Carpathian 15 - Dark Secret

could ever find the strength to stand up again. His fingers brushed gently at her tears.
    "I don't know. I won't know for a few hours." She was dazzled by the colors in the sky, the stars and the moon and the variations she'd never noticed. Her body sang, still gripped in the aftermath of their frenzied joining.
    He lifted his head from her breast and looked into her eyes. "You are a very stubborn woman."
    "You are a very pig-headed man." She pushed the silky black strands of hair from around his face. "You don't like anyone saying no to you, do you?"
    A small smile curved his mouth. "There is no reason to say no to me. And I especially do not want you saying no to me. You are my woman. My lifemate."
    "But that doesn't mean ownership," she told him. Her fingertips were gentle on his face. "You can't force me to love you, Rafael. I need to know more about you. I see into your mind and there are things that don't make sense to me."
    "What you see in my mind should not make any difference, querida."
    Colby stirred, pushed at his body, annoyed with his arrogance. "You're heavy, Rafael. Move." His fangs had not retracted and she was becoming nervous again.
    He kissed her throat and pushed away from her to sit up.
    "It is only because you are so small. You need to eat more."
    She looked at him from under her lashes. "I can't eat anything lately. Do you have anything to do with that?"
    "Yes." One did not lie to one's lifemate.
    Take her. Make her yours so we can leave this place and go home. Nicolas was hunting prey. His voice whispered in Rafael's mind. It was obvious he didn't understand why his brother was not simply forcing the woman to do his bidding.
    It is complicated.

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    Nicolas sighed. You forget who and what you are. Do you want the vampire to kill her? To destroy the people on this ranch? If you allow this rebellion to continue, she will be the death of us all. We will be without honor.
    Colby managed to find her blouse, although she had no idea where her bra was. "Is he talking to you?"
    "My brother? Yes."
    She slipped her arms into the shirt, wincing a little. She was sore from the strength of his fingers. Her body still held the stamp of his possession. "What did you say to me? What were those words you said?
    They sounded suspiciously like a ritual of some kind." She cast him a wary glance as she crawled toward her carelessly discarded jeans. "What exactly did you do?" The buttons were gone from her blouse, so she knotted the tails together under her breasts.
    "I bound us together in the way of my people."
    He sounded smug. Arrogant even. Colby bunched her panties in her hand and threw them at him. "You ripped these."
    "You do not need them." His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her back against his chest as she tried to wiggle into her jeans. Teeth nipped and scraped at her neck. "You should never wear clothes."
    "That will go over big with the rest of the world. What ritual?" She leaned against him for leverage as she pulled the jeans over her bottom. She was sensually sore everywhere, inside and out. And of course, his hands had gone straight to her breasts, cupping the weight in his palms through the gap in the edges of her blouse. "Is it ever enough with you?"
    "Apparently not. Maybe you should not get dressed just yet."
    She turned her face up to his throat and lay against him, savoring being in his arms. In another few hours she would have to work nonstop, but she had the night with him. All she had to do was convince him not to bite her anymore. "As it is, I'm not certain I can walk." She stood up, using his shoulder as an anchor while she tested her legs. It was strange to look at him, to know the things he'd done to her, with her, to know she'd screamed his name, begged him for more, pleaded with him to consume her, and yet not feel in the least embarrassed.
    Rafael stood up in one smooth motion, clothing himself in the way of his people. She gave a small gasp and stepped back. "How did you do that? Even your hair looks clean and combed." She lifted a hand to her own hair with a small frown. "I'm afraid I look a bit on the used side. I need a shower and a hairdresser."
    "You look beautiful, Colby. You are always beautiful, especially when you are screaming beneath me."
    There was a wealth of satisfaction in his voice. He held out his arm in front of her, his gaze on her face.
    His skin rippled, and feathers erupted as