Midnight Pleasures

by Amanda Ashley

  Rhianna was watching him carefully. "Are you all right?"

  "I'm mortal again," he replied. "It seems I can't promise you forever anymore."

  "I never wanted forever," she said, happiness shining in her eyes. "Only a lifetime with the man I love."

  "You shall have it, my sweet Rhianna." He glanced at the doorway, at the bright golden light beyond. The light beckoned him, tantalizing in its warmth, its purity. The world he had shut himself away from waited beyond that door. A world he could share with the woman he loved.

  "Rayven…"

  He drew her into his arms and kissed the tears from her eyes. "Ah, my sweet Rhianna, Salvatore will say it was the potion and my faith that worked the miracle, but I know better. It was your love that brought me through the darkness."

  Happiness bubbled up inside him, and he kissed her again, exultantly, and then, rising to his feet, he took Rhianna by the hand and walked out into the sunlight of a new day, a new life.

  Epilogue

  Castle Rayven

  One year later

  He stood at the window, watching the sun come up. It was a sight he never tired of, a miracle he knew he would never take for granted.

  In those first days after he had regained his humanity, he had spent hours basking in the sun, feeling its warmth upon his face as he walked through the gardens, or sat on the bench in the heart of the maze, reflecting on his past, looking forward to the future.

  He watched the sky grow light as the sun chased away the night. The sun, so bright and beautiful. Its welcome heat had banished the last of the darkness from his soul.

  Much had changed in the past year. Rhianna's sister, Aileen, had given birth to twin boys. Montroy had decided to take a trip around the world. Bevins had married Rhianna's mother and moved into her cottage.

  A gentle cooing drew Rayven's attention from the brightening sky. Turning away from the window, he crossed the floor.

  "Shh, little one. Your mama needs her sleep." He smiled as he lifted his four-day old daughter from her cradle. "How are you this morning, my beautiful Alisha? Did you sleep well?"

  She was another miracle, he thought, his heart swelling with love as he cuddled the baby in his arms. He still could not believe that she was his, that after four hundred years of darkness, he had sired a strong, healthy child with hair like sunlight and eyes as blue as a midsummer sky.

  So many miracles in his life, he mused. Indeed, his life was perhaps the biggest miracle of all. He remembered lying on the altar, drowning in darkness, hearing Rhianna's voice calling him back from the very edge of eternity, the feel of her tears like rain on his flesh.

  The miracle of their love. It still amazed him that she could love the man he had become. He did not miss the darkness, but he occasionally missed the ability to read Rhianna's thoughts, to know what she was thinking. She was a mystery to him now, as every woman was a mystery to the man who loved her.

  Rhianna. Her love for him was surely the greatest miracle of all.

  With a smile, he placed his sleeping daughter back in her cradle, then picked up the book in which he had once recorded his dark thoughts. It was time for a new entry.

  Redemption

  aeons of darkness

  shrouded my soul

  I had forgotten

  the warmth

  and beauty

  of the sun;

  alone

  lonely

  I wandered the earth

  hoping

  yearning

  dreaming

  of redemption;

  searching for an end

  to the hunger

  that

  engulfed me to the pain

  that

  tormented me;

  for centuries

  the night was

  my day

  the day

  my night

  there was no

  color in my world;

  until you…

  in your smile

  I found hope

  in your love

  forgiveness

  and now the light

  once denied me

  shines forever

  in your eyes

  * * *

  Dear Reader:

  I hope you enjoyed A Darker Dream. I always fall in love with my heroes, especially the dark brooding ones. I hope you do, too.

  I want to take this opportunity to thank MICHAEL WHITNEY and REBECCA PAIVA for graciously letting me use their poetry. Rayven's poems are really theirs. "The Other Me" was written by Michael; "I Can Feel It Coming" was written by Rebecca. Thanks, you two! For those of you who surf the net, you might want to check out The Dark Poets Page. Lots of good stuff there.

  I also want to thank MARY LOU VON METER for the use of her poem "Heart of Darkness." If you read my books, you've seen her work before. Thanks, Mary Lou.

  I hope you're all having a wonderful summer, and that your days are filled with happiness and good books, and your "to be read" pile is filled with "keepers."

  Love and hugs,

  Amanda