Carpathian 04 - Dark Magic

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    pushed the shirt from his broad shoulders and allowed it to float to the floor.
    "Savannah." Her name was a groan for mercy. "You have to listen to me this time. I will never find the strength to make this confession again."
    "Hmm," she mused, clearly distracted. Her fingers were working on the buttons of his trousers. "Of course I'll listen, but I want you in the bath. Do it for me, Gregori, after all the trouble I went to for you."
    Gregori closed his eyes against the flames licking along his skin. His body raged at him, fiercely aroused.
    Her hands whispered over his hips as she slipped the trousers down his legs, her fingernails lightly raking his thighs. He stepped out of them, all too aware that he could not hide the demands of his body from her.
    Savannah smiled that infuriating, secret smile of hers and took his hand to lead him to the tub. He stepped in and sank into the steaming waters. The sensation of heat over his skin increased his sensitivity to pleasure. Savannah stood behind him, her hands loosening the leather thong at the nape of his neck.
    The light, lingering touch of her hands in his hair was sending waves of fire dancing across his skin.
    Savannah poured warm water over his head, soaking his hair thoroughly. She rubbed shampoo between her palms and began a slow, soothing massage of his scalp. With her fingers busy in his hair, she leaned over him, the softness of her breasts whispering against his back. "So, lifemate, what is this terrible secret that tears at you?"
    It was easier to say it with her out of his sight, with the comfort of her hands on his scalp. "You are not my true lifemate. I manipulated the outcome with knowledge I had acquired over the centuries."
    "I already know you believe this, Gregori," she acknowledged softly. "But I also know you are wrong."
    There was purity and honesty in her voice.
    His throat was raw and burning. "You cannot even see what I am, Savannah. I could never hide what I am from my true lifemate. I try to show you, but you cannot see reality. You have an illusion in your mind, and nothing can replace it."
    Her fingertips deepened the massage, never faltering from their purpose. "And you are supposed to be our most learned ancient. My love, you are the one with the illusion of yourself. And, I might add, of me.
    Yes, I'm young—compared to you, a child—but I am first a Carpathian. And I am your true lifemate."
    Her hands fell away, and he was instantly bereft. Warm water took their place, rinsing away the shampoo.
    "I remember before I was born, a terrible pain, both my mother's and my own. You came to me when I would have chosen to free myself from the pain, and you surrounded me with your comfort."
    "Savannah." He moaned her name again, covering his face with his hands. "With my will, I bound you to me."
    "You gave me your blood to save my life, you healed my wounds, and you talked to me of the wonders of the night, of our world. When I was just beginning to crawl, you came to me in the form of a wolf. We shared our minds constantly, nightly. As I grew, we reached for each other and shared all that we were."
    "You accept me only because I did these things."

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    "That is the illusion, Gregori. I have been in your mind. I see what you are, perhaps better than you do. It took me a little time to put things together, because I was afraid of our bond, how strong it was. I was afraid of losing who and what I was to a stronger personality." Her hands began to soap his back. She made small, lazy circles with the suds. "I didn't put it all together at first. My memories from before my birth and my memories of my beautiful wolf, my companion that made me so complete. I didn't think about how easily and naturally we merged our minds. I didn't think about why I never needed or wanted anyone else. It didn't come to me until I realized how completely I merged with you, slipping in and out of your mind. Neither of us noticed it. You didn't even notice it. You failed to notice that in those years of my childhood, you had a semblance of peace in the time you spent with me. But I felt it. I saw it in your mind. It is there now, for you to examine in your memories. That was why it was so hard for you when I felt the Continent and ran away like the child I was. You see colors, Gregori. You have not seen them in centuries. I see how vivid and