It took a little doing, to turn the trap back on its master, especially since he was shielding Desari from the battle between the two Carpathians. She didn’t need to know they were posturing at one another. He turned the note around, reshaped it, and sent it slamming back through the night sky. There was a certain satisfaction in knowing that he had scored on the powerful Carpathian. Only then did he release Desari from his mind, allowing her to withdraw completely.
For the very first time Desari found she was really afraid. What had she done? Followed a complete stranger away from the protection of her family, and for what? Sex. Pure and simple. She was so attracted to Julian Savage, she had willingly thrown away her values and rules and placed Darius in an untenable position. He would worry about her. She had trusted Julian because she had never once in all her existence felt so deeply about anyone, yet now she knew he was manipulating her. And he was a master at it. Perhaps he was manipulating all her other emotions as well.
Julian moved away from her, giving her space, his body fluid and powerful. He shoved a hand through his thick mane of golden hair, his eyes drifting over her possessively. “You would have me allow you to feel pain when it is not necessary?” His voice was strictly neutral.
She knew he was making a point. He was not compelling her. She either trusted him or she didn’t. It was that simple.
Julian folded his arms across his broad chest and leaned one hip lazily against a porch column. “I know you felt it.”
“For a moment,” she conceded, knowing he meant the blast of pain that had blossomed so suddenly in his head. It had been gone in an instant.
“And I removed it immediately. It was your brother. A warning.”
“I heard his warning. I have worried him unnecessarily. I intend to tell him I am coming home this night.”
She said it defiantly, more for her own benefit than his. She didn’t want to go. Julian was so enticing, with his hungry molten eyes. The intensity he felt for her was overwhelming, exhilarating.
“Then we will both return. But do you really believe we can get to know one another in the company of your protectors? It will be unnecessarily difficult.” He waved to a chair on the porch. “Sit for a while and talk to me.”
It was a soft purr of menace. He fully intended to go with her if she left, walk casually into the den of those who would seek to destroy him. His voice was so beautiful. Pure and gentle. It held a hint of tenderness, a trace of arrogance, and more than a little masculine amusement.
It felt like a dare. As if she were a small child, a fledging, afraid of her shadow and of being away from her big brother. Desari tilted her chin and glided regally up the stairs to the chair on the porch. She seated herself, her dark eyes remaining on his face.
He grinned at her, suddenly dispelling the dark danger that clung to him like a second skin. For one moment he looked almost boyish. “I am not going to hold you prisoner, Desari. There is no need to look at me as if I were a monster.”
Desari found herself relaxing. A slow, answering smile lit her face. “Is that what I was doing? I am feeling guilty for defying my brother and making him worry. Perhaps I was taking it out on you. It is so much easier to blame someone other than oneself.”
Julian shook his head. “Do not worry for your brother. He knows in his heart I will not harm you. It is more that he must relinquish his control over you.”
“What is a lifemate?” Desari asked, knowing it was important. She had been in his mind, knew he believed her to be his lifemate.
“Every Carpathian male is born a predator, dark and deadly. True, we have strong instincts to protect those we love, but there is a darkness in us that grows stronger with each passing century. Without a lifemate we lose all emotion, even the ability to see colors. It is an empty existence. Every day the beast within grows stronger, and the darkness inches across our souls. You have not observed this in the males of your group?”
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