“Once a male Carpathian recites the ritual words to his true lifemate, they are bound, soul to soul. She cannot escape him,” Julian said softly.
“Why?” Tempest asked, turning her head to give Darius the full benefit of her censuring green eyes.
Darius didn’t so much as wince or even look repentant. Nor did he deign to answer her. He had the audacity to look amused.
“A true lifemate is the missing other half of our soul The ritual words bind the soul back together again. One cannot exist without the other. It is very”-Julian searched a moment for the right word-“uncomfortable to be apart from one’s lifemate.”
“And the man can choose to bind the woman to him whether she wants it or not?” Tempest was outraged. She wasn’t entirely certain she believed him, but if it was so it was barbaric. Totally barbaric.
Darius circled her shoulders with his good arm. “Practical only, honey. Women seldom know their own minds. But a woman cannot escape the need of her own lifemate, either. He is her other half, as well, you see.”
Heedless of his injury, Tempest shoved him away from her. He didn’t budge even an inch. She knew he was teasing her, laughing at her, although his face remained perfectly expressionless. “Well, I don’t believe it anyway I’m not Carpathian, so it can’t work on me. And I’m going to talk to Syndil about this nonsense.”
Darius kissed the side of her neck. Not a brief, elusive kiss but one that lingered, that sent tiny shivers down her spine, sent fire dancing in her bloodstream. She glared at him. “I thought we agreed, none of that. Didn’t we have a lengthy discussion about this?”
His teeth scraped her collarbone, his chin nudging aside the neckline of her shirt to find bare skin. “Did we? I cannot seem to recall.”
“You recall everything else.” Tempest did her best to sound severe, but it was difficult when electricity was arcing back and forth between them. “Darius, you’re hurt. Act like it, will you? We need paramedics and stretchers and maybe a dozen knock-out pills.”
He moved then, with his easy, familiar grace, fluid and supple with the strength of an ancient’s blood flowing in his veins. His arm was rock hard around her waist, taking her with him toward the bathroom. “I need to clean the stench of the kill from me, Tempest, before I can touch you properly.”
It came out unexpectedly, a confession. Tempest touched his mind, astonished at the ease with which she could accomplish the feat. He felt sorrow. Not for those he had dispatched in battle. He was pragmatic about that; he did what was necessary for his people and would do so again. He would protect Tempest without feeling remorse or sadness for those who were evil enough to threaten her. But he felt sorrow for his inability to come to her as an innocent man. He did not want her to look upon him as a beast, an undisciplined killer. He wanted her to understand that he was a dispenser of justice, very necessary to his people.
He lifted her into the tub with him, and the water felt cool on her hot skin, breathing some life back into her depleted body. Very carefully she washed the blood from his shoulder and back, wincing at the sight of the angry wounds. She reached up to shampoo his thick mane of hair, massaging his scalp with gentle fingers. Darius bent his head forward to make it easier for her.
Despite her exhaustion, finding herself pressed naked against him sent her pulse skyrocketing. His body stirred to life, pushing hard and thick against her. “We can’t possibly,” she whispered. But her tongue flicked out and caught the water droplets running down his stomach. She traced the path lower still, feeling his body clench. Her hands, of their own volition, slid over his hips, massaging, kneading, tracing the firm muscles of his buttocks.
She loved the feel of his hair-roughened skin against her softness. He made her feel beautiful and feminine. Hot and restless. Hungry and sexy. He made her feel safe, as if she would never be alone again. She clung to him, pressing herself close to the shelter of his body.
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154