Carpathian 11 - Dark Descent

with you."
    "I distinctly remember you teling me you had lovers lined up," he said, his hands framing her face, his thumb tilting her chin so that her gaze met his. "What were you planning to do with al of them?"
    There was a little bite to his voice and his white teeth came together with a definite snap. Joie tried not to let the sudden smile blossoming inside her show on her face. "You weren't real. I could say anything." It was impossible to look away from the dark intensity of his eyes, the hunger there. His emotions were as naked as his body. "I keep thinking this is happening too fast. I don't realy know you. How did I end up bringing you to my room? Standing naked in the shower with you? I'm a private person, and not very trusting, yet here you are."
    It was al he could do not to kiss her. Traian knew he could easily sweep aside her every objection. The attraction between them was mutual. Electric. Al-consuming. She would respond to him with the same fierce need he had for her. "Joie." He whispered her name, an ache in his voice. "If you want to talk about this, I suggest we get out of the shower and put the width of the room between us. We have been in each other's minds for weeks. You know me. You know more about me than most people could learn in a lifetime. You know my character and what I stand for. And you know this is no passing fling. This is forever."
    "Forever." She tasted the word. "That's a long time, Traian." The water poured over her body and steam encircled them as she leaned into him so that the tips of her breasts pressed against his chest. She felt him hard and thick and heavy with a man's need, a temptation and a pleading. "You're asking me to make a decision, the enormity of which I can't possibly comprehend. I love my family, Traian. I realy love them and would never be happy without them."
    He bent his head to hers. Close. His mouth was inches from hers. "I know what I am asking of you, and I know you have reservations about your family. I do not want to go back to an existence without you. Spend your life with me, Joie," Traian tempted softly. He feathered kisses down her face, over the corners of her mouth. His teeth tugged at her bottom lip. "Spend several lifetimes with me, an eternity. Be with me. Say you want me that much. Let me be part of your family."
    She looked up at him, at the intensity burning in his eyes. It was so hot it branded her, seared her al the way to her heart. Joie felt the pul of his need, of his loneliness. He was a dangerous predator, not quite human. Powerful beyond anything she had ever dreamed of. And sexy. Heart-stoppingly sexy. Her arms were already sliding around his neck, her body molding itself to his. "Can we be together, Traian? How? Tel me how." Because she had been alone in the midst of a family she loved. Always surrounded by people, friends, family, she was always apart. She never knew why until she heard his voice. Something had been missing from deep inside her, some essential part of her.
    "You can become as I am. Stil Joie, stil part of your family, but with the gifts and vulnerabilities of my race. Or I can age as you age. My strength wil weaken and I wil be more vulnerable to our enemies. It is your happiness that counts, Joie. I want to be in your life always."
    Butterfly wings fluttered in the pit of her stomach. She felt she was on the edge of a great precipice. Joie tried to pul back before it was too late. The enormity of what he was offering was both frightening and exhilarating. He swamped her with his loneliness, with the intensity of her own feelings, so completely foreign to her. She tried to take refuge in humor. "I don't even know if you're good in bed."
    "I want you to acknowledge to me that you know what I am offering you." His mouth skimmed over her face, tracing her high cheekbones, her chin, moved lower to find the pulse beating franticaly in her neck. His warm breath bathed her in heat, a seductive temptation every bit as powerful as the feel of his body heavy with need.
    She was in his mind, saw the choices clearly. His teeth sinking deep, making her his, bringing her into his world. Or Traian staying with her as if he were human, aging along with her, his great strength slowly fading, always vulnerable to enemies. Two choices. Two worlds. Only a heartbeat of time to choose.
    She knew she needed to answer him, not because he demanded it, but because the intensity of her feeling for him was so strong, she needed to settle