Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

problem.

    “You seem to be having problems censoring what you are thinking.” There was amusement in his voice. He didn’t wait for her reply, but led the way out into the yard.

    Cesaro sat in a chair on the front verandah. He looked tired and worn, but he managed a small smile. “I will send my wife in to Marguarita. She’ll stay with her until the doctor gets here. The doctor is my brother, so have no fear, there will be no one speaking of this terrible night. And thank you for killing that monster.”

    Dominic gave a small, formal bow and continued striding away from the ranch into the trees. Solange lifted her hand, and without speaking, followed Dominic until the forest swallowed them completely. They walked in silence for a few minutes, Solange staying a few steps behind and to his left, giving him plenty of room to maneuver should they run into an enemy.

    “How far are we walking?” she asked.

He stopped and turned, his gaze thoughtful as it drifted over her. “It is a distance to our lair,” he acknowledged. And waited.

    Her breath hissed out between her teeth. Instinctively she knew what he wanted from her, and that stubborn part of her just didn’t want to go there. She was not going to ask to be carried. What was she? A child? She could walk. She could walk all night if she had to. Maybe she’d just shift into her cat and make it easier . . .

    “No.” His eyes stayed locked with hers, refusing to allow her to look away.

    She bit her lip hard. “What do you want?”

    “I think you should answer that question.”

    “You don’t understand. Really. You don’t.” Frustrated, Solange shoved her fingers through her hair, making more of a mess out of the thick mass than it had already been. “You think you know me, but you don’t. If I open my mouth I’m going to ruin all this.”

    A slow, sexy smile softened the hard edge to his mouth and set the butterflies free in her stomach. “I doubt that very much, Solange. You are my lifemate. It does not work that way at all. You cannot ruin it, nor can I. We will find our way with each other. You just have not chosen to commit to our relationship yet.”

    She shook her head. “I have. I told you about my blood, that it could get rid of the parasites. I didn’t go after Brodrick while you were gone. That’s commitment.”

    “Then why do you find it so difficult to ask such a simple thing from me as to transport us back to our lair?”

    When he put it like that, it did sound silly. But she wasn’t in the habit of asking favors. She was more honest with herself than that. Okay. It wasn’t about favors. She didn’t want to show weakness. Or ask him for anything. She hated that he was right. It was about trust, but how did one become different? She wanted to be different. She just couldn’t get past that terrible wall she’d built around herself in order to survive.

    “I don’t know how to do this, Dominic.” There was despair in her voice. “I can’t talk to you.” She was beginning to have the urge to run—and she’d never run from anything in her life.

    “You had no trouble talking to me in our dreams.”

    He was relentless. And calm. She had the urge to smack him. This wasn’t about a dream. “You weren’t real then. I could tell you anything and there weren’t . . .” She trailed off trying to find the right word.
    “Repercussions. You have to know it’s different. Doesn’t it feel different to you?” She couldn’t get the pleading tone out of her voice. She wanted him to understand.

    “Completely different,” he agreed. “Better. I feel emotions I have not felt in hundreds of years. I know what love is. I know what it is to be jealous and to be happy. I can look at my woman and feel the demands of my body. I welcome even the possibility of heartache. I know what it is to not feel, Solange, and I will take emotion and the risks that come with that ability.”

    She lifted her chin. She knew her eyes had gone cat, but she couldn’t help the stir of anger at the implied reprimand. “I’ve felt too much all my life, Dominic. Sorrow. Heartache. Rage. Whether you want to admit it or not, it’s a risk.”

    He held his arms out to his sides, his gaze steady. “Then you have to decide for yourself whether I am worth the risk.”

    Her breath came out in a long hiss. “You’re backing me into a corner. I’m a fighter. I don’t like being cornered.”

    Those brilliant eyes never left her face. He