Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

smell her fear, then what was the use of denying it? \"You bound our lives together without consent. That tells me you take what you want and really could care less about what I want or how I feel.\"
    \"Is that what it tells you?\"
    She couldn\'t help the small glance she shot at the passage leading to freedom. It was only a few precious feet away, but it might as well have been miles. \"You don\'t have to sound so patronizing. Do you really think things are the same way back when you were born? What is it now, five hundred years?\"
    He bared his white teeth in what could have passed for a smile, but was more of a warning. \"You are a few centuries off, but I get the point. We have the right to claim our life mates. If you do not fight the inevitable the transition will be a lot easier and smoother.\"
    Her eyebrows shot up. \"Really? For who? I must have some rights in this situation. Surely I can talk to someone who can advise me. The prince, maybe.\"
    The tension in the cavern went up a notch. He didn\'t change expression, but tiny red lights flickered in the depths of his eyes. \"If you want to know something, you have only to ask me. Lifemates do not deceive one Page 68

    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    another.\"
    \"You said you wouldn\'t make me a prisoner, yet you have. You gave me the way out, but then you refused to allow me to take it.\"
    He stirred, going from stillness to muscles rippling beneath his thin shirt, as if a great cat stretched and unsheathed his claws. The air left her lungs in a little rush and she actually stepped back, although he had remained stationary.
    \"The sun will burn your skin. You cannot expect me to allow you to hurt yourself simply because of an unfounded fear. That goes against my entire nature.\"
    \"I don\'t think you understand something as fundamental as freedom, Nicolas,\" Lara said. \"You\'re big and strong and have enormous power. When have you ever had anyone telling you what to do? I can\'t imagine many people in your lifetime have dictated to you.\"
    \"It is not the same thing.\" He gave a small sigh. \"I have never had to do this before, and it is something I do not enjoy.\"
    \"The \'it\' being someone disagreeing with you?\"
    \"Arguing for no good reason. I cannot permit you to burn for the sake of defiance. What kind of a life mate would that make me? Would you truly prefer someone who cared nothing for your health and safety?\"
    \"You say life mates don\'t lie to one another. Can you truly say you refused to let me leave because you were worried about my skin burning, or was the reason really because I dared to defy your orders?\"
    He moved then, a fluid glide that sent a shiver of fear skittering down her spine. He looked like a caged jungle beast, fierce and impatient and all too dangerous. \"I refuse to answer such a question. I left my mind open to you, allowing you to see everything, including my motivation. There is nothing more to say on the subject.\"
    She drew in a deep breath, feeling his anger smoldering beneath the surface, but she couldn\'t quite bring herself to apologize, not even to soothe him and keep him thinking she was accepting her fate with grace.
    Nicolas broke the silence first. \"You have not eaten.\"
    \"I\'m not really very hungry. It\'s been a long night.\" She winced as soon as the words were out of her mouth.
    She didn\'t want him to suggest they go to bed.
    \"I know you need blood, Lara, there is too much Dragonseeker running in your veins for you to survive without it. If you have problems with the idea of taking blood from a human, what do you do? Animal blood has never sufficed.\"
    Lara shrugged. \"Blood banks. I don\'t have to control people as if they were puppets.\" She sent him a telling look and then paced around the chamber to put a little distance between them.
    He seemed to be everywhere, his presence dwarfing everything else. When he stopped moving, he went absolutely still. She could see the hunter in him. Patient. Motionless. Waiting. And he could wait forever.
    Panic rose and she crushed it down. No, he only seemed invincible, just as Razvan and Xavier had seemed all-powerful when she was a child. She had escaped them when she thought it impossible, and she could escape this man as well. She just had to keep thinking.
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    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    Nicolas folded his arms across his chest. \"Without blood we die. Is it not better to take what we need without scaring the person and then leave him without