Dark Fire by Christine Feehan. Dark Series – book 6

Darius caught her small, flying figure as she leapt down the steps, and he pulled her into the safety of his arms. “What is it, baby?” he whispered softly against her neck. “What has frightened you?” He didn’t invade her mind, because he wanted her to trust him enough to tell him herself. If she refused to tell him, he could always merge with her.

Tempest buried her face in his neck. “Take me away from here, Darius, please. Just get me out into the open.”

He raised his eyes, black and furious, to meet his sister’s guilty gaze before he turned and moved away from the camp. Once out of sight of prying eyes, he poured on the speed, so fast that the trees around them blurred. When he stopped, they were in a secluded clearing tucked into the rolling hillside by a grove of trees.

“Now tell me, honey.” He was still permitting her to speak the words rather than reading her mind. He wanted her trust. He wanted her to volunteer what was causing her fear. “We are under the open sky. Only the stars are looking down upon us.” His hand caressed her cheek, her throat, slid down the length of her arm to find her palm. Very gently he brought her knuckles to the warmth of his mouth, to the soothing, healing moisture his velvet tongue provided.

She closed her eyes tightly, savoring the feel of him. She had missed him these last few hours. Missed him so much that she didn’t even feel alive unless he was bugging her. “I don’t know how to be a part of something, Darius, a part of you.” She pressed her forehead against his shoulder, afraid to look at him. “I’ve been alone all my life. I don’t know any other way.”

Darius held her closer, warming her. “We have all the time in the world, honey. You will learn to be comfortable with a family, and if it is too much all at once, I will take you away from the others until you learn to be a part of me. You do not have to contend with the entire group of us all at once if you find it overwhelming.”

“What if I can’t do it, Darius? What if I just can’t?”

His hand found the nape of her neck, his fingers moving in a slow massage, easing the tension out of her. “Baby,” he said softly in his black-velvet voice, the one that could command the wind and the very forces of nature. The one that sent her pulse racing and set every nerve ending in her body on fire. “There is nothing to fear. I can do no other than ensure your happiness. Trust me to do that.”

“I could lose you, Darius. You know I could. It’s so much easier to be alone than to lose someone.” Her voice was low and trembling, turning his heart over. “Already you are neglecting to take care of yourself. You’re taking advantage of my ignorance of your needs, your ways. Something could happen to you because of me. Don’t you see that? I couldn’t bear it.”

Silently Darius cursed his sister. He felt Tempest’s fears and fatigue beating at her, at him. Her body needed nourishment, yet she couldn’t eat. His fault. He had done that to her. “What nonsense has my sister been spouting? You cannot be responsible for choices I make. I want to be with you. Live with you, love you, be a family with you.”

Tempest shook her head, then pulled back to look into his eyes. “You know that can never be. I won’t let you do this, Darius-throw away your life, make yourself vulnerable, perhaps sick. I know sleeping above ground the same way I sleep will eventually weaken you. I won’t have it. Why are you doing that? I don’t need constant protection. I’ve taken care of myself for a long time.”

He answered her the only way he knew how, by fastening his mouth to hers. The rush was there, instantly arcing between them, sizzling and snapping as hunger rose sharply and flames began to lick at their skin. Darius poured everything he felt for her into that kiss-the fire, the hunger and need, his absolute commitment to her. Then he caught her face between his palms to hold her still beneath his searching gaze. “Look at me, honey. I want you to believe me. Merge your mind with mine so that you will know that what I say is true. I want this. I have no reservations, none at all. I want to spend my life with you, grow old and die with you. It would be a wonderful miracle to have centuries together, but I accept that it cannot be, and I do not wish it otherwise.” He leaned down to kiss the corners of her mouth. “Do not fear our union. It is what I want with every cell of my body. It is the only thing I want. I will be happy with our life together.”