She could feel his body trembling with his intense emotion. His arms wrapped around her, dragged her to him. “Please, Raven, let me just keep you in a cocoon, at least until I get that sight out of my mind.” His fingers tunneled into the thick mass of blue-black hair. Mikhail molded her slender form to his larger frame, held her close as if he could shelter her from any further harm.
Raven wound her arms around his neck. “It’s all right, Mikhail. Nothing is going to happen to me.” She nuzzled his neck, seeking to reassure him, to push his fear away, as well as her own. “I guess both of us are going to have to make some adjustments.”
His kiss was tender and very gentle. “You need to take it easy. Six days of sleep and healing were not enough.”
“Six days? That’s incredible. Has anyone ever analyzed your blood?”
Mikhail released her reluctantly. “None of us can go near a human medical facility. We take care of our own.”
Raven picked up a brush, idly began to use long strokes to smooth the tangles from her damp mane of hair. “Who was the woman trapped in the ground?”
His face closed down, all traces of gentleness gone as if they had never been. “Her name is Eleanor. She gave birth to a male.” His tone was devoid of emotion.
She sat cross-legged on the bed, tilting her head sideways as she brushed her long hair. “You don’t like her?”
“She betrayed you. She allowed that devil woman to overhear her and I nearly lost you.” He was buttoning his shirt, and the sight of his long, lean fingers performing the simple task fascinated her. “You were under my protection. What that means, Raven, is that all Carpathians must put your safety above their own.”
Her small teeth tugged at her lower lip. She sensed, beneath his emotionless mask, a relentless, merciless fury directed toward that unknown woman. Mikhail’s feelings for her were ferociously intense and unfamiliar to him. Just as Raven was having difficulty adjusting, so was he.
She chose her words carefully. “Have you ever seen a woman give birth, Mikhail? It is painful and frightening. For the woman to be in control, she needs a safe environment. She feared for the life of her unborn child. Please don’t judge her so harshly. In her circumstances I would have been hysterical.”
He cupped her face in his large palm, his thumb caressing her soft, satin skin. “You have such compassion in you. Eleanor nearly cost you your life.”
“No, Mikhail. Jacob nearly cost me my life. Eleanor tried as hard as she could. There is no blame, or all of us must share in it.”
He turned away from her. “I know I should have kept you by my side. I should never have sought the refuge of the earth’s healing powers. It took me too far from you. Gregori thinks only of my protection.”
In the mirror, Raven could see pain etched clearly on his face. “There was a moment, little one, when I awoke to your cry, and I was encased in the soil and powerless to help you. Only my fury fed the storm. As I clawed my way to the surface, I felt every slice of the blade, and I knew I had failed you. In that moment, Raven, I faced something so terrible, so savage and monstrous in me, I still cannot examine it too closely. If he had slain you, no one would have been safe. No one.” He made the admission in a tight, controlled voice, his back rigid. “Not Carpathian, not human. I can only pray that if such a thing should ever happen again, Gregori will slay me immediately.”
Raven stepped in front of him and framed his face with her hands. “Sometimes grief brings things out in people better left hidden. No one is perfect. Not me, not Eleanor, and not even you.”
A faint, self-mocking smile touched his well-cut mouth. “I have lived centuries and endured vampire hunts, wars, and betrayals. Until you came into my life, I have never lost control. I never had anything I wanted so much; I never had anything to lose.”