Aleksei waved his hand to free the other woman—the one who had dared to invade his space and interfere in his relationship. “Your lifemate had no right to enter my resting place.” There was a definite threat in those words—and rightly so. To enter any of the ancients’ space was a violation of the monastery rules.
“I take back every single thing I said, Gabrielle,” Trixie snapped. She drew in a deep, shuddering breath, glared at Aleksei and opened her mouth again, clearly outraged at his behavior. Fane was there instantly, standing solidly between her and Aleksei. He grabbed her arm in a viselike grip.
“I am certain my lifemate, out of respect for you and for me, will apologize to you later, Aleksei. We will leave you to your lifemate.”
A single sound of protest escaped Trixie’s throat, but it was muffled and cut off as Fane marched her out of Aleksei’s designated resting place, leaving him alone with his very disobedient woman.
Gabrielle looked very pale, the heavy fall of her dark, gleaming hair emphasizing her soft skin. The sweep of her very dark lashes did the same with her soft gray eyes. He resisted reaching out and curling his fingers around the nape of her neck as he wanted to do. He waited until he was certain they were alone and then his raw fury vibrated through the dwelling.
“Repeat what you just said to me,” he snapped, making it clear that if she did, there would be hell to pay.
Her gaze jumped to his. Held there. He could see the trepidation. Her hands shook. Her body trembled. She leaned close to him, not away, surprising him. Her gaze remained steady on his.
“I’ve had enough and I don’t really care much what you do to me. I was trying—working through things for you. It wasn’t easy and I was terrified, but I was trying to find my way to you.”
He waited. Holding himself still. Locking his gaze with hers. Using a predatory, possessive stare he knew intimidated her. Still, she leaned even closer.
“I have a suggestion for you, Aleksei,” she bit out softly, her mouth inches from his.
“Be very careful,” he warned her. “You’re already in trouble.”
Her eyebrow shot up. “Then it won’t matter when I give you my honest suggestion one way or the other. So here it is. Why don’t you go to one of the cemeteries, you know, the really old ones, like say from the sixteenth century or even earlier. Dig yourself up another lifemate. There should be a lot of women to choose from. Breathe some life into her, or hey, maybe not. Maybe you should just prop her up in the middle of the carpet where she can’t give you any lip. In any case, dead or alive, she might actually obey you like a trained idiot far better than the lifemate you’ve got now, because I can assure you, I will not.”
Before she could pull back, he curled his hand around the nape of her neck and held her in place. Through his palm he could feel the tremors running through her body. She totally intrigued him. Terrified, she still stood up to him. And she was terrified. She was also a natural submissive, which was a good thing given his dominant nature. She didn’t even try to look away. She meant what she said. She’d hit a wall.
She more than intrigued him. Amused him. Amused. He had forgotten there was such an emotion. He fought the impulse to pull her close, but truthfully, her small rebellion captivated him. She knew he was powerful, far more powerful than she would ever become, even as his lifemate. He was enormously strong. Yet she stood up to him, giving him attitude in the face of his anger.
The blood rushed hotly through his veins. The dominant in him rose fast. Along with all of that, he wanted to smile. Dig up a dead body? Really? She wasn’t nearly as afraid of him as she thought she was.
“I think I will forgo the dead body,” he said softly, his mouth against hers, “and put in a little time with the lifemate standing in front of me, seeing as how she is the only one.”
He moved with blinding speed, one arm sliding behind her back, the other behind her knees; before she could protest or try to fight him, he was in the air, taking her away from the monastery, away from any possible interference.
You want to sort things out, Gabrielle, you sort them out with me, not some stranger. A stranger, by the way, who was leading a group of assassins straight to our monastery. Those men all have weapons and the intention to kill us. All of us. You included.
She gave a little shocked gasp and clung to him, her arms circling his neck as he took her into the mist. Her body shivered against his and he automatically regulated her temperature for her.
They travel with a puppet of a vampire. The vampire calls himself Aron Mazur and he is an ancient, very dangerous. Andre is tracking Aron. The puppet is capable of walking in the sun and was created to aid Aron in finding and destroying us.
Gabrielle pushed her face against his throat, burying it there.
Fane and I met up with Andre. We destroyed the camp using natural means, but we were not able to kill the four hunters because Aron sent his pawns after us. There was a battle . . .
Her breath left her in a gasp and she raised her eyes to his. He read anxiety there. Her hands went to his shoulders, his arms, smoothed down his chest, looking for evidence of wounds. He nearly stopped her, but then it hit him. She was worried about him. That anxiety was for him. The concern was for him. He’d never had that. At least if he did, he didn’t remember it.
I am fine. A few lacerations easily healed. Do not be upset.
He liked that she was concerned about him—maybe a little too much. He dropped his head over hers and nuzzled the top of her head with his chin as he took her a good distance away from vampires and hunters, to a place he had marked a hundred years earlier. It was high enough in the mountains and deep enough in the forest that he knew it would still be there, in spite of all the changes.
He was a dinosaur from ancient times caught in a modern world. He knew that. He knew he would have to come to terms with that now that he had a lifemate and couldn’t lock himself away from the encroaching modern values and changes. He knew those changes started with the woman in his arms. Still, he couldn’t change his nature. He was a predator and he was a dominant. He was filled with darkness. He battled demons, and even with the finding of his lifemate, those demons still haunted him, haunted his soul.
He dropped down into the deeper forest, finding the cave he’d closed so many years earlier. It had everything for a perfect lair and he’d marked it well. He moved the large boulder away, took her inside and repositioned the boulder, adding both cover and safeguards to ensure Aron Mazur or his underlings wouldn’t be able to accidently stumble across them.
In spite of the fact that he could see perfectly in the dark, he waved his hand to send sconces blazing along the narrow hall leading to the deep chamber. He had been in his woman’s mind, if briefly, and she wasn’t in the least bit as used to the sterile environment as he was.
Before they reached the chamber, he fixed that as well. The ceiling was high, the room long with a series of pools toward the back. One was large, the other two small, all of them hot and natural. He added a wide bed, one he had plans for, one just the right height. He hadn’t taken her in a bed, but he knew humans used them, and she had been human.
Overhead he scattered stars across the ceiling, and he sent a light breeze to clear the air so that the sconces on the walls inside the chamber danced and flickered as they entered. He had added two chairs and a small fire as well. He’d seen rooms in houses and he created one similar to one he’d liked.