Amanda Ashley by Deeper Than the Night Read Free Book Online Page A

apology, something. But he only stood there, gazing down at her, his dark eyes filled with sadness.
    â€œWhat is it?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
    â€œI should not have come here.”
    â€œWhy? Oh, no.” She shook her head, certain he was about to tell her he had a wife and the requisite two-point-three children. “You’re married, aren’t you?”
    Alexander laughed softly, wishing it was something as ordinary as a wife that was keeping them apart. “No, Kara, I’m not married.”
    â€œWhat is it then?”
    â€œI’m afraid you have asked the one question I cannot answer.”
    â€œThen I won’t ask it again.”
    The simplicity of her reply, the trust shining inher eyes, was his undoing. Kneeling before her, he took her hand in his.
    â€œKara, I am not like other men. You must never love me. Or trust me.”
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    â€œPray you never do.”
    â€œBut . . .” She bit down on her lower lip, remembering she had promised not to ask why. “Are we never to see each other again?”
    â€œIt would be for the best.”
    â€œFor who?”
    â€œFor you.”
    â€œDon’t I have anything to say about it?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œIf you don’t want to see me anymore, why did you come here tonight?”
    â€œBecause I could not stay away.”
    She smiled triumphantly. “So you do want to continue seeing me!”
    â€œIt is my fondest desire.”
    â€œMine, too.” She put her hand over his mouth when he started to speak. “No. Don’t say another word. I want to be with you. You want to be with me. I don’t see the problem.”
    Gently, he removed her hand from his mouth, then kissed her palm. Warmth feathered up her arm to pool around her heart.
    â€œI hope you never do,” Alexander said quietly. Rising, he drew her to her feet. “Your leg—it’s better?”
    Kara nodded. “The doctor said I can go back to work next week.”
    â€œWill you meet me here again tomorrow night?”
    She nodded again, happiness welling inside her. “Will you kiss me good night?”
    â€œWill the sun rise in the morning?” he murmured, and then he slanted his mouth over hers, his lips claiming hers in a long, lingering kiss that left her shaken to the soles of her feet.
    When he took his mouth from hers, Kara swayed against him, certain she would have fallen but for his arms around her.
    â€œI hope you do not regret this, Kara.”
    â€œI won’t,” she whispered. “I won’t.”
    â€œGood night, then,” he replied, and hoped, for her sake, that she grew tired of him before it was too late.
    In the last hours before dawn, Alexander sat in front of his computer, reading what he had written earlier.
THE DARK GIFT
Chapter II
    I walked through the house, looking for Lilith. For the first time, I noticed that heavy draperies covered every window, and when I opened one, I saw there were shutters on the outside. I wandered through the downstairs, but she was nowhere to be found. I paused at the bottom of the winding staircase, looking up at the darkness beyond. She had forbidden me to ever go upstairs, but on this night, something drew me. Something stronger than fear of discovery, stronger than mere curiosity.
    I knew, with every step that I took, that I was embarking on a journey from which there would be no return, yet something compelled me onward.
    I think, even now, that I knew what I would find when I opened her door. Perhaps I had always known. Perhaps it wasn’t the power of her mind that had clouded mine all this time, but my own fear.
    Mouth dry, heart pounding, I opened the door to Lilith’s room, and came face to face with a scene out of one of my childhood nightmares: Lilith, dressed all in black, bending over the body of a young boy.
    Though I hadn’t made a sound, she looked up, her