Dark Peril Page 0,68

her life, committed a lot of sins. In the rain forest, she told herself it was kill or be killed, but the truth was, she was the one who determined who lived and who died. If she had two jaguar-men in her sights, she tried for both of them, but the first was always the one she considered the most dangerous and violent. These stolen moments of happiness with Dominic made up for a lifetime without.

He brushed a kiss on top of her head and then waved his hand. Another quilt settled over her. "While I sleep, should you wake, I do not want you cold."

She touched the exquisite quilt with the symbols woven into it. The material was soft, dark greens, like her forest, with animals embroidered into squares beside the symbols. She found herself tracing each one with a light finger. "This is beautiful."

"Gabriel's woman makes them for us. She weaves in whatever is needed. I wanted one to comfort you and bring you peace of mind. I will appear dead, Solange, with no breath or heartbeat. You cannot panic."

She smiled at the command in his voice. "I don't easily panic. Well, not as a rule. You definitely shocked me."

"By being real?"

"Yes."

He laughed softly. "You shocked me as well. We have bad timing, p?l?fertiil. Maybe the worst timing of any couple in history."

She turned his words over in his mind. "I needed time to grow, Dominic. There was so much anger in me, so much hatred for the men who slaughtered my family, who have been systematically committing genocide on our own people because they believe the bloodlines need to be pure. I hated for so long and I couldn't distinguish between those men who have destroyed our species and other men. It wasn't until Juliette met her lifemate, and I saw the honor in him, that I came to terms with my rage."

He brushed the hair from her face with gentle fingers. She remembered those same tender caresses from her dream man and her heart fluttered in her chest. He was so much like the image she'd conjured up, and yet a little frightening. Mostly because she wanted to bring him the same peace and joy he brought her.

He nuzzled the top of her head, and at the same time merged his mind with hers, catching the next, not-so-altruistic thoughts, the need to give him the same release he had given her.

Dominic sighed inwardly. I will not take the chance with you.

He could feel the need clawing at her, saw the erotic images in his mind, but he would never have been able to find the control to keep from claiming her both with his body and his soul. He craved her. A dark need that grew the longer he spent time with her.

His first duty was to protect her, even from himself. He had the blood of a vampire running in his veins, and with that acidic poison were thousands of greedy parasites working to consume him from the inside out--although . . . the vile creatures had gone still. None of them moved in him. There were no whispered commands, and there was no stabbing, relentless pain, not since he had been near his lifemate. Why was that? How could it be? Could lifemates provide such solace even for one already lost?

He took a deep breath. The night was gone. The sun rose steadily in the sky. He was deep beneath the earth, but he could still feel the effects on his body. Soon he would be a leaden weight and his heart would cease to beat. He felt Solange's sharp intake of breath and knew she was experiencing the prickly sensation on his skin, the scorched feeling that lived right under his skin in all the nerves.

He relaxed into the richness of the soil bed. The earth welcomed him, whispered to him, the abundance of minerals immediately seeping into his pores, enriching his body, speeding the healing of every wound, the long slices caused by the sword that had bit deep into his flesh. Zacarias had helped to speed the healing, but it was here in the earth where he would find the natural medicine for his kind.

Solange's wonder delighted him. She put her hand in the soil between them and allowed it to slip through her fingers. "I had no idea. All this time I've walked on it and yet didn't feel it alive, living and breathing with cures. Even if they aren't