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sat up, sweat cooling on his skin. He pushed the sheets away and dropped his head into his hands. He hadn't had a nightmare for months.
    God. He scraped his hands over his stubble-roughened cheeks. Seeing the strong, courageous Dominique so helpless, so beaten...it tore him to pieces.
    His heart continued to hammer a relentless beat in his chest. He needed to see her. To make sure she was all right.
    He dragged on his jeans and didn't bother with a shirt. Pausing outside her room, he told himself to turn around. Instead he pushed open the door.
    The bed was empty. The sheets a snarled disarray.
    Where the hell was she? Rand moved through the house, his nerves tingling. Had she left? Had Vilein taken her?
    Earlier, when they'd spoken of his father, Rand knew he'd hurt her. She was nothing like the monsters he executed. Nothing like Zahn. But Rand had used her heritage as a wedge to keep his distance.
    She wasn't in the kitchen or the living room. Then he noticed the sliding door to the deck was ajar. Hands coiled into fists, he stepped outside.
    And saw her.
    She was every man's fantasy of light and dark, strength and femininity, innocence and seduction. His fantasy come to life.
    Her skin was porcelain pale, her hair the darkest shade of night. Her body was long, lithe and made to wrap around a man. Yet the beautiful face in profile showed no knowledge of the picture she made. Or the longings she stirred.
    But the lines around her mouth spoke of the horror of lingering nightmares.
    He moved closer, drawn, unable to stop the need to touch her. To comfort.
    She leaned against the railing, wearing one of his shirts. The length of long, smooth leg it displayed had Rand's blood pumping thickly in his veins.
    When he was a foot away, she turned. "Rand, I'm so sorry."
    He stilled. "Why?"
    A warm desert breeze ruffled her hair. "My nightmare leaked into your sleep. I never meant to project it..." She brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear, her eyes miserable. "I forced you to relive your father's death."
    Rand brushed a hand over her shoulder. "I've had the nightmare before. What was worse was seeing what you went through with that bastard Vilein."
    Fighting to keep his hand gentle, Rand cupped her smooth cheek. What he really wanted was the bastard chained up so he could show him what it felt like to be helpless.
    She pressed her cheek to his palm. "I'm safe for now."
    For now . The words echoed through him. Because he wouldn't help her--take her into his arms and make her his.
    Rand pulled her closer, felt her cheek press against his bare chest. Fire ignited, hot and strong. His blood went from warm to boiling.
    His hunger was fierce, but the need to protect burned white-hot as well.
    She moved her head, her lips brushing over his nipple. Flames licked down his body, pooling in his groin. When her teeth grazed his skin, he groaned.
    She stilled. "Rand?"
    In just a few hours he'd gone from never fraternizing with the creatures he hunted to needing one of them more than he needed to breathe.
    Somehow, in one night, Dominique had shattered a lifetime of preconceptions.
    He slid his hands down her sides, shaping her curves. "I want to make love to you, Dominique."

    Chapter Six
    Rand watched Dominique pull away, her hands pressing to his chest.
    She sank her teeth into her bottom lip. "You want to make love to me because of the nightmare? To save me from Vilein?"
    Rand saw a hint of fang and for the first time in his existence, he was turned on by it. "No. This has nothing to do with him."
    Her dawning smile was radiant. "Good."
    He wanted Dominique for Dominique. Because she was everything he'd never known he wanted. Everything he'd thought he couldn't have in the darkness of his life.
    He let his hands slide behind her, cupped her bottom and lifted her onto the railing.
    "God, you are so beautiful." He brushed her hair back from her magnificent face.
    Her hands slid up to his shoulders, ran over his skin. "Show me what it's