Nicolae waved his hand toward the older woman, respect and admiration in his expression. “I thank you for saving my lifemate at such a cost to yourself. I give you the only gift I have, distance from the one who would have belonged to you.” He bowed low, a courtly salute of honor. His spell wouldn’t take away the terrible sorrow—Velda would grieve for her lifemate—but he dimmed the emotion enough to make it more bearable.
He gathered Destiny into his arms.
It is over. Even wounded, he was a powerful enemy. Seeing Velda face to face shook him. I hope there will be a semblance of peace for Velda with what I have wrought.
“Put her to bed, Inez,” Nicolae said aloud. “Velda, you will sleep and heal.”
Nicolae carried Destiny out into the cool of the night. The breeze had taken the stench of the vampire and carried it out to sea. The air was clean and fresh with promise. Nicolae soared through the darkened sky, taking her back to the cave. Anger smoldered deep in the pit of his belly, mixed with fear and relief.
“You took a terrible risk, Destiny.” He buried his face in her hair.
“Was Gregori able to heal you completely? Is he certain?”
“He did, at great cost to his strength. He is anxious to get started on healing you.”
She brushed her hand over his face, lingering along the seam of his lips, pressed tightly together in a frown. “He doesn’t think he will be able to heal me, does he?” Her voice wobbled alarmingly.
“He will heal you. It will take time. Maybe more than one session, but he will do it.” Nicolae tenderly stroked the hair from her face with gentle fingers as he settled into the darkened cavern. He waved his hand to light the waiting candles.
“Poor Velda. She recognized Pater as her true lifemate. What a terrible tragedy. A waste for them both. And for a moment, he recognized her. I saw it in his eyes. He felt something. With her speaking to him, looking at him, he felt something.”
His fingers wiped the tears from her face. “She showed tremendous courage. He would have killed you.” He brought her hands to the warmth of his mouth, kissing her knuckles lovingly. “When a Carpathian male turns, the tragedy of it is that there might be a woman waiting somewhere, or in some other time. Pater should have held on to his honor. Velda is an extraordinary woman. In the end, she did her best to free him.”
“He would have killed her,” Destiny said sadly.
“He would have had no choice. The undead cannot see themselves: their reflection in a mirror provides too much of the truth; the eyes of a lifemate reveal an unbearable reality.”
Gregori and Savannah joined them. “Your friends are safe in their homes and have no memories of what transpired. The lifemate of the vampire will know, of course, and I did not remove the memories of the priest or Mary Ann Delaney. Mary Ann has psychic ability and should be persuaded to visit the Carpathian Mountains as the guest of our Prince. I hope that you will invite her when it is convenient.”
She knew Gregori was concerned that there might be a Carpathian male who could be saved. Destiny clutched at Nicolae, unashamed that she did so. She was tired and shaky and feeling terribly vulnerable. The idea of her tainted blood was repulsive to her. “Can you get rid of the vampire’s blood?”
“I am certain that I will be able to do so, but I ask that you donate blood first to allow us to examine it. It might be useful to us. The colonies seem to spawn the infestation. Who knows what can be done once we understand what is going on?”
“Feel free, take as much as you like,” Destiny offered. “I’m tired and want to sleep.” It was the only safe thing to do. The thought of those hideous creatures living inside her sickened her as nothing else could. She felt unclean, and nothing Nicolae or Gregori said would ever make a difference. “If you can’t heal me, Gregori, don’t let me live. I don’t think I could bear it, knowing what’s inside me.”
“A Carpathian endures,” Gregori said softly. “As your lifemate endured all those centuries of darkness. You will endure.”
Destiny reached for Nicolae, framed his face with her hands. “You gave me hope and dreams and everything good I’ve ever known. Thank you for that.”
Nicolae kissed her, his mouth so tender it brought tears to her eyes. They glittered on her lashes as he sent her to sleep.
Chapter Twenty
She woke to the knowledge that she was whole and clean and her blood was free of the vampire, but the scars remained in her heart and mind. She woke to find she was deeply in love and she was at peace. There was no pain on awakening. There was no agony, only a sense of hope and the looking forward to her life. She lay very still and let the sounds and scents of her world fill her with joy.
Destiny knew exactly where she was. Home. And home lay beside her, his body curved protectively around hers. Her bottom fit snugly into the cradle of his hips, and she could feel him, already awake, already aware, his body hard and aggressive, even as he lay so quietly. His hand cupped her breast possessively, yet he was still, savoring just waking up and holding her. Nicolae. Her everything.
He moved then. His mouth on her shoulder, his lips soft as he feathered kisses over her skin.
I thought you would never wake up.
The voice of an angel. Her angel. Nicolae. Destiny smiled as the silk of his hair brushed her bare arm and fanned across her breast.
You should have called to me.
Deliberately she used their private telepathic ability. She loved the intimacy of speaking with him mind to mind. She loved the feel of his hands on her body. At his urging she turned onto her back. Above her head the stars spread across the cave ceiling, sparkling like gems.
She laughed softly. First roses and now stars. He knew she loved the open night sky and had provided her with a blanket of stars, even deep beneath the earth.
“I love the sound of your laughter.” His hands moved over her body possessively, caressing every inch of her. His mouth followed, feathering kisses and teasing nips and lapping at her with a hot, erotic tongue.
His lovemaking was slow and thorough, wickedly designed to bring her to climax over and over. He made love to her as if they had all the time in the world. He took care to inspect every secret place that might bring her more pleasure.
Destiny returned the favor, losing herself in the beauty of his masculine body. Her hands and mouth wandered everywhere, telling him without words what he meant to her. When he entered her, she cried, so that he leaned forward to find out what tears of joy tasted like.
For the first time she wasn’t afraid of exchanging blood and initiated the ritual, driving him into a heated frenzy of desire. They ended up exploding, imploding, flying so high and then free-falling until they could only lie for a long time together, hearts beating wildly, struggling for breath, sated and happy.
Destiny pushed a shaky hand through her hair. “You can do that anytime, Nicolae. You’re very good at it.”
He propped himself up on one elbow. “I am most grateful you think so.”
“Don’t go fishing for compliments, because you aren’t going to get any. How long was I in the ground? I know time has passed. I don’t sense the presence of any of the others close to us.”
“Gregori wanted to start back to our homeland as soon as possible. He felt it important to give the Prince the news of vampires forming some sort of organization. He also thought the blood was an important find. No one has ever analyzed vampire blood. We all knew it was toxic, but no one imagined it created an environment to spawn a separate life-form. Of course, we still do not know for certain. The vampire that took you as a child might have somehow been infected by something else. Or the infection could have been a result of the poison injected into you. Gregori feels it is important to find out. In any case, we know for a fact it is completely different from what was found in Alexandria’s body. Gregori contacted Aidan, who said there was no such damage. Gregori wants to find out the significance of the difference.”