Carpathian 17 - Dark Celebration

showing her teeth. Inside the cat's body, Darius frowned. He could have sworn that, in spite of the leopard showing temper, deep inside she was weeping.
    Tempest. Tell me. Surely these pies are not so important. Tell me what has you so upset .
    He rubbed his fur along hers as he shifted back to his human form, sitting in the snow, holding the female leopard in his lap. Her teeth were mere inches from his throat as he looked into her eyes, seeing beyond the cat to his mate. You are my life, Tempest. You know I cannot bear to see you upset. This cannot be beyond my ability to fix .
    The cat shifted in his arms, warm fur giving way so that soft skin slid over his and a wealth of silky hair fell across his face. Tempest circled his neck with her slender arms. "I don't know, Darius. I don't know what's wrong, but I want to cry all the time."
    He felt a small shiver run down her spine and gathered her closer, automatically regulating their body temperatures so they wouldn't feel the cold. His fingers fisted in her thick red hair. "How long has this been going on and why did I not know?"
    "Because it's so stupid, Darius. There's nothing wrong." She rubbed her face along his chest much like a feline, as if remnants of the animal still clung to the woman. "I'm not used to being around people, so maybe I'm just nervous."
    He touched her face and found tears. His heart clenched in his chest. Darius took a deep breath and let it out. "I am going to check you over, Tempest. We do not know what conversion might have done to your body. Perhaps you are ill."
    She turned her face into his neck. "Maybe I am. I don't feel very well."
    He frowned as he brushed the hair from her face. "You did not want to take any sustenance this evening. I thought it was because of this dinner. After all this time, does it still bother you?"
    "Not when it is from you," she admitted. "I just feel tired, that's all. Tired and out of sorts, I guess."
    "You should not have tried to hide this from me," he said.
    "I didn't want you to worry about me, like you're doing now. This entire time you've been looking around us, searching the ground, the sky, the trees, as if you're expecting trouble.

    You have enough to do just looking after the security."
    " Anything concerning you is always and forever my first priority, Tempest." He brushed bright red strands of hair from her face. "I know the adjustment to our way of life has been hard on you."
    She shook her head. "It was my choice, Darius. I wanted to be with you. I chose you and your way of life myself. You would have chosen differently for me—for us. I've grown to love the others, Desari and Julian, Dayan and Corrine and Barack and Syndil, and I'm getting used to being around them, but this…" She waved her hand to encompass the snow-covered mountains and forest where all the homes were hidden from prying eyes. "This is overwhelming to me."
    He feathered the pad of his thumb back and forth tracing over her cheekbone. "We do not have to participate, baby. We can walk away from this—go far away and just be together. I thought you wanted to come."
    "I do." Her lower lip trembled and tears filled her eyes. "I thought I did."
    He bent his head to capture her mouth with his. "Do not cry, Tempest. I would much rather feel the heat of your temper. Your tears are heartbreaking."
    She attempted a soft laugh in the midst of their kiss. "Tears are normal."
    "Not for you. You are far more likely to throw a very hard snowball at me and call me names than cry."
    He kissed her again, and Tempest could taste his desperate need to comfort her. It shamed her that she couldn't stop wanting to weep—and it was so unlike her. She wanted to crawl into a hole and pull the soil over her head. She wanted to cling to Darius, another trait so unlike her. He simply held her, rocking gently back and forth as if she were a child, and when she looked up at his face, his black gaze moved restlessly—ceaseless in his vigil to search out danger around them.
    "Its so beautiful here, Darius, it doesn't seem as if we could possibly be in danger. I wish you could find a way to relax and just enjoy life—even if it's only for a day or two while we're here."
    He touched one stray tear with his fingertip and brought it to his mouth. Tempest found the gesture curiously sexy. Her stomach did a funny little flip—a sensation she was becoming used to. She secretly found Darius the sexiest, most attractive man in the world, but she wasn't about