he conceded. “We do. I still do not like the idea of you risking yourself like that.”
“You said yourself that I have power. I have extensive training as a mage. I also watched my father, brothers, stepmother and so many others. I know their work. If I can learn how to utilize being a Carpathian as well and teach you to learn the way the mage works, we would be pretty unstoppable.”
He hadn’t thought of her training him. He had thought in terms of him working with her to learn all the things she could do as a Carpathian. She was right, though. If she taught him how to think like a mage, how to perform their spells, the two of them would be a very dangerous force as well as a huge asset to the Asenguard compound. They would be able to safeguard the women and children from the continual assaults by Sergey and his army of vampires and servants.
“You would share your knowledge with me?” That interested him. Greatly interested him. Sharing knowledge was a Carpathian trait. They learned by simply taking those experiences from one another’s minds. Taking anything from his lifemate’s mind seemed not only a great idea, but intimate. He had never thought in terms of intimacy.
“You’re my lifemate, right? That means we’re going to spend our lives together. I think the more we both know, the better off we’re going to be. And you have to know, Isai, that I am the daughter of the reigning high mage. By siding with you, I will forever be known as a traitor in the mage community. There will be a price on my head. It will go on century after century, handed down from one mage to the next.”
“Then it will be good that not only do we both know how to handle battling an experienced mage, but that we continue to learn.”
She smiled and traced little symbols over his thigh with the pads of her fingers. “You rescued the cats, Isai. Thank you.”
“I am not certain whether I did the rescuing. Blue did more than I did. He’s a good cat. A strong leader.” He glanced across the chamber to where Blue’s eyes shone at him. The cat was still alert. Still awake. He didn’t know how much sleep they required. He had quite a bit to learn about all members of his new family.
“He is.” She yawned again and tried to hide it behind her hand.
“Try not to go to sleep yet. We have exchanged blood three times. I do not want you to be sleeping soundly and the conversion start to take place. Pain could jolt you awake and then you might not be able to get on top of it.”
“Pain?” Her lashes lifted again, and she regarded him with suspicion. “I don’t like how casually you said that.”
He shrugged. “Pain is simply an inconvenience, one we can cut off when it becomes too bothersome. You have enough Carpathian in you already to shift, which means you can block pain if it gets to be too much.”
“No one mentioned pain to me, or conversion, for that matter.”
“You are my lifemate, Julija. You studied Carpathians.”
“Carpathians do not have to be converted. At the time I was studying, Mikhail had not found Raven and there was no such thing as conversion. Or pain.”
He wanted to laugh. Instead he leaned over her, studying her profile as she lay across his thighs. She hadn’t moved. She was still relaxed in spite of the conversation. She wasn’t nearly as bothered by what they were discussing as she wanted to pretend. He stroked little caresses into her hair and then across her cheekbone and down the side of her face. Her skin was soft. Her body entirely feminine. She had curves. Lots of them. Beneath all that soft skin was firm muscle.
“Conversion and the way it works is a well-kept secret,” Isai conceded.
“Is the secret part that it can hurt?”
“You seem a little fixated on pain.”
“Why didn’t you mention that I would be able to keep from hurting when you spanked me? That would have been helpful.” Her voice was drowsy. Sexy drowsy.
He rubbed her bottom, smoothing over the firm flesh and then kneading and massaging. “I think you are fixated on spankings. Perhaps you enjoyed it much more than you let on.”
He felt the fan of her lashes against his thigh and then she turned her head again to look up at him.