Gregori smiled down at Savannah, his features full of love, then he turned ice-cold silvery eyes on Julian. “I should accept your offer, Julian, and drain you dry. It would put you in the earth for a few days and out of your lifemate’s hair.”
Julian laughed softly, nuzzling Desari’s thick mass of long, silky hair. “She loves me in her hair, right, Desari?”
Dayan could feel the relief in the room, the release of tension into humor. Gregori was nearly gray with fatigue, but no one mentioned it. Savannah glanced up at the healer, and they both simply dissolved into mist and streamed from the chamber before Dayan had a chance to thank them. He knew he owed a huge debt to Gregori.
“We will leave you now,” Desari said in her soft, musical voice, “that you may sleep undisturbed. I cannot wait to greet Corinne as a sister. I will check on Cullen this night as well. Do not worry, we are all bound by Darius’s word. He has taken Cullen into the family, and with Corinne comes Lisa. They are human, but they are well loved. I will see to it that Lisa has all the news and knows that Corinne is out of danger. I will tell her you will bring Corinne and the baby to her the moment Corinne can safely travel. Syndil says Lisa will be much relieved when she hears news of Corinne.”
Dayan shoved a hand through his black hair, leaving it more disheveled than ever. “Thank you, Desari. Corinne has been anxious about Lisa. And I know Cullen has very strong feelings for her.”
“So Syndil tells me. Do not worry any longer, Dayan. It took some time for everyone to accept Julian into the family. Corinne and Lisa will also work out their places with time. I know you are concerned that Corinne may not want to travel with us because she has a baby, but she loves you. She knows that in your heart and soul you are a musician. As she is home to you, so are you to her.” Desari leaned over and hugged Dayan. “I love you very much, and I am so happy for you.”
Dayan kissed her and watched as Julian and Desari left the chamber, walking side by side. Julian had his arm around Desari’s slender shoulders and was whispering softly, suggestively in her ear. Dayan heard her musical voice laugh softly, happily. The sound filled him with so many memories, flooded him with warmth.
Corinne was alive and out of danger. The baby was alive and safe within the enclosure. Darius opened the earth and gestured for Dayan to gather Corinne’s body into his arms. Dayan hesitated. “You are certain this Jansen will watch over my daughter?”
Shea laughed softly. “You are already becoming a worried father. Gary is very reliable. I will be here with Jacques, of course. Darius and Tempest will sleep above you and Corinne. Gregori and Savannah are in the next chamber. Our people are everywhere within this network of tunnels. No harm will come to the baby while you rest.”
Dayan took a last look at the baby, touched the top of the transparent enclosure with his fingertips, right over the tiny infant’s head. Then he floated down into the rich, welcoming soil with Corinne, holding her close, his body protective as he allowed his heart to slow and eventually cease beating.
Darius closed the earth over their heads and turned then, into the arms of his beloved lifemate, Tempest, needing to replenish his strength.
Chapter 17
Dayan woke deep beneath the surface of the earth with his heart pounding and his body on fire. Corinne.
He turned his head to look at her, afraid, exhilarated, so hungry for her he thought he might go up in flames. She lay beside him where he had placed her, unmoving, completely still; she lay as if dead. She looked unbelievably small, fragile beside him. Her body was a woman’s, soft and curvy, and he knew she had the heart of a lion, yet she looked like a child in her sleep.
It had been three risings since he had gone to earth with her. He had awakened each night to check that the baby lived and was doing well in her little cocoon. He knew Corinne would expect it, but he did it because he found he was filled with worry for the infant. Each time breath came into his body, fear for the baby, his daughter, would cycle through him.
Daughter.
He tasted the word. He was a father.
Dayan scanned automatically, searching the immediate area first for danger, then to assure himself that no others of his kind lingered near their resting place.
Darius and Tempest had risen and were some distance away. Shea was already awake and bending over the child, feeding her with some formula she had concocted.
The baby is well?
He made the inquiry before he had even parted the soil of his resting place, anxious for news, anxious to gently touch the baby’s mind with his own.
She grows stronger with each rising, Dayan.
Shea’s reply was gentle and patient.
Dayan concentrated on the other two healers, focusing his attention completely.
‘I wish to bring Corinne to the surface.
There was a brief pause, as if the healers were conferring. It was Gregori who answered him.
‘I will come at once.
Dayan waited impatiently as Gregori hurried to the chamber. Dayan waved his hand to open the soil above their heads. He waited anxiously while Gregori took his time, centering himself, focusing, moving outside his own body and into Corinne’s to examine the repairs. He paid attention to the smallest detail, making sure Corinne was completely healed before she was awakened. Dayan watched Gregori come back to himself, raising an elegant eyebrow at Dayan’s obvious anxiety.
“She is healed, Dayan, and completely ready to take up her life with you. I will examine the baby and get out of your hair,” Gregori drawled, knowing full well what was on Dayan’s mind.
As Dayan floated out of the earth with Corinne cradled in his arms, he cleaned both her and himself, examining Corinne’s lush body for marks or signs of her ordeal. Not a single mark marred her skin, not even the long, wicked cut where she had been opened to take the child from her body. He clothed both her and himself, knowing Corinne’s natural modesty.
Issuing the command to wake, he brought her safely to ground, bending his dark head to find her mouth, to capture her first breath. Corinne. His lifemate.
‘I want you, love, more than my body can stand.
Merged so deeply with him that she felt the urgent demands of his body, she couldn’t help catching fire, her body perfectly attuned to his. She was aware that his body was full and hard, his mind dancing with erotic thoughts and images. He allowed the nightly reassurances from Shea to replay in his head, so she immediately knew the baby was thriving.
Dayan carried her swiftly across the chamber to the small area where Shea had enclosed the baby protectively. Corinne cried out at the sight of her daughter. She circled Dayan’s neck with her slender arms and burst into tears. She couldn’t believe she was alive. Her body was strong and supple, her heart beating in perfect rhythm with Dayan’s. Every cell felt alive, on fire. She wanted Dayan as much or more than he wanted her.
That is not possible.
His voice was sinfully wicked.
She laughed in the midst of her tears, so unbelievably happy she couldn’t take it all in. “I have to hold her. I have to have her in my arms.” She looked up at Dayan with her heart shining in her large eyes. “Have you held her?”
He shook his head. “Only Shea and Gary have held her. Gregori and Darius have examined her daily, and all of us have been reassuring her, but it is you she wants.”
Shea smiled at her. “She is very strong, Corinne. She definitely wants her mother. It is not good to have her out of her protected environment for any length of time. Together, Dayan and I can provide a shield for her while she spends time with you. But only for a few minutes. It is better to be safe.”