Dark Challenge

Julian took Desari's hand and walked her out into the forest. The concert had seemed endless, and there had been so many people to talk with after the performance. Well-wishers, reporters, fans - far too many people for Julian's liking. It went on for most of the night. Now he allowed the peace of the mountains and the night breeze to push away the sounds of the crowd and the crush of so many humans pushing close to his lifemate. He was not altogether certain he would survive this life she insisted on. It was so foreign to the nature of a Carpathian male to allow so many near her, yet Desari took it for granted that he would just accept it.



"I do not, you know. I have never taken anything for granted," she protested, sharing his thoughts. "I know how difficult this is for you, and I appreciate the way you support me in my choice."



His dark eyes swept over her sincere expression, his eyebrows raised slightly. "You do, do you? Appreciate the way I support your choice?" He said the words softly, a hint of laughter in their depths. "And you look so perfectly honest and genuinely earnest with your far too beautiful eyes."



She tightened her hand around his. "I am completely sincere, Julian. I know this is hard on you, but it truly is my way of life."



"This century, cara.



For only this century will I allow it." She laughed softly. "You think."



"I know. My heart cannot take the constant strain of worry. So many males hanging around you with not-so-pure thoughts. It sets my teeth on edge. And we are not even counting the vampires who appear to be stalking you and the other female at every turn."



"Syndil," Desari corrected softly. "Her name is Syndil."



Julian heard the reproof in her voice, felt the tears in her mind. She loved Syndil as a sister, loved her and missed their close camaraderie. Even Julian filling her life could not take away the sorrow of what had happened. She wanted Syndil back again, whole and healed. Even her voice could not undo the brutality of what Savon had wrought. Syndil wouldn't accept her aid. Desari felt helpless and could only watch as Syndil seemed to withdraw more and more into herself.



He caught glimpses of Desari's memories. Syndil laughing, her eyes alight with the sheer joy of living. Syndil hugging her close, whispering womanly nonsense after they had teased Darius to distraction. The plots they hatched to attain a few hours of freedom. Secretly laughing at Barack's anger with Syndil and Darius's lectures when they were caught. They had had centuries together, so close, the only two females, with no other friends or confidantes sharing their innermost thoughts, fears, and joys.



Julian bent his head and rubbed his chin in the silk of Desari's hair. He loved her.



Love.



It was so small a word, and people seemed to use it for everything. To him it was sacred. Desari was joy and light. Truth and beauty. She was love itself. She was the world and what it should be. He felt complete and at peace with her, even when she was driving him crazy. It amazed him, her cool confidence and tremendous gifts. Of course their women would have extraordinary gifts. Why hadn't any of them realized? They had been so arrogant in their beliefs that the men had the powers, yet in truth, the males held only dark powers. How could that possibly compare to the gifts women brought to their world? Aside from the creation of life, obviously they had other things to offer, blessings of nature and peace, healing gifts far beyond the scope of the males.



Julian let his breath out slowly. "Syndil will be whole again, piccola, whole and happy once more. Time can heal where other things cannot. I feel it. I know it will happen. Do not continue to know such sorrow. She will return to you in a way totally unexpected. I do not know how I know this, but I do."



Her large eyes searched his face before her long lashes veiled her expression. "You are not just saying this to ease my mind?"



"I do not say things to ease anyone's mind. You should know that about me by now. Lifemates cannot tell an untruth to one another. Seek the information in my mind, Desari, and you will know I believe in what I say to you. And I will call her Syndil as you wish me to. If it is your desire that she be a sister to me, then it will be so."



"Why do you never speak her name?"



He shrugged with his easy, casual grace, the ripple of power he took for granted, the enormous strength she was coming to know. "Habit. We do not often socialize with unclaimed females of our race, and we do not personalize them. It is a protection for both parties. As males grow close to the end, we would not want any of them fixating on one of our eligible females and perhaps..." He trailed off, suddenly not wanting to articulate it.



Desari swept a hand through her hair. "Attacking her," she finished for him. "Syndil did not do anything to provoke Savon or lead him on. I know she did not."



"It never occurred to me for one moment that she did such a thing. A female does not have to do anything to entice a vampire. The undead are perverted, grotesque, wholly evil. In their warped imaginations, they think that if they find an unclaimed female, or perhaps make a widow of one with a mate, they will find their lost souls. It can never be. Once they have chosen such a path, it is for all eternity, until one of our hunters is able to properly destroy them. Most try at some time to find a mate. They use mortal women and sometimes are even able to turn them without killing them. But the woman becomes deranged and feeds on the blood of children. It is a terrible burden to be forced to destroy such a victimized creature. That is the worst of all our jobs." He stated it matter-of-factly, without looking for sympathy.



Her head brushed his shoulder, their bodies close as they walked together through the forest, winding their way aimlessly through the trees and brush. It was a small gesture, but the touch sent little shock waves through his body. She took away his distress. She gave him so much pleasure. Just being near her gave him pleasure. Breathing in her scent gave him pleasure.



"Julian, you give me the same feeling," she assured him, pleased she was able to lift his spirits.



"You are a miracle to me," he said. "You have no idea what you mean to me, what you are to me, and I can never find the words to tell you."



But she was in his mind. She could feel his emotions, and they were overwhelming to her. To be thought of as he thought of her! It was a powerful weapon the men of their race wielded. How could a lifemate possibly refuse to comfort and love such a man? She wanted this for Darius. She wanted a woman to love him the way she loved Julian. She wanted someone for Syndil and Barack and Dayan, as well.



Julian laughed and curved his arm around her, sweeping her beneath the protection of his shoulder. Of course Desari would think of all the others, wanting to share her joy. It only made him love her more. "Look at the stars tonight, Desari. Tomorrow night there will be a storm. I feel it closing in around us. But tonight we walk together in the open and have time to enjoy ourselves."



"It is nearly dawn," she reminded him, a little smile creeping into her voice.



"It is a few hours until dawn," Julian replied. "More than enough time to accomplish my task."



"You have a task?" she asked, her dark eyes dancing at him.



"Absolutely. I have to convince you completely that I am the only man you will ever want or need in your lifetime."



"My lifetime could be quite long," she pointed out in warning.



"It will always be my first duty in life to ensure your safety at all times, cara mia.



I want you to live with me a very long time."



She turned to him, her body pressed close to his, her arms sliding around his neck. "How long is a very long time?" she murmured, her teeth nibbling at the strong line of his jaw.



His arms closed around her tightly as joy swept through his soul and a tidal wave of need consumed him. Julian bent his head to find her mouth with his. The sweet perfection of it. Velvet fire swept over him, through him, electricity arcing between them so that flames danced up their skin and through their bodies. A low growl escaped his throat, a soft sound of possession. Desari responded by moving even closer to him, her smaller frame molding itself to his.



A sound intruded. It was barely discernible, the rub of fur against a leaf, but it was enough to elicit a frustrated groan from Julian. He leaned his forehead against her crown. "This family unit you have is driving me over the edge. We have no privacy, piccola, none whatsoever."



She laughed softly with the same frustration. "I know, Julian. But it is one of the small sacrifices we all pay for caring for one another. We help each other through any crisis."



"Who is going to help me through this one? Believe me, cara, I am definitely having a crisis. I need you before I start to go insane."



"I know. It is the same for me," she whispered, her lips against the corner of his mouth, teasing, tempting. There was an ache in her voice, an answer to the ache in his. "We will have our time."



"It had better be soon," he growled, meaning it. There was a hidden laughter in her, one he felt in her mind, in her heart. She found humor in the situation yet wanted him with the same urgent need. Julian found he was smiling in spite of his body's demands. There was something contagious about Desari's laughter, whether it was in her mind or aloud. It was joy. Pure and simple. There was joy in him now where there had never been before.



Desari kissed his hard jaw, his stubborn chin. "We cannot desert Syndil at this time."



"It is rather difficult to help her when she spends all her time in the form of a leopard."



"Shh. There is nothing wrong with her hearing," Desari cautioned, rising on tiptoe to kiss his eyebrow, rubbing at his frown with her cheek. "If she is willing to reach out for just a moment and talk to me as we used to, then I must be here for her."



"Fine," Julian agreed grudgingly. "But if that idiot Barack happens by with his hangdog look, tell him to keep going."



"He seems to be strutting around these days with a rather macho look," Desari pointed out. "He has gotten progressively worse since Savon's attack on Syndil. He has appointed himself her personal bodyguard, and he is not very nice about it. Julian," she added, her dark eyes lighting up with her brilliant idea, "maybe you should tell him to quit being so bossy. She needs him to be more gentle."



Julian snorted inelegantly. "As if that will happen. I absolutely refuse to interfere with anything Barack is choosing to do. Carpathian males cannot do such things. We believe in allowing one another to work things out alone. Especially anything that might have to do with a woman. Now that I am thinking about it, perhaps I should go and leave you two females to talk privately."



"Coward," she whispered, her teeth nipping his ear. "Do not go far, as I have great need of you."



Julian's tall, muscular frame shimmered, then became transparent in the night air. He was smiling down at her, that little smirk that always got under her skin. Desari felt her heart take wing, soar, even as he disappeared, becoming part of the night itself.



Desari turned as the female leopard burst out from the brush, shape-shifting as it did so. "Desari." Syndil's voice was a mere thread of sound. "I am going to go away. I need to be far from these overbearing males. I do not wish to leave you, but it is necessary."



Syndil was upset. Desari knew her so well, she knew every nuance of her voice. Yet, as always, Syndil appeared calm and unruffled. Desari reached out and took her hand. "It never bothered you before to have the males beating their chests like cavemen. We have always laughed together over their silly ways. Why are you allowing them to get to you now? If Darius has upset you, sister, I will speak to him myself."



Syndil pushed impatiently at the long strands of hair framing her face. "It is not Darius, although he is bad enough. And Dayan, too, watches me all the time. But at least he does not say anything annoying to me. Barack, however, thinks himself my boss. He is rude and obnoxious all the time. I do not wish to put up with his arrogance one more moment." She ducked her head so that her silky hair fell around her like a cloak, hiding her expression. "He denied I am his sister."



Desari felt Syndil's pain. Barack had really hurt her with that denial. They had been family, closer than family for centuries. How could Barack have said such a hurtful thing to Syndil? Desari had an unfamiliar urge to strike him. She put her arm protectively around Syndil's shoulders. "I do not know why he would say such a thing, but you know he cannot mean it. He must be so worried about you that he says things without thinking."



"Things to punish me because he thinks I, in some way, am responsible for what Savon did. Perhaps he wished Darius had killed me rather than Savon. He always looked up to Savon; you know that." Syndil shrugged painfully, staring up at the darkened sky. "Who knows, maybe I did do something inadvertently to provoke Savon."



"Absolutely not!" Desari denied adamantly. "You do not believe that, Syndil, and neither does anyone else. Julian says that the males turn after so many centuries without finding their other half. He says they have a choice, to meet the dawn or choose to lose their souls. Obviously Savon chose the latter. You cannot in any way believe you are responsible for anything that has been happening to the males of our race for hundreds, even thousands of years."



"They all treat me differently now, but Barack is the worst."



"Syndil," Desari said gently, her voice soothing and gentle, "you are different. We all are. It is a change we have to go through just like any other, but as always, we go through it together. Barack may be having a difficult time adjusting to what happened to you. He may even feel responsible. Maybe he noticed Savon pulling away from us and did not say anything. Who knows? I believe he is simply trying to protect you. Perhaps he is going a bit overboard, but it might be that we should cut him a little slack."



Syndil's perfect eyebrows shot up. "Cut him some slack? He should cut me some slack. You do not see how he is with me. He is rude and abrasive and totally out of line. Even Darius does not speak to me as he does."



Desari sighed and shoved a hand through her hair. "Do you want me to speak to him, Syndil?"



"I do not think it will be necessary. I meant what I said. I will be taking a vacation. It is time I went my own way for a while." Syndil's voice was defiant.



"Darius will never allow you to go away unprotected," Desari reminded her gently. "He would send one of the men to look after you."



A male leopard, large and well-muscled, moved out into the open and leapt with casual ease onto a low tree branch. It stared at the two women, its eyes unblinking, its sides rippling with power as it breathed steadily. Syndil glared at the animal. Desari shook her head.



Barack, you must stop pushing her so hard. She is going to run if you keep this up.



She used their common mental path, trying to convey the desperation Syndil was feeling.



She will go nowhere without the consent of Darius. And if he were to give it, there would be nowhere she could go that I would not follow.



The voice was arrogant.



Without warning, Julian shimmered into solid form beside Desari, his arm dropping protectively around her shoulders. His eyes, molten gold filled with menace, were fixed on the leopard above them. The disturbance in Desari's mind had brought him instantly to her side. In that moment there was nothing easygoing about him, only a hard, implacable warrior honed by a merciless life.



Do not drive her away from us, Desari pleaded, I beg you, be more gentle with her. You do not understand what has happened to her. She needs time to recover. I understand far more than you think, Desari. She is no longer living. She is merely existing. I cannot allow it to continue.



Barack sounded cold and distant.



Desari's dark eyes filled with tears. She turned her head into Julian's shoulder. "Please, Syndil, do not leave me. Not now. I need you here with me. Everything is so different."



Syndil reached out and touched her hand. "If that is so, then he will not force me from my own family. I am strong enough to stand up to him." She glared at the leopard, who simply watched her without so much as blinking. Nodding at Julian, she moved away from them, disappearing into the trees. The leopard jumped soundlessly from the branch and padded after her.



Desari glanced up at Julian. "Do you realize how really intimidating you can look when you want to? What did you think Barack was going to do?"



He shrugged with his casual grace. "It did not matter, cara. I did not like the way he made you feel. These other males seem to think they have the right to interfere with you women. Only your brother, as the acknowledged leader, has such a right and duty. The others can do no other than protect you, as Barack has tried to do with Syndil. He cannot chastise you. You are my lifemate and answerable only to me and the Prince of our people. In your case, perhaps to Darius as well. But not to Dayan. Not to Barack. Only to the leaders and your lifemate."



Her dark eyes flashed with fire. "I am answerable to you?" Her voice was even softer than usual, a velvet volcano waiting to erupt.



Julian rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying not to allow the smile creeping up from his heart to show in his mind or on his face. "As I am answerable only to you, my lifemate, and to the Prince of our people."



She studied the sensual beauty of his face for a long time. He was amused by her flares of feminism, she could clearly read that, although he wisely attempted to cover it up. Yet she found herself appreciative that Julian cared enough to try to put them on the same footing. Whatever rules he deemed necessary in his mind for his lifemate, he attempted to be fair enough to place the same on himself. Julian was in many ways a chauvinist, like most of the males she had encountered, yet he was at least attempting to make their relationship an equal partnership. She caught at his arm and slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. "I seriously believe that I am beginning to fall in love with you."



His smile was pure masculine arrogance. "You are madly in love with me. Face it, cara mia, you know you cannot resist me."



Her small fist thumped him in the middle of his chest. "When you talk like that I can. Occasionally I think I must be insane to put up with you. 'Madly in love' is not a way I would put things."



His arm swept around her waist. "Sure you would, piccola, if you were not so stubborn." Julian bent his head to bury his face against the slender column of her neck. He loved her scent. She smelled so clean, so tempting. Beneath his wandering mouth, his stroking tongue, he felt the rush of life in her veins beckoning to him. Deliberately he nuzzled her neck, his teeth scraping back and forth over her delicate skin, an enticement that sent shivers down her spine and caused a trembling to start deep within her.



Desari moved even closer to him, her soft body pressing invitingly into his. "We might actually be alone if we move fast enough." Her smile was frankly sexy, her long lashes sweeping down in invitation.



Julian's arm tightened almost to the point of crushing her, yet he held her carefully, so that she could feel the power in his arm but know he was protecting her from bruises. She loved how he made her feel feminine, treasured and cherished, while taking nothing away from her. "Why is it that I want you so much?" she whispered against his ear. "Why do I feel such a burning need that is so much more than mere want?"



His low laughter was all satisfied male. "Because I am so incredibly sexy." He was rising from the earth with her while all around them the night enfolded them in loving arms. The wind rushed past Desari's face, so she kept it buried against his chest, her arms winding around his neck.



"That may be true, arrogant one," she conceded with that soft rasp of velvet that turned his insides to molten lava, "but it is more than that. My skin cannot bear to be apart from yours. My mind tunes itself to yours. My heart and lungs do, too. Inside I burn for our joining. It grows stronger with every passing moment. Why is this?"



"We are lifemates," he answered seriously, his hands beginning a slow exploration of her back even as they flew through the air. "You know this area much better than myself; show me an image to guide me where we can be undisturbed." There was a gravelly edge to his voice that sent her heart somersaulting, as if he, too, was so impatient for their joining that he could not wait much longer.



Automatically she brought up her memories of the area and her private resting place deep within the bowels of the mountain. Her skin was so sensitive she could barely restrain herself from ridding herself of the clothes rubbing uncomfortably against her, keeping her from feeling his skin pressed tightly to hers.



"Lifemates have so close a bond, cara, that they must share one another's bodies and minds often. It is a need when our souls and hearts are so connected. Two halves of the same whole must be brought together very frequently or the demands become so great that control is no longer a possibility." He had picked the information he needed out of her mind and was descending into the very top of the mountain through a narrow crevice barely discernible to the eye even from above.



The relief in both of them was tremendous. Living with her family was as much a part of Desari as breathing, but the strain of not being alone with Julian was overwhelming. She raised her head even before they began the descent through the passageway that wound deep into the inner regions of the slumbering volcano. Their world. Their home.



Her mouth found his blindly. Clothes were simply wished away, tumbling off unchecked as their bodies continued to wind downward through the channel. At once Julian's hand moved to cup her bottom in his palms, urging her body to his.



Desari laughed softly, breathlessly, the heat of the mountain interior itself mixing with the fire burning in her body. She wanted him right at that moment, moving through the air with a languid pace. "We cannot do this, can we?" she asked him, her tongue stroking caresses over the pounding pulse in his neck. His entire body clenched in reaction so that she couldn't help but do it again, the erotic scrape of her teeth adding to the temptation of her bare skin against his. Her full breasts, aching with need, thrust temptingly against his chest, and she pressed the invitation of her hot, creamy entrance against his abdomen.



Julian groaned aloud, his hands lifting her over the thick evidence of his desire. "Do it, Desari, right now," he whispered hoarsely as he began to lower her over him, fitting them together like a velvet glove. "Do not tease me, cara mia.



Let me feel my blood flowing into you as I take what I so desperately need."



Her power over him was all-consuming. To have this Carpathian male with his enormous strength, with all his skills and abilities, so completely enamored, so in need of her, was exhilarating. She lapped gently at his shoulder, tracing a trail of fire over corded muscle to his neck to find his strong, steady pulse. He groaned softly deep in his throat as she allowed her teeth to tease his skin.



Desari!



Her name was a plea for mercy.



They were moving so leisurely now, Desari was barely aware they were still floating through the passageway. She could feel his body invading hers with exquisite slowness. Julian felt her tight, fiery sheath surrounding him, adjusting to his thickness, squeezing him with strong muscles so that he clenched his teeth to hang on to a vestige of control. Then her teeth sank into his neck, sending a bolt of blue lightning streaking through his body, slamming into him with such sexual ecstasy he had no other recourse but to surge into her with hard, sure strokes, to thrust decisively into her mind to share his erotic thoughts, the emotions and the sheer, passionate pleasure her body was giving his. He felt her pure, uncensored joy in the sharing of their minds and hearts, their bodies and souls, in the spice of his blood flowing like the finest wine into her. Desari's hair fell around them in a cascade of ebony silk, brushing their sensitive skin like millions of fingers caressing them. He tasted wild and untamed, an erotic blend of animal and man. Julian could taste the very essence of his life through her, and it was erotic beyond anything he had ever known. They hovered in the air, mating wildly, Julian plunging into her again and again, holding her body exactly where he wanted it, exactly where he needed it to be so that the friction building and building was fiery hot and gripping him almost to the point of pain.



Desari closed the tiny pinpricks in his chest with a slow, leisurely lap of her tongue clearly designed to drive him to madness. She threw her head back, exposing her throat in a clear invitation to him. Her arms circled his neck, and she began to move her hips, riding him almost helplessly with the same fast pace he had set. She looked beautiful, her dark eyes glazed with passion and her mouth a lush enticement impossible to ignore.



Julian's mouth wandered down her satin skin, between the soft swell of her breasts, his breath catching in his throat, in her throat, so that she gasped with pleasure. A small sound escaped, a low cry of need. Desari arced into him even as her hips matched his frantic rhythm. She wanted the whip of lightning flashing through her body, burning her with leaping flames. His tongue stroked her skin, the curve of her breast; his teeth teased her erect nipple gently while his body claimed hers with a fierce possessiveness he had never known he could feel.



"Julian," Desari whispered in an agony of anticipation, a siren's temptation, her melodious voice sending feathers of pleasure down his spine. "I may burn up before we have finished."



He answered her as only a lifemate could, sinking his teeth into the pulse beating so frantically over her breast. She cried out and clutched him tighter as white-hot heat pierced her skin. Incredibly his hips thrust harder into her, his hands holding her still while he drank deeply. The sensation of her body spiraling, gripping him tighter and tighter, went on and on until he could no longer think. There was only feeling, only pleasure, only the erotic taste of her. One skin, one heart and soul. They were soaring together through time and space, and it went on for eternity. How he loved her! How he needed her! She made him alive after centuries of such a bleak emptiness, and he could barely believe his happiness would last. He felt that at any moment it might be wrenched away from him. And he knew he would be far more dangerous than he had ever been in his life.



Savoring the taste of her, their combined scents, he was drowning in ecstasy.



He could feel her surrounding him, her velvet muscles rippling with strength, while she cried out to the very top of the mountain. The intensity of their shared climax rocketed them through the passageway, over cliffs and boundaries of time and space. She clung to him while he feasted, while his body remained locked to hers. Desari's soft little sigh of total acceptance brought him out of his daze, where there was only pleasure, only senses reeling out of control. That sigh brought him back to the here and now. Desari's head was pillowed on his shoulder, her long lashes fanning her cheeks. She looked pale beyond belief, her skin nearly translucent.



Julian swore as he impatiently closed the tiny wounds over her breast. His palm swept back the long hair from her face. "Desari. Look at me, piccola.



Open your eyes." It was a clear order, delivered in a voice filled with compulsion, filled with naked worry.



She smiled drowsily, leaning into him so that he was bearing her weight. "You must feed, cara. I



have taken far too much blood from you in my insatiable hunger. It is unforgivable that I would not see to your care even in the midst of such passion. I have no excuse, my love, but you must drink." He pressed her mouth to his bare chest.



Desari's head lolled back on her neck. She murmured something unintelligible, a sound of love. Julian took them both safely to earth and gently untwined their bodies. Her protest was more a slight frown passing across her dark winged brows, a faint pout to her lips, than anything verbal. Julian cursed himself and his utter lack of control once again. There was no censure in her mind or heart. She was as accepting of the animal side of his nature as she was of the Carpathian male side. He had taken far more blood than he should have, indulging his passion at the price of her strength.



Julian cradled her in his strong arms, bending to kiss the corner of her mouth.



Hear me, piccola, love of my life. I have taken far too much from you. You must replenish yourself with what I provide.



This was no soft plea; it was a strong and deliberate command, a compulsion sent mind to mind by a male of their species with tremendous powers. He gave no thought to it, simply issuing the order to ensure her health and safety. Julian slashed a line over the heavy muscles of his chest and pressed her mouth firmly to him.



He was angry with himself, angry that he had been so selfish in his passion. Had he spent so much time with animals that he had forgotten how to behave as a man? He was more beast than civilized. His newfound emotions were far more difficult to deal with than the most powerful of the undead he had ever vanquished. The lines in battle were always so clear to him, yet now his emotions rendered his unshakable control dust. He found himself tied up in knots, not wanting to hurt her feelings or do the wrong thing, that she might think less of him. He found himself constantly at war with his own instincts. He wanted to carry her off and keep her safe for all time and eternity.



Julian lay his head over hers. "It seems I need to keep you safe from your own lifemate."



Desari stirred in his arms even as she fed under his hypnotic command. Deep within the layers of compulsion she felt his fierce anger at himself for what he considered his abusive nature. She sent him her warmest love. She managed to project the gentle smile forming in her mind to share it with him, the deep feelings she had already developed for him. It was astonishing to Julian that she was already so much a part of him that she could feel the depths of his rage at himself and seek to soothe him.



And she had somehow managed to do so. He became more calm and accepting of his nature. He was what he was; he could never change that. He wasn't even certain he would want to if he could. Desari saw his strengths and allowed him to view himself through her eyes. It was another priceless gift she offered him, and he would treasure it always. He was finding out quickly why the male of their race so desperately needed the balance of their lifemates. Their women brought light and compassion to their inner darkness.



Julian lifted his head and regarded her carefully, searching her face for signs of recovery. Color ran under her skin, a much healthier glow. Breathing a sigh of relief, he allowed her to awaken slowly. His arms cradled her protectively. "I am sorry, cara.



I should have been far more restrained in possessing you."



Her hand brushed his throat, sending heat coursing through him, a sense of belonging and acceptance he had never known. Her smile tugged at his heart. "You are my love, Julian. You would never harm me. I know that as surely as I know I would be incapable of harming you. I was quite satisfied, if you must hear me say it, although I suspect you know that you provided me with pleasure such as I could not have imagined before."



He stroked her hair, his eyes like molten gold. "It is more than giving you pleasure that I want, it is sharing something beautiful beyond compare, and that I cannot do if I cannot control my desire for you." His expression held infinite tenderness as he watched her face.



Desari found she couldn't breathe for a moment. Julian Savage was a beautiful male of their species, but he always looked so remote and rather harsh. She could not believe she was now seeing such tenderness in the depths of his eyes, in the curve of his mouth, in the touch of his hand. "Do you think that I would trade you for someone gentler?" she asked very softly.



He closed his eyes for a moment to hide the pain those words caused. "You have no choice who your lifemate is; we both know that, Desari. If you had, perhaps you would have wanted someone far different than me."



Her smile robbed him of air. "I believe in God, Julian. I always have. Living through the centuries as we have, I have witnessed many wonderful, miraculous things he has wrought. I believe we were created two halves of the same whole. I had no idea this was so until I met you, but I am now convinced. I would never want another, never fit with another. I can feel that we are right together, and I do not believe God would put together two creatures who did not suit one another." She rubbed at the frown on his face with the pad of her thumb. "I find your enthusiasm for me very sexy, Julian. You can want me like that anytime." Her smile was a siren's teasing enticement.



Effortlessly he shifted her in his arms so that he could press her against his heart, and he found himself breathing again after holding his breath. "I do not ever want to be without you, Desari," he admitted softly. The words were torn from his heart; he felt them leave his body, felt the truth in them.



She wound her arms around his neck, liking the feel of his long hair against her skin. "I do not expect you to ever allow us to be apart. I am counting on that, lifemate. Now stop talking so much and find us a place to rest this night. Tomorrow we will proceed to Konocti in the bus with the others. They will remain at the campsite we have established this night." A faint grin curved her soft mouth. "That is, if the bus will actually run. It is a disgrace that none of us have mechanical abilities. Even I read the owner's manual, and found it too boring."



"We do not need mechanical abilities," Julian reminded her as he spun around, taking her with him as if she weighed no more than a feather. "We were meant to travel differently, under our own power."



"If we want to blend in with the rest of the world," she pointed out, "we can do no other than travel in the mortals' machines."



"It is much faster to travel our way through time and space."



She laughed softly, the sound a husky blend of velvet and wine pouring over him, into him, so that Julian knew the meaning of joy. It was a woman's laughter, her smile, the glow in her dancing eyes. "It certainly is less frustrating to simply join the wind and go where we wish without following those endless ribbons of highway," she agreed.



He took the right-hand tunnel entrance, drawing the directions from her mind. The path opened almost immediately into a wide chamber. At once he waved a hand to open the earth. "It is early dawn, cara, and I would spend more time enjoying your company, but you have performed in front of so many people, and you are tired."



"I do not mind, Julian," she told him. "I rather like the way you spend your time with me." She pressed closer to him, her naked breasts against his bare chest. His answering kiss was slow and tender, a gentle exploration. "In this one thing I will have to insist. Your health must come before all things, even our pleasure. On the next rising we will have more time together. This dawn you must rest."



She tried to keep the amusement out of her mind. He was so positive he was giving her an order. "Of course, Julian," she murmured softly, her long lashes feathering down to cover her dark eyes. Her body moved restlessly against his, her full breasts pushing into the heavy muscles of his chest. "If you say we cannot, then I must agree with you, but I am sorry to hear that it is so." Her hands were moving over his buttocks, her fingers tracing their toned muscles. Her fingers moved to his hips, caressed his thighs, worked their way to cup the weight of his rising desire in her palm. "I will do as you say, lifemate, if that is what truly pleases you." Her mouth drifted down over his throat and chest, following the pattern of golden hair to the taut muscles of his belly.



Beneath her caressing fingers, his body thickened and hardened in response, his gut clenched hotly, and the breath seemed to slam out of him. "You are deliberately testing my resolve, piccola, and I am failing the test miserably."



"That is exactly what I wanted to hear," she answered complacently, her mind already occupied with much more interesting matters.