Dark Blood (21 page)

Tongues of fire raced up the walls of the caves. The ground grew hot, turning red beneath her. The droplets of moisture in the air glowed red orange, turning the small chamber into a furnace. Still he drove into her with wild abandonment, pushing her further.

Her body was hot to the touch, but nothing compared to the scorching heat surrounding his shaft. He felt the tension in her growing, coiling tighter and tighter. There was the beginning of desperation, a tiny shiver of fear that he might not stop before she went entirely insane. He stayed in her mind, careful not to push her too far.

She felt the terrible tension in her body rising without end, his relentless pounding pushing her higher and higher until she feared she would fly apart, without ever feeling the fiery explosion she so urgently desired. Her body had become a volcano of molten fire, an erotic fury, catching the night on fire, yet soaring was just out of reach.

She strained toward her goal, tossing her head, trying to guide him with her hips, but that didn’t work—she couldn’t move with his strength holding her still while he thrust into her again and again, a relentless, rough-driving invasion. The schism of fear snaking through her mind, threading through the frenzy of passion, that she might not survive this time, not with her mind intact, only enhanced the powerful sensations even more.

Zev.
She whispered his name in her mind. Her talisman. Her anchor. The man who made her complete.

I’m here, mon chaton féroce. I’ll catch you. Let yourself fall.
He was there instantly, wrapping her up in love.

As if her body needed to hear his assurances, with that velvet over steel invader slamming deep, the volcano erupted, exploded, threatened to rip her apart as wave after fiery wave tore through her body from thighs to belly and up to her breasts. Flames licked over and through her, that beautiful fire she craved. She gave herself up to the fierce sensations, her sheath clamping down hard around his flesh, scorching hot, dragging him with her into the sky.

Once again she felt like a phoenix, the legendary bird, burning completely, cleansed in the fire and reborn. The scent of cinnamon filling the cavern added to her illusion. There was nothing left. She felt like a rag doll, worn out and unable to hold her own weight.

Zev kept her from collapsing forward, rolling her over into his arms, holding her close. She could feel his heart pounding, matching the rhythm of hers. Their breath came together in ragged gasps. He rocked her, brushing kisses over the top of her head, his arms strong around her, his chest a solid wall for her to lean into.

“I love you, Zev,” she confessed. “Every part of you. Especially your wolf. The things you can do, the way you make me feel when we make love are absolutely amazing.”

“I’m happy you’re aware I’m making love to you. It’s impossible to touch you and not have my wolf side go a little crazy.” He smoothed his hand over her hair in a slow caress. “You make me a little crazy.”

“Of course I know you’re making love to me.” She turned her head to look up at him over her shoulder. “Why would you think otherwise? You rocked the entire mountain.”

He touched a thumbprint on her skin, a bite mark and two strawberries. “When my wolf is close, I get rough. I didn’t try very hard to hold back this time.”

She frowned at him. “I don’t want you to hold back. I want all of you. You don’t scare me.” She paused, thinking it over. “Well, sometimes, for just a moment, not because I think you’ll ever hurt me, but because the feeling is so amazing I’m afraid I can’t stay sane through it. Never be afraid to love me how you need to. I can handle rough. I love rough.”

He kissed his way down her neck. “Tell me whenever you’re afraid, Branka. We can stop until you feel safe.”

“That’s part of the perfection for me,” she admitted. “That delicious sense of being prey for your wolf. You have your wolf, and I have fire. So much, Zev. I burn so hot.”

His chin nuzzled her shoulder. “I love your fire, Branka.” There was a smile in his voice and his arms tightened around her.

“Sometimes I think from all those years locked in the ice, the fire just smoldered, sitting there, freezing, desperate to come out, and now, every time you touch me, it ignites the blaze.” She sighed, snuggling closer into him. “There’s so much heat in me, building and building and it starts spilling out and I can’t contain it. Then you put your hands on me or your mouth and I just go up in flames.”

He kissed the nape of her neck and bit down gently on her shoulder, sending chills through her body. She could stay there with him for all time, feeling safe and thoroughly loved.

Zev looked around the cave. It had been lit up with her fiery energy, but now it was dark and bleak again, no more red-orange glow, no red ground or flames crawling up the walls.

“I love you with all my heart and soul,” he said. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“Zev.” Branislava nuzzled his throat. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I can’t imagine you asking me if it’s okay for you to go hunting rogue packs.”

“Don’t try to compare the two,” Zev warned, bristling all over again. “When I hunt rogue packs, you’ll be right there with me. This is entirely different. I can’t possibly protect you when you try to remove this shadow from Damon. Better that I just kill him and get it over with.” He rose in one smooth, fluid motion, taking her with him, setting her on her feet. “Maybe that’s what I’ll do and the argument will be finished.”

She lifted her hand to smooth the lines carved so deep in his face. “We’re not arguing, Zev. I’m not arguing with you. I made a mistake. I should have talked it over with you before I opened my mouth. I’m afraid to face Xaviero. He always terrified me. The thought of him out there hurting other people is just as terrifying. Someone needs to stop him, and believe me, I wouldn’t mind taking the easy out and backing off, letting someone else take the lead against him.”

She waved her hands to clean and clothe herself. Zev tried not to smile. She was in a different outfit from the one he’d shredded. He followed her lead, refreshing his appearance.

“So you’ll tell the others you won’t be taking the shadow out of Damon.”

“If that’s what you want me to do,” she said, her gaze on his expressionless face. It was impossible to read him. “Zev, I want you happy. I want to please you. I don’t have any experience here, and you make it difficult sometimes. Do you really think I want to get anywhere near Xaviero?”

“Come here,” Zev pointed to the spot directly in front of him.

His voice turned her heart over. So much love turning his usual commanding tone to a velvet caress. Branislava moved without hesitation, stopping exactly where he’d indicated. Zev tipped her face up, his hands sliding along the curve of her cheeks and along her jaw, to her neck, tilting her face to his. His mouth came down on hers, not with his fury, but with such tenderness she felt the burn of tears behind her eyes.

His kiss was gentle, almost reverent. She felt love pouring into her mouth, down her throat, spreading through her body so that there wasn’t a single cell that wasn’t saturated with the intensity of his emotion. When he lifted his head, she touched her lips with wonder.

“I can’t believe you could do that,” she whispered.

“I can’t believe a woman like you even exists, let alone that I have the privilege of her belonging to me. I
am
a wolf, Branka. More, I’ve been an alpha almost from the day I was born. I’ve always been in the position of leadership. I expect that deference and when I don’t get it, the alpha wolf reacts in the way it would to keep the pack together. I can’t do anything about it. That’s my makeup. That’s who I am.”

“I know Zev,” she replied. “I accept that.”

He stroked his fingers down her cheek, touching her with the same tenderness that had been so prevalent in his kiss. “I never thought there would be a woman for me. Not in all the long years. I’ve always known I had little tolerance for defiance from a pack member, so I knew I’d be worse with my mate.”

“This woman definitely loves being yours. Just don’t be worse with our children,” she cautioned. “Dragons protect their young fiercely—especially fire dragons.”

He laughed softly, for the first time the tension in him slipping a little. “I’ll remember that. In the meantime, you remember that when a wolf hasn’t had family, hasn’t had a single person he loves, when he finds her, he holds on with everything he is. Maybe too tight.”

Branislava wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged hard, pressing her face over his heart. “You don’t have to worry, Zev. I hear your warnings. I understand what you mean. I’m not a woman who will be trampled on and I won’t lose who I am because you’re a strong man. I don’t scare so easily, either. And I love every moment of our lovemaking.”

He held her tightly. “You really are a miracle, Branka. My miracle.”

She thought it was the other way around, but she didn’t mind in the least being his miracle. “We’re getting in the habit of leaving our guests. We’d better go back and tell the prince that Gregori will have to take the chance of removing the shadow from Damon, because I’m certainly not okay with you killing him. I’ll have to try to explain to Gregori what to look for. If he trips a safeguard or can’t unravel it, he’ll die, and we’ll lose Savannah and possibly their daughters.”

“Damn it, Branka,” he snarled her name, turning away from her with a quick, restless motion, pacing the length of the small cave as if he couldn’t contain the energy inside of him. “You’re manipulating me and I don’t like it, not over this.”

She shook her head. “I’m stating a truth. A fact. Gregori doesn’t know the way Xaviero sets his patterns. I was there in the same room with him. I might have been locked behind ice, but I could see everything he did and I learned. I need to pass as much information as possible to Gregori so he has a chance of making it out alive.”

He swore and drove his fist deep into the wall. She winced, knowing he felt helpless. She kept silent, waiting for him to come to the only real conclusion possible on his own. She didn’t like it any more than he did, but in the end, the risk to Gregori was far worse than to her.

He turned around to face her, resting one hip against the entrance to the small chamber. “I’ll go in with you. I can stay back out of your way, but if things get dicey, I might find a way to protect you.”

She opened her mouth to protest.

Zev shook his head. “I’m not negotiating here. If you go after that shadow, I go with you to guard you. Take it or leave it.”

Branislava nodded slowly. “We’re better together than apart. You give me courage and strength, and he’s my worst nightmare. Having you close might be just the thing that gives me the edge.” Her nod grew firm. “I think that will work much better for both of us.”

He held out his hand to her. “Let’s get it done then. We’ll let Mikhail know.”

“We’ll need to prepare,” she murmured, talking to herself more than to him as they made their way back through several passageways toward the sacred cave of warriors. “Skyler and Tatijana can help me with a circle of protection. Both are very strong and I’ll need them.”

No one said anything as they entered the lit chamber, hand in hand. Zev sank down onto the smooth rock seat with Branislava beside him.

“I’ll need a large open space,” Branislava announced, “so if Xaviero becomes aware of my presence, he can’t see anything or anyone that might betray our movements to him. He’ll know when I remove the shadow that someone knows about him and he’ll retaliate in some way. He’ll strike at the Lycan council or at Mikhail. If anyone else is mage-shadowed, he can use them, and he will. I know him. He’s going to be very angry that anyone would dare thwart his plan.”

“Then we’ll have to check each one of them,” Gregori said. “Every single one, before you try to remove the shadow. We don’t have to try to figure out who is doing it, you’ve already identified him. It’s a matter of just looking and not touching.”

“There are a lot of Lycans here,” Fen pointed out.

“We can start with the key people, those in positions of power. The council members and then their guards,” Gregori said.

“How long will it take to go through that many people?” Fen said.

“We’ve got a lot of help. Tatijana is capable,” Gregori reminded him. “Skyler certainly is. Darius will help us. Certainly you and your brother can look into a skull and find a mark on a brain without disturbing anything. You’re just looking, not touching anything, if you trip a safeguard, if anyone does that, the mage will know.”

Mikhail nodded. “I can help as well and there are a few others we can ask.”

“No,” Gregori and Fen said firmly, simultaneously.

Dimitri added his opinion as well. “You can’t, Mikhail. Xaviero is specifically targeting you. If he brings you down, he has a much better chance of defeating the entire Carpathian race, wiping out our species. Now, more than ever, you have to be safe.”

Mikhail pushed both hands through his hair, the first real sign of agitation Zev had ever seen him make. Zev couldn’t blame him. The man reeked of power. He couldn’t open his mouth or take a step without anyone close feeling that power, yet at every turn, his own warriors stepped in front of him, blocking him from helping in times of need. Zev never wanted to be in that position.

He glanced at Branislava. Her eyes met his. He felt the impact like a punch to the gut, low and mean.
Am I doing that to you?

She smiled at him.
Yes.
She was bluntly honest.
But like Mikhail, I allow it and I’m fully aware I allow it. He has choices, just as I do. Someday there may come a time when it’s too important to him—or to me—and we’ll both go against those trying to stop us. But right now, this all makes sense.

Zev sent Mikhail a small, apologetic smile. “Your job isn’t easy, Mikhail. No one believes it is and none of us wants to be in your shoes. We’ll get this done as quickly and quietly as possible and report the numbers back to you.”

“In the meantime,” Mikhail said, “I can hide in my house while all of you take the risks.”

Gregori’s head snapped around, a frown crossing his face.
Mikhail, te ul3 sív és ul3 siel Karpatiikuntanak—
Mikhail, you are the very heart and soul of all Carpathians.
Te agba kont és te ekäm—
A true warrior and my brother.
ainaakä han ku olenasz Karpatiikuntahoz—
Never forget who you are to all of us.