“I won’t be, Fane,” she warned again. “I think this is one of those cases where you should be very careful of what you wished for.”
He brought her hands to his mouth, kissing her knuckles, an intimate gesture he hoped told her how he felt. “You trusted me, Trixie. You gave that to me.”
“I believe in you, Fane. I don’t know when it happened, because I’ve never believed in any man, but I knew you would see me through it, no matter how bad it got. More, I needed to know what my Teagan had gone through for her lifemate. I wondered if she had done so willingly, or if he forced her.”
Fane winced. He knew she felt that wince in his mind. Through his body and the connection of their hands.
“I would say we have no choice, hän sívamak, but of course there is always a choice. I would not have survived without you. Andre would never have survived without Teagan, and Aleksei . . .” He leaned close to her. “Aleksei would have been difficult for any of us to kill. He is skilled beyond imagining. All of the ancients secluded here in the monastery are.”
Her eyes moved over his face. Drifted. Her eyelashes fluttered. She was exhausted. Still, he didn’t send her to sleep. He’d asked enough of her and she had stepped into his world willingly. She hadn’t expected the agony of the conversion, but she’d handled it stoically. His lady. His. He had never believed, after so long, so many centuries of darkness, that he would ever find his lifemate. He had given up hope. The others in the monastery had given up hope as well.
“You needed me, didn’t you?” she whispered.
“I needed you more than I needed air to breathe. I always will. You will never have to worry that I would look elsewhere for my happiness. You are home to me. You are my miracle, and having gone centuries without you, believe me, I know how precious you are.”
“Fane.”
She just said his name. A reprimand. She was reprimanding him because he was trying to reassure her. She thought he would be happy with a young, immature woman, but she had seen life and she was accepting of difficulties. She put family first. She was loyal and generous in her giving, which meant she would be in her lovemaking. She had every trait he could possibly want in a woman.
“Let me say this, Trixie. You deserve to hear it. You are my world. Do not ever be afraid of speaking your mind. Telling me what you think. If there comes a time when your outspoken opinions put you in danger, trust me to handle that.”
She gave him a faint smile. “You mean by shutting me up?”
“If need be. But I do not foresee a lot of that happening in the future.”
“Just so you know, if you silence me I will retaliate.”
He laughed softly. “I have no doubt of that, beloved.” He smoothed his hand over her hair. “You need to go to sleep, Trixie. When you wake, you will be completely healed.”
She cleared her throat and, for the first time, looked frightened. “Do I have to sleep in the ground?”
He wasn’t going to lie to her, but he wished he could soften the blow. For humans, that was one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome. Sleeping in the ground, for them, was like being buried alive. He picked that thought from her mind. For her, it was worse than taking blood. She liked the taste of him.
“You will go to sleep and I will put us there together. The soil will heal your body. You will not wake until I bring you back to the surface.”
“How can you be certain?”
“I am extremely powerful, Trixie, you have no need to worry. I will be with you, and eventually I will teach you to open the earth on your own.”
Her gaze clung to his for a long time. Searching. Finally she nodded. Relief swept through him. He needed for her to stop hurting. He gave her the command and she slipped into a deep sleep. Only then did he open the earth and call the rich minerals to him to aid in her healing process.
16
The room at the inn was very small and crowded. Gabrielle tasted fear in her mouth but she had to try. Natalya would kill this man. This human being. Brent Barstow. He was so mixed up. One moment she was talking about stem cell research with Natalya and the next, Barstow was in the room, a gun to the innkeeper’s head. The innkeeper’s family was downstairs, kidnapped.
So fast. Life changed in an instant like that. She couldn’t get enough air. Natalya was already losing it, so close to the edge, so ready to tear Barstow to pieces. Gabrielle tried her best to calm down the situation. That had always been her role, the peacemaker, the one who stepped between combatants and tried for sanity in an insane situation. Even after Barstow was disarmed, Natalya was ready to rip him to pieces.