Corinne woke tangled in sheets, her heart pounding erratically and a cry of alarm in her throat. There were tears on her face, and both hands reached protectively for the small mound that was gone from her stomach.
What is it?
Dayan dragged her close to him, his arms closing around her, a safe shelter in the storm of her nightmares.
Tell me, honey.
He was scanning their surroundings, merging more deeply so he could see into Corinne's haunted dreams.
"I couldn't breathe, Dayan - for a moment I couldn't breathe!" Her heart was settling into the calmer, more steady rhythm of his. She lay in his arms, grateful for the strength of his body. She listened to the reassuring sound of her heart and the softer, almost imperceptible sound of her daughter's breathing. "For a moment, none of it was real - not you or the baby or my new heart. You were gone and I was left alone."
Dayan pressed his mouth to her temple. "You were resting in the way of humans, Corinne. You wanted to lie down on the bed here in our new home."
Corinne found herself smiling in spite of the echoes of her terrible dream. "Do people consider tour buses home?"
Dayan turned so he could look down on her face, his fingertips tracing the delicate bone structure. "We live mainly on the road, so these buses become home very quickly. I noticed you were very nervous around the cats."
His thumb was stroking tiny caresses at the corner of her bottom lip, sending little shivers running down her back to the base of her spine. He always made her so aware of the differences in their bodies. How hard his muscles were, his bones thick and strong; her body seemed soft and very feminine in contrast although her muscles were quite firm. She reveled in her new strength. Still, he made her always remember he was a man and she was a woman.
My woman.
He reminded her he was always a shadow in her mind.
"Cats? Is that what you call those things? They aren't cats, Dayan, they're wild animals. Real wild animals. Leopards eat babies. Little Jennifer would be a tasty treat for them," she pointed out.
"Tasty treat? I like that." His hand spanned her throat as he bent to take possession of her mouth. A slow swirl of fire. When he lifted his head, his glittering eyes black with hunger, his hand drifted lower to find her abundant breasts. "Everyone needs tasty treats now and them." He bent his dark head so that his long hair slid over her skin like strands of silk, teasing every nerve ending into raw need. His breath was warm, and her body tightened in anticipation.
Corinne found herself smiling, relaxing inside where she was still hearing the echoes of her nightmare. Jennifer was out of the incubator and sleeping peacefully in the small built-in crib Dayan had designed for their new motor home. The tour was beginning in another week and they needed to get moving. Jennifer was so tiny, both Dayan and Corinne were almost afraid to hold her, so it was reassuring to have the other band members nearby to help out. Gary Jansen had elected to travel with them until Jennifer no longer needed his protection or Cullen and Lisa returned to travel with them.
"What time is it?" Corinne asked, suddenly worried.
Dayan moved closer to a beckoning peak, his mouth skimming creamy flesh so that her thoughts immediately scattered in all directions. Her hands bunched fistfuls of his charcoal hair into her palms, and she pulled his head down to her eager body. "Stop teasing me. We don't have all night."
His tongue stroked a caress. "I like taking my time. Every inch of you deserves attention."
"Absolutely," she agreed, "and we're in a bit of a hurry here, so if you're planning on giving me the attention I need, get on with it and stop making me crazy!" He was driving her crazy and he knew it. Her body in such close proximity to his was hot and aching with need.
His soft taunting laughter was in her mind when he finally gave in to her demands and took her breast into the hot, moist cavern of his mouth. Her body answered with a rush of damp heat calling to him. Dayan took his time, a long, lazy, very leisurely exploration of her body, caressing every hollow and curve, every secret shadowed place. His hands and tongue brought a thick molten heat to her bloodstream and a building urgency Corinne couldn't ignore. She was on fire, inside and out. Deep within her raged a conflagration, a firestorm burning so hot she thought she might explode. His touch was turning her inside out so that she could barely catch her breath.
Wickedly she found his body with her hands. Feeling her way through his mind, she discovered every secret thing that drove him crazy. Her mouth found his throat, nibbled and scraped at his pulse. She heard the echo of his heart slamming. Her hands caressed his firm buttocks, delved into the muscles, traced the etched lines there while she spread tiny kisses across the heavy muscles of his chest. He was thick and hard now, his skin hot as she moved along the line of his flat belly. His breath was ragged and his mind was a red haze of hunger.
Her tongue swirled a path along his hipbone, while her hands found the columns of his thighs. His muscles were hard and rigid with anticipation. Corinne let her breath wash over the velvet head of his heavy erection, while she cupped him in her hands, while her fingers danced and teased. She kept it up until he groaned and caught her head in his hands, dragged her to him. Her mouth was tight and hot, her tongue a dancing fire. His hips moved urgently, a hard rhythm he seemed helpless to stop.
Dayan muttered something, a thick, husky sound of sheer pleasure, and he suddenly used his enormous strength to take back the lead. He pushed her down on the tangled sheets, his hands catching her curvy hips while he knelt above her. He simply yanked her to him, his shaft thick and hard, demanding entrance. She was slick with welcoming liquid, her tight sheath enfolding him in a fiery welcome. He surged into her, hard and fast, his body a little wild, a little out of control. He watched them coming together, a tango meant only for the two of them, while in his head the musical notes swelled into a crescendo of heat and light and pure erotic pleasure.
Corinne watched his face as she moved with him. Loving him. Loving what he did to her. What she did to him. All the time the fire built and now she could hear his music, the wild, unrestrained notes dancing with flames inside him. His soul. Or hers.
Ours !
The word slipped into her mind and they fragmented together, crashing into the stormy seas and shooting upward to the glittering stars. They clung to one another while the earth rocked and the wildness in them subsided.
Dayan's dark gaze never left her face. He bent to kiss her, to taste her again, wanting more but knowing they were out of time. "Our soul, Corinne. The music comes from both of us. Without you, I would never find it in me." He kissed her again. "Why are you just lying there? Aren't you the matron of honor in this wedding? I know I'm the best man. We were supposed to be there five minutes ago. Lisa will be panicking."
"I forgot! Darn you, Dayan, you always do that. Wipe that satisfied smirk off your face." She loved that look on his face. She sat up and caught his face in her hands because she had to kiss him, she was so happy.
"I was just showing you this is reality, not a dream. You should be grateful," he teased.
A loud thump on the door of the trailer had them breaking guiltily apart. Corinne burst out laughing, she couldn't help it. She found herself fully dressed while Dayan was sitting completely naked on the edge of the bed.
"Get over it, you two," Darius ordered from outside their motor home. "Everyone is waiting. You are holding up the show here."
"Thanks for the clothes," Corinne whispered to Dayan with a straight face. "That was very thoughtful of you."
He glared at her. "Darius has excellent hearing," he pointed out.
She shrugged, still secretly laughing at him. "Then let's hope he's very discreet." She glanced at her clingy gown in the mirror. She looked sexy, feminine, elegant. Different. She was different. She was whole. Corinne smiled at her reflection as Dayan, fully clothed and looking extraordinarily handsome in a suit, came up behind her to encircle her waist with his arms. He bent his head to kiss her temple, and she could see his love for her shining in his eyes.
"I'll get Jennifer," she said softly, basking in his warmth. Her world was more perfect than she had ever imagined. "We can talk about those leopards the lot of you keep for pets on the way to the chapel. Lisa thinks you're all crazy too, although the little traitor petted one this morning with Syndil."
Dayan watched her pick up Jennifer. He stared at them for a long moment - his beautiful wife so filled with laughter and warmth - his tiny daughter, such a miracle to all of his people. The melody of his life had been dark for so long, such an endless eternity, yet it was gone in an instant, to be replaced for all time by the melody of love.