Were other mortal women like this? Not in his memory, long though it was. She was fire and peace, tease and balm for a lonely soul. To think he'd been content until he met her, and now he'd never know peace of mind again. The memory of Dixie LePage would last him for eternity and he owed it to her to make tonight her own.

He'd planned to make love to her. But she met him at every turn. He kissed. She stroked. He caressed. Her lips drove him crazy. He explored her body's secrets. Her fingers found nerve endings he never knew he possessed. Timeless equals, they loved as if they'd never part.

"Christopher, I want you," she whispered, her voice husky with a desire that mirrored his turmoil. She smiled up at him, her eyes bright as moonbeams, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s proud and high, her legs pale as ivory, open and waiting.

"My love, I'm yours," he replied, seeking her silken warmth.

She came as he entered her, her hips bucking, her arms grasping and nails sc.r.a.ping his back. Her body wound in a convulsion of pleasure, she cried aloud her joy as she quivered and trembled with the aftershocks of pa.s.sion.

Her sobs of pleasure snapped his control and he exploded in a paroxysm of emotion as he took her up to the heights again.

Together they soared in an arc of ecstasy that carried them to the stars, circled the planets and rode the comets before returning in each other's arms to the tangle of bedsheets, the soft warm embrace of limbs, the sweet, salty taste of sweat, and the scent of love in the night air.

They lay in silence awhile, lost in thought, emotion and each other. While the night scent of roses wafted from the garden outside, somewhere in the night an owl hooted his courting ritual.

"I'm so glad you came," Dixie said, her voice half-m.u.f.fled by his chest. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"I had to see you one last time. I never intended to stay. I thought I had hurt you too much to ever be welcome again."

She smiled up at him in the moonlight. "You'll always be welcome."

"I dread leaving you, Dixie. I'm not sure I can."

She leaned up on one elbow. A frown creased her forehead. The glint of a tear gathered in the corner of her eye. Had he hurt her that much? "You've got to go. Leave. Now," she said, her voice taut with emotion.

Chapter Ten.

Christopher wiped the tear from her cheek. "I never meant to hurt you." What could he ever say or do to repay her?

"I'm fine. Or I will be," she amended. "It's you who's got to be careful, and not just of whoever tried to get you last time. It's the police. They think you killed Vernon."

Christopher grasped her bare shoulders. Her skin under his fingers was warm with the afterglow of loving. "What are you talking about? They think I killed Vernon? Why?"

She explained, biting her lip until it bled and he longed to taste. "I just lost my temper," she finished, shaking her head. "I thought how they'd tried to kill you and succeeded in killing someone. I didn't know it was Vernon then. I just knew they couldn't get away with it. So I told the police it couldn't be you. I thought they'd start looking for the killers. I never dreamt they'd look in your direction." She propped her chin in her linked thumbs and ran her hands over her nose and mouth as if praying. Maybe she was. Eyes heavy with worry met his. "I'm so sorry, Christopher, I never imagined..."

"Hush, love, don't worry." He wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders. Of course she hadn't imagined. How could she?

She was all honesty, openness and fairness. How could she think like that clutch of witches? "You weren't to know. It'll work out. They can look all they want, but they won't find me where I'm going."

Previous Top Next"Where are you going?"

She would ask and he'd hurt her by seeming not to trust. "Somewhere safe." He shook his head as she started to open her mouth. "I can't tell you. It isn't my secret. I'll tell you anything else you want to know about me, but I can't speak for the others."

"That's Justin and Tom, right?"

"Among others. We have a safe haven for times of trouble."

"And you're in trouble now. Because of my big mouth."

"Dearest, I'm still in existence because of you. I'm threatened because I'm caught in a coil of evil. If they found out I wasn't extinguished and realized who'd foiled their plans..." He let the unsaid words hover between them. "I can't, won't risk your safety. I'm disappearing for several years and you've got to promise me to go back to the States."

"I will." He almost gaped at her acquiescence. He'd half-expected outright refusal. "Soon, but not tomorrow. I've got some things I have to do."

"What? Isn't saving a vampire enough for one summer?"

She elbowed him in the ribs. Gently. "You're not the only person in the world. I've got to decide whether to sell or rent out the house. I've got money things to settle. I have to if I'm going back. I'm not leaving that to Sebastian. I don't altogether trust him."

He wouldn't disagree on that point. "Promise me you'll leave as soon as possible. Go back to South Carolina."

"I will." She looked up at him, eyes dark with worry. "Quit worrying about me. Shouldn't you be going? There's a police warning about you."

"The way I travel, no one will ever see me. I'm safe. You have to make sure you are."

"What do you mean?"

"There are killers in this village, Dixie. They think I'm dead, but if they ever realize I'm not, and if they suspect your involvement..."

"Why would they?" She smiled as if dawn would never come. "I'll never tell."

She was his every dream come to life. He had to touch her again. He traced from the pulse at the base of her neck up to the warm curve of her chin. She moved and caught his finger between her moist lips. Her tongue teased his fingertip, pulling him in deeper to the warmth within. "I want to make love to you," she said. "Do we have time?"

"What else is time for?"

Her smile promised joy beyond belief. The fragrance of her skin sent his head reeling. Once again, he was a crazed youth in the meadows by the Medway exploring the promises of love before the years at Cambridge and London taught him the cynicism of s.e.x. He bent to kiss her warm breast and nipped at her hard nipple until she squealed with pleasure as his teeth pulled at the sweet flesh.

"Stop that," she giggled, wriggling under his hands.

"Why?" he asked through his lips, never moving his mouth from her breast.

"Because I want to make love to you."How could he refuse such an offer? She leaned close, pressing herself against him with a need that stirred the marrow of his bones to l.u.s.t. He wanted to sate his need in her sweet warmth but that would deny him the pleasure she'd just promised, and more than eternity itself, he wanted Dixie LePage to make love to him.

She grinned. It was the only word for it. A grin of mischief, promise, and antic.i.p.ation. Having realized her power, she reveled in it, relis.h.i.+ng the prospect of reducing him to helplessness. Just as he welcomed the thought of becoming vulnerable in her arms.

"I want you," she said. It was a declaration of need, loud and clear. "I want you in every way I can imagine and a few more for luck. You're going before morning, and this is what I'll remember you by."

A tear glistened in the corner of her eye. He wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. "We'll remember each other. How could we forget?" He had eternity to miss her. He'd weep too, if he could.

Her lips swept him up in a maelstrom of need as her tongue slipped between his lips, teasing and exploring every recess of his mouth, dancing over his teeth, curving, stretching and provoking, testing her own strength within his and uttering little moans of delight at her success. "Trying to drive me crazy?" he asked as she came up for breath.

"Oh, yes," she replied, "but that was just an appetizer."

She slid to her knees, locking her arms around his hips and pulling him to her until his erection pressed against her face.

"Dixie," he groaned, "do you know what you're doing?"

"Of course."

She knew what she was doing, alright. Hot thrills of antic.i.p.ation snaked a burning trail through every nerve in his body. How could a mere mortal do this to him? But she was no mere mortal. She was his woman, his soul mate, his reason to exist. He reveled in her touch and basked in her loving, and blocked out all thought of morning.

"Christopher." His mind still spiraling somewhere in the outer galaxy, he opened his eyes at her whisper, his fingers tangled in her auburn curls. She smiled up at him.

"My love." She shouldn't be on her knees. He reached down for her arms and pulled her up. He moved his head and tasted warmth, sweetness, and himself on her lips. "Let's love the hours away 'til morning." Her eyes answered him.

"My heart," he whispered as she pressed him down. Her fervor sent this body and mind into overdrive. This time she led. She loved. She brought him to new heights. No woman had ever loved him this way. How could she? In all creation, there had only been, would only be, one Dixie. She teased and promised as his mind soared and his body raced through the heavens until she rode him to triumph, her warm thighs astride his hips as he climaxed, buried deep in her warmth.

She was mortality, glorious mortality that he'd lost centuries ago and had never regretted or missed. Until now.

He eased her off him and tipped her on her back. Panting, flushed and worn, she smiled up at him, exhilaration lighting her eyes until they flickered like stars in an evening sky. Her hair shone like copper in firelight. Her skin was warm as the summer sunlight he shunned and soft as the gra.s.s in new spring meadows. The flush of love bloomed on her face.

And he had to leave her. Forever.

But first, they'd both remember this night.

He leaned over her gently, remembering the st.i.tches in her breast, the mark of her love. He brushed back the curls that clung damply to her forehead, and tasted the sweet saltiness of her skin. Then, with all eternity before him, he trailed soft kisses over her face, brus.h.i.+ng her cheeks and dropping sweet b.u.t.terfly kisses on her eyelids. The sound of her blood echoed like a waterfall in his ears. He could smell it under her skin, sense the pulse that beat a little faster with each kiss. As his lips moved down her neck, she arched and moaned, stretching and curving her neck until she lay tilted and ready. Her chest heaved as she panted, waiting, wanting and needing.

She stretched her neck back against the pillows. His lips tasted life. The scent of her blood caused a whirl of emotion scrambling through his consciousness and the sound of her heart pounded his ears like a rus.h.i.+ng flood. His fangs emerged, then pierced her neck. He tasted heat, pa.s.sion and richness and felt her body convulse with ecstasy. Still one with her, he felt her joy, the white-bright pleasure that coursed through her as her body tensed and jerked, then melted into warmth as her arms wrapped around him.

Her eyes met his She smiled, a satisfied woman's smile that knew his secrets and gloried in them The heat of her body warmed the tattered remnants of his soul He'd gladly trade eternity for an endless now, but even vampires couldn't stop time Morning brought danger Protecting her was his first concern.

He cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in his hands, the gauze pad and tape a poignant reminder of her commitment "Dixie, I want you safe Please leave Go home as soon as you can How about in the morning?"

She looked up at him, the flush of love still a bloom on her skin "Not that soon If it'll keep you from worrying, I'll call the airline in the morning, I promise that much I can't even think about it now You wore me out" As if to prove her point, she nestled against his chest and closed her eyes, lying close until her breathing changed and she slept.

He could have watched forever, her breath shallow and warm against his chest and her soft hair brus.h.i.+ng his chin Pain, sharper than the knife stab in Deptford, ripped through him at the thought of parting For the first time in four hundred years, he cursed his vampire state She was a woman to grow old with But he couldn't If Justin hadn't followed him to Eleanor Bull's, he'd be a heap of mouldered bones and never known the life and loving of Dixie LePage Far better this crumb than oblivion and the cold tomb He'd have a glimmer of her light to carry forward to eternity He'd have more than most immortals.

He'd stretched custom a bit A bit? He'd stretched it beyond the limits, but custom was settled long before Dixie LePage burst into their world She'd even flummoxed Justin, and Tom would never get over her refusal to cooperate when he tried to throw her out.

He could smell the approaching dawn. With a snag of pain in the figurative heart he'd forgotten he possessed, he kissed her awake. "Dixie, it's almost dawn. I can't transmogrify in the light."

Dixie woke in an instant, aware of the weight beside her on the mattress, the strong arm circling her shoulders, and the smile.

The smile that swept her into a new reality. Christopher was the answer to every dream she'd ever had and he couldn't stay.

"You have to leave. They mustn't find you.".

"They won't. Not where I'm going."

"Christopher..." she whispered, half-afraid to say his name aloud in case she choked on her worry. "Oh, Christopher..." She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close. He had to go, yes, but she needed one last touch. She rested her cheek against the hard muscle of his chest and inhaled the strange, but now familiar, waxy scent of his skin. She still needed him, but there was no more time.

She jerked herself to a sitting position. Shaking her head to clear the last vestiges of sleep, she glanced across to the triple mirror on the dresser. Her own reflection blinked back at her three times-but she was alone. Only a faint blur, like dampness, showed where Christopher lay beside her. He wasn't mortal. He couldn't be hers. And she'd never even have a photo to remind her of him.

"I'll miss you." She was getting almost British with her understatement. Just saying the words brought stinging tears under her eyelids and a lump as rough as coal to her throat. "You should have left last night. I shouldn't have kept you."He shook his head, a slow smile curving his lips as his eyes paled and gleamed almost opalescent in the night. "I needed to stay.

You needed me. Think what we now have, a memory of love to last us-you, for the rest of your life. Me, well, I'll have eternity to think of you."

"Will I ever see you again?"

He shook his head, raw pain searing his eyes. "No, Dixie," he said when he caught his breath. "We're two different kinds.

Mortals and immortals don't belong together. Custom, law and common sense preclude it."

"We've not done too badly by each other so far."

"No? You could have bled to death and there's still the risk you'll be linked to me. I've caused enough bother. Tonight was my weakness. My indulgence."

"Seems to me, we're both equally weak-or strong." She wanted to scream at him. Tell him she didn't care about his immortality, that his scruples were nonsense. She didn't. She couldn't deny that staying put him in danger. "You'd better go, or I might just throw you back on the bed and start again." She slid out of bed and reached for her robe.

By the time she'd slipped it over her shoulders and knotted the belt, he was dressed. "How did you do that?"

He grinned. She was slowly falling apart and he grinned. "We vampires work fast when we have to."

He touched her cheek with the back of his hand and stroked the curve of her chin. Tenderness destroyed her resolve. His touch shattered her self-control. Scalding tears ran down her cheeks.

"Dixie..." His voice came hoa.r.s.e and rough. His arm steadied her shaking shoulders as his other hand smoothed her hair. "I'd forgotten about human grief. I came to satisfy my needs and stayed out of selfishness. Forgive me."

She jerked her head up, wrinkling her brows as she met his still-pale eye. "Yeah, right. Remember how you had to beg me to let you stay? And how you had to twist my arm to get in my bed?"

"You're the finest woman I've ever known, Dixie."

"And you're a better lover than any other man I've known."

"I'm not a man, Dixie."

And that was the crux of the matter. "Is there nothing you can do about that?"

His eye went dark and hard as if frozen by disbelief at her question. "I'm a vampire, Dixie. This isn't a romance novel. You can't make up a magical potion and change me back, and if you could, I'd be dead. Remember?"

She did. She just had a hard time reconciling her lover to the mysterious figure that had fascinated her during English Lit 201.

But she wasn't giving up yet. "But what about me? You've taken my blood. Can't I turn vampire?"

"I've tasted you. Your blood strengthens me. All my feeding does to you is make you lightheaded. We'd have to mingle our blood. You'd have to take mine to become one of us."

"Then come back tonight, or rest in the bas.e.m.e.nt, and make me a vampire. There'd be no problem then." She held her breath, not even believing what she'd asked. Her mind skittered over the possibilities of his "yes."

He shook his head. "Just a very major one. To do that, I'd have to kill you."Now her head did spin. Somewhere in the last couple of sentences she'd lost him. "Isn't that the whole point? I thought..."

"You have read too many novels," he interrupted. "We have rules. One is to never kill a mortal. That's why Tom insisted on Justin giving you blood. If you'd died on my account, I'd have been censured."

"But how did you-and Tom?"