serial killer, although it is nice to know you have some instinct for self-preservation."

He closed the door on her shocked expression, his arrogant, bad-boy grin very much in evidence.

Lisa put her head down on the steering wheel. "Don't say it, Corinne. I don't know what I was thinking, giving him our address like that. He's just - I don't know, too much. I couldn't think straight for a minute there with his eyes staring at me as if he could see right through me. I'm sorry. You don't think he's some kind of crazy person, do you?"

"I think we're the crazy ones." It was a relief to be away from the potency of Dayan's company. He made Corinne feel out of control. Spinning madly. Wild. Sexy. Wanting. "And he did point out he wasn't a serial killer. That was comforting news, unless serial killers regularly make such statements to strange women."

Both women dissolved into laughter, dispelling most of the tension in the car. Corinne found she could breathe again, think again, as Lisa put the car in gear and, honking the horn, plunged bravely into traffic. "So, are you looking at Cullen? Because he's certainly looking at you." Corinne rubbed her palms up and down her arms over the exact spot Dayan's arms had held her. Oddly, she could still feel him close to her. She could smell his scent on her, and it was strangely comforting.

"I really think Cullen is great," Lisa admitted. "You know how I hate being the decorative doll on the big guy's arm. He didn't make me feel like that at all, not once. He's nice, Rina. Very nice. And when I realized you were gone, he was so sweet, reassuring me that Dayan wasn't a playboy preying on women. The truth is, I panicked. I don't feel comfortable when you're out of my sight anymore." She threw Corinne a quick, mischievous grin as she rolled through the next three stop signs and narrowly missed jumping a curb. "I sound like I'm two and afraid to leave my mommy. Cullen's cute, though not in a kiddy way." She tugged on Corinne's sleeve. "And what was that?"

"What was what?" Corinne tried to sound innocent, but a blush slowly crept up her neck into her face. "You know exactly what I mean," Lisa accused, her eyes laughing. "That dance."

"Oh, that." Corinne pushed both hands through her mass of gleaming hair and lifted it off her neck, the gesture curiously sexy. "That was scorching."

Lisa let out a whistle. "Scorching? Not just hot?"

Corinne shook her head solemnly. "Absolutely, totally scorching. That man is lethal and shouldn't be allowed to live anywhere near the female population."

"I'm a believer. You've always been immune to men. If he can scorch you, he should definitely be locked up