Lucian’s body urged hers out of the kitchen and into his den. A wave of his hand produced dancing flames in the stone fireplace. She gasped aloud, enthralled by his magic yet frightened by it all the same. Jaxon broke away from him to stand in front of the flickering tongues of heat, needing the distance from him to think clearly. He was so tremendously powerful.
“I am a Carpathian male, as I have explained to you. We are a species that has existed from the beginning of time. I am not evil, angel face, but the darkness, the loss of color and emotion, that slowly overtakes our males who lack the light of their lifemates has grown strong in me for many centuries, making it a struggle to tame the predator inside us all. We are like the human race, yet not. We are blessed and cursed with enormous longevity, often called immortals. If and when we find a lifemate, the emotion is intense and grows steadily over the centuries. If we do not... we may become complete predators, the undead. The night is ours, and the sunlight is difficult to endure. But we have enormous powers, as you are beginning to understand. My blood now flows in your veins, angel. It has already affected your tolerance to sunlight, not to the extent of mine, yet it will be impossible for you to endure daylight without special sunglasses.”
A heartbeat went by. One. Two. Jaxon took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I can accept that.” My
blood flows in your veins
. A transfusion? She wouldn’t challenge that; she wouldn’t ask. She didn’t want to know how his blood had gotten into her veins.
“The sun will burn your skin. Sunblock will help, but not very much. You will have to learn to stay indoors during certain hours of the day, but your body will be sleepy during those hours anyway.”
She heard the distinct thud of her own heart. Her fingers twisted nervously in the material of the cotton shirt she was wearing. “What are you saying? Do you think I’ve never read
Dracula
before? You’re describing a vampire, aren’t you?” Her chin was up defiantly; she was challenging him openly.
Lucian could see her courage in her battle with her fear. She was fragile, so vulnerable, with much to admire in her. And he wanted her. He was acutely aware they were alone. He watched the struggle within her, the way her instincts worked, trying to war with the ties with which he had bound them together.
“I have said I am not a vampire, and I am not. If the males of our species grow weary of the darkness that descend upon them after their youth and choose to lose or defile their souls, they become the undead. They are then wholly evil, killing their prey for the momentary rush of pleasure and power it brings, rather than feeding from them and leaving them unharmed. I lived as one, mimicking the ways of the undead, but I never killed for blood nor took the blood of a necessary kill. It would be impossible for you to become vampire from my blood. You of all people are wholly in the light.”
Jaxon rubbed her aching temples. There was something wrong in the things he was saying. “Why can’t I stand the thought of food, Lucian?”
“You are able to tolerate water and some natural vegetable and fruit juices. You must begin with vegetable broth and build your tolerance slowly. Do not try to eat meat products; they will not agree with you.”
“Is that what you live on? Juices and broth?”
“Do not ask what you cannot yet face, my love,” he said softly, his black gaze resting on the pulse beating so frantically in her throat.
She knew then. She didn’t faint, although her entire body went weak, her legs rubbery. She would not faint. “Lucian, please move away from the door.”
His mesmerizing gaze moved over her face like a caress. “Do you think to run away from me?” His voice was so soft and sensuous, it was all she could do not to run
to
him for comfort.
“That’s exactly what I think. You told me I’m not a prisoner, and I’ve decided I want to leave.” She tried not to sound defiant. She noticed his large frame still filled the doorway, and his body was as still as a mountain, his face expressionless. If only he didn’t have that voice.
“Where would you go, Jaxon?”
She tilted her chin. “Where I go is none of your business.” There was a long silence while he waited, unmoving, those black eyes watching her. Jaxon counted her own heartbeats. Sighing softly, she capitulated. “Barry’s apartment. He won’t be there, remember? The captain was moving him to a safe house.”
“I think not. It would not be safe.”
There was a double meaning behind those softly spoken words. Jaxon shivered, chilled despite the heat of the fire dancing behind her. “You said I could leave.”
“I did not say run away. There will be truth between us, little one, whether it is difficult or not. You are a strong woman. I will not hide things from you.”
“Am I supposed to thank you for that?” She raked a trembling hand through her hair, creating a windblown effect. “I don’t want this.”
“Yes, you do,” Lucian replied as gently as ever.
Where his eyes had been black and impossible to fathom, she now glimpsed hunger, a stark possessiveness. Her hand moved to find the comforting butt of her gun. How could she ever resist those hungry eyes? “Why are you doing this? I have enough trouble in my life without your expecting me to accept vampires and God knows what else. I can’t do it, Lucian.”
“Yes, you can.” He said it quietly. “Take a deep breath and relax. Sit down before you fall down.”
Her dark eyes flashed at him. “Do you really think I’m so needy that I’d sell what little self-respect I have left just to be with someone? I feel the difference in my body. The way I can hear, the way I’m able to control the volume. I can see in the dark better than if it was daylight. I feel you all the time. With me. Needing me. Calling to me.” She rubbed her temples again. “How can you talk to me without speaking? More importantly, how can I talk to you that way?”
“My blood flows in your veins, as yours flows in mine. We share the same heart and soul. Our minds seek to merge, just as our bodies cry out for each other.”
“My body does not cry out for yours,” she denied, more frightened than angry. “Little liar.”
“Go back to the blood in the veins thing. Exactly how did your blood get into my veins and mine into yours? Did you give me a transfusion or something like...?” She trailed off, images of a dark, erotic dream intruding. Her hand went protectively to her throat. “You didn’t drink my blood. God, tell me you didn’t drink my blood. No, first tell me I didn’t drink your blood.” Now her legs were threatening to fail her. She actually looked at the floor, prepared to fall. Only the thought of being more vulnerable than she already was stopped her from collapsing.
He moved swiftly toward her to help, but Jaxon was so alarmed that she brought the gun up. She used a two-armed stance to try to steady her badly shaking hands. This was a nightmare, insanity. She didn’t have enough imagination to make all this up. The gun pointed directly at his heart.
“Please move away from the door, Lucian. I don’t want to hurt you. I really don’t. I just want to get out of here so I can breathe again.” She was pleading with him, not taking her usual command of a situation. She wanted so much to be with him. So much. He was tall and sexy and terribly alone, just as she was. She understood that in him. She wanted to make everything all right for him, to rid him of that terrible hunger. But to have a man like Lucian look at her for all time with heat and hunger, with need and possessiveness, was a dream she could never accept. Lucian was not really a man. He was something else. Something she didn’t ever want to identify.
“Jaxon, put down the gun before you accidentally shoot someone.” There was no inflection whatsoever in his voice.
“It wouldn’t be an accident, Lucian. Please, I’m going to ask you one more time. Just step aside, and let me go.”