Carpathian 04 - Dark Magic

spirit, her soul.
    He whispered ancient words of love through clenched teeth, surging into her, filling her heart as he filled her body. When the explosion came, it was as turbulent as the slashing whips of lightning, as loud as the cracks of thunder, as wild as the winds ripping through the night.
    They clung to each other, exhausted, sated, awed at the beauty of their lovemaking, the beauty of the storm. Even as they sat welded together, her head over his pounding heart, his arms tight around her, the winds began to die down, nature easing its frantic force as their hearts slowly returned to a normal rhythm.
    Gregori kissed her temples, the line of her cheekbone, brushed his mouth along the corner of hers, nibbled his way down to her chin. "You are my world, Savannah. You must know it."
    She held him, shocked at the intensity, the force of their need for each other. "If this thing between us grows stronger over the years, neither of us will live very long."
    Gregori laughed softly. "You could be right, chérie . You are a dangerous woman."
    He flowed from the lounge chair, still holding her locked to him, and glided across the courtyard into the house. The shower was hot on their bodies after the cool rain, but they stayed there for some time, too spent to move. Savannah was grateful that he held her in his arms, afraid her legs would never support her again.
    Gregori dried her slender body with a towel before waving a hand to clothe himself. Savannah was wandering through the house back to the kitchen, with only another of his shirts to cover her. Her bare skin showed marks that hadn't been there before, and he followed her, cursing his own roughness. He had left his brand on her breast deliberately, the mark of his possession, but the faint smudges elsewhere needed to be healed.
    Savannah laughed softly. "I don't hurt anywhere, lifemate. I loved, it, and you know it."
    "I can make you love it without marking you," he corrected.
    She idly picked up a packet of papers and sifted through them, then dropped them onto the counter. "If you ever hurt me, Gregori, I promise you, I'll tell you immediately."
    He sensed the return of her restlessness. "What is it?"
    "Let's do something, Gregori. Something that has nothing to do with the hunt. Something different.
    Something touristy."
    "The streets are flooded tonight," he pointed out.
    She shrugged. "I know. I was just looking at some pamphlets earlier, on all the tourist attractions here,"
    Savannah said nonchalantly.

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    Gregori looked up alertly at the carefully calculated disinterest in her voice. "Did any of them seem appealing to you?"
    She shrugged again very casually. "Most of the more interesting ones are the day trips. Like the bayous.
    There's one you can go on with someone who grew up in the bayou." She shrugged again. "I like learning local history. I wouldn't mind a tour of the bayou with someone who grew up there."
    "You have the brochure handy?" he asked.
    "It isn't important," Savannah said with a little sigh. Tossing the packet of pamphlets onto the table, she picked up her hairbrush.
    Gregori took it out of her hand. "If you want a proper tour of the bayou, Savannah, then we will go."
    "I like to do the tourist thing," Savannah admitted with a slight smile. "It's kind of fun to ask questions and learn new things."
    "I bet you are very good at it," he answered her, slowly running the brush through the blue-black length of her hair. It crackled with a life of its own, refusing to be tamed. He gathered it into his hands just to feel how soft and silky it was. Over her shoulder, his pale gaze rested on the brochure she had put to one side. If Savannah wanted a tour, he would move heaven and earth to get her one. "We do not always go chasing after vampires and the mortal assassins plaguing our people," he began diplomatically.
    "I know. They turn up everywhere we go," she agreed.
    He tugged at a tangle in her glossy hair. "When you first proposed to come to New Orleans, we had hoped the society members would follow us and leave Aidan and his people in peace. Is that not what you wanted?"
    "Not particularly," she admitted with a flash of her blue eyes. "I was only trying to get you to come here.
    You know, classic honeymoon. Sweet young wife teaches wizened old grouch how to have fun. That sort of thing."
    "Wizened old grouch?" he echoed in astonishment. "The old part I can accept,