Dark Promises(27)

Aleksei noted the drop of blood on her lip. He wanted to lick it off. Kiss her better. He couldn’t help but see the way her arms held her midsection tight. He felt the need to go to her and hold her gently. She appeared the epitome of a woman in distress. More, her voice rang with truth.

She also appeared lost, and in spite of himself, in spite of the danger, he couldn’t help the sudden surge of emotion for her. His lifemate. He had vowed to put her happiness before his own. She had betrayed him, but he had retaliated in a way that was far, far beneath him.

“I believe you.” Clearly it was important to her to give her that. Still, it changed nothing. She wanted another man. She’d refused him. She’d made it clear she despised him. The choices were still the same, and she wasn’t in a frame of mind to share her body with him. Without completing their binding, he wouldn’t make it through the rising. “Thank you for that.” He turned away again. Each time was much more difficult, but he knew it was the right thing to do.

“Please. Just wait. You can’t do what you’re thinking of doing.” Her voice shook.

Aleksei closed his eyes. He had to get away from her. From her scent. From the intimate knowledge he had of her body. He had time to think. To process. A lifemate was about caring. About having a home. A family. Someone to love you as you loved her. To take you as you were. Accept you. This woman wanted no part of that. She kept reaching out to him, but there was nothing there for him. He couldn’t look at her again. She was asking too much of him.

“It is too dangerous for me to stay and talk.” And truthfully, there was no reason. There was nothing else to say. “I will get Fane to come to you. He will watch over you until the others go to ground.” His voice was gruff. He could hear the growl coming close to the surface and he swallowed it down. He was close. Too close. “It is best you go to ground immediately to be safe. Next rising, walk out of here. Fane will open the gates for you.”

He heard movement and then she was right there, stepping in front of him, blocking his way. He kept walking and she was forced to step back, her hands out, coming into contact with his chest.

“Stop. You have to give me a minute. You’re not letting me even think,” Gabrielle said. “You can’t just tell me calmly you’re going to commit suicide and then walk away. That’s not right.”

“What is not right is my lifemate choosing another man over me,” he said quietly. “This is dangerous to both of us. I refuse to lose my honor. Without you, I cannot live. You know that. Your duty was to me. You refused. You chose another.”

“Stop saying that. Stop thinking that.” Gabrielle caught his shirt desperately. “You aren’t listening.”

“You are not saying anything.”

“Because you won’t give me time to think.”

He caught her chin, forcing her head up so he could look into her eyes. “Are you willing to share your life with me? Your body with mine? To give yourself to me? In order for us to be lifemates, these are the things that have to be.”

She licked her lips, smearing that small bead of ruby red. Her lashes fluttered and then dropped down to veil her expression.

“That is what I thought.” He gently removed her fists from his shirt and stepped around her.

Gabrielle watched him stride away and nearly collapsed on the ground, but that wouldn’t do any good. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be responsible for this man’s death. She’d wanted him dead just minutes earlier, but the reality of his being dead was something else altogether.

She stood undecided, watching him as he waved his hand toward the door. Instantly it obeyed him, flying open. Outside she could see the night. Feel the breeze. The cool air. The mist enclosed the monastery in a gray veil. She sucked in her breath and went after him. There was no real thought in her mind, just that she had to stop him.

She couldn’t think about Gary right now or what was happening to him. She’d already lost him. She lost him the moment she’d agreed to become Carpathian. Aleksei was right in believing she had known about lifemates and that she could be one to someone, but he was wrong in thinking she had betrayed him. Or was he?

“Stop. Aleksei. Stop.” She couldn’t prevent the tremble in her voice, but there was also pleading. “Just give me another minute of your time.”

He didn’t turn around this time. He kept walking. Desperation set in. She ran after him. “I’m not Carpathian. I’m human. I knew Gary before I was converted. When I was converted, I thought . . .” She was almost up to him and she was still talking to his back. He needed the truth, so she had to face it. Deep down inside her, where no one looked, not even her, she had to face the truth to save this man’s life. “I thought they would teach me what I was supposed to know. I thought someone would help me. Instruct me, but they didn’t.”