A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

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skin was warm against his.

He locked the car and they walked around the corner to the theater. He bought two tickets and they entered the lobby.

His nostrils were immediately assaulted by myriad smells: buttered popcorn, candy, lemonade, cheese, hot dogs, onions, mustard and ketchup, the overwhelming scents and emotions that clung to the people milling in front of the counter, making him wonder why he had ever suggested a movie. It had been years since he had been to one; now he remembered why.

He reminded himself to ask her if she wanted something to eat, was grateful when she declined.

Entering the theater, they found two seats near the back. Moments later, the theater went dark and the previews came on.

Dominic concentrated on blocking everything from his mindsave for the woman beside him. In moments, his senses were swimming with her essence. The scent of her hair and perfume teased his nostrils, the heat radiating from her body chased away the coldness that was ever a part of him, and the touch of her arm against his… ah, just that mere touch thrilled him beyond measure.Tracy . He closed his eyes, reveling in her nearness.

"Hey, did you fall asleep already?" she asked, a smile in her voice. "The movie hasn't even started yet."

The sound of her voice warmed him like the sunshine he had not felt in a hundred lifetimes. Opening his eyes, he smiled at her. "No, I was only… enjoying the moment."

"Oh." It was obvious she did not understand, could never understand. The movie started a few moments later.

She watched the film.

He watched her. She had a very old soul. His mind touched hers and in doing so, he found memories of other times and other places buried deeply in her subconscious, memories of lives she had known and forgotten. She had been a dancer inJerusalem when Herod was king, a queen in an ancient land during the Crusades, a member of a sultan's harem, a witch in Old Salem. She had lived as a slave in the days of the Roman Empire, been a schoolteacher in the Old West, a doctor in a small African village, a freedom fighter inIsrael . He glimpsed images of her as a widowed mother sending her only son off to fight in the War Between the States.

He saw it all clearly in her mind, and in his own. Time after time, he had found her throughout the ages. In each life, he had been at her side when death was imminent.

Time after time, he had offered to give her the Dark Gift.
Time after time, she had refused.

Tracywas fully aware of Dominic's scrutiny. She felt his gaze resting on her face, felt almost as if his eyes were burning into her heart, piercing her very soul. Once, foolish as it sounded, it seemed as though she felt his mind inside her own. But that was ridiculous.Impossible.