She made a small sound, shook her head and looked up. “This is your answer? This is what you thought you’d do to show me you care? Are you crazy or just stupid?”
“I thought about it a long time. There is no other way. You do not see anything but the difference in your blood.”
She swept the cloud of hair from her face and glared at him. “It’s no small thing, Nicolae. It isn’t as if we’re talking about my family tree here. We’re talking about tainted blood. Don’t you get it? It calls the undead to me. You cannot ever creep up on them and surprise them. Not ever again. They will always know when you are in the vicinity. You’re a hunter, and you just lost your edge and put yourself in terrible danger.” She rubbed her hands over her face again. “Oh, Nicolae, how could you do something so ridiculous?” There was despair in her voice.
“Destiny.” His voice whispered over- her skin. “Look at me, little one. I have only bound us together more tightly. Our blood bond will not harm me. I am strong, able to fight any darkness. I have you as an anchor to hold me.”
“You were
my
anchor,” she cried, looking up at him. It was a mistake. She was instantly caught and held in the dark depths of his eyes. He was looking at her with such love, she couldn’t look away from him. She couldn’t condemn him.
“
I
needed
to know I could keep you safe.”
He smiled at her, reached down to lace his fingers through hers. He brought her hand to the warmth of his mouth, brushing kisses along her knuckles. “I am safe. The moment I heard you cry out all those years ago, I was safe.”
“You don’t understand. I wanted to know we could be together and I wouldn’t be the one to harm you. I wanted the vampire far away from you.” There was a terrible sadness in her voice.
Nicolae shifted closer to her, his bare thigh settling next to hers. “You must hear me in this. He was never far away from me. Never. I was there with you from the moment you first merged with me. I felt the pain and the humiliation of what he did to you. I
chose
to share all of it with you, so I would know firsthand what it was like to be so helpless and vulnerable to a powerful and evil being. All the while, I was ashamed I could not find you and protect you as I should have been able to do. That vampire walked in my thoughts and in my body and ate away at my soul. Every time he put his filthy hands on you, he tore out my heart. He was never far from me.”
Destiny hung her head, shamed. “I couldn’t let you go. I knew I should, I knew I should never have connected in the first place, but your voice saved me. Even as a child I knew I should let you go. I needed you desperately.”
“As I needed you. You do not seem to be able to comprehend that I needed you just as desperately. The beast was strong in me. I had come to the end of my days. You gave my life purpose and meaning. And you brought love into my world. I now see colors where there was only barren gray. I feel emotions, where my life was endless monotony. Your need was no greater than mine.”
“I still feel ashamed that I brought him into your life.”
She had led a monster to her parents. And now she had allowed him to find Nicolae.
Nicolae tugged at her hand until she lifted her head. He brought their clasped hands to his heart. “I have seen this tragedy so often over the centuries. The things we think of as our sins as a child cannot be released even as adults. It is sad we cannot let go, because those things color our lives. Think of that poor little boy who will always believe he was responsible for his mother’s death simply because he didn’t do the dishes. He will never feel worthy of love.”
Destiny leaned into the wall of flowers. She knew very well what he was saying to her. “Where are the thorns?”
“Thorns? What are you talking about?”
“On the roses. Where are the thorns?”
Nicolae looked puzzled as he nibbled on her fingers. “I would never leave thorns on the plants. You might be injured.”
Destiny burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. “Nicolae, do you have any idea how absolutely silly that is? We hunt vampires. We have tainted blood flowing in our veins. I don’t think getting scratched by a thorn is going to harm me.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I do not like your hunting vampires, and I hope to rid you of the tainted blood. It is unnecessary to risk your getting scratched by a thorn if I can prevent it.” He sounded perfectly reasonable.
Destiny groaned, trying not to notice the way her heart was melting at his words. Trying not to notice the brush of butterfly wings fluttering in her stomach at the touch of his lips against her skin. “You’re going to be one of those overprotective idiots who are always tripping over their own feet trying to rescue the fainting little woman, aren’t you?”
He winced visibly. “I do not much care for the image you are conjuring up. I would put it in a much better way. I do feel it is my duty and right to protect you.”
She rolled her eyes and heaved an exaggerated sigh. “You are one of those he-man kind of rescuers. Something in
your
childhood maybe. Perhaps we need to explore your psyche a bit.”
His eyebrows shot up. “I do not think it is necessary. Protecting one’s lifemate is as necessary as breathing.”
“Really?” Destiny stood up, pulled him up beside her. “Next time you decide to make a decision like taking tainted blood, you might want to consult me first. I might hit you over the head if you pull something like that again.”
He found himself grinning down at her exasperated expression. “You have problems with authority.”
She tossed her head, her eyes sparkling with mischief. Waves of dark hair spilled around her face and down her shoulders. “Fortunately, I don’t acknowledge anyone as an authority, so there’s no problem whatsoever.” She clothed herself in the manner of the Carpathian people. She did so smoothly, naturally, without hesitation. She had been six years old when she’d been taken from her family. She knew more of the Carpathian way than the human way. “If the Prince doesn’t like me all that much, well”—she shrugged—”it’s perfectly fine with me.”
He caught her chin, lifted her gaze to his. “You need to perfect the art of lying if you are going to be telling such tales.”
She shrugged, unrepentant. “I’m going to have to figure out what to do with you, Nicolae. I hadn’t planned to let you in my life, and you’ve turned everything upside down. What exactly are we supposed to do? It isn’t as if we can have any kind of a normal life. We certainly can’t have those children you seemed to want.”
“Why not?”
Her eyes glittered with sudden fire. “Your blood, thanks to your being so stubborn and impetuous, is
tainted.
Or had you forgotten?” There was still a trace of accusation in her voice, and for a moment the flames leapt in her gaze.
He clothed himself in his usual elegant style, turning away from her to hide his amusement. She wouldn’t be pleased that he thought her humorous when she was scolding. “I am stuck on the word impetuous. Surely that does not describe my carefully thought-out action.”
She did glare at him then. “Don’t remind me you weren’t overcome with passion; it was the only excuse I had for you. What were you thinking, Nicolae? We don’t know what that blood might do to you. It burns and corrupts, and you have darkness lurking in you. I’ve seen glimpses of it more than once. I’d hate to have to rip out your heart in the early morning hours when you least expected it, but if you give me any trouble and start exhibiting any vamp behavior, you’re gone.” She said the last with more glee than reluctance.
Nicolae couldn’t help the laughter spilling out of him at her audacity. “I will be certain to watch myself.”