Carpathian 16 - Dark Demon

true. You want June Cleaver. Or Donna Reed. That's who you want. Some little yes woman with her apron on cooking you meals and saying "Yes, dear." Instead you're stuck with …
    She pulled her head back to look into his eyes. She knew she was showing him she was hurt. It didn't matter right then. She needed to belong somewhere. If only for a moment. He wanted a lifemate, but he didn't want her . She kept her gaze locked with his. You're stuck with Xena, warrior woman, who you don't want, can't conceive of and don't understand .
    She felt his confusion. Puzzlement. His eyes changed color, deepened, darkened with such intense emotion he robbed her of breath. I do not know these women, Natalya. I do not hear jealousy as much as hurt and it is unacceptable to me that I would cause you sorrow. I do not desire them nor would I ever. I prefer not to eat food so I do not expect nor want cooked meals. And I have no other lifemate, only you. I have never met this Xena you speak of .
    Part of her wanted to laugh and the other half wanted to cry. I'm Xena warrior woman, you dope. You don't know anything, do you ? She rested her forehead against his. This lifemate thing wasn't your choice any more than it was mine. You didn't want me. I want to be wanted for who I am .
    There was such sadness in her voice, in her mind, it echoed through Vikirnoff's heart.
    How can you think I do not want you? You are a miracle to me .
    Natalya turned her head away. She'd been in his mind and she knew his thoughts. He wanted a submissive woman who would hang on his every word, not someone with a smart mouth and an attitude. For one moment she thought about trying to change, living to be what he wanted, but she could never mold her personality or drive the tigress out of her.
    She was passionate and fiery and entirely too impulsive. She didn't wait for someone to lead her, she took her own path and she couldn't imagine being any different.
    She watched the ground below them, inexplicably sad, the vivid shades of green, the riot of colors from the meadows of flowers and the stacks of hay dotting the rolling hills, all blurring together until she blinked away the tears swimming in her eyes. There were people down there, people with lives far shorter than her life, but so happy. People with families and children and someone to talk to. She had Vikirnoff. She knew he wasn't going to leave her, he believed he was tied to her for eternity, but he didn't want Natalya Shonski, with the blood of the dark mage running in her veins and a tigress crouching deep within her soul.
    He didn't want the woman who fought vampires and watched really bad movies on late night television.

    Vikirnoff pressed his body tightly against hers so that she could feel what she did to him, the tight, painful ache that never seemed to entirely disappear, not even in the midst of danger. How could she think he didn't want her ? There was no other woman for him, there could be no other woman. I have much to learn about women, Natalya, it is true, but do not doubt that I want you . His hands shifted on her body, a subtle difference, but she felt it all the way to her toes.
    She wanted to smack him one. It just welled up, a tight hot ball of temper that raced through her bloodstream and came spilling out in a low warning growl that vibrated through both of them.
    There was a small silence. His body rippled, muscles flexing and his knee pushed between her legs, forcing her into contact with his hard thick erection. Did you just warn me off ?
    If there was a suspicion of laughter in his voice, she couldn't catch it, but she felt it, as if the idea was amusing to him. His tone was pitched so low she shivered. It had gone from soft to black velvet, dark and mesmerizing and oh-so-confident. He knew she was drawn to him, that her body ached for his. He was in her mind and he could glimpse her fantasies. As much as she tried to keep sexual thoughts out of her head, they persisted, crowding in when she least expected it and the tigress in her reacted, rising with heat and need and hunger.
    Yes, I did . There was a challenge in her voice. What could he do, after all? She was safe and she knew it.
    Because you think you are safe.
    She tilted her chin. I know that I am . She let her gaze move insolently over his body. You aren't exactly in shape to win wars . Was she challenging him? Deliberately provoking him?
    She wanted to feel his mouth crushing hers again, his hands on her body. She wanted