A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

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"No."

"So you haven't seen your face in over two thousand years." She shook her head. "That's incredible."

He jerked his head toward the painting. "This is better than a mirror," he said with a wry grin, "though I doubt I ever looked quite so handsome in mortality."

She glanced over her shoulder at the canvas. "It's how I see you."

He cupped her cheek in his hand. "I believe love has colored your perception," he murmured, and lowering his head, he kissed her.

She clung to him as he deepened the kiss, caught up in a maelstrom of emotion. Her eyes were closed, yet she saw colors brighter than ever before. She imagined she could feel each thread that made up the fabric of his clothing. It seemed as though she could feel each particle of air around her. She caught the scent of rain, and even as awareness crossed her mind, she heard the dull roar of thunder, the patter of drops against the window.

Overwhelmed, she drew back to stare up into Dominic's eyes.
He answered her question before she could ask.

"You are feeling what I feel," he said quietly."Seeing things as I see them." "But why?"

"I have taken your blood. Not enough to bind us together, but enough that, if I open my senses, you can see and experience a part of my feelings."

Well, that was a scary thought! "What would happen if I had takenyour blood?" "We would be forever bound. My thoughts would be yours, as yours would be mine."
"You mean you'd be able to read my mind?"

"I can do that now."

"But if we were bonded, I'd be your slave, wouldn't I, like that woman is Marcus's slave?"
"No, my best beloved one.It would be nothing like that."

She took a step away from him, suddenly frightened. "I don't believe you."

"There are many ways a vampire can possess a mortal," he said calmly, as if they were discussing nothing more important than the weather. "Ways to compel mortals to obey."

"Is that what Marcus did to that girl?"

"No. She went to him of her own free will." "But he could have made her do it against her will?"