Dayan made a soft sound, an edgy note of ravenous hunger welling up from his soul. The tone pierced her heart, invaded her mind so that she wrapped her arms around his head to cradle him to her, giving him everything, anything. Wanting to be whatever he needed. He pushed her shirt up out of his way, all the while his mouth and hers performed a tango of seduction.
His tongue stroked and teased, danced with hers. His teeth nibbled at her lower lip, the corner of her mouth, settled over her dimple. His lips drifted over her skin, down her neck and throat, leaving flames in their wake. He lifted his head then. Inhaled. Drank her scent in, deep within his lungs. His half-closed eyes slid over her.
Rested on her breasts. Soft. Creamy. Firm and tantalizing.
Her bra was a lacy dusky rose, lovingly cupping her full breasts. Corinne heard the hitch in his breath as he slowly bent his head to her. His long hair slid over her skin, brushed at her like silken caresses. His hands were incredibly gently as he cupped the soft weight of her, lifting one breast free of the bra. His tongue swirled over her nipple. Waves of sensation rocked her, shook her. His mouth, hot and moist, closed around her aching flesh. Corinne’s legs almost went out from under her. She leaned back into the piano, the keys playing a jangling note. Streaks of lightning sizzled in her bloodstream, raced to the very core of her.
Her body clenched, dampened. She closed her eyes and gave herself up to the pure ecstasy of feeling he was evoking with his mouth. With his hands.
A small, discordant note invaded his consciousness. A whisper of trouble. Her breath was labored, her heart struggling. At once Dayan lifted his head, buried his face in the hollow of her shoulder. Her hands were exploring his back, driving him to the very brink of insanity, so he caught her wrists and held her still.
When he could breathe again, when it was safe again, he lifted his head to look at her. She was so beautiful with her thoroughly kissed mouth and her wide, dazed eyes, he was nearly undone. “Your heart and the baby,” he reminded her. “Another couple of minutes and we were not going to be able to stop. I do not want you going unexpectedly into labor. Your safety and that of the baby come first. I was being selfish, and I ask your forgiveness. In truth, I was not thinking clearly.”
His voice was a blend of haunting notes, so beautiful it brought tears to her eyes. It wrapped her in a cocoon of safety, a dark melody of love and sensual hunger. “There’s nothing to forgive, Dayan. It was both of us. I wanted you as much as you wanted me. Thank you for being strong enough for both of us.” Her hands crept protectively over her baby. She smiled up at him. “In truth, I wasn’t thinking clearly either, and if you really knew me, you’d know how rare that is.”
His eyes drifted over her face, intense, hungry, melting with warmth. “You are my heart and soul, Corinne. You do not know me, because you cannot merge your mind with mine, but I can read your thoughts, your memories. I know you as no other ever could. I do not need days, weeks, months to get to know you. I have only to touch your mind to know what you are like. I know how intelligent you are. I know how very much this baby means to you. We will be much more careful.”
Very gently he drew her shirt down over her swollen, aching breasts. She circled his neck with her arms and leaned into his larger frame, allowing him to take her weight. “I’m sorry, Dayan, I didn’t mean for things to get out of hand. I know better.” Her hand slipped down his chest, rested on the front of his jeans. “I don’t want to leave you this way.” She could feel the bulge of his erection, so heavy with desire.
His body shuddered with excitement, anticipation, hardening more, his blood thickening. Dayan took a deep, steadying breath. “You mean the same way I have left you? Aching and unfulfilled? I think we will be partners, Corinne. When I am able to take care of your needs, you will take care of mine.” He brushed a kiss along her temple. “We are in this together.”
She pulled back to look into his eyes. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
Dayan nodded. “I am no saint, Corinne. You are looking at me with stars in your eyes. I want to devour you right now. I think the safest thing for us to do is pack up your things and Lisa’s and go back where we will no longer be alone.”
Corinne leaned closer, pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I hate to tell you this, but my things are in the bedroom.” She laughed softly, teasingly, and stepped away from him, knowing she was perfectly safe with him. Her legs weren’t completely steady but. she managed to walk without falling. He followed her into her bedroom, watching her with dark, intense eyes. She felt the weight of his gaze on her as she moved about the room, and it did nothing to calm her own storm of desire. Resolutely she gathered her things without looking at him. He robbed her of good sense, and for both their sakes, she needed to be responsible. Corinne continued into Lisa’s room, pausing for a moment to place her hand over the baby. Dayan had protected both of them.
“Is she kicking?” Dayan asked softly, managing to make the question sinfully intimate.
Corinne nodded, afraid to look at him, afraid she would lose herself in his terrible hunger. In his poet’s soul. Dayan moved up behind her, as silent as any jungle cat, and wrapped his arms around her, his palm over the small mound of her belly. He bent his head so his mouth was dangerously close to her frantically pounding pulse. “She is very strong. Such a miracle. All around the world people are finding out they are having babies, yet they do not appreciate what a miracle it is. Perhaps if they had no women, no babies, they would understand what is supposed to be treasured. As I treasure you, so do I treasure this child.”
Corinne closed her eyes and allowed his words to seep through the pores of her skin. How could he say such beautiful things? How could his words always be so perfect? Why had she found him now, when she had so little time left? For a moment she leaned against his hard strength, inhaled his wild, untamed scent, was grateful for his enormous strength and poet’s words and the way he made her feel that her child was a part of him too. Totally accepted. Without reservation.
“I want you to feel that way,” he said softly, his breath warm, inviting, “because it is the simple truth.”
“You are temptation personified,” Corinne scolded, but her voice gave away her pleasure, and she covered his hand with her own. “You could have any woman, Dayan. Why in the world are you with me?” Her heart ached for him. She didn’t want him to be hurt.
“There is only you. I can see no other, nor will I,” he answered, completely certain. “You are everything.”
Corinne pulled away from him gently, regretfully. “And what if I don’t feel the same way? What would you do then?” There was a wealth of interest as well as humor in her voice.
He reached around her to pick up both suitcases. “You forget I read minds. If you truly did not want me, then of course I would have to accept such a thing, but you are my lifemate. There is no mistake. I see in color. I feel emotion. I look at you and there is meaning to my existence. You look back at me.”
Corinne smiled then — she couldn’t help herself. “I definitely look at you, I can’t very well deny that. And I want to be with you. I knew John practically my entire life. I loved him, yet I couldn’t give him passion, I couldn’t give him my soul. I look at you and everything in me wants you, wants to be everything you’ve ever needed.”
Dayan shook his head. Corinne was confused by the intensity of her emotions, the sheer chemistry between them. He didn’t want her to feel guilt for not having shared her passion with her husband. “I am your lifemate, you were meant for me. We know each other, recognize one another because we’re meant to be together. You loved John as a dear friend, but you belong with me. Lifemates do not lie to one another. I am telling you the truth.”