She woke slowly, eager to leave the dark dreams that had plagued her through the night. Eyes still closed, she stretched.And frowned when her hand encountered someone in the bed beside her.

Fully awake now, she turned to find Dominic lying beside her, his gaze intent upon her face.

"Dominic, what are you doing in my..." She paused when she realized she wasn't in her bedroom, or in any other room of her house. "Where are we?"

"How do you feel, my best beloved one?"

"I feel fine. Where are we?"

"At my house inMaine ."

"What are we doing here?" She frowned as she gazed around the room. The colors in the wallpaper seemed to vibrate with life. She could hear the rustle of the leaves from outside. Though there were no windows in the room, she knew that night had fallen.

She looked at Dominic again. "What happened?" she asked, and then her eyes widened as memory returned." Petrina!" Her hand flew to her throat. "She bit me. She drank from me..."

She stared into Dominic's eyes, searching for answers and yet afraid of what she might see. "You didn't!" She recoiled in horror. Tell me you didn't."

" Querida..."

"How could you do such a thing?" She was on her feet almost before she realized she wanted to rise. "You knew how I felt!"

Dominic sat up. The blankets pooled in his lap.

Tracystared at him. He looked the same as always, yet different somehow. Even as angry as she was, she couldn't help admiring the width of his shoulders, his broad chest, the latent strength in his well-muscled arms, or the narrow line of black hair that started at his waist and disappeared beneath the blankets. She had a sudden, inexplicable urge to find her paints and draw him as he looked now. She would call itVampire at Dusk . ...

She looked up at his face again. He was still watching her, his expression guarded.

She held out her hands, turning them this way and that, wiggling her fingers as if she had never seen them before.

She was a vampire. She said the words in her mind, trying to determine what she was feeling. Every sense she owned was alert and alive.

"I'm a vampire." She said the words aloud, surprised to find that the idea was not as shocking or abhorrent as she had expected.

Dominic rose and held out his hand. "Come with me."

She hesitated a moment and then put her hand in his. Wordlessly, he led her outside and into the gardens.

He made a gesture that encompassed the yard. "It is beautiful, yes?"

Slowly, she perused the grounds. Though it was dark, she could see colors as clearly as if it were midday. The bright pinks and reds and yellows of the roses were vibrant and alive in a way she had never seen before. She could see every thorn, the delicate veins in each leaf, in stark detail. The lawn was a deep emerald green. Each blade of grass was clearly defined.

And sounds.She heard the soft sighing of the wind though it was not strong enough to stir the leaves of the trees, the faint croaking of a frog, the flutter of a moth's wings, the shifting of a bird in its nest overhead.

She ran her hand over the back of one of the stone benches, her fingers suddenly sensitive to each tiny groove.

She twirled around. She felt better than she had ever felt in her life, knew that she could run or swim for miles and never tire. Knew if she but willed herself to do so, she could fly over the high wall that surrounded the estate.

Bemused, she stopped twirling to look at Dominic and found him watching her, his expression that of a proud father watching a childtake its first steps. And that was what she was doing, she mused, taking her first steps toward a new life.

He was waiting, she realized, waiting for her reaction to her changed condition, waiting to see if she would forgive him for what he had done, or curse him and flee his presence.

Head tilted to one side, she regarded her husband as though seeing him for the first time. With her vampire sight, he was more handsome than ever. His black hair gleamed like polished ebony.

His eyes, as gray as storm clouds, were filled with apprehension.

She loved him too much to let him go on suffering, wondering if she hated him for what he had done.

But how could she hate him? She had vowed to love him until death parted them. In mortal time, that might have meant twenty or thirty years, perhaps forty, if they were lucky.But now...

A slow smile spread over her face. Deep down, in spite of everything she had said to the contrary, hadn't she always wanted to be what he was?To live forever? It was only her own cowardice, her fear of theunknown, that had kept her from making the decision. Subconsciously, hadn't she always hoped that Dominic would make the decision for her?

" Querida."He took a hesitant step toward her.

"I'm a vampire," she said again.

Henodded, his expression uncertain.

She closed the distance between them and placed her hands on his chest, loving the feel of his skin beneath her palms, the way the hair on his chest coiled around her fingers, the way he quivered at her touch.

She tilted her head back to better see his face. "We're alike now, you and I."

He said nothing, only watched her, his expression wary, as she ran her hands over the width of his shoulders.

Tracylaughed softly. "Areyou afraid ofme now?"

He nodded again. "More than you can imagine."

His answer surprised her. "What are you afraid of?"

"I am afraid of your hatred."

"Hate you?" She raked her nails lightly over his bare chest, slowly moving down, down, running her hands sensuously over his flat belly and up to his chest again.

He shuddered at her touch, but made no move to touch her in return.

"I could never hate you, Dominic."

"You forgive me then?"

Rising on tiptoe, she kissed him, first one cheek and then the other. "I feel as though I've been dreaming my whole life, waiting for you to wake me up, and now it's happened." Her gaze searched his face. "Am I dreaming again?"

He drew her into his arms then, one hand caressing her cheek as he molded her body to his. She had ever been beautiful to him but never more so than now, with her eyes shining with love and acceptance.

"No, my best beloved one," he murmured, his voice husky with desire, "you are not dreaming. Tonight, our real life together begins."