Analisa stood at the parlor window gazing out into the night. Six months since she had last seen Alesandro. She had spent the first month weeping, the second raging, the third learning to accept his absence, the fourth in a flurry of redecorating the house. She had hired painters, bought new furniture, replaced the carpets and drapes, the silver and china, determined to rid the house of anything that would remind her of the time they had spent together. The only room she had left untouched was his bedchamber. She had not entered it since the night he left, save for the day her wedding gown arrived from Womack's. She had taken the gown into his room and closed the door. She had grieved for him that day, grieved for all they had lost. Sitting on his bed, her gown clutched to her breast, she had wept until she had no tears left, and then she had thrown the gown into the hearth and watched it burn. When she left his room three hours later, she had locked the door, wishing she could as easily lock him out of her heart.

Life was peaceful at Gallatin. She had hired a new housekeeper, Mrs. Dinsmore, who, if not as efficient as Mrs. Thornfield, made up for it with boundless energy and enthusiasm. Mrs. Dinsmore had a married daughter and five grandchildren who lived nearby, and she was grateful to have employment close to home. Analisa also hired a new coachman. Carlin McLeod was a handsome young man with dark red hair and roguish brown eyes. Frannie had taken one look at him and been smitten. Though Analisa did not begrudge Carlin and Frannie their happiness, it pained her to see the twoof them together, to see the love in their eyes, the smiles they shared. With Analisa's permission, the pair planned to stay on at Gallatin after they married in the fall.

Analisa had run into Geoffrey Starke on one of her infrequent forays into the city. When he had learned that her marriage had been called off, he had invited her to a ball at the home of one of his companions. Since that night, he had been her escort on more than one occasion. She had danced with dozens of handsome young men, exchanged pleasantries with well-dressed, well-bred young women, even hosted a small party herself. She had received and refused two marriage proposals. But nothing touched her. She went through the motions,experiencing it all as if she were seeing it from adistance, watching it from outside herself. Her future seemed as dark and empty as the night outside.

With a sigh, she turned away from the window, gasped when she saw Alesandro standing just inside the door.

He inclined his head in her direction. "Good evening, Analisa."

"My lord." Her heartbeat quickened at the mere sight of him. He was clad in black, his cloak falling in graceful folds to the floor. As always, he was a sight to take her breath away.

His gaze moved around the room, noting the changes, before settling on her face again. A faint smile touched his lips. "I see you have made this house your own."

She nodded, a thousand questions chasing each other through her mind.

"How have you been?" he asked.

She shrugged, not trusting herself to speak.

He lifted one black brow. "Do you wish me to go?"

She lowered her head so he couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. "No." The word was hardly more than a whisper.

" 'Lisa..." His hands curled into tight fists, his knuckles white with the strain as he fought the urge to go to her. " 'Lisa, look at me."

His voice surrounded her. Dark, sensual, filled with quiet power. And love. Slowly she lifted her head to meet his gaze.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"I went to ground."

She frowned, not understanding.

"Sometimes, whenvampires need to escape what they are, or the world around them, they bury themselves deep in the earth."

"You've been buried alive all this time?" she asked, horrified at the image his words conjured in her mind.

"I could not bear to be in this world and not be near you. I had intended to stay below ground until you were no longer a temptation." He took a step toward her, his eyes pleading for her understanding. "I could not stay away from you," he said. "I did not want you tainted with what I am."

"I've never felt that way."

" 'Lisa, you tried to kill Rodrigo to save me. I know how difficult that was for you, the pain it caused you, the way it defiled your soul."

"Alesandro - "

"I tried to stay away from you, 'Lisa. I thought that, by going to ground, I could forget you." He shook his head. "No matter how deep I went, I could not escape your memory. Vampires do not dream, and yet you were there. I felt your sadness, your anger, and I knew that the love we shared was even stronger than the blood bond between us." He took another step toward her. "I came here tonight to see if there was a chance that you still loved me. If there was any hope for us."

"I never stopped loving you, Alesandro. Even when I hated you for leaving me, I loved you."

" 'Lisa!"

She closed the distance between them and laid her cheek against his chest. The wall she had built around her heart cracked, unleashing a torrent of tears.

His arms went around her, crushing her close. She felt his lips move in her hair.

" 'Lisa, beloved, can you ever forgive me?"

"Only if you promise never to leave me again."

"I swear it on all I hold sacred."

"And will you still love me when I'm wrinkled and gray?"

"Young or old, I will always love you as I do now."

"Will you care for me when I'm old and feeble? Will you be at my side when I draw my last breath?"

"I will never leave you," he said fervently, though he knew it would be the worst kind of torture to watch her age, to see her take her last breath, to face life without her.

She leaned back so she could see his face. "And would you make me what you are, if I asked you to?"

" 'Lisa!" Once, he would have refused her, but no more. "Yes, my sweet Analisa, but only if you are sure it is what you want." He ran his knuckles lightly over her cheek, his dark eyes burning into hers. "Think carefully, my sweet, for once it is done, there is no going back."

"I have thought about it. A mortal lifetime with you is not long enough. I want forever."

"Ah, 'Lisa, will you be happy in my dark world?"

"It will not be dark if you are there to share it with me. I love you, Alesandro. Do you know how much I missed you?"

His arms tightened around her. "No more than I missed you."

She leaned into him, drawing him into herself, accepting all of him, the light and the darkness, and as she did so, she knew with unshakable certainty that she belonged here, in his arms, in his life. Breathless and unafraid, she whispered, "Show me."

" 'Lisa!" Cupping the back of her head in his hand, he bent down and claimed her lips with his.

One dark kiss, filled with aching tenderness and an unspoken vow of love, a kiss that held the promise and the power of forever.