“You deliberately ignored my order to sleep and went with my idiot friend Cullen to find Lisa.” He bit out each word between his white teeth, reminding her of a wolf.
“You don’t mean to call Cullen an idiot,” she chastised gently, not in the least intimidated by his ferocious expression.
“Cullen knew he was at the top of the society’s hit list and he went out unprotected, and took you with him. I do not consider that good judgment on his part. Hence the term ‘idiot’ might apply.” His tone was severe.
Corinne went back to rubbing the lines of strain on his handsome face. “Of course it was good judgment. What else could he do? Lisa had taken off, and if he hadn’t followed her, they would have killed her,” she pointed out reasonably.
“He took you with him.” It was a mistake that Dayan considered unforgivable. Under the circumstances, Dayan thought he was being extraordinarily understanding about it.
She opened her mouth to reply, but there was a nameless expression in his eyes, something wild and untamed, something primitive. “I’ll bet someone has told you that you’re very intimidating,” she teased him, trying to ease the tension. “Not that I’m intimidated by you, but I can see how other people might be.”
“It would be best for you if you found me intimidating.” He could not be severe with her no matter how hard he tried. She looked up at him, small and fragile, so incredibly beautiful, her sweet, compassionate nature shining out of her eyes, and he was instantly lost. It was enough to drive him to the edge of madness.
“Do you think?” She didn’t look intimidated, she looked amused. There were dark circles under her eyes and bruises on her forehead, yet her eyes were dancing with laughter. “I’m not at all sure that would be good for you. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the undue adulation all those fans give you.”
One black eyebrow shot up.
“Undue
adulation? I totally deserved adulation. Get used to it, woman. Night after night while I am up on the stage playing, you will have to sit there sharing me with my fans. There is no need to be jealous, Corinne. I will see only you while I am performing.”
“Such a comedian.” Corinne gave a passing thought to sitting up and dismissed the idea as too difficult. “I have no intention of sitting through your performances. Private ones will be enough for me. And I don’t have a jealous bone in my body. We don’t have to worry about childish things like that.”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Childish? That is a strong term. Harsh. Very harsh.” She was smiling again, that smile that could light up the world. Dayan had no choice but to fasten his mouth to hers.
The earth moved and time stopped and he couldn’t find the discipline to make it a gentle, tender moment. She had scared him, stopped his heart, and he needed her. Needed to feed on her mouth, drown in her sweetness for just a few moments. Dayan forced his body under rigid control and slowly, reluctantly lifted his head. “Please do not ever do that to me again.” His voice was a velvet weapon, and he used it shamelessly. Briefly he rested his forehead against hers. “I found you. In the darkness, where there was no hope for me, where I struggled and battled the monster every second of every night, you came to me. You saved me, Corinne. You cannot abandon me now. I cannot go back to a life alone. No one can ask that of me, not even you. How can I make you understand? I cannot go back. You must make up your mind to live, if not for yourself and the baby, for me. Love me that much. Do it for me.”
At once tears swam in her large green eyes. “Dayan.” She whispered his name softly, hopelessly, lovingly. “Don’t you think I would promise you if I could? I want that more than anything — I do, but I’m only human, I can’t do the impossible.” Her fingers tangled in his thick, dark hair. “I had a strange dream that your healers came to me and tried to help me. I know the doctors said I was dying — I heard them talking to Lisa. I heard her crying. Yet I’m still alive, and so is my daughter. Tell me.”
“Gregori did his best to repair your heart, Corinne, but the improvement is temporary, to give the baby a chance to grow. Darius said the child is strong and wants to live. We have that in our favor. It is a delicate balance, waiting until she is big enough to survive without you. Gregori wants a few more weeks for her. He is working with your heart to give us that time.”
“Then it wasn’t all a dream.” Corinne caught his head and lifted it so that he was forced to look at her. “What are you, Dayan? Was part of it a dream, or were you there too, helping them in some way?”
For the first time ever, his black gaze slid away from hers. He sat up straight, fussing with her covers. “I love you, Corinne,” he said softly. “I love you more than anything or anyone on this earth. You need to know that.”
“Look at me.” Corinne took his hand and brought it to her mouth, her breath warm against his skin. “Dayan, look at me, please.”
He sighed, and she could hear his heart pounding strongly. His reaction was unusual, and she knew it was significant in some way. “What is it that you think I can’t love in you? Because that’s what I feel. You’re giving me a part of you, but you don’t want me to know all of you. I feel connected to you. Strongly connected. We’re two halves of the same whole. I’ve been married, Dayan. I knew what I was supposed to feel. I loved John, but not in the same way. With you I feel everything and more. I could listen to you talk forever. Or simply sit beside you quietly without words. It would be enough for me. I want to be with you, but I don’t know who you are. You say you can love me because you know me through my mind. I don’t have that advantage. In order for me to know you, really know you, you have to talk to me. There’s a part of you closed off to me. Don’t you trust me to care for you no matter what it is?”
“You do not trust yourself. I can see into your mind, Corinne. I see you wrestling with doubts. You think it all happened too fast. That it is simply chemistry. Purely sexual. Or that it is just because you are pregnant and you need someone. You give yourself many reasons, many excuses for your feelings toward me. You do not say to yourself that you love me.”
Her eyes searched his black gaze. There was pain there, in the dark depths. He was hurt, and it upset her. “Dayan, you have probably always had the ability to read minds, so it is second nature to you, but to someone who isn’t telepathic it is uncomfortable. I am used to censoring my thoughts, choosing how I want to present myself to the world. You can see into my mind, but for some strange reason, it doesn’t bother me. If it were anyone else, including John or Lisa, I would be horrified that someone could read my thoughts. That should tell you something right there.”
“You think it tells
you
something, Corinne. I already know why you feel that way. You are my lifemate, the one who holds the light and compassion, guards these treasures for me. You are my anchor in a world of darkness and violence, of bleak emptiness. You are the other half of my soul. The best half. I know I need you far more than you will ever need me. I know these things. You have not come to terms with what you feel because you do not trust it. You do not entirely trust me.”
“How can you say that, Dayan? I’m here with you instead of in a hospital. I just met you, and some fairly bizarre things have happened, but I’m still with you.”
He laughed softly. “As I recall, you had no real choice in the matter. I picked you up and carried you out of the hospital. You were not in any condition to argue with me.”
“That’s not the point.” She was trying hard to find the energy to sit up. “I’m not the type of person to just go off with someone — that’s the point. Obviously, I feel
strongly
for you.” She plucked at the quilt with idle fingers. “The healer believes my heart will give out eventually, doesn’t he?”