Carpathian 06 - Dark Fire

told you to go back to the room, where I know you are safe.
    I was going.
    Not fast enough to suit me.
    Barack took possession of Tempest's arm. Not tightly, but she knew she couldn't break his grip. It was Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    all she could do not to burst out laughing. I take it Barack isn't a man? A soft growl was Darius's only answer to her teasing. Deliberately she smiled at Cullen. "I would think it might dangerous for you to be out in the open like this. What if the society sends someone here and you're spotted?" Cullen shrugged.
    "I'm hoping I can spot them first. It's the least I can do under the circumstances."
    Barack was applying pressure, slowly drawing her away from the human, back toward their rooms.
    "Darius wants you with Desari and Syndil, little sister. He is very insistent." He had heard the growling, too.
    Dayan stepped smoothly to Cullen's side, grinning good-naturedly at him. "Darius is the very devil with that woman. He keeps a close watch on her and has a protective streak a mile wide."
    "It seems all of you do," Cullen responded.
    "It is our way. So you are stuck with me, the bachelor." Dayan walked him toward the concert hall.
    Darius had made it a point that they watch over Tucker. He might not be Carpathian, but he had warned them of danger at great risk to himself, and Darius was not about to let him die. Dayan understood some of Cullen's feelings. The man grieved for his lost love, felt totally alone, and Dayan knew that feeling well.
    More and more as the others could feel emotion, the darkness was spreading in him, a stain he couldn't seem to remove. He could touch the others and momentarily feel emotion through them, but it only increased his own barren existence when he slipped from their minds.
    Tempest paced alongside Barack, fuming that Darius was forcing his will on her. Barack didn't seem to notice her deliberately lagging steps, simply taking her with him to the room allotted to Desari. He reached around her and opened the door, all but pushing her inside. She glared at him. "You know, Barack, you could use some lessons in manners."
    "Probably true," he agreed softly, "but then, you could use a few lessons in obedience."
    Syndil slammed the door in his face. "That man is a total brute. I do not know where he got the idea that he can suddenly boss us all around, but I swear, he has been hanging around Darius too long."
    From the other side of the door, they heard Barack's mocking laughter. Syndil threw her shoe at the door. "Jerk!" She flung herself into a chair and glared up at Desari. "How do you put up with Julian?"
    "Not easily," Desari admitted. "When he gets out of hand, I just go around him. It is much easier than butting heads with him."
    "I would very much like to butt Barack in the head," Syndil said. "You should hear him. He thinks he can just start ordering me around because he was an idiot and tied us together."
    Desari laughed softly. "He could not tie you together if you were not true lifemates, Syndil. You know that very well."
    "I know he has spent centuries bedding women. Who would want him?" Moodily she flung her other shoe at the door, wishing the wooden panel was his head. "And you should hear him go on about my flirting and about men wanting me. I tell you, Desari, he can fling himself into the lake."
    "He has not made his ultimate claim," Desari observed. If Barack had made love to Syndil, all of them would have known immediately, as they had with Darius staking his claim on Tempest.

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    "I refused him." Syndil looked down at her hands, sudden tears welling up. "He has been with so many. I have only had Savon, and that was rape. It was horrible, and it hurt. I could not take the chance. I almost wanted to, but I didn't dare. If I couldn't make myself accept him in that way…"
    Desari circled her shoulders, pulling her close. "Oh, Syndil, it would not be like that. You should have shared your fears with Barack."
    Syndil shook her head in agitation. "I cannot. I closed my mind to him."
    Tempest laced her fingers with Syndil's. "Savon committed a violent crime against you, Syndil. When you're with someone who loves you, he takes great care to ensure your pleasure above all else. If Barack does love you and wants to be with you always, he would treat you gently."
    "What if I did not please him? What if I cannot do as he