Carpathian 09 - Dark Guardian

sexual desire or enjoyment when he took or gave blood. With Jaxon he couldn't separate the two. He was not certain he could ever stand by and watch her feed from another man. The thought of her gliding seductively up to another male, her arms circling his neck, his head thrown back to allow her to find his pulse beating strongly, sickened him. Her mouth moving over someone else's skin, her tongue touching, teasing, her teeth sinking deeply, connecting the two of them—the image swam alarmingly in his mind for a moment.
    A fierce growl escaped his throat, and his eyes glowed hotly, red flames leaping in their depths. Jaxon's tongue swept across the tiny pinpricks to close them, and she looked up at him. "What is it?" There was a hot, coppery flavor in her mouth, addicting and subtly masculine. She put the back of her hand to her lips and wiped surreptitiously, willing her stomach not to rebel although her mind was screaming at her in denial. She blinked up at Lucian, trying desperately to appear normal. He had enough worries without always trying to placate her fears.

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    Lucian swept his arms around her, holding her to him tightly. "You are the most important person in my world."
    "I'm also turning out to be the biggest baby in the world. I can't believe how afraid I am of everything."
    She attempted a laugh, but they both knew she was telling the truth. "Usually I'm really cool under fire, Lucian. I don't know why I'm acting so silly."
    "Do not do this, Jaxon. Do not apologize to me when I am the one who made this decision for you. You have had much to learn and cope with in a short space of time. You are learning things that are completely foreign to you. I think you have done remarkably well under the circumstances." His hands came up to caress her hair. "I have no quarrel with the way you have accepted the extraordinary things I have demanded of you, and I am exceptionally proud of you." He leaned close. "Can you not feel the way I feel about you? You have been in my mind enough to do so."
    "I think I'm still afraid to look too closely. I'm still getting used to the new me," she admitted almost shyly.
    "Perhaps you would learn more of yourself if you saw yourself through my eyes instead of your own," he suggested, his voice black-velvet persuasion.
    A slow curve touched her soft mouth. "I'm beginning to believe you're just the tiniest bit prejudiced in my favor."
    His eyebrows shot up, an elegant, Old World, lord-of-the-manor gesture she found endearing. "That could not be true. You are the most beautiful, desirable, courageous woman in the world. It is a fact."
    She nuzzled his chest, savoring his warmth and strength, the way he comforted her in a world she no longer understood. "I'd be willing to bet your brother doesn't think that. He probably thinks Francesca is the most desirable woman in the world."
    "He has never had my superior intellect or my discernment," he replied solemnly.
    Jaxon found herself laughing. "I'll be sure to tell him when I finally meet him."
    Lucian shrugged carelessly, a casual ripple of muscle and sinew that made her think of a great jungle cat stretching lazily. "I have told him so on many occasions, but he fools himself into thinking he knows more than I."
    At once she was laughing aloud, her young voice soft and carefree, floating in the wind. "He does that, does he? More and more I think I should meet him. The two of us might find we share the same point of view."
    His fingers ruffled her hair in a caress before tugging the silken strands gently. "I do not believe I shall ever introduce you to him."
    "I have a feeling I will meet your brother very soon. It is obvious to me you care a great deal about him.
    In the meantime, what do we do about our company? You can tackle the big guy—I don't want any part of him. The lesser ones seem more up my alley." She was looking up at him expectantly, her dark eyes clear and serious. She expected to go into battle with him, was fully prepared to do whatever he told her.
    Lucian bent his head to kiss her inviting mouth. She moved him. It was that simple. The way she was so Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    certain she would help him. She was a bright light to him, warming him where nothing else ever could. It was amazing to him that she could still be so determined to help him when she knew his power, his abilities. She