“Silly woman,” he said affectionately. “There is nothing at all to hide from a lifemate. There is never any need. I am in your mind as you are in mine.”
“Well, if you’re in my mind, then you should be perfectly aware that I’m having a difficult time accepting our weird relationship.”
He brought their linked hands up to his mouth, his lips teasing the skin of her inner wrist. “You accept our weird relationship; you just are afraid to trust it. Or yourself. It makes you happy, and you do not trust that.”
She glared at him. “Have you been hanging out with Father Mulligan again? He’s always handing out that two-cent advice of his.”
“He only charged you two cents? He made me fill his poor box,” Nicolae said, straight-faced. “And he didn’t offer a single word on marriage. He just said to have courage, whatever that meant.”
Destiny burst out laughing. “The old fraud, he probably said that on purpose just to make me crazy. Where’s Vikirnoff?”
Nicolae rugged on her hand until she began walking along the street with him. “He is out seeking information on the woman in the photograph. The healer is on his way, and my brother is determined to keep the cities free of vampires. We do not need Vikirnoff cluttering up the skies tonight. I have plans.”
The three little words set butterfly wings fluttering in the pit of her stomach. She had already been too long away from him. Desire shot through her, shaking her very foundations. Her mouth grew dry, and her body hot, just hearing his words. Just the thought of his hard body made her tremble. She didn’t dare look at his mouth; her knees would give out.
“What kind of plans?” She had no idea how she managed to get the words past her strangled throat.
He moved closer, his larger body brushing against hers so that electricity seemed to arc and crackle between them. Little dancing whips of lightning sizzled in her bloodstream. Just walking with him was a miracle to her.
Nicolae glanced down at the top of her bent head. She was the miracle to him. He still couldn’t quite grasp the fact that he had found her at long last. The endless search for her was over and she was with him. A part of him. The intensity of his feelings shocked him at times. “You said you wanted to go to the movies. I found an all-night theater.”
She glanced up at him from under her long lashes, rewarding him with a small smile. “I’d like that, thank you.”
The thought of sitting with her in a darkened theater was a reward in and of itself. He couldn’t stop the erotic fantasies filling his mind. Destiny blushed wildly, catching his thoughts. She had never considered what one might do in a dark corner of a theater.
Destiny cleared her throat, searching desperately for something to say. Searching desperately for a safe subject “Mary Ann is worried about money again. She didn’t want me looking at her books, and now John Paul has wrecked her office. She tried to act as if it were no big deal, but it obviously is.”
“I do not want you robbing a bank or risking your life taking money from a drug dealer.”
“You sound just like her.” Destiny laughed at his severe tone.
“She had a point. I will get her the money she needs. Living in the world for centuries, we Carpathians have a certain expertise in acquiring money. There is no need for you to do anything illegal or dangerous to help Mary Ann.”
“I’ll hold you to that. I don’t like her worrying so much.”
“Good. I’m an expert fund-raiser. Count on me, Destiny.”
Of course she could count on him. She had known, on some level, for most of her life that he would always be there for her. Now he was real. Solid. Beside her sharing her life and her thoughts. She did count on him.
He bent his head, feathered kisses down her cheek even as they walked along the darkened streets together holding hands. “I share your body too,” he murmured wickedly.
His voice whispered over her body, made every muscle clench with urgent need. A rush of liquid heat surged, spread, pooled low in anticipation. She didn’t know how he had managed to become so firmly entrenched in her heart so quickly. “I still think you’ve used some black-magic spell on me,” she said gruffly.
“Is it working?”
“Don’t sound so happy about it.” A fine drizzle had begun. Destiny lifted her face to the skies, allowing me vapor to bathe her face. “I love the rain. I love everything about it. The air always smells so fresh after it rains, and the sound is so soothing. I sometimes lie under the covers and just listen to the way rain sounds likes music.”
“Do you want to drop in at the rectory and see Sam?” Nicolae ventured. “Two hours from now I would not want you to suddenly worry about him.”
“You were reading my mind again.” She smiled up at him because she couldn’t help herself. Nicolae. Sharing her life. Giving her hope. Binding his life to her life, so that she would never be alone again. It was almost more than she could take in and accept. Happiness. She had never dared to believe it could be hers. Belief seemed to trickle into her mind and take hold a little bit at a time.
Still hand in hand, they launched skyward, shifting shape as they did so, two owls flying toward the windows of the rectory. They shifted a second time, became vapor streaming through the night to find the opening in the window, no more than a crack, but it allowed them entry. Twin ribbons of colored mist poured into the house, moved quickly through the darkened hallway to find the crack beneath the door.
Father Mulligan appeared to be dozing in a chair by the bed. Sam was asleep, tears still marking his pale face. Destiny’s heart went out to the little boy. She materialized beside him, her fingers stroking back the thatch of hair tumbling across his forehead. “Poor little boy,” she murmured softly.
Father Mulligan sat up with a start, clutched dramatically at his heart as he glared at them. “Do you go through walls? You nearly killed me coming in like that.”
Destiny looked instantly repentant. “I’m so sorry, Father. I thought you were really asleep. I should have been more careful.”
“His heart rate did not even rise,” Nicolae pointed out. “He should be an actor, not a priest.”
Father Mulligan grinned mischievously, looking for all the world like a small boy. “I did rather well in the school plays when I was a young lad, much to my father’s chagrin. He thought acting a perfect sin. I was expecting you two this evening.”
“We would have come earlier but we have been looking into the strange, unnatural behavior of your parishioners. Are you certain the wine you are serving is not a bad one?” Nicolae inquired with a straight face. “All of them do attend this church.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Destiny agreed, glaring accusingly at the priest.
“You two are treading quite close to blasphemy,” Father Mulligan warned, attempting to look severe. His eyes were twinkling merrily, ruining his credibility as an actor.
“Well, I suppose we can rule you and your wine out, but I do have a question,” Destiny said. “The night Martin took the poor box, do you recall if any glass was broken? Before he became violent.”
Father Mulligan frowned. “How strange you should ask that. I spoke with Tim and he told me that he had given Martin medicine, and the glass of water dropped onto the floor as Martin handed it back. Tim said Martin just stared at the slivers of glass, shoved Tim out of his way and left their apartment. Evidently, Martin came straight here to the church.”
“Has Martin ever used the little clinic, the one just down from Mary Ann’s office?”
“Yes. There’s a doctor who comes twice a month. He’s noted for being brilliant in pain management. Martin was in a terrible accident a couple of years ago, shattered all kinds of bones and twisted his back. He had been going to the doctor for help, and it seemed to be working. But Tim said they had some kind of falling-out and Martin decided not to go back. It was too bad, because his pain was under control.”