Carpathian 01 - Dark Prince

something dark and deadly in Mikhail, something that troubled her deeply.
    Mikhail paced beside her, studied her averted face. "You are going in the wrong direction, Raven." He put his hand at the small of her back to guide her.
    Raven stiffened, then twisted away from him. "Maybe I don't want to go back, Mikhail. Maybe I don't really know who you are at all."
    There was more hurt than anger in her voice. Mikhail sighed heavily and reached for her, his grip unbreakable iron. "We will talk in the warmth and comfort of our home, not here where your body is like ice." Without waiting for her consent, he lifted her easily and moved with a burst of speed. Raven clung to him, her face buried against his shoulder, her slender body shaking with cold and more than a little fear of him, of her future, of what she herself had become.
    Mikhail took her directly to the bedchamber, lit the fire with a lift of his hand, and placed her on the bed.
    "You could at least have worn shoes."
    Raven drew his cloak around her protectively, looking up at him from under long lashes. "Why? And I'm not asking about shoes."
    He lit candles and crushed a variety of herbs to fill their chamber with soothing, healing sweetness. "I am a Carpathian male. I have the blood of the earth flowing in my veins. I have waited centuries for my lifemate. Carpathian men do not like other men near their women. I am struggling with, unfamiliar emotions, Raven. They are not easy to control. You do not behave as a Carpathian woman would." A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Mikhail leaned lazily against the wall. "I did not expect to come home to find you gone. You put yourself in danger, Raven, something the males of our race cannot allow. And then I find you with a human. A male."
    "He was in pain," she said quietly.

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    Mikhail made a sound of annoyance. "He wanted you."
    Her eyelashes fluttered, blue eyes meeting his, startled and unsure. "But… no, Mikhail, you're mistaken; you must be. I was only trying to comfort him. He lost both of his parents." She looked close to tears.
    He held up his hand to silence her. "And you wanted to be in his company. Not sexually, but still, his human company; do not deny it. I could feel the need in you."
    Her tongue touched her lips nervously. She couldn't deny it. It had been entirely subconscious on her part, but now that he had spoken the words aloud, she knew it was true. She had felt the need for human companionship. Mikhail was so intense, everything in his world so unfamiliar. Raven hated that she hurt him, hated that she had been the one to push him to the edge of his control. "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to do anything but go for a short walk. When I heard him, I felt the need to make certain he was all right. I didn't know, Mikhail, that I was seeking human company."
    "I do not blame you, little one, never that." His voice was so gentle, it turned her heart over. "I can easily read your memories. I know of your intent. And I would never blame you for your compassionate nature."
    "I guess we both have difficulties to contend with," she said softly. "I can't be what you want me to be, Mikhail. You use the word 'human' like a curse, something less than what you are. Did it ever occur to you that you're prejudiced against my race? Carpathian blood may flow in my veins, but in my heart and my mind I'm human. I didn't set out to betray you. I went for a walk. That's all I did. I'm sorry, Mikhail, but all my life I've known freedom. Changing my blood is not going to change who I am."
    He paced across the floor with quick, fluid energy, all power and coordination. "I am not prejudiced," he denied.
    "Of course you are. You view my race with a measure of contempt. Would you have been happy if I had fed, using Romanov's blood? Is that acceptable? To use him for food, but not for a few friendly words?"
    "I do not like this picture you paint of me, Raven." Mikhail crossed the room to hold out his hand for the cape. The bedchamber was warm and smelled of nature—wood and meadow.
    Reluctantly Raven slipped the cape from her shoulders. Mikhail frowned when he saw she was clad only in his crisp white shirt. Although the tails reached her knees and covered her bottom, a generous portion of her thighs was exposed, right up to her hips. The effect was incredibly sexy, with her long, wild mane of hair cascading in waves down to the bed, framing