Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

tomorrow you will eat properly.”

    She smiled at him, too tired to point out that he sounded like he was giving orders. And maybe he was. But right now, she desperately needed to go to sleep. She didn’t even care that he opened the ground and floated them down into it, holding her close.

    13

    My dream lover and lifemate,
    You know every part of me.
    We’re bound forever, soul to soul.
    You hold the very heart of me.

    DOMINIC TO SOLANGE

    D ominic lay without breath one moment, and then the next his heart began a strong rhythm, air pushed through his lungs and his eyes snapped open. Fully alert, he dropped his fingers into the soft thick fur covering him. Sometime during the day Solange had shifted to her jaguar form. Something had disturbed her enough that she felt she might need her animal form to protect them while he slept.

    Minan , are you awake? He poured love into his voice. The sun had not yet set, but it was close. His body felt the prickle of awareness that told him the night sky had not yet descended to keep his skin protected.

    Do you hear them? Is that what woke you? They have been working around the cave entrance for some time, but your safeguards are holding. Brodrick is not with them.

    The female jaguar lifted her muzzle and stretched languidly, as only a cat could do, but she unsheathed her claws, testing them as well. The ropes of sleek muscles rippled beneath her luxurious pelt of rich tawny color and dark rosettes.

    There is no need for you to rise yet, she added. I can lead them away if they get too close. I’ve been thinking the situation over and I know where I’ll take them.

    That was his woman. Calm. Matter-of-fact when it came to facing death. She could handle a fearsome battle with such ease, and yet when she faced him as a woman, she was shy and vulnerable. The contrast between her two sides was one of the many things he found intriguing about her. She was his woman alone.
    No other man would ever see her body, sexy and soft and flushed with color, so aroused, just for him alone.
    She would never get that confused, dazed look in her eyes for anyone else. The Solange the world saw was only one side of her; he had both, and that pleased him immensely.

    “I was hoping to wake you with a kiss this morning.” His amusement spilled over into his voice.

    The jaguar turned her head toward him, mischief in her brilliant green eyes. Her long tongue came out and rasped over his face. He burst out laughing. The jaguar grinned at him, very pleased with her work.
    Dominic shoved her off him, using his enormous strength, tumbling the cat off of his body and into the rich soil, and then he dove on top of her.

    Solange twisted out of his way so that he landed in a crouch a foot from her. She kept rolling, came to her feet and sprang at him. He dissolved into vapor.

    That is so cheating, she accused, her cat’s eyes watching the vapor stream out of the deep pit up to the cavern floor. He knew she didn’t mind. She had her own skills. She could leap a good twenty feet and run up to thirty miles an hour. She had a flexible spine and radar that said he was . . . His soft laughter taunted her. She was looking in the wrong spot.

    She leapt to the surface after him, looking around for him. She could smell him but not see him. She looked up. Dominic dropped from the ceiling and landed astride her back, wrapping his legs around her belly and his arms tightly around her neck. She rolled instantly, over and over, felt his hold loosen. Using her enormous strength, she sprang a good ten feet straight into the air, came down with her head toward the ground and threw him over her muzzle. He landed on his back, and before he could dissolve again, she pounced on his chest.

    Laughing, he literally lifted her, tossing her through the air, somersaulting and coming up onto his feet. She was fast and strong and he could feel joy bursting through him at their rough-and-tumble play. He had all but forgotten playing.

    Solange twisted in midair, landed across the room and charged, standing up on her hind legs at the last moment as they came together, her large front paws on his broad shoulders, his hands on hers. They danced in a circle, each exerting force on the other, trying to push the other over. Dominic suddenly went in close, belly to belly, wrapping his arms around her, aching for her unexpectedly.

    Shift. I want to feel you shifting into my arms. He knew there was seduction in his voice. His body