Carpathian 02 - Dark Desire

mesmerizing depth of his black eyes. She wanted to do whatever he wished. Her body responded to his, to the tormented look of him, to the desperate hunger in him. Her body flared to life and called to his, going soft and pliant with anticipation. Her breasts ached, and she burned for his touch.
    Shea jerked her gaze away, stepped back so that his body heat could not affect hers, so that the electricity crackling and arcing between them was broken. Shaken, she shoved a trembling hand through her hair. "How are you going to convince me, Jacques? With sex?"
    He was smoldering with need, a dark hunger that never ceased. Once it had risen, it had grown until the urgency nearly overwhelmed him. She was essentially human and could not understand, did not even know of the heat that rose between lifemates. "Love, you are smart enough for the both of us. You can figure out for yourself who is telling the truth. Rand is sick. I wish it was not so, but if he truly believed you to be your mother, he would have attacked me immediately. A lifemate can do no other than guard his woman. That has been our way for all time. No other man can be with her. He is trading on your ignorance of Carpathian ways. I do not need to convince you of what is in my heart or of what is in yours. I know I am damaged. You know it, too. But you would feel it if I was truly evil. You would know it. There would be no way I could hide it." He held out a hand to her. "Just think it through with that logical brain you have. I trust you to come up with your own answer."
    "Jacques." She hesitated, wanting to touch him, needing to touch him, but afraid of being lost in the sexual lure she couldn't seem to resist. "How do I know if I'm the one thinking for myself when you're always with me, always sharing my mind?"
    "You will have to figure that out for yourself. Shea." His black eyes moved lovingly over her face. "You know me better than anyone, and I have never tried to hide anything from you. If you brand me a monster, even I will believe you." His smile was gentle and reassuring.
    Shea took a deep breath and laced her fingers with his. It felt right and natural. The sparks jumped from his skin to hers, and her pulse raced, but she walked quietly through the woods with him, content just to be by his side. Jacques seemed so much a part of her, the air she breathed. She accepted it because he made her complete.

Chapter Sixteen
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    Gregori was an impressive figure. Shea watched him as he knelt beside Raven, his entire attention seemed to be concentrated on the woman lying so still. "Have you attended to Shea's injuries?" The soft inquiry startled Shea. He addressed Jacques, asking the male, as was his irritating way.
    "The wounds are closing," Jacques assured him. Rand drew Shea alone into the woods. He is the betrayer, healer. I walked away from him because he is linked to Shea. He could make her feel whatever I did to him. He is very dangerous. I cannot be the one to bring him to justice. Shea would never forgive me.
    "Don't do that, Jacques," Shea said with a little bite in her voice. She was exasperated with him. "I know you're talking to Gregori. If you have something to say, say it out loud so that I can hear you. You think Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    Rand is the vampire, don't you?"
    The thought was in her mind also, and it made her feel disloyal. She knew something was wrong with Rand; perhaps Maggie's death had twisted his mind so he was living in the past. But something Rand had said in the course of their strange conversation was niggling at her brain. Something she couldn't put a finger on.
    Gregori passed a hand over Raven's stomach, his fingers splayed wide. His touch lingered for a moment, a surprisingly tender gesture, then he turned to Shea. "Jacques knows his duty to you, Shea. This man, Rand, the one who is your birth father, was never in your life. Hold on to what is real, not to your childhood fantasies."
    "You don't know the first thing about my childhood, fantasy or not," Shea snapped, goaded beyond endurance by his unruffled, superior attitude. Gregori definitely grated on her. She suspected it was because he was always using logic. She was the one who was supposed to do that. "I have my own mind, Gregori, and it is a perfectly good one. Perhaps the first couple of times we met gave you a false impression. I am not a hysterical woman who runs at the first sign of danger.