Dark Slayer(70)

She looked carefree, with her long hair cascading down past her hips, a waterfall of silk that moved against his arm as they walked side by side. He liked that she was tall. He could see the length of her lashes, curling at the tips, two thick crescents that veiled her enormous eyes. He was thinking of leaning over and licking along the jagged seam of white that joined two pieces of her shoulder. Temptation was the way her skin was mapped into quadrants for him to explore.

I do not look like that. Embarrassment edged her voice.

Like what? He was puzzled that his dream woman could be embarrassed over his perusal. He could look at her forever-want to taste every square inch of her. He had a need to memorize every detail with the sensitive pads of his fingers, with his mouth and tongue, so he would forever remember the taste and feel of her.

As if these scars are sexy.

She ducked her head as she walked beside him down the narrow ribbon of stones that was the path winding through his garden. The long fall of hair hid her expression from him.

He stepped in front of her, effectively halting her, catching her chin in his fingers and lifting her face so he could hold her gaze captive with his. Everything about you is incredibly sexy, especially the way you fight. You take my breath away. The pad of his thumb rubbed over her full bottom lip. Sometimes I spend far too much time thinking about each of those lines on your body and wondering where they lead. What pleasures they can take me to-take us both to.

She blinked, her eyes going warm, then sultry. You think of me as a woman, then, not just a warrior.

How could I ever separate the two? Your traits make up the whole of who you are. His voice roughened with emotion. He searched in his mind for words to describe her, the way he saw her, but he could find little to express the way he felt, the beauty and light she brought to his soul, so empty and hollow and gutted by Xavier's evil.

Tell me. I need to know.

Words are not enough to explain a miracle, but I will do my best. You are tough, strong and skilled. Gentle. Kind. Compassionate. Fierce and formidable, with a will of iron. Sexy. Soft. Beautiful. Mysterious. Gentle and magnificent. You are all of these things. A miracle to me. A gift beyond any price.

Her lashes fluttered as she veiled her expression. The temptation of her mouth, the curve and soft texture, was too much to resist. It was a dream, nothing else, and it was his dream, the first one he had dared in a long time-since the betrayal of his sister. He hesitated, suddenly afraid. Could Xavier be tricking him? Was he now betraying the one woman who held his heart and soul?

No!

The warm honey poured over him again, stirring his body. His heart jumped, beat for a moment out of tune with the heartbeat of the earth. Pain slammed into him from every direction, taking his breath, his ability to think, his very sanity. He thought he screamed when he'd been so stoic, but he had concentrated more than he knew on the natural rhythm of the earth, allowing the heartbeat to keep the pain at a distance so he could tolerate it. For a moment he couldn't breathe, couldn't think. It was impossible to live with such pain.

Do not leave me! Her voice was panicked.

He'd never heard Ivory sound anything but cool and under control. The note of alarm in her voice steadied him. He realized he was drifting away from the scent and feel of her, distancing himself to prevent Xavier from discovering her, but there was need in her that he'd never seen before. She'd been injured. He remembered that much. Horribly injured. He didn't feel as if he had much strength left, but what he had, he would gladly give to her.

Ivory?

I am here, Razvan, with you. In you. I hold you tight, my heart to yours, my soul to yours. Do not leave me. Give me your word. No matter how terrible it gets, give me your word of honor that you will stay with me.

If you need me.

I will always need you.

He could barely conceive of the pure honesty in her voice. Could she really have need of him? He would never, no matter how difficult the circumstances, turn away from her should she need him. I will be with you always, Ivory, if it is within my power.

Her voice came again, close, gentle, that warmth that seeped into the coldest marrow of his bones and heated from the inside out. Rest, then, fel ku kuuluaak sivam belso-beloved. Gain strength, but hold strong and endure for me.

It was no small task she asked of him. He allowed the pain to consume him, to wash over and into him, to become part of him. It was the only way to survive. His will-and acceptance. He would survive for her.

He woke again after an indeterminate amount of time had passed. Like all Carpathians, he knew the difference between night and day; even deep beneath the earth he knew it was dark and the moon was full and high. Sound had awoken him. Summoned him. Voices raised in the ancient tongue-the healing chant rising and falling with both male and female voices lifting toward the night sky, burrowing deep into the richness of the soil to find his shattered body to surround him and provide strength and healing power.