Carpathian 02 - Dark Desire

this battle, Shea. It was a warning, nothing less. The tone was devoid of any feeling whatsoever.
    Why does it have to be a battle? You need to accept my decision. I have the right to leave.
    Come to me, Shea. There was iron strength in his command. This time he exerted a subtle but frightening pressure.
    Shea pressed both hands to her head. Stop it! You can't force me.
    Of course I can. Even as the words echoed in his mind, he realized they were true. He could do almost anything. He stepped off the porch into the driving rain and stretched his muscles lazily, reveling in their response. He was truly alive again. He could easily bring her to him, bend her will to his. She needed to learn that Carpathian women were under their lifemate's protection at all times. She never took precautions, never scanned her surroundings; she never took care for her own protection.

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    Was that the kind of man he had become? Had he always been so? Someone willing to force his will on the one person who cared for him, risked her life for him? Was it so much to ask that he give her time to adjust? Jacques rubbed the bridge of his nose thoughtfully.
    She was so fragile, so vulnerable. Shea could brave the wildest river or highest mountain. She had the strength to handle any crisis, but not her own emotions. His competent little redhead was terrified of her feelings for him. Her childhood had been a nightmare. He could not allow her life with him to become the same thing.
    Jacques actually felt the curious melting in the region of his heart, the surge of heat that rushed through his bloodstream.
    Little one, why do you persist in fighting me? His voice, whispering so softly in her mind, was filled with tenderness. Do you know what will happen to you without me?
    Her entire being responded to the velvet caress of his voice, the rising tide of love. If he had continued to argue and chastise, she would have had a chance, but the moment he spoke in that tender, caressing way, she was lost. At once she felt overwhelming despair. She could never be free of him, never.
    Is that such a terrible fate, love? His voice turned her heart over. To be with me? This time there was a single thread of hurt. Am I truly such a monster then?
    I don't know how to be with you. I feel trapped, like I can't move or think. Shea pressed her fingers to her temple, her back to the tree. I don't want to need you. I don't want to be with any of them.
    He was moving steadily toward her, not fast, not slow. The rain drove down on his broad shoulders, glistened off his back. The coolness only added to the gathering heat in his body. She seemed small and defenseless. With each step into the night, with the soil beneath his feet, and the ancient's blood flowing in his veins, his strength grew.
    I need you just to breathe, Shea, he admitted starkly. I am sorry that terrifies you. I wish that I had more control, but I cannot be alone like that, not ever again. I try to keep my presence in you but a shadow. Perhaps with time I can let go a bit. Being with me terrifies you, but being without you terrifies me. A note of amusement crept in. We are so compatible.
    Shea knew he was coming toward her; she could tell by the way her heart pounded in anticipation, the way her body came alive. She buried her face in the crook of her arm, hanging on grimly to the branch above her. You don't know me, Jacques.
    I am in you. I know you. You are afraid of me, of what I can do. You are afraid of my instability, my power. You fear what I am and what you have become. Yet you are strong and determined that no harm shall come to me. You know your brain is excited at the possibilities of the existence of our race. His laughter was soft and inviting. I am your lifemate, bound to treasure you, cherish and protect you. Always see to your happiness. And you have the same abilities as I.
    Your first thought was to force me back to you, she accused him.
    Shea, my love, you never think to scan, never check for danger. And you cannot exist without me.
    It is my duty and my right to protect you.
    What happens to me if you die? What happens to you if I die? She knew the answer; she had Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    watched her mother's empty life. This is obsession. She said the words aloud so that the wind could carry them through the mountains. "I won't be like her." She lifted her