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.”
She reached out to touch his strong jaw, her fingers gently caressing. “Thank you, Dayan.” She took another look around the house. “I think we have everything.”
He took possession of the suitcases and made certain the house was securely locked before following her down the brick pathway and across the large expanse of immaculate lawn. Corinne stopped suddenly, looking up at the abundance of stars overhead. Stars that couldn’t be seen earlier. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
Dayan nodded and continued to walk to the car. Corinne was very pale, and he could hear her struggling to breathe. She acted as if she were normal, as if she were strong, but he was beginning to be alarmed again. He wanted to swoop her up and fly across the night sky with her, taking her to the nearest healer to demand she be put right. “You need to get in the car, honey,” he advised softly.
She nodded, hating the weakness that prevented her from enjoying so simple a pleasure. Headlights caught her in a bright spotlight as a car whipped around the corner and raced straight toward her. Corinne stood frozen, her heart stammering, her baby kicking as a rush of adrenaline flooded her mother’s body.
Dayan dropped the suitcases and moved with preternatural speed. He caught her up into the safety of his arms and leapt over the speeding car, taking to the air as he did so. Below him, the driver was spinning around, fishtailing, the occupants yelling with excitement. He could see them clearly, and for the first time, rage was beginning to smolder deep within his soul. He wanted no more humans threatening Corinne. A low growl rumbled deep in his throat, and he leaned over her silky hair, intending to whisper a command to her.
Corinne clutched Dayan’s arm as they raced across the sky. He wasn’t running anymore. She was certain his feet weren’t touching the ground. No one could move that fast. No one. She felt the warmth of his breath against her ear, felt him merging with her mind, the waves of reassurance, of love and commitment. “Don’t tell me to forget this,” she countered sharply. ‘Don’t order me to forget, Dayan. Not yet. Let me see you.’
She was seeing him for the first time. Before, she’d had glimpses, tantalizing clues, but she couldn’t fit the pieces together. Now he was sharing her mind, and she saw things, memories, images; she saw Dayan in different time periods. His memories didn’t make sense to her, but she knew they were real and not from history books. They were too detailed, too vivid. And he had saved her from the speeding car, leaping into the air and virtually flying with her.
‘Your heart must match the beat of mine. Listen, Corinne, for I will not lose you. Breathe with me and do not be frightened.’
“I’m not afraid of you,” she whispered aloud. ‘I’m not afraid of you.’ She didn’t want him to use his telepathic ability to rob her of this memory. Was she seeing the reason Dayan was so lonely, so utterly alone in a world where everyone seemed to be drawn to him? He was completely different. He could do magical things.
Dayan took her to the safety of the rooftops, settling her gently in the shelter of a dormer. He glanced at the sky, and immediately clouds began swirling overhead, building fast and furious. The thick fog bank was returning with the unstable weather.
Corinne watched his every move carefully, noting that his expression was exactly the same, but deep within his eyes burned a red flame of retribution. “You’re going to confront them, aren’t you?”
“I want you to concentrate on your heart, Corinne.” He made it an order, delivered in his black-velvet voice. “It needs to be a nice steady beat. Hear it, feel mine.” He brought her palm to his chest, right over his heart. “Feel that rhythm? You can control it to some extent.”