Carpathian 09 - Dark Guardian

the beckoning.
    She felt him touch her mind, gentle and warm. His mouth moved over hers, coaxing, tasting. The world fell away from her. There was only silken heat, molten fire. She closed her eyes, willing to give herself up to pure feeling. Sensation. Dark fires.
    He gathered her close, lifted her slight body into the hard strength of his arms, and whispered to her. She didn't hear, couldn't hear. His mouth was perfect. He drove out every sane thought, every responsibility, and replaced it with a burning magic. The earth dropped away, and the wind rushed past. She felt it in her hair, on her face. The dizzy sensation of a roller coaster. But his mouth was all that really mattered.
    When Lucian lifted his head, Jaxon felt dazzled and had to blink several times to focus on her surroundings. At once she gasped and pushed him away. He set her down on legs that were rubbery, but sheer shock held her up. They were at the house, right at the kitchen door. Her teeth bit deep into her lower lip, drawing a tiny dot of blood. She could taste the bead welling up.
    "How did we get here?" She was holding one hand up to ward him off.
    Lucian ignored her hand to step close so that he could lean down and once more find her mouth, his tongue lingering along her lips, caressing, healing, savoring the taste of her. Jaxon pushed at the wall of his chest, not wanting to get caught up in his black magic.
    "Answer me. How did we get here?"
    He looked amused. "It is not that hard to move through—"
    "Stop!" Jaxon put both hands over her ears. "Don't say anything until I think about this. Every time you say anything, you make me more nuts."
    His black eyes were shamelessly laughing at her. He reached out a lazy hand to remove the rifle from her shoulder. She was wildly beautiful and incredibly appealing to him, standing there with her huge chocolate eyes and untamed hair. But her mind was struggling to find answers, and she had a penchant for violence, so the rifle had to go.
    A wolf cry sounded, the note joyful in the night. "There." She waved toward the forest. "Your little friends are calling you. Go run and play with them for a while. You overwhelm me at the moment. I could Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    use a break."
    He put an arm out toward her. "Running with the wolves is truly a great joy, angel." His arm rippled with fur. Black glossy fur. His hand contorted, shifted shape.
    Jaxon heard herself scream. She couldn't believe the strangled sound came from her own throat. She whirled around, jerked open the door to the kitchen, slipped inside, and slammed it shut. She locked every single dead bolt on the door before sliding to the floor. She drew her knees up and rocked herself for comfort.
    This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. What are you ? She cried it in her mind. What was he?
    What should she do? If she called the police, no one would believe her. And the alternative would be that they did believe her, and the government would put Lucian in a laboratory and dissect him. Jaxon buried her face in her hands. What was she going to do? Maybe it was another trick. Another illusion. Just because he had named that hideous creature vampire didn't mean it was true. It was an illusion. It had to be. He was a master magician. That was how he made all his money, right? Weren't all magicians billionaires? Please let them all be billionaires.
    Something made her lift her head. She was very careful to keep her hands over her face and only peek out between her fingers. Through the open door leading into the hall, she saw what looked like a low bank of fog. It just seemed to hang there for a moment silently. She bit at her knuckles with her teeth.
    Fog. In the house. Of course there was fog in Lucian's house. Wasn't fog in everyone's house?
    Then Lucian's tall elegance filled the doorway, blocking her view of the hall. His black gaze moved slowly over her face. She saw stark possessiveness in his eyes. She recognized it, when all she wanted to do was run. But she could no more have gotten to her feet than fly. "Go away, Lucian."
    "I have frightened you, honey. I am sorry. I was only teasing you."
    Her long eyelashes fluttered for a moment before she actually found the courage to look up at him again.
    Why did he have to have such presence? He exuded power. "Everyone I know can turn into a wolf.
    That's what you were doing, wasn't it? Turning into a wolf?" Her teeth bit down hard on her