Corinne forced herself to lean forward and away from him. She knew he had used his psychic gifts to influence Lisa. It angered her that he would do so. She knew Cullen realized it too, yet he was simply standing there, watching her reaction. “Let go, Dayan. I want to get up.” She resisted the desire to dump her tea on him. “I think we should call the police, Lisa. Absolutely. In any case, I don’t want to stay here.” And she wouldn’t. Who was Dayan anyway? Nothing to her.
‘Everything to you,’ he repeated, his voice calm, tranquil even, as it brushed in her mind. His arms unlocked, releasing her, and at once she felt bereft. That annoyed her more than ever. Dayan casually helped her to her feet, his obsidian eyes laughing as she shoved his hands away from her.
“I’m not sure,” Lisa said thoughtfully. “What do you think, Cullen? You know these people. Do you think we’re really in danger? Can the police help us?” She looked up at him, her heart in her eyes.
Corinne nearly groaned aloud. She took a breath, determined to save Lisa from whatever black-magic spell Dayan had placed her under. The palm of his hand slipped gently over her mouth, and he pulled her back into the hard frame of his body. “Let them figure it out together. I want to talk with you.” He breathed the words against the nape of her neck even as he walked her out of the room, his body hot and hard, so needy against hers.
The moment they were outside in the cool evening air, Corinne wrenched herself away from him, then turned to glare at him. “You had no right to do that to her. And don’t even try to play innocent.”
He didn’t look at all remorseful as his possessive gaze drifted over every inch of her. “You are even more beautiful than I remember from last night. When I woke, I thought I might have dreamed you up. My night fantasy.”
His voice was mesmerizing, so beautiful Corinne found herself wanting to hear him speak more. She wished he had his guitar in his hands so she could listen to him sing. No one had ever called her a night fantasy before. She was certain she wasn’t beautiful, but he made her feel beautiful. For a moment she could only stand there, blinking up at him, caught in his spell.
Corinne bit her lower lip hard to wake herself up. “You must have been a poet in another life. Or a gigolo. Stay on track here, Dayan. I’m not letting you off the hook.”
“I did not want your friend to be falsely attracted to me,” he said quietly, without any embellishment, yet modestly, almost humbly. “Sometimes women think they want me just because I am performing on stage. I will admit to you, I influence them to turn away from me. Perhaps I did so a little too strongly in her case.”
Corinne was astonished that he’d told her the truth. When he looked at her with those black eyes, his hair tumbling onto his forehead, all she could think about was kissing him. “Did you make her want to be with Cullen?” she asked suspiciously.
“I would not do such a thing.” A mischievous grin softened the edges of his mouth. “I did send Cullen to your table. The moment you walked in, I knew you were the one who held the other half of my heart.”
She tilted her chin at him. “Are you influencing me?”
“I hope so. I want you. I need you in my life. I am not using mind control on you, but I am attempting to be very charming. Is it working?”
He could melt a woman’s heart at sixty paces. “No.” She said it very firmly, but inside she was doing a slow burn. “I don’t want you influencing Lisa in any way. It makes me very uncomfortable.”
“I know you love her, Corinne,” he said softly. “Anyone who is family to you is my family. I would not do anything to harm her or belittle her worth. I will protect her as if she were my own sister.”