A Whisper of Eternity - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,93

all the people milling around,Tracy found that easy to believe. Gamblers, transients, tourists who'd had too much to drink - they would be easy prey.

"Are there others here now?"

He nodded."The man in the flowered tie.The woman in the sequined dress.The stickman at the next table.The attendant making change at the slot machine in the corner.The lady in the cashier's cage."

Tracymoved closer to Dominic, all thought of gambling forgotten as she tried to pick out the vampires among the people moving through the casino. She looked at the woman in the sequined dress, trying to see what it was that set her apart from the other women at the craps table. Her skin was pale and flawless and though she wasn't really pretty, there was something different about her, something intangible yet undeniable. The same was true of the man in the flowered tie. He looked rather ordinary and yet there was something about him that set him apart from the others. She noticed that the other people at the table clustered around them, seeming to be eager for their attention.

Dominic leaned down to whisper in her ear. "It is the glamour of being vampire that sets them apart."

Tracyfrowned at him. "Is that why I invited you to dinner that first night?Because I was mesmerized by you?"

"No, though that might have been a part of it.We share the bond of eternity, my best beloved one." He looked down at her, his dark eyes hot. "We will always find each other."

She whispered his name, hoping he could hear the longing in her voice.

His gaze moved over her face and then, abruptly, he scooped up his chips and dropped them into his coat pocket. Taking her by the hand, he led her out of the casino to the elevators.

Desire hummed and flared between them as the car climbed the floors.

He was undressing her almost before the door to their room closed behind them and by the time they reached the bedroom, she was naked. Lying in bed, she watched him undress, admiring anew the width of his shoulders, the way his muscles rippled under his skin as he stripped off his trousers, the latent power evident in every move.

He looked at her, and she thought she would melt from the heat of his gaze. And then he was there on the bed beside her, drawing her into his arms, murmuring that he adored her, worshipped her,could not exist without her.

Caught up in the wonder and the magic that was Dominic, she welcomed the touch of his fangs at her throat, pleased that he desired her, that she could give him that which he needed to survive.

The second time they made love was as soul-shattering and pleasurable as the first.Exhausted mentally and physically by the events of the day, she fell asleep in his arms.

She woke with the sun shining brightly in her face. Eyes closed, she smiled and stretched as she remembered the night past and then, with a cry, her gaze darted to the pillow beside hers, afraid of what she would find.

But Dominic was gone.

Relief swept through her. For a moment, she had been afraid she might find a pile of ashes on the pillow.

Piling the pillows behind her, she sat up and stared out the window.

A moment later, there was a knock at the door.

Wrapping a sheet around her nakedness, she padded across the thick carpet. "Yes?"

"I've brought your breakfast, Mrs. St. John."

She smiled at the sound of her married name as she opened the door a crack and peered out. "I didn't order any breakfast."

"Mr. St. John ordered it last night, ma'am."

Tracyopened the door and stepped back and a young man wheeled a cart into the room. A second young man followed the first. He was carrying a vase filled with red roses, which he placed on the desk, and then he handed her an envelope.

"Will there be anything else, ma'am?" the first young man asked.

"No, thank you." She glanced around the room. "I'm afraid I don't have any..."

The boy smiled at her. "It's been taken care of," he said, and the two young men left the room, closing the door behind them.

Tracyopened the envelope and withdrew a sheet of hotel stationery and five one-hundred-dollar bills. Laying the cash on the desk, she read the note:

My best beloved one, I have gone to seek my rest. I will come to you at sunset. Use the money to buy whatever you wish, whatever you need. Know that I am dreaming