There was too much pain in the depths of her eyes. “I thought I would just hold you for a while. I am not certain I will ever get the chance again. For once in your life you are being cooperative.”
A small smile lifted her mouth. “Is that what I’m doing?” She winced as she shifted to get a better look at him. “I bet I look great.”
His eyebrow shot up. “You look beautiful.”
“I knew you’d say that. You’re such a liar. Please go feed, I don’t want to have to fight any more vampires tonight, and you’re not in any shape to kick butt.”
“You could not fight your way out of a paper bag,” he pointed out.
“Hey! I destroyed my vampire,” she said softly, her hand going to her raw throat as if it hurt her to speak. “What did you manage to do?”
“I bagged two of them. Vikirnoff took out his, although he should not have done so.” Nicolae spared a quick glare for his brother.
“Do you have to do that? Is it a man thing or something? I’ll admit I don’t know much about men, but it’s so annoying.”
Nicolae leaned closer, took her hand away from her throat because he couldn’t bear to see her fingers fluttering helplessly there. She looked so vulnerable with her pale face and her torn body. “Have to do what?”
“One-upmanship. I kill one, you have to kill two. The big bad hunter flexing his muscles. It’s annoying.”
“You are not going to whine simply because I have superior hunting skills, are you?” He rubbed her knuckles along his jaw, wanting the contact. Needing to show her what he felt too deeply to say. “It did not occur to me you would whine.”
“It’s hardly whining to point out how annoying you are. And you aren’t superior, just luckier.” Her voice was husky, sounding far away, but she was grateful she could talk.
“I hesitate to mention I am not the one in need of healing.”
“You don’t seem all that hesitant to me. You pointed it out just fine. I’m sure your brother heard you.” Her impossibly long lashes drifted down to cover her uniquely colored eyes. She turned her face toward him so that her lips brushed the back of his hand where he was holding hers. “Did you know that there are laws against stalkers?”
He felt the jolt of her soft mouth through his entire body. It was an accidental brushing, nothing more, not even a real caress, but his heart did a somersault anyway. “I know you are not about to accuse me of stalking you. You came after me. I merely followed wherever you led.” He sounded reasonable. His fingertip traced her sculpted mouth, her full lower lip, sending a shiver through her body. Through his.
You have the most fascinating mouth I have ever seen. What’s so fascinating? It’s a mouth just like any other. I think it is your pouty lower lip. Now I know you’re crazy. I never pout and neither does my lip.
“I beg to differ.” The sheer pleasure blossoming inside him spilled over into his voice. She was alive, his courageous Destiny!
She opened her eyes again to look directly at him. “So what do we do now, Nicolae? I did my best to protect you, but you just don’t mind very well.”
He brought her knuckles to his mouth, his teeth scraping back and forth, gently, insistently, over her skin. “Is that where I went wrong? I should have been obeying?”
“At least listening.” Her fingers touched the shadow along his jaw, a weak, trembling movement that conveyed more to him than her words ever could. “I want you safe, Nicolae. It’s important to me.”
“I am safe, Destiny,” he assured her. The lump in his throat was threatening to choke him. “As long as I have you, as long as we are together, I will be safe.”
Vikirnoff cleared his throat, drawing her attention to him. He was looking at his brother. “You are not bound together, Nicolae. You will never be safe if you do not bind her to you in the way of our people.”
Swift impatience crossed Nicolae’s dark, sensual features. Before he could react, Destiny laid her hand across his mouth and looked up at his brother. “Those words always beating around in his head—the ‘you are my lifemate’ words.” Secretly she thought the ritual words as beautiful as they were terrifying. “How would simple words bind us together or make Nicolae safe?”
His strong teeth nipped at her palm so that she yelped and glared at him. “You are not to think about that, Destiny. We have plenty of time.”
“I don’t believe I was speaking to you,” she responded huffily. “There’s no talking to you when you’re in your ridiculous alpha male he-man mode. Sheesh! All you think about is protecting the little woman. I’m talking to your brother right now.” She attempted to lift her chin but it hurt too much, so she suppressed a squeak of pain and had to be content to challenge him with her eyes.
Nicolae’s heart melted beyond repair. She was so brave, so filled with courage. She lay in his arms, beaten, torn apart, her flesh shredded. Pain coursed through her veins and the taint of the vampire stood between them, yet she met Vikirnoff’s gaze without flinching. It mattered to her that Nicolae was safe. He read the determination in her mind, her complete resolve, even as he read her fear of what Vikirnoff might say.
“He must bind you to him so that you will act as his anchor. Once the words are said and the ritual is complete, he cannot turn vampire. Unless you die. You will provide the light to his darkness.”
Destiny stared at Vikirnoff for several heartbeats. A singe sound escaped her. Muffled. Strangled. Somewhere between humorless laughter, hysteria and tears. “Are you crazy?
I’m
supposed to be the light to
his
darkness? Do you have any idea what you’re saying? Nicolae is
my
light. My only light.”
“Destiny.” Vikirnoff’s voice never changed. It was soft. Calm. Reasonable. “You have dedicated your entire existence to the protection of others. You think first of Nicolae even as you lie broken. Those are not the acts of someone who lives in darkness.”
“Nicolae lives for the protection of others.”
“He was bred to do so. It is his right and his honor. It is his way of life. It was not so with you.”
“You can’t see what’s inside me.” She turned her face away from him, only to find Nicolae. Always Nicolae. He was there in her mind. There in her heart. He held her safely in his arms.
“Nicolae sees what is inside you. Nicolae is no easy man to be twisted around a woman’s finger. He is an ancient hunter of the undead. A dangerous predator who is capable of destroying more than you could ever comprehend. You could never fool him. Never, Destiny. You are exactly as he sees you. His light.”
“Have you forgotten that you had to warn us I was tainted?”
“Your blood is not who or what you are. It merely runs in your veins. If a human has cancer growing in his body, does that make him a tainted being? Do not allow this vampire to run your life any longer. He does not own you. He is long gone from this world. Let him stay dead.”
Destiny let her breath out slowly. Her gaze met Nicolae’s, and she felt instantly lost. He had to stop looking at her like that. He just had to. Before she could stop herself, her fingertips were rubbing away his frown. She could bear pain better than she could bear his frown.
“You know he is right,” Nicolae said gently.
She rolled her eyes. “You just had to point it out, didn’t you? Couldn’t stay quiet. Totally annoying.” If she didn’t joke she would cry, and that would be too humiliating to be borne. This man had already seen her at her worst. She didn’t need to have tears running down her face and her nose all red.
For the first time, something made sense. Vikirnoff actually had given her something to hold on to. Her blood didn’t dictate who she was. Or what she was.
She looked across the cave at Nicolae’s brother. “Thank you for what you did, Vikirnoff, battling the vampires with us. I know it is hard for you to kill. Had you not been with us, they would have destroyed many people. You look a bit on the pale side, too. Did you give me blood?”