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Sara woke slowly, filled with a deep and abiding sense of contentht long

Gabriel! She turned her head and he was there, lying beside her, his eyes closed She glanced quickly toward the , relieved to see that it was still dark outside, that he had not yet succu the day

Lightly, she traced his lips with her fingertip, felt a surge of heat course through her when he stroked her fingertip with his tongue

His eyelids fluttered open and she found herself gazing into the depths of his eyes - beautiful deep gray eyes fringed with thick black lashes

"Good aze moved over her face How beautiful she was Her lips were still slightly swollen froolden waves, and her eyes he kneould sacrifice the next hundred years to wake up eachat him like that, her sky-blue eyes filled with love

He kissed her softly, gently, let his hands wander over the smooth silky flesh he had possessed only hours before How quickly he had come to know the hills and valleys of her body, just as he had come to know that she liked to have her back rubbed, that tickling her feet would ain, and the slow heat that had been building between theroan, he tucked her beneath hied his flesh with hers, and she rose up toaround his neck as she offered him her love and took his in return

They lay locked in each other&039;s ar while, reluctant to part

He didn&039;t have to glance at theto know that the sky was growing light Soon, too soon, he would have to send her fro what it would be like to be enfolded in Sara&039;s ar sed up in the deathlike sleep had frightened hi else when first he&039;d been h he had long ago learned to accept it, he had never learned to like it It was a frightening thing, to be sucked down into blackness deeper than the bowels of hell, to be helpless, vulnerable Would the darkness that overtook him be less fearful if he succumbed to it while in Sara&039;s e how to ask for what he wanted, not knowing if he should

"What?"

"Hold me"

She frowned, puzzled by the note of apprehension in his voice "I a you," she said

"Will you stay withwhy it was so hard to ask her to hold him while oblivion swept over him

"What is it, Gabriel?" she asked, worried now "What&039;s wrong?"

"Will you hold me until ?"

She knew then what he wanted "I will," she pro For the first time, he looked vulnerable It caused all her protective instincts to rush to the fore "I&039;ll hold you until you&039;re you&039;re asleep"

She pulled hi around hih, Gabriel closed his eyes He could hear the steady beat of her heart beneath his ear, feel the war his back, his shoulders

"Be careful today," he said as he felt the blackness descend on him "Stay in the house Keep Maurice with you"

"Why? What&039;s wrong?"

He fought the lethargy that was stealing over hio out Promise me"

"I promise"

"Check doors" His eyelids fluttered down and he felt hi into blackness "Windows careful be careful"

"I will"

"My cloak" he said, his voice urgent, faint "Need it"

"I&039;ll get it Gabriel?"

She fought down a rising sense of terror as he went suddenly li now, she thought His body was heavy, lifeless, cold

Telling herself there was nothing to be afraid of, she slid out of bed Standing there, looking down at hian to shiver uncontrollably

What if he didn&039;t wake up?

She was reaching for her robe when she saw his cloak Lifting it from the chair, she held it in her hands for ato see hiathered up her clothes and left the roo as if he hadn&039;t slept more than a few minutes Dark bristles shadowed his jaw; his clothes looked ruht

"You slept with him" It was an accusation, not a question

The flood of color that washed into her cheeks gave him all the answer he needed

"I&039;ll understand if you don&039;t want to stay," Sara said, not ize"

"Ill stay," he replied curtly, and then he grinned, a dry, humorless expression "I don&039;t think I have much choice"

"What do you mean?"

Maurice jerked his thumb toward Sara&039;s bedroom "Him He told me to watch you But I&039;d have stayed anyway I love you, Sara Jayne Nothing will change that"

"Maurice, I&039;esture of diser for an excuse to leave the room How much easier her life would be if she could have loved Maurice Their life together would have been ideal They shared a love of dancing, of ether, had children, a hoed for, and yet, without Gabriel, she wouldn&039;t want to dance, or live She didn&039;t want to bear another man&039;s children, or live in another man&039;s house

She wanted Gabriel, and she knew at that moment that she would do whatever she had to do, make any sacrifice necessary, to spend the rest of her life with him

It was Sunday, and the day passed slowly Usually, she went to Mass, but she had proo out

Maurice sat in the chair beside the hearth, his nose buried in a book

Sara busied herself in the kitchen preparing a huge h she had no appetite How could she even think of eating with Maurice brooding in the parlor and Gabriel sleeping the sleep of the undead in her bedroom? And always in the back of herfrohts, she opened the kitchen door and stepped outside The autuainst her face For a ht Gabriel had not seen in over three hundred years Gabriel

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, anxious for nightfall, for the tiasped as she felt a hand on her arm, then chided herself for her fear She turned around, expecting to see Maurice

But it was not Maurice Fear snaked through her She opened her e hand fastened around her throat, choking off her cry, trapping the air in her lungs until the world went black

The s, he ju to the floor unnoticed as he ran into the kitchen

"Sara Jayne, what&039;s the"

The words died in his throat The kitchen was filled with s a towel, he opened the oven and removed a pan that held a chunk of charredsense of dread as he crossed the room and looked outside

"Sara?"

He walked down the short flight of steps that led to the sn of her

Returning to the house, he checked the spare bedroo to find her there asleep, but it was empty

Hesitantly, he opened her bedroom door and peered inside Gabriel lay on the bed, as still as death

Shutting the door, Maurice went to the entry hall The front door was closed, locked froroan of despair, he sank down on the sofa, his head cradled in his hands Where was she?

And ould Gabriel do when he woke and discovered she was gone?

He woke in the hour before dusk Lying there, still weak, he sent his thoughts to search for Sara, and knew, in that one

"Maurice!" The as a cry of rage, a screalass in the s, and filled Maurice with a quiet sense of doos that trembled so violently he could hardly stand, he walked to the bedroom, took a deep breath, and opened the door

Gabriel sat up, his back propped against the headboard "Where is she?"

Maurice shook his head "I don&039;t know"

"Damn you! I told you to watch her forI I fell asleep When I woke up, she was gone"

Gabriel glared at Delacroix It had been days since he fed; the lust for blood was strong, and growing stronger "Come here"