Embrace the Night

Page 149



first time, she understood the vast gulf that stretched between Gabriel and humanity. She understood his loneliness, his emptiness, his overwhelming need for the touch of a human hand.

Her touch. Her hand.

Whispering his name, her eyes filled with tears, she offered him all that she had, her heart, her soul, her love, and prayed that it would be enough.

Chapter Twenty-two

He held Sara in his arms while she slept, one hand lightly stroking her hair. Time and again, he had tried to warn her away, but no more. From this night forward, she would be his. He would watch over her, protect her. He would destroy her enemies, destroy himself rather than allow anyone to harm her.

In the hour before dawn, he made love to her again, and then, too soon, the sun was climbing over the horizon. He gazed at her for a few more minutes, reluctant to leave her, knowing he must.

"Have you a basement?" he asked.

Sara frowned at his odd question. "No." "An attic, perhaps?"

"There's a small crawl space in the ceiling above my closet. Why?"
"I can't expect you to abandon your bed every day at dawn." "I could stay here, with you."

"No."

"Please, Gabriel. I hate having to leave you after we've made love. It makes me feel like a… a…"
His eyes darkened. "Like what, Sara? A puttana?"

"Yes, if you must know! I want to go to sleep in your arms."
"You won't like waking up next to a corpse."

"You're not a corpse!"

"That's exactly what I am," he said with a weary shake of his head. "You still don't understand, do you? I'm not alive. I haven't been alive for over three hundred years."

"Stop it!" She pressed her hands over her ears, refusing to listen. She knew what he was. How could she not? But why did he have to dwell on it? Why wouldn't he let her forget?

Gabriel took a deep breath, his hands clenched at his sides as he fought down his anger, his frustration. "I'm sorry, Sara," he said quietly. "Forgive me."