She didn’t look at either of them as she firmly closed the door to her dressing room. Sinking into a chair, she slipped off her sandals. She could feel him. Somewhere close. Desari rinsed off her stage makeup and waited, her heart beating, her lungs barely breathing. She knew he was near. Darius must know it, too.
A fine mist streamed under the door, collecting in a spiral close to her. She held her breath. Instantly the handsome, ruthless stranger shimmered into a solid mass beside her. Her heart slammed. Up close he was frightening. Enormously strong. His finely chiseled features were sensual, hard. His countless victories in battle over the centuries were in the set of his broad shoulders, in the grim composure of his face. He was strikingly handsome yet immeasurably intimidating at the same time.
Desari’s tongue touched her suddenly dry lips. “You should not be here. It is too dangerous.”
His body clenched at the sound of her voice. It was so soft, it seemed to seep through his skin to wrap around his heart. “I could do nothing other than see you tonight. I think you know that.”
“Darius would destroy you if he found you here.” She believed it, and her fear showed in her soft, charcoal eyes.
His hard mouth softened, his golden eyes warming at her needless concern. “I am not so easily destroyed. Do not worry,
piccola,
I have made a promise to you this night, and I fully intend to honor it.” His voice dropped another octave, his eyes consuming her as he spoke. “Come with me.”
She felt her heart jump again. Every cell in her body cried out to go. His gaze was a smoldering heat she could not resist. There was so much hunger in him, such dark intensity, burning for her. The devil tempting her. Resolutely she shook her head. “Darius would—”
Julian stopped her words by simply enveloping her smaller hand with his. His touch sent darts of fire racing up her arm and through her torso, taking the very breath from her lungs. “I grow weary of hearing of this Darius. You should be more concerned with what I will do if he attempts to stop me from taking you with me.”
Temper flared in her eyes. “No one can take me anywhere I do not wish to go. You have as much arrogance in you as my brother does. I happen to know he has earned the right to it. Have you?”
A small, satisfied smile curved his mouth. “So this Darius is your brother. I find that something of a relief. As you hold him in some esteem, I did not want to have to destroy your illusions of his greatness.”
She glared at him, furious, until she caught the glint of humor in his golden eyes. He was teasing her. Desari found herself laughing with him.
“Come with me tonight,” he said. “We will go for a walk. Dance somewhere. It does not matter,
cara,
and we will be hurting no one.” His voice was black velvet. A sorcerer’s whisper of temptation. “Is this so much to ask of you? He does not allow you to choose your own friends? Do as you wish?”
Julian had looked into her mind, seen her need for independence, her constant chafing at the restraints put on her. Still, no self-respecting Carpathian male would ever allow a woman to wander around unprotected. He did not blame Darius; it was his duty to protect Desari. In his place, he would do the same. There were many unanswered questions to ask Desari, but right now, the only thing that mattered to him was her answer to the one he had posed.
She was silent, long lashes concealing her warring emotions. More than anything she wanted to go with him, have just one night of freedom to do as she liked. But she knew Darius. He would never allow such a thing. There was nowhere they could go that he would not find them. And that only served to make her want to go all the more. Her mysterious stranger had struck a nerve. She hated being constantly told what to do or not do. She wanted this one night just for herself.
Desari looked up at him. “I do not even know your name.”
He bowed with Old World elegance. “I am Julian Savage. Perhaps you have met or heard of my brother, Aidan Savage. He and his lifemate reside in San Francisco.” His white teeth gleamed. His golden eyes burned her.
Something in that intense, possessive, hungry gaze made her knees go weak. Desari pressed backward until she was against a solid wall to help hold her up. “Savage. Somehow it suits you.”
He acknowledged her words as if they were a great compliment, bowing once more at the waist in his courtly manner. “Only to my enemies,
piccola,
never to those under my protection.”
“Is that supposed to put me at ease?” she asked.
“You have nothing to fear from me, Desari.”
His hand brushed her face in the lightest of caresses; she felt a jolt of electricity right down to her toes. He was too intense, too hungry for her, his eyes burning with need. Desari lowered her lashes, trying to shut him out, trying to prevent him from trapping her with his power and need. This was so dangerous. Could she risk his life? Risk Darius for a momentary pleasure? Could she possibly be that selfish?
“I scare you to death.” He said it with certainty, his voice soft and hypnotic, beautiful and soothing. “More than your fear for your brother or for me, you fear what will happen if you part from me.”
She took a deep breath, found her hands were trembling, and put them behind her back. “Perhaps you are right. Why risk so much for so short a time?”
His hand framed one side of her face, his thumb feathering over her soft skin, absorbing the perfection of it before finding a resting place over the frantically beating pulse in her neck.
Desari’s heart nearly stopped. Her words came out strangled. “You cannot touch me like this.”
His thumb moved back and forth in a hypnotic rhythm over her pulse. “I can do no other than touch you, Desari. I am, after all, a Carpathian male. You cannot see yourself, in that dress you wear, with your hair tumbling around you. You are so beautiful, it hurts to look at you.”
“Julian, please do not say such things to me,” she whispered into his palm. “It is only the truth,
cara,
nothing for you to fear. Come with me.”
His voice was such temptation. She had never wanted anything more in her life. The pull between them was electric. She swore she could hear it sizzle and arc. She stood there in silence, his hand against her skin sending waves of heat rushing through her blood. In all her centuries she had never experienced such a thing.
“Desari, you know it is right. You feel it. I promise to return you to your family safe and sound this rising.” Julian was aware of the men gathering outside her door. Three of them. One was her formidable brother, the other two members of the band. “We do not have much time,
piccola.
The others are about to break through the door.” He waved a hand in a peculiar pattern, then held his palm out toward the door.
“I cannot.”
“Then I must stay here and convince you,” he said unhurriedly, calmly. As if his death weren’t imminent at the hands of her protective family.
She clutched his arm. “You must go before this thing escalates into violence. Please, Julian.”
He could hear her heart beating wildly. He bent his head to hers, his mouth curving into a genuine smile. “Come to me. Promise you will meet me at the small tavern three blocks from here.”
There was a loud popping sound from the other side of the door, and someone—it sounded like Barack—swore aloud. They could both hear Darius reprimand him softly, “I told you not to touch the door. Have some respect.” His voice was low and hypnotic. “Desari?” He didn’t raise his voice but rather dropped it to a whisper. “Open the door for us.”
“Go out the window,” Desari insisted, pushing at the wall of Julian’s chest. It was a mistake to touch him; he instantly responded by covering her hand with his, trapping her palm against his heavy muscles.