Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

voice.

    Solange felt the tears gathering behind her eyes. Of course she’d screwed things up. It was all too good to be true. Or maybe she just couldn’t handle being happy after so many years of rage and sorrow.

    His hand moved to the nape of her neck, and suddenly his fingers were doing a soothing massage.
    “Breathe, Solange. Just take a breath.”

    Her lungs were burning for air and she hadn’t even realized it. Real shame, an emotion she hadn’t known until then, was more bitter than rage. Dominic had put himself on the line. She hadn’t really given him a chance, not in her heart. Her mind had tried, and her body certainly wanted him, but there was so much fear of having her heart torn out that she hadn’t really committed to him. She was ready to run at the first sign of danger with him.

    “Don’t you see? I can’t do this,” she said. “I’m going to keep hurting you. I’ve never even lived in a house with people. We lived in camps and learned to defend ourselves. I haven’t had a home since I was eight years old.” She didn’t know if she was pleading for understanding or pleading with him to let her go.

    His fingers continued that slow, seductive massage. “Then perhaps it is time you had a home, Solange. I want to be your home. Give me your trust. I know we can do this.”

    “We’d need a miracle,” Solange said, shaking her head. “I want to do this, Dominic, I really do, but I just don’t think I’m capable. I look into your eyes and a part of me knows I’ll be safe if I give myself to you, but I’m holding on to safety so tightly that I don’t think I can let go and fall. You’re like this amazing, larger-than-life hero who has swept into my personal nightmare, and I’ve just never believed in heroes.”

    He brushed at the tears in her eyes with his fingers, caught them in his hand and applied pressure. She drew in her breath when he opened his hands. Sparkling gems of red and green strung together with links of gold lay in the palm of his hand. “Green for your eyes and red for your temper, both of which I am very partial to.”

    Solange would have backed away from him if he hadn’t held her in place. “You have too much power for anyone, Dominic.” She couldn’t keep the tremors out of her voice.

    “You said we needed a miracle.” He nudged her hand until she opened it. He dropped the bracelet into her palm. “We have a miracle, Solange. You and I together can be a miracle. What are the odds after so many centuries of being alone that I would find you here in this place where I came for my final battle?”

    Her fingers closed around the gems and she held them to her. “I want to be the woman you need, Dominic, but I’m too afraid of losing myself.”

    “How would you do that?”

    “You asked me what I do when I can’t win a battle. How could I ever win with you? You’re too strong. Not just physical strength; I might be able to fight that. It’s not even your gifts. It’s the power in you. The absolute power I feel radiating from you.”

    He smiled at her and brushed back the fall of soft waves around her face. “That power belongs to you, Solange. It is there for your protection. For your happiness. For your use. It belongs to you. You have not figured it out yet, but you are both intelligent and a fighter. Do not fight me. Fight for us. Fight for me.
    Without you, I cannot survive. Can you do that?” He leaned down and brushed a soft kiss across her lips.
    “You are a strong woman, Solange. Will you save me? You are the only one who can.”

    Her heart contracted. “You don’t need me, Dominic. You’re so—so absolute. You could have any woman you wanted. This has to be some bizarre mistake.”

    He shook his head. “In many ways Carpathians look to be a superior species, and it is true we have many gifts, but in truth, like every species, we have weaknesses. Jaguars and humans can mate with anyone, and they often mistake physical attraction for a lasting relationship. For Carpathians there is only one. You are the other half of me. There is no getting it wrong, Solange. You were meant for me. If you choose not to commit to me, I will be lost.”

    Solange blinked back tears and opened her hand to look down at the bracelet, at the fiery red gems nestled in her palm. “I have a really, really bad temper,” she warned. “And a very mean mouth.”

    Very gently he took the bracelet from her hand and fastened it around her wrist. He