“You sound very arrogant, Gabriel, although I sense you don’t mean to be. Our people are in dire straits, our race all but doomed. I keep up on the news in a roundabout way, so I know what is going on. There are some human women with extraordinary psychic talent who are compatible with our race. The Prince of our people has a lifemate who once was human.”
There were several moments of silence. Once again, without conscious thought, Gabriel had reached out to share this new knowledge with Lucian. He touched his twin easily, lightly, as he had done for nearly two thousand years. Lucian was immersed in a complicated text he was finding highly interesting. That always astonished Gabriel. That Lucian had retained his need for knowledge. He had always been a sponge soaking up information. Now he reciprocated, sharing all that he had learned of the modern world, flooding Gabriel with so many facts, he began to laugh.
“What is it?” Francesca asked softly, seeing genuine affection for just a moment in the depths of his eyes.
Gabriel broke the contact instantly, swearing softly in the ancient language. Why didn’t he think? It had never mattered before, his ingrained habit of reaching out to his brother. Even after Lucian had turned, he hadn’t fought the habit. Why should he bother? The more knowledge they each had, the better the battle. It was very different now. This time it could cost Francesca her life. Gabriel had battled Lucian many times over the last few centuries.
He had inflicted mortal wounds on more than one occasion, yet he had never bested Lucian, never managed to destroy him. He had no reason to think the outcome of their battle would be any different now. He could not afford the luxury of a mistake. Lucian must not know of Francesca’s existence.
“What is it?” Francesca repeated, this time shaking his arm. “You went from smiling happily to looking like a wolf, your eyes still and watchful. What happened in so short a time?” Her voice was soft and compelling, a mixture of concern and compassion.
Gabriel shook his head. “I have made mistake after mistake. Resting these centuries has done me little good. It is confusing to wake and feel emotions, to see colors. Everything is vivid and bright. Emotions are violent and raw, hard to keep under control. There is an ever-present craving in my body for yours.”
Gabriel was speaking so thoughtfully, so matter-of-factly, Francesca felt he was musing aloud.
“I led that vampire straight to you, you know that.” Gabriel raked a hand through the shiny mass of his blue-black hair. “All this time, you successfully managed to hide. Now I have called attention to your presence, and he will not be the only one to seek you out.”
He stopped and faced her, his hand curling around the nape of her neck. “I should never have made my claim without your consent. I should have sought your safety above my own needs and desires. I have wronged you in an unforgivable way.”
Francesca touched his mouth. His words and the sincerity in his voice were turning her world upside down. She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. Away from him it was all so clear, but when he was close and he allowed her to see into his tortured soul, she felt altogether different. “You could not have taken my body so easily, Gabriel, had I not wished it to be so. I was not under compulsion.”
His fingers were massaging the back of her neck, his thumbs brushing intimately along the delicate line of her jaw. Each caress sent heat spiraling through her body and little flames dancing over her skin. Lost in his regret, Gabriel didn’t seem to notice the way her body responded to his touch. “I woke you with the command to come to me in need. Your body responded to that command and to my deliberate arousal of you. I should have waited until you had time to know me. You should have been courted the way you deserved.”
“It wasn’t just you, Gabriel. I am no fledging. I recognized the ‘push’ as I awakened. I am not without power of my own. You couldn’t have taken me so easily without my consent. I wanted you. I wanted to feel you, to feel what it was like.” She confessed it bravely, taking her share of the blame without hesitation. “You were not forcing my compliance. In any case, sooner or later the Carpathian cycle would have begun and we would have had little choice in the matter.”