Carpathian 05 - Dark Challenge

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    "I cannot. Did you not hear what I told Dayan? Women have rights, Darius. We cannot be ruled by men simply because they believe it is so."
    His icy black eyes captured her dark, sorrow-filled ones and held her gaze. "I have always been responsible for you and Syndil both. In this I must insist. I can feel your pain, the chaos of your mind. Do as I bid you."
    "Please, Darius. I do not wish to openly defy you." Desari was actually biting her fingernails, the strain on her face terrible for her brother to witness. Her other hand nervously tugged its way through the mass of ebony hair cascading around her shoulders and down her back.
    "You have done so repeatedly since this man entered our lives," Darius reminded her gently. "I will tolerate only so much defiance from you, little sister. I realize this is a new experience, one outside our realm of knowledge, but I cannot allow you to suffer. Call Savage to your side."
    Tears shimmered in her eyes and on her long lashes. She sank onto the wooden bench beside the table, hanging her head in defeat.
    "There is no need to call me." Julian's muscular form solidified beside her, close enough that she could feel his body heat. His arm curved around her shoulders. "I cannot take the separation from you, Desari."
    He made the admission without hesitation, uncaring that Darius was within hearing, wanting only to spare her further pain.
    "What have you done to me?" There were tears in Desari's voice as well as her eyes. Her fingers curled into two tight fists so that her nails bit deeply into her palms. Her voice became a tragic whisper. "What have you done that I cannot be without you?"
    Julian bent his head to hers, his grip gentle, tender as he pried her fingers open one by one. Very carefully he brought her hands to the healing warmth of his mouth, pressing a kiss into the exact center of each wounded palm. His golden eyes held her dark gaze captive.
    Desari could feel the terrible knot in the pit of her stomach begin to melt from his molten heat. Whatever fire lay deep within him ignited a matching inferno deep within her. There was also a peace stealing into her soul and heart, filling the terrible emptiness. She was complete, totally complete again with him so close. Her lungs could work; her heart beat in a strong, steady rhythm.
    "I can feel your fear, Desari," Julian said softly. "There is no need. I cannot hurt you. I am your lifemate, responsible for your happiness."
    "How can that be if I cannot even be away from you for a short period of time?" Desari glanced at her brother, a silent plea for privacy. She had trouble enough accepting such a strange phenomenon without there being a witness to her humiliation.
    Julian waited until Darius had signaled the two leopards to his side and disappeared into the dark interior of the trees to hunt. He palmed the nape of Desari's neck, his fingers caressing her silken hair. "Our physical bodies can be in separate places, piccola , but our minds must touch often when we are apart."
    "You knew this, yet you withdrew. I chose to assert my independence, and you punished me for it," she said, lifting her chin at him.

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    "You ignored your own safety, cara mia ," he said softly. "You refused to believe the things I tried to tell you, even when I gave you access to my mind. I had no choice but to allow you to learn firsthand that what I say is true. I am your lifemate; there cannot be untruth between us."
    Desari found one button on his immaculate shirt and twisted it nervously. "It was not as if I believed you lied. The things you believed—I did not doubt you thought them true. But it all seemed so unreal, like a fantasy, a dream. How could mere words bind us together for all eternity? How could one male have the power to so change a female's life?"
    "We are connected from birth, cara ," he explained, moving his body closer when he felt a shiver run through her. "Two halves of the same whole. There is only one true lifemate. I am fortunate that mine is so talented and beautiful. It is unfortunate, however," he added, "that you are so willful and have no knowledge of what is expected of you."
    Desari leapt away from him, clearing the picnic table in a single bound. She looked wild and untamed, a sexy enchantress capable of taking his very breath away.
    "You think me willful because I insist on