Dark Challenge (19 page)

His hand found the nape of her neck and drew her inexorably to him as he bent his head to hers. His mouth descended with infinite slowness, then fastened to hers so that he could taste her sweetness. She felt her heart leap at his touch, and her body went into instant meltdown.
She felt his great strength, the desire surging through him as the heat arced between them. His mouth moved to tease the corner of hers, to blaze a trail of fire along her jaw, her chin.

“I am, however, quite good at one or two other things,” he murmured with casual confidence. His teeth nibbled at her chin.

“Is this supposed to get you out of trouble?” She asked it with her eyes closed, savoring the touch and feel of him. All at once it seemed imperative that they be alone.

“I should not be in trouble. I am as new at this as you are, Desari. Up until now I have spent my life entirely alone.” His lips skimmed the silken column of her neck. “Trying to fit into this situation is as alien for me as it is for you. If your need is to be with this family unit, then I can do no other than be here with you. But you must recognize that I have needs also. I do not wish to find other males near you, nor do I want you to question my judgment when your safety is in jeopardy.”

When she would have protested, he gave her a little shake. “Think what you say before you speak. I am in your mind. I know you do not want another authority telling you what to do with your life. I, better than most, understand this in you. But you would obey your brother in matters of safety. The same responsibility he accepted for your security is now mine. I require the same trust and loyalty that you have always given to him.”

“Trust is earned, Julian,” Desari pointed out softly. “And it goes both ways. My brother does not arbitrarily dictate to me what I can and cannot do. But I am in your mind. I feel the sometimes violent emotions you are contending with, your intense dislike of other males close to me. You do not even want me to feed.”

He felt the words like a stab to his gut. Every muscle
clenched in protest as a vivid picture sprang into his mind. Desari luring a male to her with her beauty and mystery, bending close to him so that their bodies touched, so that her lips could drift along the male’s neck to find the pulse beating there. Rage exploded in him, deep, nearly uncontrollable, certainly like nothing he had ever experienced before. It was wild and untamed, a berserker’s rage.

Julian shook his head. It was illogical to feel such an intense emotion over something as natural as feeding. Nothing in his centuries of living had prepared him for such a thing. He didn’t understand it. “You will not feed from any other than me,” he declared, unable to stop himself from so commanding her.

Desari was watching him closely, monitoring his thoughts. Julian made no attempt to censor anything from her. He wanted total truth between them. It was not her fault that he was experiencing difficulties he hadn’t been prepared for, nor did he want her to think so. Her soft mouth suddenly curved into a smile. “You are right, Julian, I will not. I have no wish to get so close to another male.” Her fingertips brushed his jaw, her first real show of affection toward him without his prompting. “It will be no hardship to allow you to provide for me if that is what you need.”

His relief was tremendous, the curious somersaulting in the region of his heart unexpected. “I will do my best to come to some kind of compromise over your family unit and your need to sing. It is a great gift, Desari, your voice and what you are able to do with it. I feel pride in your accomplishments, but I cannot lie. I fear for your safety. Your schedules are announced far in advance. I believe you will be safe from the human assassins for now, but we must explore the very real possibility that vampires are congregating in this region with the express
hope of finding you and the other female.”
Now more than ever it was imperative he succeed in his centuries-old quest to destroy his vampire mentor, or she would never be truly safe again. The ancient could so easily track her now through Julian.

Desari winced at his last remark. “The ‘other female’ is Syndil. I love her as my sister. You have access to my memories. You can see that. You can also see why we are especially protective of her and why she chooses to take the leopard’s form at this time.”

“While she is in the leopard’s form she does not have to cope with her trauma,” Julian mused, “but you must see, Desari, that it is not right. It only prolongs her recovery. All of you think you are helping her, but she needs to be strong on her own. She can cope. Pretending the assault did not happen will not allow her to recover. She needs to be encouraged to start taking back command of her life.”

Desari tilted her head to look up at him, astonished at his perception. “How could you know this when you have not even met her? Why did we not realize we were only lengthening her recovery?” Desari’s anguish throbbed in her musical voice. “It was my negligence that this has not been attended to.”

Julian smiled down at her. “You take far too much on your shoulders, Desari. All of you tried to shield her. I am certain in the beginning it was exactly what she needed. Now that has changed. Sharing your mind yet seeing things from a fresh perspective allows me to show you the conclusion you yourself would have come to in time.”

Desari moved restlessly, wanting the warmth and comfort of his larger frame. Julian responded immediately by pulling her close to him. His strong arms enfolded
her and held her tightly against him. “It will be all right, Desari. I promise you.”

“Darius has told Dayan you are to be treated with respect,” she whispered into his chest.

Julian shrugged carelessly before he could stop himself. He did not seek approval or protection from anyone.

Desari glanced up at Julian’s face. It looked as if it had been carved from stone, an implacable mask, unreadable and stony. She sighed softly. Integrating Julian into their family was not going to be easy. He was not one to follow another man’s lead. He walked his own path. Darius and he were bound to clash at every turn. The other men in her family were certain to treat Julian with distrust, and that very well could be like lighting a match to dry timber. Julian carried himself with arrogance and had a wry sense of humor often bordering on contempt. His hand slid possessively up her arm, lingering for a moment on her soft skin before his seeking fingers twined themselves in the rich luxury of her hair. He bent down so that his mouth was close to her ear, his warm breath teasing her. “I can read your thoughts,
cara mia
, and you should have more faith in your lifemate. I can do no other than see to your happiness. If you wish us to live for a time, in peace, among your family,”
rather
overrun with territorial males
, “then I can do no other than offer my friendship to them.”

Desari burst out laughing. He had tried to sound sincere but had ended up sounding pained. In any case, she could read his thoughts as easily as he could hers. “‘Territorial males’? What does that mean? We do not have our own territory, unless you count the coast of Africa, where we lived for so long.”

“I spent some time in Africa, among the leopards,” he said to get off the dangerous subject of her family.

Her eyes, so enormous and beautiful, sparkled at him. “You did? How incredible. We spent nearly two hundred years there, and we still sometimes return to visit. It would be funny if we were on the same continent at the same time and never met. Especially if you were running among our leopards.”

He shook his head. “I doubt that happened. I sensed your brother’s power as he sensed mine the moment we were in proximity. It would not have escaped our notice if we had come close in Africa. More important, you and I, born lifemates, would have sensed each other’s presence in some way.” But he did find it interesting that he had been inexplicably drawn to Africa, and the leopards there, in his search for other Carpathians. Perhaps some trace of Desari had called to him even then.

“Tell me more about your people,” she said now.

“They are also your people. You have blood kin, De-sari, still in existence. Your eldest brother is a great man among our people, very respected and equally feared. He is called Gregori, and Darius is much like him.” He grinned suddenly, transforming his harshly beautiful features to those of a mischievous boy. “They are
very
much alike. Gregori, the Dark One, is often used as a bogey man to keep the young children in line. The only other immortal as great as your blood kin is Mikhail.
Mikhail is the acknowledged Prince of our people, the one who has kept our race alive and hopeful these many centuries. Mikhail and Gregori are as close as brothers in their own strange way. Each is so powerful that no one would dare to challenge either of them for fear the other would retaliate.”

Desari nodded her head. “Like our family.”

Julian thought about that. “In a way, though few of the Carpathians left alive have family units such as this.”

“What of your family?” Desari asked innocently.

She saw him wince, and his golden gaze skittered away from hers. “I told you, I have a twin brother. Aidan. He resides in San Francisco. I have not spoken with him for many years, nor have I met his lifemate.”

Her eyebrows rose. There was something dark swirling close to the surface again. She sensed a deep pain in Julian and did not attempt to probe his thoughts in so sensitive an area. She chose her words carefully. “Were there harsh words between you?”

“There is blood between us, Desari. As your brother can track you, so it is that we can track one another.” Julian sighed and shoved a hand through his hair. “The majority of our males refuse to share blood with one another for the simple reason that each male knows it is inevitable, without a lifemate, that he must choose to end his life or lose his soul for all eternity and become the vampire. It is much easier to track those you have shared blood with, particularly for a hunter.”

Desari took a deep breath. Julian had some terrible secret he wouldn’t share with her. “Have you shared your blood with others, Julian?” She asked.

Julian grinned at her, his white teeth gleaming. “You have only to search my mind for the answer,
cara mia
.”

He was tempting her, a blatant seduction to enter his mind and know him in the most intimate way. It bound
them closer every time they merged. She could feel it, his mind becoming more familiar with each touch. Her mind craved the touch of his, the need growing inside her in the same way the need for sharing his body was growing. It was an ember smoldering, the flame spreading, a dark heat she knew she would be unable to resist. Yet somewhere in his mind, buried deep, was a shadow, too painful, that he refused to share.

Desari glanced away from him toward the thick forest. Freedom was so close. Julian wasn’t touching her, not even in her mind; he was simply standing there beside her. Tall. Muscular. Sinfully beautiful. With a pain in him buried so deep, he could only wonder if she could ever find it and eradicate it. His golden eyes blazed at her with hunger and need, drawing her to him. Her heart turned over, and she knew she was lost.

“I have shared blood on more than one occasion, little one, although, because I am a well-known hunter, my help has been often refused. Should the one receiving it turn, I could track him with ease to destroy him.” As he said the words aloud, he remembered anew, too, why few males with lifemates hunted the undead. To protect one’s lifemate, the hunter could very well hesitate to go into a vicious battle that might destroy him and lead his lifemate, in inconsolable pain, to destroy herself.

An ideal hunter was one with longevity, knowledge, skill, ruthlessness, and power. Such a one had little hope of finding his mate, so the loss of his own life was not something to be feared. With a lifemate, if the male hunter were to be killed, his lifemate would likely choose to greet the dawn. And their race could not survive the loss of even one of their women. Julian had heard of only one case where a lifemate survived without the other. The female died, and the male became vampire, wreaking havoc in the Carpathian mountains,
striking at everyone he held responsible, going so far as to murder his own son and attempt to murder his daughter’s lifemate, knowing it would end her life as well.

Desari put a gentle hand on his arm, finally touching his mind to find what thoughts had made him grow so still and distant. She saw the memory of Julian slowly approaching a handsome man. The man had haunted black eyes, eyes that had seen far too much. The eyes of a man who had been tortured beyond endurance. Brutally wounded, dripping precious blood, he had watched Julian’s approach with wary, dangerous eyes. She watched as Julian spoke softly, easily extending his arm to the man that he might live with the blood of an ancient flowing in his veins.
Jacques. Mikhail’s brother. Lifemate to one whose father had murdered her brother, betrayed their people to human assassins, tortured her husband, tried to kill her.
She caught that much before Julian wiped the memory from his mind and caught her chin with his strong fingers.

Her dark eyes immediately were held captive by his golden ones. “We will work this out to both our satisfactions, Desari,” he promised softly. “Come with me. You need to feed this night before we leave this place with the others. And I need to feel your body, touch you, know you are really mine and not someone I dreamed up in desperation.”

There was such an intensity to his need, everything else was swept from Desari’s mind. Heat sizzled and danced along her skin, arcing between them like white-hot lightning. Julian’s hand slid around the nape of her neck, nestling her to him as he began to walk her away from the campsite. With every step they took together, their bodies brushed against one another.

Desari felt the burning need, too. But she also felt an inner peace, a completeness. She loved the way his body
moved, rippling with power like a sleek jungle cat. The feel of his arm, so sure and strong, made her feel delicate and feminine despite the fact that she knew she was equally powerful in her own right. At the nape of her neck his fingers moved every now and then as they walked into the forest, away from the sounds of the others. She could feel him rubbing strands of her hair between his thumb and fingers as if he could never quite get enough of the feel of it. Then his fingers dropped casually to her neck, her collarbone, to move over her skin, stroking gently, almost absently, yet each caress sent liquid fire pulsing through her body.