He gave her a gentle little shake because he couldn’t help himself. “I would like to tell you about the reality of my life, Corinne, what I have experienced without you, but you are not ready for such a confession. In the meantime I think we should talk to Lisa and Cullen and begin our journey tonight. We have a great distance to travel.”
Corinne shook her head. “We can’t just pick up and leave. We have a life we’ve worked very hard for, Dayan. Lisa’s profession demands she be available when she’s needed.”
Dayan’s black eyes moved over her face, brooding, moody, with a hint of menace she found disconcerting. There was something undefined about him that she couldn’t quite name; it made her feel afraid.
‘Not afraid. You should never fear me. I could never harm you, Corinne. I will do everything in my power to see to your protection. And my powers are considerable.’ He had shifted into the much more intimate communication of lifemates almost automatically. Dayan’s arm circled her slender shoulders, held her very close in the moonlight. She was fragile, delicate, her bones small. Unexpectedly, fear slammed into him along with a kind of helpless fury. He needed a healer fast; he needed to find a way to gently steer her in the direction he wanted her to go. If necessary, he would use his telepathic ability to persuade her, but it was against his code of honor to influence his own lifemate in such a way.
“It’s the way you look sometimes, Dayan,” Corinne said with a small self-mocking laugh. “You can look very intimidating when you choose.” She smiled up at him, her fingertips going up to smooth the hard edge from his sensually sculpted lips. “Like now, when you aren’t getting your way.”
His black eyes burned over her face. “I will always get my way, honey, when it comes to protecting you. I do not think there is a rational argument you can make about this. Lisa will not care much for her job if you are dead. You are capable of writing songs anywhere. I also know that you are far more frightened than you are letting on and you agree with me that we should protect Lisa despite her refusal to accept how grave your situation is.”
“Is this what it’s going to be like with you?” Corinne sent him a smoldering look of warning from under her long lashes. “I don’t like you reading my mind.”
“You will soon be reading mine,” he answered without censoring his thoughts.
Corinne raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m just supposed to suddenly acquire the ability to be telepathic? Does it rub off on people when you’re around them too much?”
Dayan shrugged again. “We will have to see, Corinne.” His hand moved up and down her arms to warm her. “You are getting cold out here.”
“It’s beautiful, though. I hate to be indoors at night. The sky always looks so incredible.” Corinne laughed softly. “Of course, I feel that way during the day too. I love to look at clouds. Lisa drives like a maniac, but she says I’m worse because I can’t keep my eyes off the sky.” She looked up at him. “I don’t want to miss anything, you know? The world is such a beautiful place; I want to see as much of it as I can.” She walked a little further along the pavement. “Where are you from originally? You have an accent, but I can’t place it.”
“I have traveled so much over the years I do not know if my way of speaking reflects any one place. I speak several languages. But I was born in the Carpathian Mountains in Europe. I spent most of my younger years in Africa.”
“How interesting. What did your parents do?”
“I was a mere boy when they were killed. Darius raised us, the band members. We were all children, and we grew up a little wild.” Dayan smiled at her, his teeth very white in the darkness. “I think we are still a little wild.”
Corinne allowed him to lace his fingers through hers, though she wasn’t altogether certain why. A part of her wanted to be realistic and strong, while the other, more treacherous side whispered of temptation, whispered she should enjoy his company while she could. “So Darius is much older than you are?”