Dark Challenge. Christine Feehan. Dark Series – book 5

Julian kissed her gently. “I will not allow you to leave me, Desari.” He said it softly, his voice a hypnotic spell of enchantment.

She could feel it brush at her mind like butterfly wings. Pure and gentle. Almost tender. So insidious that for a brief instant she did not recognize the elegant touch of compulsion. Desari sighed, not wanting to shatter such a perfect interlude with a disagreement. She might never have such a moment again. Still, she had a duty; she could not be selfish no matter how perfect this seemed.

Julian was a renegade, someone who rarely recognized authority, preferring to go his own way. He intended to take her away to some remote place, somewhere far from her family and her singing. But that was not even remotely possible. A soft smile curved her mouth. She knew him, knew what he was. Julian had merged his mind with hers. She knew there was a dark place, a shadow she had not yet entered. Still, she knew he was not capable of allowing her to be unhappy.

He was definitely an outlaw. He had pushed the limits of Carpathian laws many times in his existence in his relentless quest for knowledge. Julian had an active brain; he was quick and intelligent. He was so used to his own power, he wore it like a second skin. He knew things of which many of his kind were still ignorant. He was an extraordinary warrior, a hunter of vampires, and he had destroyed many of them.

Deep within him she touched on the darkness. He seemed to believe he was different from most Carpathian males, that his darkness had not developed over centuries but had always been present in him, had begun to grow even when he was a child. Desari believed that whatever the difference that set him apart from those of his race was also in her own brother. It was what allowed them to possess the iron will and relentless drive to continue without turning when others would falter.

Desari had touched the emptiness of his life, the sense of meaningless, barren existence. He had made his choice to end it all, had believed there was no chance he would find his lifemate. For one moment she touched on the strange shadow in his mind. There was a shimmer of regret at not succeeding in his mission to self-destruct, but then it was gone, as elusive as before. She felt his joy in finding her, the intensity of his feelings for her. He had a possessive streak a mile wide. Desari had never before heard of a lifemate. She didn’t even know if she believed in the concept, but Julian did.

Julian lay stretched out on the bed, propped up on one elbow so that he could study every expression that crossed Desari’s face, taking it into his being like the very air he breathed. It was incredible to him that this woman, so beautiful, could be his. It seemed a dream, a fantasy he had somehow brought to life. He had never allowed himself the luxury of wishing or hoping. From the beginning he had known he would make the choice to walk into the sun. This was a priceless gift of life itself, a treasure beyond the realm of his imagination. And he had brought her into a world of darkness and danger when she had only known light.

Desari could hear the steady rhythm of his heart. She was very aware of his hard muscles close to her, his posture somehow protective and possessive at the same time. Skin to skin. The door was still open, allowing the night breeze to swirl through the room, to cool the heat of their skin. She smiled, her breath stirring the fine golden hairs roughening the roped muscles along his arm. “You changed your clothes for me.” He had come to meet her at the tavern elegantly dressed.

His hand moved over the line of her back, unhurried, his palm simply savoring the feel of her. “You were so beautiful in your white dress, and I was in jeans and a T-shirt. I thought I should come up to your standards.”