Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

the things they told me were true, at least they said they were.\" She looked at him. \"You were able to bind me with the ritual words. How would they know the Carpathian marriage ritual if they weren\'t Rhiannon\'s daughters?\"
    \"Dominic, Rhiannon\'s brother, has sought news of her many years now. We were informed of her death at the hands of Xavier and he has been hoping to hear of his nieces. This news will sadden him.\"
    \"They could still be alive,\" she said. \"It\'s possible. They helped me escape the ice cave, and maybe they managed as well. They were very powerful. Xavier kept them weak, but they were smart. They might have found a way. That\'s what I\'ve come back to find out. I\'m going to hunt for evidence of what happened to them.\"
    Nicolas drew in his breath sharply. \"The ice caves are too dangerous. The last visitors barely escaped with their lives. It is not a place you should enter.\"
    She kept her eyes on the water in the pool gently lapping at the ring of rocks. \"Have you been down there?\"
    She didn\'t much care one way or the other what he thought. She intended to go to the cave and find out for herself what had happened to her aunts.
    \"Not personally, but all Carpathians share knowledge. Vikirnoff and his woman fought shadow warriors, vampire and mages alike when they were there.\"
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    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    She frowned and glanced up at him with a quick flick of her lashes. \"His woman? Not that again. Does she have a name? Do women hold so low a place in your estimation that you can\'t be bothered to learn their names?\"
    He bent down, placing his lips against her ear. \"I think you are trying to pick a fight with me because you are upset over the flashbacks you are experiencing. You have been in my mind enough to know I respect women, and would give my life to protect them.\" He tugged on her long braid. \"I have to see the prince and will get news of your friend. I also need to feed and you must as well. Stay here and relax. I will bring you food and something to drink and we can figure this out together.\"
    The feel of his warm breath against her ear, the mesmerizing brushing caress of his lips sent a shiver down her spine. Her breasts tingled, nipples tightening. She pressed her teeth together in a little snap.
    \"I do not want anything at all to do with blood.\"
    \"I figured that out.\" He straightened and moved away from her, gliding across the cave floor in that peculiar silence that reminded her of a stalking jungle cat. \"Do you feel comfortable enough to stay here on your own, or will being underground trigger more flashbacks?\"
    She sent him her most fierce scowl. \"I\'m a caver. I explore caves all the time. I had one small problem for just a moment seeing those disgusting little parasites. I\'m fine now. Perfectly fine.\" She deliberately took a slow look around. \"It\'s quite beautiful here.\"
    It was, too. The walls were veined with minerals and crystals. Candles of all sizes were everywhere. The pool looked inviting. The air smelled fresh and soothing. Beyond the chamber she was in, she could see a bedroom of sorts set up quite like a room in an aboveground home. Clearly Nicolas had tried to provide a tranquil, safe place to rest.
    \"The safeguards are in place. They are the newest patterns to keep out enemies trained in our ways. You will be safe. If you have need of me, you have only to reach out,\" Nicolas said. \"I will hear you.\"
    \"How is it possible we can communicate the way we do?\" Lara asked curiously. \"We aren\'t using the telepath common to all Carpathians. I thought that was established with a blood bond. You took my blood, but I didn\'t take yours.\"
    He was more than aware of that fact. Need roared in his ears, thundered through his heart, surged through his veins and pounded painfully in his groin in hot demand. He took a breath to keep his body relaxed, his mind calm when the primitive side of him wanted dominance. \"You are my life mate and I have bound us together.
    The rest will come in the right time.\"
    \"And if it doesn\'t?\"
    He shrugged. \"Then we do not survive this life and will go to the next to try again.\"
    She watched his large frame waver into transparency, and then fade away until he was nothing but mist streaming from the chamber. Only then did she realize she was holding her breath. She stood and stretched, trying to get her tight muscles to relax. She shouldn\'t be relieved to be here, she should be angry. Nicolas had