He carried danger with him in the set of his shoulders, the fluid way he moved, the set of his jaw and ice in his eyes. He looked what he was—a dangerous predator—and just as he made the animals uneasy, so did he make humans. He moved in complete silence blending in to his surroundings, and yet he commanded the space around him, filling it completely with his power.
He looked only at her. Focused. Locked on. Those glacial blue flames leaped higher, glittering like dark sapphires of pure ice. The men gathered in the front of the house parted without a word, leaving him a clear path to the front porch—to Marguarita. Her mouth went dry and her stomach somersaulted. Her fingers found the material of her skirt and bunched it in her fist. If she could have screamed, she might have.
He blocked out everything and everybody extending his hand toward her. It seemed a solicitous gesture, but she knew better. Her hand trembled in his as she stood up, facing him. She wanted him to pull her into his arms and hold her. To comfort her. But his expression was as remote as his eyes. Ice flowed in his veins and formed a glacier in his mind far too thick to penetrate.
He was wholly focused on her; she felt his concentrated attention like a spear going through her heart. For Zacarias, no one else existed. He cared nothing for the men standing like statues in his yard. There was only Marguarita—and her disobedience.
His hand moved over her face, fingertips brushing every bruise, her swollen eye and cracked lip. His breath hissed out, a long, slow menace that sent another shiver creeping down her spine. Her heart accelerated and he heard it, but he didn’t soothe her. The pain in her face and head lessened with his touch—but that featherlight brush of fingers had been remote, not at all personal.
The sun has seared your skin.
His disapproval of her actions hit like a hard blow to her heart. She had known he had forbidden her actions and he would be angry, but this was more than anger. His remoteness cut her to the bone. Even her soul and heart. He was taking care of her, but there was no comfort in his actions.
She swallowed hard and tried to reach him. I couldn’t stay inside with the bodies and the spiders. It was too much.
The blue flames leaped, and for a moment his eyes seemed to glow with a strange, frightening fire. The bodies have been removed and the spiders are gone. Go inside now. I will see to the commander.
Marguarita refused to cry. She had known all along what she was getting into and Zacarias separated himself from emotions. He had all the long centuries of his existence. She’d put him in touch with feelings, allowing him to tap into them. He had suffered, lying there trapped beneath the earth while she was in danger. She had chosen her own path, disobeyed his direct orders, something probably no one did. She had told him she gave herself into his keeping, and pride and honor refused to allow her to weep.
She nodded her head and swept past him, head up, moving away from the crowd, knowing they thought Zacarias so solicitous of her.
Zacarias went next to Lea, giving her that same featherlight brush of his fingers, and softly whispering, his voice hypnotic, easing her grief a little, as well as the pain of the beating at DS’s hands. Marguarita could hear him assuring the girl that he would see to all arrangements and that Julio would take her home and stay just in case to watch over her.
Next came his low voice convincing the commander of everything he wanted the man to believe. Of course the commander went along with it all, half bowing to Zacarias, the elusive billionaire one heard so much about. He would have bragging rights; he met him in person and the De La Cruz legend would only grow.
Eventually everyone was gone and the house was dark and quiet. Marguarita was left to face Zacarias alone. She wanted him there, and yet she was very scared of what he would do. He had warned her numerous times she would face consequences. She couldn’t imagine him beating a woman. It simply wasn’t his style. He had taken the pain from her face, so he didn’t want her to suffer physically, right? She had to be right.
She wrung her hands together. Waiting. Where was he? It was worse waiting in the dark for him to appear and pass sentence on her than not knowing. She sat for a few minutes, her heart pounding and the taste of fear growing. Unable to sit still, she went to the open door and looked out. He was there, big as life, staring into the night.
He turned his head and looked straight at her. Of course he’d known she was there. His eyes burned through the screen, burned like a brand into her heart. She stepped back, her hand moving defensively to her throat. The lines in his face were etched deeper than usual and his jaw was set. There was no mercy in that dark expressionless face. His sensual mouth seemed a little cruel, and his eyes held nothing but all that blue, flaming ice.
He swung around in a swift fluid movement and was on her in a single beat of her heart. The screen never opened and closed. He stood a moment, holding her gaze, drinking in her terror, his mind closed to her, his heart and soul distant—so distant she couldn’t reach them. This was not her Zacarias. This was the predator.
I am both, and it is time you learned that lesson.
Without preamble, he gripped her upper arms, dragging her to him, his teeth sinking into her neck. Pain sliced through her, pain that slowly gave way to pure erotic heat. She struggled for one moment, still afraid, knowing his control had slipped dangerously. She couldn’t connect, he refused to let her in, yet he was there in her mind, commanding—demanding—she give herself to him. This time, she feared what he was asking.
The growing dread didn’t cease, even as heat swept through her body and her breasts ached for him, her core heated and wept for him. He didn’t stop. Didn’t slow down. She found herself sinking into that place, that sort of subspace of mind where Zacarias became her world. Where there was only his strong body and phenomenal strength, his need and hunger. It was a primal place, forged by his will, older than time, where laws of the jungle applied.
In the midst of all that sensual heat a shiver started somewhere and began to increase. She was cold. Growing colder, as if the ice in his veins had poured into her veins and slowly was spreading throughout her body. Her legs turned to rubber, very wobbly as if she could no longer support herself. She caught at Zacarias’s neck to anchor herself, but her arms were too weak to hold herself up.
Even as she fell, his arm locked her to him, lifting her from her feet, but he didn’t stop. She had the sensation of floating, but her eyes refused to open. Panicked, she tried to struggle.
Stop. It’s too much. You have to stop.
I say when it is too much.
Marguarita heard the soft hiss of menace, the need for domination and his iron will that was implacable. She had no chance to save herself. Life or death. Live or die. It was up to him. She gave herself up completely, no longer struggling, not even in her mind.
Choose, then. She had no more strength left to fight him. He was taking her life’s blood, as if it was impossible to slake his hunger. There was an edge to his feeding, both sexual and dangerous, as if he’d made a decision he would not back away from. The resolve in him ran so deep, so dark, she couldn’t find a way to reach him.
I already have.
The words should have reassured her, but they sent another shiver through her body. It was the way he said them, the pure cold glacier that dripped like icicles from his voice. He carried her through to the master bedroom and laid her on the bed, his body covering hers, all the while draining her of her precious blood. She felt herself fading.
You will stay with me. Come to me, Marguarita. Now. Come to me.
She was too tired, too weak, to do anything but obey. Her spirit reached for his and he surrounded her, held her to him when her body wanted to slip away into another world she didn’t recognize.
Only then did he swipe his tongue across the punctures and open his shirt to slash his chest.
You will feed.
It was an absolute command. He was in control, her spirit locked to his. His hand caught the back of her head, forcing her to that dark rich Carp
athian blood. Her mouth moved against him. This time, he didn’t distance her from the act. The blood flowed into her, his very essence, rushing to do its work, to claim her for all time, to make her his irrevocably. She knew that was uppermost in his mind. This was the consequence of her actions. His claiming her. She struggled to understand. He had tied them together in the way of his people. Why such satisfaction? Why this particular show of dominance?
Strength was returning, but he held her spirit captive until she had taken enough of his blood that he deemed satisfactory. His body continued to blanket hers as he lifted his head and stared down into her eyes.
She was missing something. Something important. He looked very expectant. Still cold and distant, but alert and watchful. She touched her tongue to her lip. The split and swelling was gone. Her face didn’t hurt, but there was a new, strange pounding in her head. She could not only hear her heart beating, but feel it, every single movement, the swish of blood, ebbing and flowing. A ripple of pain moved through her body and her stomach lurched.
18
Marguarita stared at Zacarias with enormous, terrified, accusing eyes. She looked very pale, her dark, silken hair spread out all around them.
What have you done?
Zacarias shifted his weight. It was starting then. Her conversion. His blood was working to change her body, reshape her organs, and bring her fully into his world. Satisfaction etched itself into the lines of his face.
“Never again will I be forced by my own lifemate to lie helpless beneath the ground while she endangers herself deliberately. You have disobeyed me for the last time, Marguarita.”
His white teeth snapped at her, still slightly lengthened. The flames in his eyes flickered, and still that hot lethal mass of volcanic rage boiled in his gut. Hours, he’d lain beneath the surface, stripped of all power, while she risked her life and his soul. For what? There could be no reason good enough for such a decision on her part.
He would be forever dishonored. She even knew the truth about him. She had seen his darkest secret, the one he’d protected for centuries—his legacy of darkness. His own father turning vampire moments after his mother’s death. That would have happened to him. If DS had succeeded in killing her, Zacarias would have risen vampire and wiped out the entire ranch.
“Sun scorch you, woman.” He spat the curse at her, as fury pounded through his veins, breaking through the ice, a volcanic explosion. He couldn’t bear to touch her. Couldn’t stay close to inhale her fragrance. His woman. His lifemate. Betrayer. Risking everything for the childish whim to prove that she was his equal in strength and power. Risking him. Risking them. Risking his brothers and her family.
He pushed himself off the bed and stalked across the room, a prowling jungle cat, lethal and still very much raging. The tension in the room stretched, but he couldn’t find a way to recapture his icy control. His anger had burned its way through the massive glacier and his emotions were a firestorm raging out of control.
He had always known he wouldn’t understand a modern woman. He had accepted that his lifemate would never come to him—never accept him as he was. He had been more than prepared to go honorably to the next life. She had changed all of that, destroyed his every plan and she should have realized the enormity of what she’d done. She had no right to risk his soul—ever. Not ever. Not in this year and not a hundred years from now.
Marguarita writhed, her eyes going wide with shock, hands flying to her stomach. A ripple of unease slid down his spine. His gaze jumped to her. All attention focused on her. Clearly, she was in pain. In all his centuries, he’d never seen a human turned. He simply didn’t associate that closely with them. His brothers had done it, but he’d never bothered to inquire about just what happened. Three blood exchanges were necessary and that should take care of it—as long as she was psychic, which Marguarita clearly was.
Apprehension became knots in the pit of his stomach. Surely nothing could go wrong. He had powerful blood, but the darkness ran deep in him. Shadows crept into the dark room, into his mind, disturbing, haunting possibilities he hadn’t considered. Had he made a mistake?
“What is wrong?” he demanded.
She drew her legs up, rolling to her side in the fetal position, her face contorting with pain. She closed her eyes, as if the sight of him was unbearable. Unexpectedly, a pain knifed through his heart. He tasted fear in his mouth.
“What is wrong? When I ask you I want an answer.”
He couldn’t wait, not when she began writhing in pain, tears streaming down her face and her body contorting wildly. For the very first time in his life, panic welled up, a frightening feeling. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He reached for her mind, needing to feel what she was feeling, needing to share her same skin, to know what was happening to her. He reached, but came up against a wall.
She refused him. Refused him. His lifemate. His woman. She not only disobeyed him, paving the way for total disaster, but now, she was refusing their most intimate, private path. She’d blocked him out, and judging by the strength of that door, it would take a battering ram to open it.
She had a natural barrier, he knew that, but she had always allowed him through. Now, with his blood flowing in her veins, that shield was even stronger than it had been. He’d been afraid of damaging her before; now, if he destroyed that barrier, he had no idea what would happen to her. And the only way she was going to let him in was if he tore it down.
“Let me in.”
She made no reply, stubbornly drawing up her knees to her chest, rocking her body, her hair spilling around her face, shutting him out. She was in pain—that much was more than apparent. He was across the room instantly, reaching down to put his hand on her stomach. There was more than one way to get the information he sought.
She took a deep shuddering breath, as if the pain was receding, and turned her head, her dark eyes glaring at him. Strands of hair fell across her cheek, damp now from sweating. Her body was coated in a fine sheen. When his palm and fingers made contact with her skin, she shuddered and tried to slap at his arm.
Get away from me. I mean it. I don’t want you here.
Marguarita couldn’t believe he would do this to her. Everyone, everything had known—even the horses—what a monster he was, everyone but her. He was uncaring, a dark, dangerous predator with no real feeling. Everything she’d believed about him had been a fantasy. He’d shattered her heart, and she had nothing left but pride. She couldn’t bear to look at him and she wasn’t about to let him inside her mind—never again would she willingly share herself with him. He would have to take what he wanted from her. The pain of her shattered heart was far worse than the physical pain he thrust on her.
Zacarias was shocked. He hadn’t expected absolute rejection, but she kept him from her mind, and now she thought she could keep him from her body. Before he could say anything else, he saw the next wave building, a sweep of her body, every muscle going rigid, the breath slamming out of her lungs. Her eyes went wide, glazed with pain. Her back bowed, then arched, her body convulsing, nearly thrown from the bed.
He caught her, held her firm, afraid she’d hurt herself more. His hands slid over her skin, now burning with fever. Every organ twisted and threatened to burst inside of her. Her skin was so hot he nearly pulled his hand away. He tried to send healing warmth through her skin, but it seemed to make things worse. Her body jerked nearly into a sitting position, teeth set almost as if in rigor mortis before she was slammed back against the mattress.
Her breath rushed out in silent protest, even as he felt the wave receding. The moment her gaze focused on him, she threw herself away from him, off the bed, putting it between them. She tried to crawl away from him, her body gleaming with sweat, her hair matted to the back of her neck and down her back. Weak, she fell on her stomach.
Zacarias was on her in an instant, his heart pounding as fast as hers, really afraid for her now. He had to figure out what was wrong and how to help her.
�
�Let me help, Marguarita.” In spite of his fear for her, he kept his voice gentle.
His hand settled around her ankle. Marguarita kicked him hard with her other foot and pushed herself up to her hands and knees to escape.
“Stop it. I do not want to have to force your obedience.” His fear mounted with the thought of losing her. Something was terribly wrong and he had to fix it.
Why not? She rolled over, her face damp with sweat and beaded with tiny red dots. Her eyes showed both accusation and hurt. I was so wrong about you. You’re exactly what you told me—a monster. And your binding words are a lie. You lied. They mean nothing.
Marguarita could barely breathe, caught between pain and dissolution. She’d loved those words he’d whispered to her, binding words, he’d said. He’d married her in the way of his people with words like cherish, heart and soul. Things said like always in my care. He’d stolen her heart with those glimpses of a man who desperately needed saving, and those tender, amazing words that somehow had bound them together.
There is no care. Certainly nothing like cherish. Take your empty words and keep them. I don’t want them.
Zacarias caught his breath, her accusation tearing at him along with the sight of her tears, streaked with pink. Right now nothing could matter to him but her physical condition. He had to find a way to help her. He focused on finding a way through the barrier in her mind.
“Marguarita,” he pitched his voice low, velvet soft, bordering on hypnotic. “You could be in trouble, sívamet. You have to let me in to see what is happening.”
Go away and leave me alone with this. I can get through it myself. I don’t want anything to do with . . .
She broke off abruptly. Her eyes went wide and her mouth gaped open in a silent scream. Horror spread across her face. Her stomach seemed alive, rippling, contracting, her muscles knotting in her arms and legs.
Zacarias reached for her again, the need in him bordering now on total insanity. What was wrong? What was going wrong? This made no sense to him. Clearly she was in agony. She had no control, her body struggling to expel toxins, fighting to reshape organs and change her body from human to Carpathian. He was certain if he could share her mind, he would shoulder the pain, but even in the height of the wave, her barrier against him never wavered. He needed another way in without harming her.