Carpathian 06 - Dark Fire

head.
    "Get it? I'm taking the responsibility for a change."
    Julian shook his head at them. "You are both a sorry sight. I have no choice but to offer my protection. I will drive. You two rest."
    "Good idea," Darius and Tempest said simultaneously.
    Darius reached down until he found Tempest's hand and laced his fingers through hers, connecting them together. They were content to be silent for a long while, the swaying of the bus curiously comforting.
    Then Darius's thumb began to move, a feather-light touch brushing gently back and forth across her knuckles. "I need to feel your body beside mine," he murmured beneath his breath.
    Tempest heard the urgency of his need in his voice. He never tried to hide it from her, never worried that he sounded vulnerable. She was exhausted, so much so that it was an effort to lift herself to the other side of the low couch. Sliding beside him, she fit her body to his. Darius instantly turned to wrap his arms around her. She felt as though she was home, safe and protected, where she belonged. She closed her eyes and slept, not realizing Darius had given her a slight mental push to help her drift off peacefully.
    Tempest jerked awake just under an hour later as Julian parked the trailer at the chosen site and opened Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    the door for the others. Desari rushed in, a soft cry of alarm escaping as she saw her brother and Tempest. Her hand went to her throat. "Julian?" Her ethereal voice wavered for a moment as she sought reassurance from her lifemate.
    "He needs more blood and the earth to heal him," Julian supplied.
    Darius pushed himself into a sitting position, his black eyes moving over his family crowding around him.
    "Do not look so worried. It is not as if I have never been injured before. It is nothing." He turned to look down at Tempest.
    She simply didn't have the energy to move. She lay, her body like lead, just staring lovingly up at his face. His hand stroked her cheek, then settled around her neck. Darius was looking at her as if she were his entire world.
    Desari stroked back Tempest's hair. "You were wonderful, Rusti, so brave. I can feel your body's terrible weariness."
    Tempest managed a wan smile. "Don't tell me Darius was broadcasting a blow-by-blow report while it was all happening."
    "Of course. We needed to know in case something went wrong and we had to return to give aid,"
    Desari explained. 'To help with the illusion, we created in the minds of those who saw us traveling on the highway the memory of the trailer traveling with us. If the authorities question anyone, they will state that all vehicles were traveling together last night, long before the horrible battle where we had camped."
    "A regular sports commentator, aren't you, Darius?" Tempest asked, annoyed that he had expended even more energy than she had first thought. No wonder he was looking gray and gaunt. "Take him wherever he's supposed to go and put him to sleep and leave me to rest."
    Darius's hand tightened around the nape of her neck. "We will not be separated. You must eat something before you sleep, Tempest. You have not taken any sustenance for twenty-four hours."
    Her eyebrows shot up. "Oh, I get it. You don't have to take proper care of yourself, but I do. It isn't going to happen that way, Darius. You can growl at me all you want, but if you're insisting on forcing this relationship on me, you can darn well see to it that you take care of yourself so there's no possibility of your leaving me alone."
    Darius felt the curious melting in the region of his heart that she always caused. Tempest was trying hard to lecture him, to be tough, but her voice wavered, her fear for his well-being clearly evident to him. He leaned over to brush a soft kiss across her mouth. "You will do as I say, honey, as you are meant to do."
    Tempest's eyes flashed fire. "That's it. One of you go get me a club. A big one. He clearly needs to be hit over the head to bring him back to his senses. He must have lost them somewhere in the forest. You idiot, I'm not your child to be dictated to. I'm a grown woman perfectly capable of making my own decisions. Now just this one time in your life, do what you're supposed to do and go to ground or whatever you call it."
    Julian made the mistake of allowing a laugh to escape, then hastily tried to cover it with a cough. Darius glared up at him, noticed the others grinning openly at him. "I am certain