I may have been answering my calling, she agreed, but my first duty is to my lifemate. I made the choice to be bound to you. That was my choice and I stand by our vows. Your needs became mine. I trust that you feel the same toward me.
The knots in his belly settled a bit. He wanted to scoop her up, drag her out of the cave like the men of old, declaring to the world she belonged to him.
Silly wolf. Of course I belong to you. And it just occurred to me. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. Our souls are tied together, but so are our spirits. I wove them together when you were so mortally wounded. They remain woven together.
How is that going to help this situation? He leaned toward her, recognizing her sudden excitement.
All you have to do is let go of your physical body. The moment you do, your spirit will travel with mine. If you allow me to lead, you will be right there with me, inside Damon, while I work on unraveling safeguards and removing the mage-shadow.
Clever girl. He let his admiration show.
And, Zev . . .
Her voice dropped low, a lyrical tone, one of sheer intimacy, one that penetrated deep into his every cell, wrapping itself around bundles of nerve endings and starting a smoldering fire deep in his belly. He gave her his full attention, focusing wholly on her.
I’m madly in love with your wolf. He can never be too wild for me. He makes me . . .
She broke off her words, but without warning he felt scorching hot silk wrap his cock in a tight, fiery fist, squeezing and gripping erotically. The sensation rushed over him, taking his breath away, leaving him gasping and hungry.
He sent her one warning look, his eyes taking on the glow of the wolf. Her soft laughter teased at him. That was another huge trait he loved in her—the unexpected sense of fun she had. He hadn’t really known laughter until she had come into his life.
You’re such a gift, he said.
Around them, the others were standing. Stretching. Ready to leave to go check the Lycans. He couldn’t move. Didn’t dare move. She wasn’t finished with him, not by a long shot.
She sat beside him, so close that he knew she wore clothing, but the illusion of skin to skin was perfect. She threaded her fingers through his and gave a little wave toward her sister and Skyler as they went out of the spacious chamber.
You have no idea what a gift I truly am, she said, her laughter mischievous.
Now he felt the hot, moist lap of her tongue on his shaft, the close of her mouth over him, the dance of her fingers on his heavy sac. She was killing him without actually touching him.
She started to rise to follow the others, but he caught her arm and jerked her back down beside him. At once he saw the flare of heat in her eyes.
“We’re right behind you,” he called to his brother, and waited until he knew all of them were gone. With one hand, he undid his trousers, with the other, he bunched her hair in his hand and forced her head down into his lap. Zev let his head fall back as she enveloped him in the warmth and love of her mouth.
She never failed to astonish him with teasing, with her heat and the way she was ready and willing to meet his every desire.
“Hello, my wolf,” she murmured softly, licking at him like the fierce kitten he named her. “You do look good enough for a dragon to eat.”
A blast of heat accompanied her soft declaration. He eyed her warily.
Her laughter vibrated through his shaft, and he forgot all about that little warning, giving himself up to her clever mouth and hands.
11
The three Dragonseeker women took their time building the circle of protection. Branislava and Gregori had consulted numerous times, choosing and then discarding several locations before settling on this one. The clearing was a good distance from the village and far from the home of the prince. There were no farms nearby and no real landmarks should Xaviero surface unexpectedly or detect her as she attempted to remove the mage-shadow.
Mikhail explained the theory to the Lycan council members and Rolf insisted all of them be inspected, although both Arno and Lyall, influential counsel members, protested adamantly, maintaining they didn’t want a Carpathian invading their minds. An argument had ensued that had eaten into their time. In the end, Gregori had shrugged and given them an ultimatum. He wasn’t going to risk the prince or any of their people. If they didn’t want to be inspected, he told them to pack up and leave immediately.
It had taken a good half of the night, with ten Carpathians working to discover if any of the other Lycans were mage-shadowed. No council member was, but three more of the guards were. Daciana and Makoce were fine, as were the other two members of Zev’s elite hunting pack, Lykaon and Arnau, Arnos’s son.
The three guards, Borya, Pavlo and Igor, reacted as Damon had, horrified that someone else was inside their minds, possibly using them as puppets against their own council members, the members they’d sworn to protect. Zev realized it was possible that the guards who had attacked Rolf and Arno could have been mage-shadowed as well.