Carpathian 15 - Dark Secret

sent out to kill the vampire, yet each time we make a kill, the whisper of darkness calls to us with more urgency. When the kill is made during the taking of blood, we feel. To someone with emotions, that is nothing, but when you feel nothing, century after century, it is everything. I do not want Nicolas to make a kill."
    "What about you, Rafael?"
    "You are my anchor. You will prevent me from turning. It is much safer for me than it is for Nicolas." He leaned over her. "Why are you believing me so easily? How can you accept the things I am telling you so readily without fear?"
    "Because I've touched you, Rafael. I've looked into your mind and touched your memories. You can't hide something that intense from me when you're sharing my mind. I admit I don't understand everything I've touched on, but you aren't a killer of humans. And you are powerful—the things you can do are much more extreme than what I can do." She rested her head on her arms. "In a way, it's very comforting." The feel of his hands moving over her bottom, his fingers massaging her muscles, soothed her deliciously sore body even as deep within her, pooling heat felt sinfully wicked. She was too relaxed, too sated to care.
    Lying beneath the stars without a stitch of clothing, with his finger marks on her body and signs of his possession on every inch of her, held a sultry, primitive satisfaction. She could feel the weight of his eyes, the burning intensity that filled that terrible emptiness inside of her. For a moment she thought of what her life would be like after he went away, returned to his own land, and her heart nearly stopped beating. The breath left her lungs in a terrible rush. She went very still. This night would have to last her forever.
    His hand tangled in her hair. "Tonight I want to show you my world so you will understand why I have no choice but to do the things I must."
    His tone warned her. A soft velvet, but there was steel in it. Something implacable, something immovable.
    "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?" She made a supreme effort and turned over so she could stare up at the glittering stars scattered over her head. When his hand reached for hers, she entwined their fingers together. "You can't be out in the sun, can you, Rafael? That's what the Chevez brothers were worried about this morning when you came to help fight the fire—the sun had come up."
    She leaned close to brush his shoulder with her mouth. "You suffered to stay and comfort me, didn't you?"

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    "I had to be with you, Colby." His voice was husky, touching her deep inside as his body had. "I cannot bear your unhappiness. And if you are in danger, I can do no other than see to your safety. Pain is a part of life; you learn much in centuries of living. Pain is momentary, but enduring every moment of a barren existence is intolerable. I cannot go back to such a thing. I was closer to turning than I had believed. I know this because I feel it in my brother Nicolas now. You felt it in him. His darkness when he was so close to you. He frightened you—I read your memory of your meeting with him."
    Colby knew he was telling her much more than she was hearing, than she was understanding. She didn't touch his mind, preferring to allow her brain to process the information at its own pace. She didn't want to fear him, not now when her body was vibrating with a thousand sensations, when she was more relaxed and happy than she had ever been in her life. "If I never say it again, Rafael, thank you for this night. Thank you for caring enough to lend us the money to save the ranch. And thank you for accepting me the way I am, for making me feel accepted."
    "You sound as if you are saying good-bye to me, Colby." His voice was gentle. "Did you think to wonder why your skin burns in the sun? Why your eyes are so sensitive? Why you need to sleep in the middle of the day?"
    She sat up, her palm over the dark brand of his possession. She could hear the sudden beating of her heart, loud in the silence of the night. He sounded as if she were becoming what he was. "Taking my blood would do what? What are you saying?" She pushed down panic, fought to stay calm. There was something terrifying in the way his black eyes moved over her body. She looked around for her clothes, suddenly feeling more vulnerable than ever.
    "Taking your blood would not affect you so. We exist on the blood of