Carpathian 11 - Dark Descent

stop them, nor can I without blood to build my strength."
    Jubal caught at Joie and tried to drag her backward, away from the wounded man. She held up her hand. "He's teling the truth, Jubal. I can feel them coming— can't you?"
    She handed her knife to her brother, ignoring her trembling hand. "If I'm making the biggest mistake of my life, I expect you to avenge me."
    She made her way to where Traian remained slumped against the blue ice, puling off her helmet as she did so. "Go for it, but remember, my brother can hit a bul's-eye every time."
    Traian touched her then, circling her wrist with his long fingers and drawing her slowly, inexorably to him. Joie's heart skipped a beat, then began to pound, whether in fear or excitement, she didn't know. She knew only that her mouth went dry and her insides were melting at an alarming rate. His eyes went dark, focused on her completely, shutting out everything else. Everyone else. He puled her into the shelter of his large frame.
    Joie felt his every muscle, hard, defined, rippling with power. He should have smeled of sweat and blood, but his scent was masculine, clean, inviting. Sexy. The world seemed to drop away. Danger didn't matter. His arms swept around her, held her close so that her heart beat with the same rhythm as his. She placed her hand over his chest, felt his heart beat strongly against her palm. She lifted her gaze to his and was instantly lost in the burning intensity she saw there.
    There was a storm of emotion between them, a dark cauldron every bit as roiling and wild as the gale raging above ground. Mesmerized, she could only stare up at him. His fingertips brushed the hair from her neck. Sent fire racing through her bloodstream. Where he had been businesslike and abrupt with Jubal, he was gentle, even tender as he enfolded Joie closer. He bent his head to hers.
    Gabriele made a smal cry of protest, stepped toward them with every intention of stopping him. Traian lifted his head, his eyes glowing with a strange fiery red, halting her in her tracks. His eyelids drifted down, his arm curling around Joie possessively so that she nearly disappeared from sight, completely engulfed in his embrace. There was something very protective, yet predatory in his posture.
    His lips barely skimmed over Joie's skin. She felt it. A brush of butterfly wings, no more, yet that slight touch sent heat spreading through her body. He kissed her eyes until she closed them. Sensations increased. He whispered to her, in her mind an intimate, soft litany of words in an ancient tongue. His voice wrapped her in velvet, an erotic spel of enchantment she wilingly embraced.
    Joie felt his breath warm on her neck. His tongue swirled over her pulse. Once. Twice. Her entire body clenched, every muscle contracting breathlessly. Waiting. Wanting.
    His lips feathering over her neck sent heat pooling low, and her legs went weak. One arm, of its own accord, slid upward to curl around his head, to draw him closer, cradle him to her. White-hot lightning pierced her skin. Sent whips of lightning dancing in her bloodstream, a pleasure bordering on pain. Nothing had prepared her for the sheer erotic fire coursing through her body. A soft moan escaped her. She moved restlessly against him.
    Traian puled her closer, imprinting his body against hers, feeling every lush curve and soft, rounded line. Lifemate. He had waited so long. Endured so much. There was no shield providing her with a protective barrier. She knew exactly what he was doing and yet she accepted him, accepted his need for her blood. It rushed through his body with the force of a freight train; his shrunken, starving cels soaked it up; tissue and muscle and damaged organs demanded sustenance. He wanted to savor the moment, savor his first taste of her, his first touch on her skin.
    Even as Traian struggled for sufficient control to blur the horrified gazes of her siblings, he was aware of the undead struggling to rise again, the two vampires rushing through the maze of hals to reach him before he could escape. He took from Joie only what he needed to have strength when the battle came. He couldn't risk her being too weak to defend herself. They would have more than one skirmish with the undead before they were out of the labyrinth of caves.
    Very gently, almost reverently, he swept his tongue across the pinpricks to close them. "Thank you, Joie." His arms held her up, his body taking her weight.
    She shivered as she lifted her lashes