Darius knew she could accept it as long as it didn’t encroach on her way of life. Tempest lived like a nomad. That was essentially the same way his group lived, but she preferred a solitary existence. She understood an animal’s way of life, had strong survival instincts herself, but she had less understanding of people and why they did the things they did. Growing up in a crack house, with mothers selling their children for drugs, selling their own souls for the drugs, she had decided at an early age that she wanted little to do with people, and nothing had happened since to change her mind.
Rusti inched away from the warmth of Darius’s body. She didn’t like the way he made her feel, that out-of-control rush of hungry need. He was too dangerous, too powerful, far too used to getting his way in all things. She liked her quiet, independent life. Solitude suited her. The last thing she needed was to be caught up in Darius’s bizarre troupe of followers.
She sighed, unaware that she did so. She couldn’t stay with the Dark Troubadors. The sanctuary they had seemed to offer was rapidly turning into something she wasn’t equipped to handle.
Darius glanced down at her bent head, the faraway, pensive look on her face, the sadness reflected in her large eyes. He laced his fingers through hers. “There is no need to worry so much, honey. I have sworn to protect and care for you. I do not take such oaths lightly.”
“This isn’t exactly something a person can prepare herself for, Darius. Even if you’re a… a Carpathian rather than a vampire, whatever you are isn’t altogether human. I know that when you communicate mentally with me.”
“Are you so certain that you are completely human? When I merge my mind with yours, I observe brain patterns different from those of ordinary mortals.”
She winced, looking as if he’d struck her. “I know I’m different. Believe me, you aren’t telling me anything I haven’t heard before. You can’t call me anything I haven’t already been called. Freak. Mutation. Frigid. You name it, I’ve heard it.”
Darius stopped abruptly, forcing Tempest to do the same. He brought her hand to the warmth of his mouth. “I did not mean it that way. I admire what you are. If either of us is a ‘mutation’ from the norm, Tempest, it is me, not you. I am in no way human. I am an immortal. And I can assure you that you are neither a freak nor frigid. Your heart and soul were simply waiting for mine. Not everyone can hand themselves over to just anyone. A few know that the giving of the treasure of one’s body, one’s intimacy, is sacred, meant solely for the one they were made for, their other half. Perhaps those who taunted you were jealous of that knowledge in you because they were in far too much of a hurry to wait or because they held themselves too cheap.”
Her long lashes hid her emerald eyes. “I’m not a virgin, Darius.”
“Because some man forced himself on you?”
“I think you have a false impression of me. I’m no angel, Darius. I’ve stolen cars, souped them up, gone for joy rides. I’ve always rebelled against so-called authority figures, probably because the ones I knew left a bad taste in my mouth. It always amazes me how the most self-righteous people, the ones forever preaching and pointing fingers at others, often do the most underhanded and dishonest things. Once I could support myself, I came up with my own code of honor, and that’s what I live by. But I’m no saint, and I never have been. The places I come from don’t breed saints.”
Darius was becoming familiar with every nuance of her voice. She sounded slightly sad, accepting of her brutalizing childhood but angry with herself for trusting others during those terrible years. Trusting them and having them let her down. That was why she preferred the solitary existence she had chosen, and he could sense her determination not to give it up, despite her need to. The job as mechanic to their traveling band had represented the ability to support herself and be free from the demands of intimate, prolonged contact with other people. He was taking that away from her.
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