Dark Destiny Page 0,71

to fool Father Mulligan?" Nicolae's eyebrow shot up. "A man of the church? A man of such wisdom?"

"Of course, a vampire could fool Father Mulligan. I could do it. I could take your shape and make anyone believe I was you." She shrugged her shoulders with casual disdain. "Well, almost anyone. Maybe not Vikirnoff."

There was a small silence while Nicolae watched her closely with his unblinking stare. He saw the moment she understood what he was getting at. A vampire could fool any human. There was no way that she, an innocent child of six, could have recognized the monster who'd destroyed her family.

"I see what you're saying, Nicolae, and I know you're right. In my head I know you're right. I tell myself to stop placing the blame for my parents' deaths on my shoulders, but my heart doesn't listen."

"At least you are hearing me," he said quietly. "It was not a vampire that entered the church. No vampire would do so, nor would one of their ghouls. They are unclean and would not dare to enter a sanctified place."

"I know that." He had trapped her very neatly into admitting to herself that she was not unclean, for she had entered the church. She wanted that truth to sink into her heart and soul and live there, freeing her from the weight of guilt and self-hatred. She lived. It mattered little that her life had been a form of hell. She was alive, and the vampire who had murdered her family and countless others was dead at her hand.

Nicolae's face was hidden by the shadows recess of the cave, but she could see his eyes. Hungry. Intense. Needful. Burning with desire. He robbed her of every protest. Robbed her even of self-preservation. She tasted his desire in her mouth. It spread through her bloodstream and pooled into molten liquid, pulsing and throbbing for release. Her body felt strange, not her own. Heavy and aching.

Nicolae's gaze locked on hers. He could smell her beckoning scent. He could read the confusion in her eyes. It didn't matter how much his body was screaming at him. His heart was melting, even as his body craved hers with an obsession he couldn't overcome. "You have not fed, Destiny. Why is that?" His voice was a whisper of sound in the confines of their underground chamber. A husky invitation that nearly brought her to her knees.

Destiny went weak at the sound of his voice. She watched his fingers slip the buttons of his shirt loose. Watched in complete fascination as he tossed the silk aside to reveal his powerful chest. His muscles were subtle, but well defined. She couldn't tear her gaze from the wide expanse of skin. The breadth of his shoulders. The thickness of his chest. His narrow waist. The strength in his arms.

"I can't breathe." She lifted her gaze to his face. "I can't breathe, Nicolae."

Destiny looked so fragile, so vulnerable, so lost. Nicolae stepped toward her and caught her face in his hands. He bent his head to hers, taking possession of her mouth, breathing for her, sharing his air. Sharing his strength.

At once the fire raged. Deep. Hot. Elemental. It flashed between them, in them, burning from the inside out. She simply surrendered to his dominance, her tongue dueling with his, a wild tango of mating. Of its own accord, her body went soft and pliant, molding itself to his, her breasts pressed tight to his chest. Her hands moved over him almost helplessly, as though moved by a compulsion to feel his skin beneath her fingers. The kiss went on and on. Neither could get enough; each wanted to crawl into the other's soul, into the other's skin, into the other's body.

It was sheer possession. A wild branding. Lust and love rising up swift and fast, intertwining, spinning out of control to create a firestorm, turbulent and white-hot. A soft sound escaped her throat, a keening mixture of fear and need. When he heard, Nicolae reluctantly began to exert his control, pulling back slightly to allow her to escape.

Her arms circled his neck and brought him back to her hungry mouth. He had been alone so many centuries, searching, waiting, needing her. She had been cut off from the world. Yearning for him. Clinging to him. Pushing him away at the same time to protect him. To save him. Her mouth was wild, fanning the heat up another notch. There was no saving either of them. She was