I thank you for sending me word of Darius and Dara, Julian. I also feel your need, Julian. Desari is your lifemate. Attend to her.
There was great satisfaction evident in the healer’s voice even over the distance.
Have you need of me at this time? No, healer. I welcome the challenge your male kin provides.
And Julian did. The wonder and beauty of the world was within his grasp.
I will contact Mikhail and inform Savannah. We will come if you have need of us; otherwise, we will all meet at a later date. I have no need,
Julian assured the healer. He had faith in his own abilities. He didn’t want or need the healer’s interference or presence. Gregori doubtless knew the exact nature of the darkness crouching in Julian’s soul, a fact Julian had successfully kept even from his own twin. Gregori believed in his honor, but he also knew Julian was shadowed, and might decide such a one had no right to Desari, no right to her atal
Julian had no intention of giving up Desari. It would be impossible even if he were inclined to do so. They were tied together for all eternity. The ritual words had been spoken. Although they had not completed the entire cycle of the ritual, the ancient words themselves were binding, and Julian knew the consequences. They would be unable to be apart without intense grief, without dire physical discomfort. And the waves of Carpathian heat would eventually overcome them, demanding they unite.
It was a protection for the male’s sanity, for his soul, that he could bind his mate to him for all time regardless of her fears. Fears could be dealt with; the destruction of one’s soul was for all eternity. Desari believed she could control her destiny, that she had a choice, but Julian knew better. She belonged to him, was a part of him. Not even Darius could change that without destroying her. And if his own honor demanded he do the right thing, release her from one such as him, it was already too late. He had tied them together in the heat of their first meeting. It was done.
Julian sighed softly and held her close to him. “Your brother is Carpathian and blood kin to you. I would not wish harm to him. If it is necessary that we remain with him to ensure that he does not allow harm to come to himself, then that is what we will do.”
Desari knew Julian believed he was making a great concession for her, but he wasn’t doing her any favors. Darius would not accept him easily into their circle. Neither would Dayan or Barack. The males were difficult at best. For hundreds of years they had depended upon one another, interacted with one another. They would not willingly allow a stranger into their midst.
Chapter Five
Desari lifted her head from the warmth and temptation of Julian’s chest. Her enormous eyes were soft with sadness. “I know you do not understand, but I can do no other than return to my family right now. I refuse to continue being irresponsible, selfish, when my brother has given so much.”
She expected Julian to argue with her, and her hand, positioned over his heart, trembled. Julian’s golden eyes drifted possessively over her upturned face. His burning hunger, so intense, so blatant, took her breath away, stole her resolve. How could a man need her so much? How could he show that need to her without ego or fear that he would be totally vulnerable? How could she turn away from such an honest burning need? “Julian.” She whispered his name, an aching desire, feeling torn between two strong men, two loyalties, one she didn’t even understand.
“We have a few short hours until the dawn,
cara
. If you insist on returning to Darius, then we must do so.” His voice was a soft, mesmerizing spell, seductive and masculine. Just the sound of it threatened her precarious will. His words said one thing, while his blatant, sexy heat whispered something altogether different.
“Julian, you have to stop looking at me like that,” she cautioned him, something blocking her throat so that it felt impossible to breathe. She tried to pull her gaze away from the intensity of his. “I cannot think when you look at me like that.”
His hand moved over the silken mass of her hair, his fingers rubbing the strands against the pad of his thumb as if he couldn’t help himself. “Have you always been an entertainer?”
There was a note in his voice, a drawling caress of admiration and sorcery that set her heart beating fast. He disarmed her entirely with that lazy, Italianate drawl of his. His question also threw her off track. It felt like a seduction, though it was innocent enough. “Yes, I always sang. We traveled to different continents every twenty-five years or so. That way no one ever noticed we did not age.” His hand, the one that had been so innocently fingering strands of her hair, had somehow slipped to her shoulder. Those fingers were now rubbing heat right through the thin material of her top so that she felt as if his skin were connecting to hers. Her voice faltered as she lost her train of thought.
Julian bent closer as if to soothe her. “Please continue. This is extremely interesting. I searched centuries for lost Carpathians but had given up hope. How all of you accomplished what you did is extraordinary.” His fingertips moved to the neckline of her shirt absently tracing its delicate embroidered edge.
Desari swallowed as little flames licked at her skin, as her breasts reacted to the pad of his thumb sliding sensuously over the soft swell. She glanced up at him, determined to reprimand him, but he was looking intellectual and earnestly interested in whatever she had been telling him. Except for his eyes. His eyes were molten gold and burning with a liquid fire that seemed to consume her, to mesmerize her.
“I have no idea what I was saying,” she finally admitted, her voice so husky it was an invitation.
His body crowded closer to hers, not touching, simply so close his heat and masculine scent enfolded her, surrounded her, swamped her. It called to her as nothing else could have. “You were telling me about traveling around from place to place singing.” His voice was aching with need.
She heard it clearly, and her body responded on its own, dissolving into liquid heat. Desari cleared her throat. “We simply became our own ancestors if someone remembered us. It was seldom necessary, as we made certain we stayed away from areas for decades at a time. Dayan is a poet, a master with words, and no one is better on a guitar. Syndil, too, is a wonderful musician. She can play almost any instrument. Actually, Barack is the same way. He seems to really enjoy playing for our audiences.” She gave him the information, but her mind was on the fact that his fingers had slipped inside her neckline and were moving hypnotically back and forth as if he were memorizing the feel of her.
“Barack and Dayan.” Julian repeated the names softly. There was the smallest bite to his voice, his perfect teeth snapping together, reminiscent of a hungry wolf. “Those two act as if they have certain rights where you are concerned.” There was a cruel edge to the set of his mouth, a darkness in his golden eyes. “They do not. In lieu of your father, Darius is the only one you are answerable to until your lifemate claims you. I have done so.” He leaned forward as if drawn beyond his own will and touched her collarbone with his lips, the harshness in his face at once softening. The touch was feather-light, but it penetrated her skin and made straight for her heart, setting it pounding with some emotion she didn’t want to try to understand.
His mouth moved, a trail of fire running from her collarbone up to the pulse beating so frantically in her throat. Her soft mouth trembled, long lashes sweeping down to cover the luminescent glow in her dark eyes. She should stop him. For her own sanity, she should stop him. But his mouth was moving slowly, gently, a heated exploration not at all aggressive.
Desari tried desperately to marshal her thoughts. “You have claimed me?”
His fingers tangled with hers. He brought her hand to press against the muscles of his chest, his thumb feathering with false innocence over her pulse. He felt it jump as his lips drifted lower, pushed the limits of the neckline of her shirt, where the creamy invitation of her breasts swelled in anticipation. “I have. You are bound to me.” He whispered the words into the valley between her breasts, and her entire body clenched with such need that Desari felt weak.