His tongue swirled, taking the sting from the burns. It felt like seduction-and as if he were stealing away more than the pain. She could see every detail of his face, the strong jaw and nose, the shape of his mouth, most of all, those glacier-blue eyes she couldn't escape. His lashes were heavy and very black, just as his hair and brows were. The color of his eyes was more dramatic, more intensely alive, with the contrast. She felt almost dizzy, as if she were falling into his intent gaze.
She drew air deep into her lungs and found his scent. Her heart matched the rhythm of his. Her mind actually relaxed its guard and allowed him to slip inside. His soul brushed up against hers. He didn't push, or take, merely touched, so light she barely felt it, barely felt the merging, her soul reaching instinctively, yearning for his-for him.
She wanted to snatch her hand away, to tell him she'd have Francesca help her after all, but she couldn't. Nothing had ever felt so right in her life. In that brief moment there was no past or future, only this moment and this man.
Dimitri was careful to find every burn on her skin, every thread the vampire's blood had left behind. They could be like spoors, spawning the most malevolent things if not eradicated. Fortunately, the vampire had been one that was more recently turned and hadn't yet grown fully into the power of evil. Dimitri took his time, brushing the pad of his thumb along her inner wrist, savoring the feel of her skin and the fact that for this one small moment in time, she relaxed a little with him.
It was with great reluctance that he lifted his head and allowed her hands to slip through his fingers. «There. It is done.»
«What about your wounds? I can't heal you.»
«I can do that myself.» But he couldn't breathe without her. He looked away from her before she glimpsed that in him-the need to gather her up and take her far away where she had no choice but to accept him. The beast struggled to rise, demanding its mate. Ruthlessly, he pushed it down. Nothing would mar this moment with her.
«I wanted to see you again. I needed to talk to you.»
He bowed slightly from the waist and reached out with that same slow deliberation, giving her plenty of time to object. When she didn't, he tucked a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear. «I am at your service.»
Her smile was tentative-an olive branch. «I needed to tell you that it isn't you. It's me. I know what a lifemate is and this is a mistake. I'm-flawed. I can't be like other women– not ever.» She ducked her head, avoiding his gaze. His eyes just seemed so alive, almost burning her skin, yet so cold she shivered.
«It takes a great deal of courage, little one, to tell me these things. I thank you for making the effort.» He kept his voice gentle, resisting the urge to drag her into his arms. She was utterly adorable standing there trying to reject him and not hurt his feelings. They were all wrong-Francesca and Gabriel and even Mikhail. She wasn't too young. Even now, when she should have been little more than a girl emerging from her childhood, he knew she was already an adult. His soul had brushed hers. She had been ripped from her childhood, and the young woman so close-so elusive-was simply too fragile. So beaten down, so sensitive with her enormous psychic talent-the atrocities committed against her had driven her spirit too deep, too far, and she was barely able to stay in the world. «Time will sort this out for us. In the meantime, allow me to escort you back to your home.»
«Aren't you angry with me?»
«Because you are not yet ready for my claim?» He took her hand, his fingers warm and sure when she was so uncertain. «Of course not.»
Snow plopped down from the nearest tree and both turned toward the sound. Branches swayed as a small owl took to the air, wings outstretched, body wobbling as it launched itself into the air. The screech owl dove straight at them.
Dimitri leapt to place his body between the creature and Skyler. He timed his attack, swatting the bird from the air even as she yelled, panic evident in her voice.
«No! It's Josef. It has to be Josef.» She tried to get around Dimitri, her protective tone raising the hackles of the wolf, triggering the response of his beast at the idea that she would shield another man. He moved without seeming to do so, keeping her from rushing
around him.
The owl shook, the movements jerky, arms breaking through where wings had been. It fell into the snow and a young man sprawled out, all arms and legs, looking slightly shocked and very scared, but determined. He scrambled to his feet, balled his fists, and glared at Dimitri. «Leave her alone.»
Dimitri might have overcome the instinct of his species, but he felt Skyler's response to the stranger, the instant flash of amusement tinged with admiration. He bared his teeth, a snarl rumbling deep in his throat, a challenge to the other male. At once the small clearing was ringed with the pack, the wolves pacing, eyes glowing, answering his snarls with agitation and aggression to match his own. Fire burned in his mind, his heart, raged in his soul and was reflected in his eyes, now a fiery red.
Skyler tried to push past him, but he caught her arm, his grip like steel. «Who is this man to you?»
«My friend. Don't you dare hurt him.» She would fight for Josef when she couldn't fight for herself.
The wolf pack bared teeth, edged closer, narrowing the circle. Skyler could make out the large shaggy animals, all in good health, all focused on Josef.
«You do not need to have male friends,» Dimitri bit out, his strong white teeth flashing, showing a hint of his lengthened canines as well as incisors. His muscles rippled beneath his skin, crackling and popping as he fought off the change.
Frightened, Skyler began to back away from him again, sensing the wild rage rising, the animal taking over. But something, maybe desperation, pain, sorrow, something gave her pause. She touched him, her palm flat on his chest, looking up into his eyes. Even in the guise of a wolf, his eyes were always going to be blue, and right now they were turbulent and stormy. «Dimitri. He's a friend. Not a boyfriend.» She shouldn't have to make excuses, but she couldn't stop wanting to soothe him. The need was every bit as urgent and strong as the desire to run.
He caught her hand, carried it to her lips and waved his hand to the slavering wolves. The circle opened reluctantly. «Go. Go now,» he bit out, «while I'm still in control.»
«I'm sorry,» she whispered.
Skyler and Josef ran, careful not to touch each other, Skyler with a heavy heart and guilt clawing at her. She ran with tears streaming down her face wondering where they came from, feeling inadequate and a coward. She ran from Dimitri's pain and her own fears. Was there never going to be a safe refuge for her?
Chapter 10
Music filled the small confines of the room, spilled out into the hallways and drifted outside. Antonietta Scarletti-Justicano turned her head toward the sound. Two pairs of footsteps approaching. She sniffed the air, easily distinguishing the familiar scent of Josef and the unfamiliar scent of his companion. Female… young… and very distraught. It took a second to get past the girl's radiating fear to feel Josef's matching alarm. She lifted her fingers from the ivory keys and turned toward them.
«Josef? What's wrong?»
Skyler realized instantly Antonietta couldn't really see them. It was almost unheard of for a Carpathian to be anything but perfect physically. She tried to recall what she knew of Josef's aunt. She'd been a famous pianist before Byron had claimed and converted her and she'd been blind most of her life. Skyler moved closer to her in an attempt to make it easier for her. «I'm Skyler Daratrazanoff, Francesca and Gabriel's daughter.» She didn't make the claim often, but she loved saying it out loud.
«It's lovely to meet you, cara,» Antonietta said, her voice as musical as her fingers. «Please tell me what is upsetting you both.»
«A vampire attacked Skyler,» Josef burst out.
Antonietta reached out toward her. Instinctively, before she could stop herself, Skyler stepped back.
«I'm all right. Dimitri killed it.»
«And then he touched her. Licked her.» There was disgust in Josef
s voice. «We barely got out of there alive. He had a wolf pack with him and the wolves would have killed us.»
Byron! Antonietta summoned her lifemate immediately. «Josef, are either of you hurt in any way? Have you called Gabriel?»
«No!» Skyler protested. «Please don't do that. Neither of us is hurt. Vampire blood splashed over my hands and burned through my gloves. Dimitri was healing the burns when Josef saw him. Josef misunderstood.»
«I didn't misunderstand him baring his teeth at me, Skyler,» Josef snapped. «You didn't see him. There was death in his eyes when he looked at me.»
«He saved my life,» Skyler declared.
«Your heart is pounding very fast and loud,» Antonietta pointed out. «I think you were far more frightened than you wish to admit.»
«Of the vampire,» Skyler insisted.
A tall handsome man strode into the room. «Vampire?» He glanced from his nephew to
his lifemate, and circled Antonietta's waist with his arm.
At once Antonietta could see the others in the room. Most of the time, when she wasn't tired, she could see shadows on her own, enough with her other heightened senses to know who and what was around her, but sometimes she simply didn't bother. She was used to a world without sight, and unless Byron provided her eyes for her, it was difficult to continually remember and maintain her vision. A vampire attacked this young lady and Josef seems to think Dimitri, her rescuer, then behaved inappropriately, although she claims he was healing her hands.
Byron immediately reached out to the other Carpathians on their common telepathic path of communication to spread the news of a vampire attack. Gabriel's answer was sharp and instant. «Your father is on his way,» Byron announced aloud, even as he reached for Skyler's hands, grasping her fingers before she could pull away and raising them up for inspection. Old scars crisscrossed the skin, running up her forearms in what were obviously defensive wounds. The sight of such abuse on a young female sickened him. On the backs of her hands were newer marks, recently healed, faint, but telltale.
Skyler jerked her hands away, visibly trembling. «I told you, he healed the burns.» She put her hands behind her back, out of sight. «It was awful.»
Gabriel materialized in the room without preamble, reaching for her, yanking her against him, his hands sliding over her checking for damage. «You have a lot to answer for, Skyler Rose.»
«She's had a terrible fright,» Antonietta said, interceding.
«Some stranger was all over her,» Josef said, frowning in disapproval. He drew himself up to his full height. «I followed her because she was acting funny and a vampire attacked her. Before I could do anything…»
«Such as call for me?» Byron interrupted. «I don't recall a summons or a cry for help.»
«I did not get one either,» Gabriel said, retaining his hold on his daughter. «The threat of a vampire getting his hands on you, Skyler, is enough to put gray streaks in my hair. What were you doing out in the open without protection? You were warned earlier that you were in danger, yet you chose to ignore it? You ignored a direct order from your mother and me.»
Skyler clung to him. It the midst of such a chaotic world, he was a tower of strength– always and ever her rock. «I'm sorry,» she whispered. I couldn't stop myself from going to him. There was such pain. I know pain and I couldn't be the cause.
A slow hiss escaped him. His fingers stroked a caress even as he buffeted her from his fatherly anger. Part of him wanted to shake her hard, the other half wanted to hold her to him and comfort her, keep her safe. You did not think to confide in Francesca-or me? You could have asked us for help in dealing with this, Skyler.
Was there hurt in his voice? Was she destined to hurt everyone who mattered to her? «I'm so sorry,» she said aloud a second time. «I couldn't think clearly.» It was the truth-and the only excuse she had to offer.
«Tell us exactly what happened,» another voice said. Skyler looked up to see Mikhail and Lucian standing close. Both looked grim. «If Dimitri assaulted you, Skyler, you must tell us,» the prince added.
«No!» She shouted the word, a surge of adrenaline rushing through her bloodstream. Everyone was staring at her, crowding close. She could barely breathe, barely speak. «He tried to help me. Why won't you listen to me?»
«If you value your lives,» another voice interrupted, «you will leave my lifemate alone. I can feel her distress radiating through the forest and yet you surround her, pressuring her to tell you tales you should be asking of a hunter.» Dimitri stood tall and straight in the open doorway. His long hair blew in the slight breeze and a few snowflakes dotted his head and shoulders.
Gabriel pushed Skyler toward Antonietta. «I believe I will take you up on your explanation,» he told Dimitri through clenched teeth. «Antonietta, if you would be so kind as take my daughter into your kitchen and make certain she drinks something sweet such as orange juice. It must be natural.»
«Gabriel,» Skyler protested.
Go with her. It is my duty and privilege to ensure your safety and I intend to do just that. We will discuss this later.
«He saved my life,» Skyler said defiantly, looking around at the room filled with Carpathian hunters. «He saved my life.»
Antonietta ignored the small automatic hesitation on Skyler's part and put her arm around the girl. «I think your man can hold his own with this group.» Be on his side, Byron. Please. He seems so alone. She flashed a confident smile at Skyler. «I can see when I work at it. I won't give you something like olive oil to drink instead of orange juice.»
Skyler went with her, but halted in the hallway leading to the kitchen. She looked back, her troubled gaze meeting Dimitri's.
It will be all right, lyubof maya, go with the woman and let me make things perfectly clear to these men-and your father.
Please don't hurt anyone-or get hurt. I couldn't stand that. She glanced at Gabriel. He was watching her-not Dimitri, and he had a frown on his face. She was disobeying him again. She ducked her head and turned to follow Antonietta.
We will come to an understanding, Skyler, your father and I. I thank you for defending
me. And stay away from the boy. He is jealous and capable of starting trouble he cannot conceive of.
Skyler didn't know what to say to that. Josef had acted jealous, but he wasn't enamored of her. She thought it more likely he was lonely-just as she was-and he didn't want to lose a friend.
It was dark in the kitchen and Antonietta forgot to turn on the lights, so Skyler tried to do so unobtrusively. «Gabriel's really angry with me this time. I did go off like an idiot, but my mind was so foggy. I could only think about getting to the wolf.»
Antonietta pulled orange juice from the cooler. «The wolf? Or Dimitri?»
Skyler frowned, rubbing at her temples. «I don't know. I thought Dimitri, but I followed the cry of the wolf.»
«And Dimitri wasn't the wolf?»
Skyler shuddered and shook her head. «The wolf appeared to be trapped in a steel claw, the leg bleeding. I wanted to help it, but then it changed into something hideous and Dimitri came and fought it.»
«That must have been terribly frightening.» Antonietta conveyed the information to Byron so he could tell the others. «It doesn't sound right to me,» she informed Skyler. «Here, sit down. You're still shaking.»
Skyler pulled out a chair and sank into it, shocked that her legs were so rubbery. «I tried to resist, but I didn't call Gabriel or Francesca for help and I should have.»
Antonietta sat opposite her. «It sounds a bit like a compulsion, don't you think? But how could a vampire have targeted you? He would have had to have access to your mind-your thoughts-in order to trap you with something familiar to you.»
«Earlier, I tried to trace a surge of power. It came from the direction of the hotel, so we all thought it was someone there, but whoever was using energy caught me, and maybe they touched my mind enough to know I love wolves.» She bit at her lip. «And that I was worried about Dimitri.»
> They did not believe a strike would come so soon-or that it was a vampire. They believed someone from the human society was baiting a trap for her-at least that is the explanation they are giving her lifemate. He is angry and rightly so. He has the right to demand she be protected at all times, sheltered more than any other if they refuse to allow his claim at this time. Mikhail has no choice but to accede to his wishes. Byron exchanged the information with Antonietta, knowing she didn't like to be kept «in the dark» over anything. For so long her family had kept secrets from her. He refused to do so. His lifemate would have whatever knowledge he had at all times. He sent her warmth and love, reassurance that the child wouldn't be harmed.