“I could not mistake such a gift. I am thinking she could not be in better hands than ours. We can see to her happiness, protect her, and safeguard her should the undead detect her presence. She is so young and has suffered so much already, we cannot allow her in harm’s way. And when she is grown, she may be a lifemate for one of our people.”
Francesca stiffened. “She will be free, Gabriel, to choose her own destiny. You will not call in the males of our race and hand her over. I mean it. She has suffered much at the hands of males, and our race is domineering and at times brutal. She has it in her mind to avoid all relationships of such a nature and we must respect her wishes. She may never fully recover from the damage done to her.”
He laughed softly and curved his arm around her slender shoulders. “We males are never brutal to a lifemate. I believe we have a mama tiger on our hands. You are a very formidable lady. The kind I would choose to be the mother of my child.”
She made a face at him. “I don’t think you should bring that up just now. It could get you in trouble.” She didn’t sound as if it would. Her tone was mild, teasing even. Her dark eyes were smoldering but there was a softness about her mouth that belied her flare of temper.
“Skyler will be a well-loved young lady in our household. I will cherish her and offer her the protection I would give my own daughter. She will be happy, sweetheart, very happy. I would never allow someone to claim her ruthlessly without her consent as I have done to you. You forget she may not be compatible with any of our men. I believe in destiny. If she is to be claimed by one of our males, let him find and court her as he should. He will treasure her all the more. As I do you.” He thought it and the words shimmered in the air between them.
Francesca blushed a vivid scarlet, her long lashes sweeping down to hide her pleased expression. There was such a sincerity about Gabriel. She loved his Old World accent and his intense smoldering passion barely hidden beneath the thin veneer of civility. His emotions were stark and devastating, raw and real. He looked at her with such need, such hunger, he took her breath away.
Francesca kept her eyes focused straight ahead. Gabriel could so easily overwhelm her, swamp her with his hungry passion. No one had ever needed her before, the way he seemed to do. She had always thought of him as being entirely self-sufficient, yet now she saw he was utterly alone. A warrior endlessly walking the earth in search of the enemy. She didn’t want to sympathize with his loneliness, to admire his honor.
“You are smiling again. That faint mysterious smile that makes me want to pull you into my arms and kiss you. I promised myself I would behave in your presence, Francesca, but you are making it extremely difficult.” He said the words softly, his voice a smooth black velvet whisper of seduction.
She was suddenly terrified of reaching her home, yet at the same time, she wished desperately that they were already there. “You can’t kiss me Gabriel. You’re already driving me crazy. I don’t know what to do with you. I had a nice comfortable life with a nice comfortable future all planned out and now you’ve come and turned my world upside down.”
He grinned at her, a quick, almost boyish, mischievous flash of immaculate white teeth. “I cannot help myself, sweetheart. You are so beautiful, you take my breath away. What man would not have such thoughts walking in the night beside you, with the stars overhead and the breeze teasing him with your scent?”
“Do be quiet, Gabriel.” Francesca tried not to let any pleasure sound in her voice. He certainly didn’t need any encouragement. “For a man who claims little knowledge of women, you certainly know all the right things to say.”
“It must be inspiration,” he replied.