Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

away from her tentative exploration, nor did he hurry her decision to get into that pit of dark, rich soil with him. He stood beneath her fingers and let her commit his face to memory.

    “You want me to sleep beside you?”

    “I do not want you even inches from me, minan . I need you this day.”

    She swallowed every fear and lifted her chin. “How will you know I’m there?” She was going to give him this small thing. What did it matter? It was all he would allow her to give him. She couldn’t touch his body, couldn’t relieve that fierce arousal. He gave and gave, and she . . .

    “I receive pleasure from giving you pleasure, Solange. And you are always gracious enough to share each moment with me, even though allowing me into your mind is terrifying to you. I will know you are with me.”

    “I don’t understand why you won’t let me . . .” She couldn’t articulate what she wanted so she simply dropped her hand around his thick, rock-hard erection.

    The breath hissed out of him. “It is not safe.” Very gently he removed her fingers and pulled her palm to his heart. “It is enough that I share your pleasure.”

    She doubted that, but she was too unsure of herself at the moment to pursue it. She would have to think about his statement for a while. The vampire blood? He might lose control and convert her? She knew, from talking to Juliette, that the drive was fierce and unrelenting in the male to bind his lifemate to him, yet Dominic had shown no signs of needing to bind her to him, or wanting to convert her. What did that mean?
    If she took him at his word that she was everything he wanted, then there was another reason.

    He swept his arm around her waist and took them over the edge of the deep pit. Just before her feet settled into the soil, a small, thin comforter covered one side of the dirt floor. Her bare feet landed on the material.
    He sank into the soil and let out a sigh.

    “Juliette tried to describe to me what it was like to be rejuvenated by the earth, but I couldn’t get the concept.”

    “You would like me to share the experience with you, kessake ?” He settled into the cradle of dark, rich loam and held out his hand to her.

    She took his hand and allowed him to pull her down to his side. She settled against him, curling like the cat she was, one hand flung boldly across his chest. “Yes.” She wanted every experience with him that she could have.

    No one would probably ever know about Dominic, her dream lover. He was hers alone, and maybe it was the way it was supposed to be. She’d done a lot of terrible things in her life, committed a lot of sins. In the rain forest, she told herself it was kill or be killed, but the truth was, she was the one who determined who lived and who died. If she had two jaguar-men in her sights, she tried for both of them, but the first was always the one she considered the most dangerous and violent. These stolen moments of happiness with Dominic made up for a lifetime without.

    He brushed a kiss on top of her head and then waved his hand. Another quilt settled over her. “While I sleep, should you wake, I do not want you cold.”

    She touched the exquisite quilt with the symbols woven into it. The material was soft, dark greens, like her forest, with animals embroidered into squares beside the symbols. She found herself tracing each one with a light finger. “This is beautiful.”

    “Gabriel’s woman makes them for us. She weaves in whatever is needed. I wanted one to comfort you and bring you peace of mind. I will appear dead, Solange, with no breath or heartbeat. You cannot panic.”

    She smiled at the command in his voice. “I don’t easily panic. Well, not as a rule. You definitely shocked me.”

    “By being real?”

    “Yes.”

    He laughed softly. “You shocked me as well. We have bad timing, päläfertiil . Maybe the worst timing of any couple in history.”

    She turned his words over in his mind. “I needed time to grow, Dominic. There was so much anger in me, so much hatred for the men who slaughtered my family, who have been systematically committing genocide on our own people because they believe the bloodlines need to be pure. I hated for so long and I couldn’t distinguish between those men who have destroyed our species and other men. It wasn’t until Juliette met her lifemate, and I saw the honor in him, that I came to terms with my rage.”

    He brushed the hair from her face with gentle fingers. She