Dark Peril Page 0,67

that in you. I do not wish others to see you as I do. I do not want to share this woman with anyone else, male or female. This side of Solange is mine alone."

She shook her head, but took every word into her heart and held each close to her.

"Make no mistake, the warrior and the woman are not two separate entities. You are both, and I see you clearly. I know I have to share the warrior. That trait is strong, and there is no denying you. Events shaped what was already a fighter's spirit, honed and perfected in the fires of agony. In order to survive and ensure the safety of women you love, the women only you stand for who survived, you had to suppress the light in you. But that light is there, and I can see it. If I am the only one who does, that is all that matters."

God help her, every word touched her soul. He saw her. He knew her. He knew her better than she knew herself. She wanted to be everything for him, that woman who lived in the light, at least during the moments she actually could spend with him. She wanted to give him whatever he wanted.

They both had so little time left. She accepted that and so did he. They were committed on their inpidual paths. But this was their time--maybe their only time. She lifted her hand to his face, tracing those lines etched so deep, lines that made him look like such a tough, ruthless man. There was no boyish trait anywhere. He was all man. He didn't move away from her tentative exploration, nor did he hurry her decision to get into that pit of dark, rich soil with him. He stood beneath her fingers and let her commit his face to memory.

"You want me to sleep beside you?"

"I do not want you even inches from me, minan. I need you this day."

She swallowed every fear and lifted her chin. "How will you know I'm there?" She was going to give him this small thing. What did it matter? It was all he would allow her to give him. She couldn't touch his body, couldn't relieve that fierce arousal. He gave and gave, and she . . .

"I receive pleasure from giving you pleasure, Solange. And you are always gracious enough to share each moment with me, even though allowing me into your mind is terrifying to you. I will know you are with me."

"I don't understand why you won't let me . . ." She couldn't articulate what she wanted so she simply dropped her hand around his thick, rock-hard erection.

The breath hissed out of him. "It is not safe." Very gently he removed her fingers and pulled her palm to his heart. "It is enough that I share your pleasure."

She doubted that, but she was too unsure of herself at the moment to pursue it. She would have to think about his statement for a while. The vampire blood? He might lose control and convert her? She knew, from talking to Juliette, that the drive was fierce and unrelenting in the male to bind his lifemate to him, yet Dominic had shown no signs of needing to bind her to him, or wanting to convert her. What did that mean? If she took him at his word that she was everything he wanted, then there was another reason.

He swept his arm around her waist and took them over the edge of the deep pit. Just before her feet settled into the soil, a small, thin comforter covered one side of the dirt floor. Her bare feet landed on the material. He sank into the soil and let out a sigh.

"Juliette tried to describe to me what it was like to be rejuvenated by the earth, but I couldn't get the concept."

"You would like me to share the experience with you, kessake?" He settled into the cradle of dark, rich loam and held out his hand to her.

She took his hand and allowed him to pull her down to his side. She settled against him, curling like the cat she was, one hand flung boldly across his chest. "Yes." She wanted every experience with him that she could have.

No one would probably ever know about Dominic, her dream lover. He was hers alone, and maybe it was the way it was supposed to be. She'd done a lot of terrible things in