The loud, insistent beat of the heart so close to them, so filled with the rush of life, drew his attention. Slowly Gregori turned his head to see Gary watching him from the entrance to the cave. He had known he was there, knew it was Gary who had taken them from the swamp and found them a dark, safe place to sleep.
“I owe you much,” Gregori greeted the human softly. Hunger gnawed again, and he could feel his incisors sharpen in response. His lifemate needed sustenance immediately. “Stay with her while I hunt.”
Gary took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “You can use my blood. I knew you would wake hungry.”
The hard edge to Gregori’s mouth softened momentarily. “I do not merely hunger, my friend. I need. Savannah needs. I can be dangerous in this state. I would never risk your life.”
“I trust you, Gregori,” Gary said truthfully, surprised that it was so.
Gregori moved around him. “You are a rare man, Gary Jansen. I feel privileged to know you, to count you as a friend. Please take care of my lifemate while I hunt.”
Gregori was already pushing past Gary, a mere brush as he went by, but the contact sent a shiver down Gary’s spine. Gregori smelled wild and dangerous, a merciless, predatory animal. Gary didn’t know how he knew the difference, but at that moment Gregori was more beast than man. It was only after Gregori was gone, shape-shifting before his eyes into a bird of prey, that Gary realized that the terrible wounds in the Carpathian’s body were healed. He watched the raptor rise on the wind until it became a mere speck in the sky.
Gary scrambled across the dirt floor, hunching over to avoid scraping his head on the roof. He sat beside Savannah and waited. It didn’t take very long before the bird returned. Gary couldn’t take his eyes off the shimmering, iridescent feathers shifting into a solid rock of a man.
Gregori glided through the cypress trees, tall, fit, healthy. Even his clothes were immaculate. His hair was shining clean, tied at his nape with a leather thong. His silver eyes were clear, and once more his face was a mask of sensual beauty. “Gary”—the voice, as always, was purity and strength—”please leave us for a few moments.”
“Will she be all right?” Gary asked fearfully. In spite of himself, he had checked her pulse several times.
“She must be all right,” Gregori said very softly.
The voice was like velvet, but there was something in it that sent a shiver of apprehension through Gary. If anything happened to Savannah, Gary realized that no one, nothing in the world, would ever be safe again from the Carpathian. He hadn’t considered that before, and he had no idea where the knowledge came from, but he knew it absolutely. He crawled from the cramped space and picked his way a small distance from the cave. The night noises bothered him, were strange and a bit daunting.
Gregori gathered Savannah tenderly into his arms. Come to me, my life and breath. Wake and be with me. He gave the command, and even as he felt her heart flutter, he pressed her mouth to his throat. Feed, ma petite. Feed and replenish what you selflessly gave to me.
Savannah turned her head, her first breath a sigh of warmth against his throat. She nuzzled closer, drowsy and weak from lack of blood. Her tongue tasted his skin, caressed his pulse. Gregori’s body tightened alarmingly as her teeth sent white-hot pleasure slicing through him. Slowly her skin warmed, went from ashen to a healthy glow. Her arms slipped around his neck, and she held him close, her body fitting into his, a restless ache of need and hunger.
Savannah closed the pinpricks on her lifemate’s neck, feathered kisses up his throat to his jaw, then found the corner of his mouth. Gregori caught her head and held her still, his mouth dominating, taking hers with a need as elemental as the wind.
“I thought I lost you,” she whispered into his heart, his soul. “I thought I lost you.”
“Are you always going to be pulling me out of trouble?” he asked, some strong, unnamed emotion choking him, blocking his throat.