Carpathian 18 - Dark Possesion

had done, he trailed off.
    She sat up as he had done, drew up her knees, wishing she could don clothes as easily as he was doing now.
    "Sharing a dream bothers you? Why? Don't you think it can happen, especially as we're so connected?"
    "Carpathians do not dream." He pulled his hair back and secured it with a leather tie. "We sleep the sleep of the dead. Our hearts and lungs shut down to rejuvenate. Our brains do the same. We cannot dream."
    She wasn't certain what he was telling her, but her mouth went dry and her heart picked up a harder, faster rhythm. "You probably dreamt it as you awakened, or went to sleep."
    "How do you explain my tolerance to the sun? I have been unable to walk in the early morning light for

    centuries. Even with clouds and severe storms, the sun hurt my eyes, and my body grew leaden. Yet I stayed with you until almost noon. Explain that to me." His voice was low and harsh, whipping at her with some unspoken accusation. "I rose with the sun out, yet my skin did not burn or blister."
    "How can I explain such a thing? I know little of Carpathians and lifemates. Perhaps once you have your lifemate, that too is restored to you." She dragged her blouse to her and slid it on. "You ruined the buttons."
    Impatient, he waved his hand, and she found herself, not in her own clothes, but a cotton T-shirt and jeans.
    Jeans . Not the dress he'd asked her to wear for him, but the trousers he didn't like. She swallowed fear, trying not to cry as she began to braid the long, thick mane of hair, needing something to do to escape his cold gaze.
    They'd just shared something few, if any, would ever experience in a lifetime, and he was rejecting her, pushing her away. It felt like a slap in the face.
    "You were going to bite me," he said. "I saw it in your mind."
    She pushed back away from him until her back was against the railing. "Was I? I wanted to, yes. But then, I saw that you intended the same. You took my blood and wanted me to take yours. You wanted to bring me fully into your world, and you wouldn't have asked me. You were going to make the decision without my consent."
    "You are my lifemate. I do not need your consent." There was dark emotion flickering in his eyes. Little amber lights began to glitter through the pure black obsidian.
    Anger pulsed through her. "You know what? I don't need your consent to leave, and I'm going back to the house." She stood up, and her hands gripped the rail when he stood up, too. He towered over her, looking every inch a predator.
    "Actually, you do need my permission. And you will stay here and hear what I have to say. I want to know the truth, MaryAnn."
    She narrowed her gaze on him. "You wouldn't know the truth if it bit you in the butt."
    "You did bite me. And I took your blood on several occasions."
    She tilted her head at him. "Is that my fault? I didn't ask you to. In fact I didn't even know the first time you did it."
    "What are you?"
    "A very pissed-off woman."
    He stepped closer to her, so close she could feel the heat of his anger. "You are werewolf. And you are infecting me with your blood."
    Chapter Fifteen

    MaryAnn stared at him for several long seconds, and then she began to laugh. "You are totally crazy."
    Manolito didn't look in the least amused. If anything, his expression hardened even more. "I am not crazy. I smell the wolf in you, and if you are honest with yourself, you can smell it all over me."
    She shook her head, but the laughter faded. "This is insane. I know Carpathians are shapeshifters. I'm not.
    I've lived my entire life as a human being. My parents aren't werewolves. I doubt such a thing exists."
    "Why would you doubt it when you have seen jaguar-men and vampires? When you know the Carpathian people exist? Why should you have trouble believing in werewolves?"
    Perspiration beaded on his forehead. Carpathians sweated blood, she noted. He brushed at his temples.
    "Then where are they? And if they really exist, and I'm one of them, why didn't you recognize it sooner?"
    The sweating blood thing was eww, and she so wasn't becoming Carpathian. She'd much rather be a wolf!
    "Because I have not seen or heard of the lycans for centuries."
    She put her hands on her hips. "So let me get this straight. You were all in love with me and ready to turn me into a Carpathian when you thought I was human, but now it's different because I might be turning you into something else." She raised her chin another inch in challenge. "What you mean is, it's