Zev politely thanked Vlad, trying hard not to laugh at the boy’s dismay. The kid had fooled him and that wasn’t an easy thing to do. “So it’s you and me, kid,” he said. “We’ll be facing them together. The Lycan, who they blame for all of this, and you, because you outsmarted us all—even them.”
“You might not want to mention that part,” Paul said. “It isn’t like they have the best sense of humor. I’m not certain I’ve ever actually seen Zacarias laugh. We might want to take our chances in the forest.”
“You’re surrounded by snipers,” Fen pointed out. “That wouldn’t be the best idea.”
“Better a quick bullet than Zacarias tearing my head off and using it for some kind of macabre weapon, which he’s quite capable of,” Paul said.
“In the old days they used to cut off heads and put them up on spears to warn everyone what would happen to them if they angered the great lords,” Fen said with a sly glance at Zev. He nudged him with his foot. “Your head would look mighty pretty perched up on top of a spear, staring into the woods as a warning to the Lycans who shot young Paul there.”
“Fen!” Tatijana sounded shocked. “You’re getting more bloodthirsty by the minute. Go to ground and behave yourself.”
“He doesn’t know the meaning of the word,” Zev said, a little piously. “But if Paul’s uncle does cut off my head, Fen, it will be up to you to keep him from starting a war. You’ll have to talk sense into him.”
Fen scowled at him. “I doubt anyone can do that, even me, and when my brother rises, it will take all of you to talk sense into me.”
He couldn’t quite suppress the rage that rose every now and then when he thought of his brother being tortured in the Lycan camp. He would never have found Dimitri in time to save him. If Skyler and Dimitri didn’t have such an incredible, intense bond between them, his brother would have died an unspeakable death of sheer agony.
Zev’s faint smile faded. “I
am
sorry, Fen.”
Fen shrugged. He knew that Zev’s years of service to the council had conditioned him to follow orders and carry out commands. He was the council’s defense. Their eyes and ears. They trusted him implicitly, and he had earned that trust the hard way. He couldn’t blame Zev. The elite hunter had even confessed to him that he’d considered going against the orders of the council, or even ending Dimitri’s suffering himself by killing him.
“We’re not at war yet,” Fen reminded softly. “I find it difficult to understand how Dimitri could have been treated that way during wartime, let alone when we’re at peace.”
“I found it equally as hard to understand,” Zev admitted. “I found myself realizing I couldn’t uphold the council’s rulings if I didn’t believe they were just and fair.” That realization had shaken the very foundation of his existence, his every belief.
Fen took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry. None of this is your fault.”
“Maybe. And maybe it is. I should have known something was very wrong when I couldn’t reach the council for answers.” Zev shook his head. He was tired. Exhausted actually. He wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep. “You don’t have to stay up and keep me company. Paul and I will take turns keeping watch. You need sleep every bit as much as I do.”
Fen looked over at Paul.
Paul nodded, looking far too old for his age. “No problem, we’ve got this,” he agreed.
13
T
he sound of muted weeping filled his mind. Dimitri’s eyes snapped open. He looked down at the woman in his arms. Skyler lay curled into him, looking smaller than ever. Tangled vines, bright in color, had wrapped them up in a cocooning blanket of living flora. Beneath the cover, both of them were naked, needing the soil to heal every wound. He caught glimpses of her body, white porcelain, marred now by several bullets tearing into her flesh.
Skyler’s hand moved against his neck, the smallest of gestures, a mere brushing of her fingers, back and forth, betraying nerves.
Immediately he waved his hand and commanded the soil to open, to allow in air and the night. A cool breeze instantly fanned their faces. Overhead stars glittered and the moon glowed a soft yellow behind lazy clouds. He shielded them carefully from any eyes or ears, wrapping them in a warm cocoon of privacy.
He brushed back the hair from her face, removing all residue from both of them, while allowing the living blanket to remain. He wanted her to be comfortable with him, not aware both were naked beneath that twisting layer of vines.
“What is it, Skyler? Are you afraid?”
Her long lashes lifted and she looked up at him. The moment their eyes met, his heart leapt in his chest. She had always been stunningly beautiful to him. As she’d grown into a woman, her Dragonseeker blood became much more apparent. The heritage ran strong in her, giving her ever-changing eyes, dark now, with the tips of her lashes wet.
“I can’t be afraid with your arms around me, Dimitri,” she answered. She turned her face up into his neck, rubbing like a cat over his skin.
There was a little hitch to her voice that caught at him. “What then?” He lifted her chin with one finger and bent his head to kiss away the path of tears. “Why are you crying?” He trailed more kisses, featherlight, to the corner of her mouth.
He felt her tremble, the smallest of shivers, but she didn’t pull away from him, rather she turned her face subtly so his next kiss brushed across her lips. “
Csitri
, we’re safe now.” He kissed her gently, demanding nothing. Asking for nothing. Simply telling her he loved her and holding her close were all that mattered in that moment.
Her lips curved into a faint smile beneath his. “We’re safe as long as we stay here in the ground, my love. I believe my father and uncle are somewhere close.”
“You have nothing to fear from your family, Skyler,” Dimitri assured. “Without you, I would be dead. As my lifemate, you had every right to do what you did.”
“I see. So if our daughter ever . . .”
“She would be locked in her room for the rest of her life,” he interrupted. “Our child will be timid and want to cling to her parents.”
She laughed, turning her face back up to his throat. Her soft lips brushed kisses over the three loops of burns circling around his throat and neck. Her tongue stroked caresses there, following the path of those silver chains. He knew why she’d awakened weeping. For him. Not for herself. She wept for him and the suffering he’d gone through.
He slid his hand into her hair, bunching the thick silken strands into his fist. “Beloved. It is done. We’re both safe and together. Paul and Josef are alive and will heal nicely. Both will be heralded as heroes . . . well, after their families and Gabriel give them lectures and try to put the fear of death into them. Which won’t work because they’ve already faced real death.”
She laughed softly. “That’s so true. Josef said he’d have to go to ground for a hundred years. But they came with me. Both of them. I have amazing friends.” Her lips went back to feathering kisses in between the silken stroking of her tongue.
A rush of heat sent small flames flickering through his bloodstream. Every muscle tightened, became aware of the woman in his arms.
His
woman. With every movement, her bare skin brushed his intimately. He caught enticing glimpses of her breasts, the rose-tipped peaks and the rounded, very feminine curves.
They were bound now, soul to soul, and even a man as strong-willed as her legendary father could never separate them again. He didn’t try to hide his body’s reaction from her. He respected Skyler too much to pretend anything.
She lifted her head to look down at him, her dark eyes shimmering with ever-changing color. “I want you to want me, Dimitri.”
He gave her a faint smile. “That’s a good thing, Skyler,” he assured her. “Because I do. It’s natural to want to make love to the woman you’re in love with.”
“You’ll need to be patient with me. I want you to teach me.”
He framed her face with both hands. “It’s okay to be afraid and to tell me when you are.”
She nodded her head. “I know. I know you now. I know I’m safe with you.” She leaned closer to him. “I missed you so much all the times you were gone. I have no idea when I began to really know I love you, but it’s been a very long while now and growing stronger every moment.”
“Thank you for coming to rescue me,” he said simply, meaning it. She’d saved them both, giving them a chance at a life together. “You saved my life.”
“I discovered, when I couldn’t touch your mind with mine, that there was no Skyler without Dimitri.” Her eyes went soft, that dove gray that he was especially fond of. “I suppose it was more of a selfish act than a heroic one, tracking you down.”
He laughed softly. “Only you would think that.”
The amusement faded from her eyes. “We need to find a place where we can be alone, Dimitri. I know I can do a better job of healing you, both inside and out, but not here. Not with the Lycans surrounding us and a mob of Carpathian hunters watching our every move.”
“No one is watching us now,
sívamet
,” he assured. “We’re deep underground. Even should the Lycans crawl on the roof of the shelter above us and look down, they could not see us lying here. I have created a shield that no eyes can penetrate.”
She collapsed against him, as if that small spurt of energy had gone and she was exhausted again. “I am trying not to blame all Lycans, Dimitri. Intellectually, I understand it was a few individuals, but I still want to kick them all.”
Her confession made him laugh. “Kick them all?” he repeated. “You’re priceless,
csitri
, you really are. I had something much more lethal in mind.”
“Dimitri!” She turned her head up to look at him again. “How perfectly wonderful. You are capable of wanting revenge. I felt a bit guilty that I’m not a better person.”
“I don’t think you ever have to worry that you need to live up to me,” he assured her. “I’ve got plenty of faults.”
“Like?” she prompted.
He leaned in to kiss her. This time his mouth was firmer, a little more insistent. He stroked his tongue along the seam of her mouth and then traced her soft, full lips.
“I’m not telling you. You have to find those things out for yourself.”
Skyler pressed her mouth to his, a soft little teasing kiss, brushing her lips back and forth over his, as if she was testing the sensation. Her tongue stroked over his lips, following his lead, tasting him a little tentatively, but growing bolder as she deepened the kiss.
His hand tightened in her hair, holding her still. She startled, a deer caught in a poacher’s light, but she didn’t pull away from him. Her eyes widened, went soft. That beautiful shade of gray, indicating she was relaxed and happy.
Loving with such intensity was terrifying—wonderful—but terrifying. He would never be the same. He would never have that perfect control of the emotionless warrior. He would forever need this small woman who held his life in the palm of her hand.
He took possession of that perfect mouth, so warm and soft and inviting. His fist bunched in the thick silky strands of her hair, anchoring her to him, his first aggressive, controlling move, his first demand. He waited a heartbeat, giving her the chance to pull away, but she remained motionless, a small bird with a fluttering heart, holding still, waiting.
His mouth coaxed hers to open for him, more of a claim then he’d ever made on her before, more insistent. He counted his heartbeats this time, afraid she’d panic and pull away, but her trust in him overcame any fears she had and she opened her mouth to him. He took control, sweeping inside to claim her as a woman, a lover.
The rush was hot and instant, an electrical charge sizzling through his veins, snapping along his every nerve ending. Love for her encompassed him, infused into his very muscle and bone, so that his need of her, rising like a tidal wave, melded with desire. There would never be a way to separate the two emotions, that devastating urgent hunger for her, and the overwhelming love.
His brain threatened to short out. His heart raced, nearly burst in his chest. Every muscle hardened as blood rushed hotly to his groin. Her mouth was sweet, tangy and hot, a haven of pleasure he wanted to visit over and over. He tasted passion, not just his, but hers as well.
Her need met his. Rose with his. Matched his. Her mouth was untutored, and that made it all the sweeter for him. She wasn’t hesitant, but maybe a little shy. Nevertheless, she followed his lead willingly, and when he touched her mind, there was no fear, only the need to give him the same pleasure he was giving her.
He kissed her over and over, allowing himself to drown in her passion, stealing her breath, giving her his. This soft, seemingly fragile woman had saved him with the core of steel running through her and the incredible feminine power she wielded. She had given him life once, a reason to live, and then a second time, when there was only agony and no reason to hope, she had come for him.
He lifted his head to look down at her, drawing air into his aching lungs. Skyler pulled back, looking at him with her enormous eyes, her lashes fluttering down to cover her expression, but not before he caught the stunned, dazed look. “Kissing is so amazing,” she admitted, settling into his arms again. “I think I could get addicted to it quite easily.”
“I am already addicted to kissing you,” he said, his tone low. “So let’s clarify, just in case we run into one of those not so nice things about my character. Kissing
me
is amazing. It would be very deadly for anyone else.”
A little shiver went down Skyler’s spine at his tone. He looked as calm and as familiar as ever—her perfect Dimitri—but there was something in the timbre of his voice and in his eyes that told her he was very serious.
“Silly man, who else would I be kissing?” Before he could answer, she laughed softly. “Except Paul and Josef and my family. They don’t count.”
Paul and Josef were her family. He’d accepted that a long time ago—and it hadn’t been easy. Once he’d looked into her mind and really sorted out her emotions regarding both boys—no—men now, the relationship between them had never bothered him again. In fact, he’d grown quite fond of both, regarding them as she did—siblings more than friends.