“Feel free, take as much as you like,” Destiny offered. “I’m tired and want to sleep.” It was the only safe thing to do. The thought of those hideous creatures living inside her sickened her as nothing else could. She felt unclean, and nothing Nicolae or Gregori said would ever make a difference. “If you can’t heal me, Gregori, don’t let me live. I don’t think I could bear it, knowing what’s inside me.”
“A Carpathian endures,” Gregori said softly. “As your lifemate endured all those centuries of darkness. You will endure.”
Destiny reached for Nicolae, framed his face with her hands. “You gave me hope and dreams and everything good I’ve ever known. Thank you for that.”
Nicolae kissed her, his mouth so tender it brought tears to her eyes. They glittered on her lashes as he sent her to sleep.
Chapter Twenty
She woke to the knowledge that she was whole and clean and her blood was free of the vampire, but the scars remained in her heart and mind. She woke to find she was deeply in love and she was at peace. There was no pain on awakening. There was no agony, only a sense of hope and the looking forward to her life. She lay very still and let the sounds and scents of her world fill her with joy.
Destiny knew exactly where she was. Home. And home lay beside her, his body curved protectively around hers. Her bottom fit snugly into the cradle of his hips, and she could feel him, already awake, already aware, his body hard and aggressive, even as he lay so quietly. His hand cupped her breast possessively, yet he was still, savoring just waking up and holding her. Nicolae. Her everything.
He moved then. His mouth on her shoulder, his lips soft as he feathered kisses over her skin. I thought you would never wake up.
The voice of an angel. Her angel. Nicolae. Destiny smiled as the silk of his hair brushed her bare arm and fanned across her breast. You should have called to me. Deliberately she used their private telepathic ability. She loved the intimacy of speaking with him mind to mind. She loved the feel of his hands on her body. At his urging she turned onto her back. Above her head the stars spread across the cave ceiling, sparkling like gems.
She laughed softly. First roses and now stars. He knew she loved the open night sky and had provided her with a blanket of stars, even deep beneath the earth.
“I love the sound of your laughter.” His hands moved over her body possessively, caressing every inch of her. His mouth followed, feathering kisses and teasing nips and lapping at her with a hot, erotic tongue.
His lovemaking was slow and thorough, wickedly designed to bring her to climax over and over. He made love to her as if they had all the time in the world. He took care to inspect every secret place that might bring her more pleasure.
Destiny returned the favor, losing herself in the beauty of his masculine body. Her hands and mouth wandered everywhere, telling him without words what he meant to her. When he entered her, she cried, so that he leaned forward to find out what tears of joy tasted like.
For the first time she wasn’t afraid of exchanging blood and initiated the ritual, driving him into a heated frenzy of desire. They ended up exploding, imploding, flying so high and then free-falling until they could only lie for a long time together, hearts beating wildly, struggling for breath, sated and happy.
Destiny pushed a shaky hand through her hair. “You can do that anytime, Nicolae. You’re very good at it.”
He propped himself up on one elbow. “I am most grateful you think so.”
“Don’t go fishing for compliments, because you aren’t going to get any. How long was I in the ground? I know time has passed. I don’t sense the presence of any of the others close to us.”
“Gregori wanted to start back to our homeland as soon as possible. He felt it important to give the Prince the news of vampires forming some sort of organization. He also thought the blood was an important find. No one has ever analyzed vampire blood. We all knew it was toxic, but no one imagined it created an environment to spawn a separate life-form. Of course, we still do not know for certain. The vampire that took you as a child might have somehow been infected by something else. Or the infection could have been a result of the poison injected into you. Gregori feels it is important to find out. In any case, we know for a fact it is completely different from what was found in Alexandria’s body. Gregori contacted Aidan, who said there was no such damage. Gregori wants to find out the significance of the difference.”