for them. If that is not what you want to do, I will stop. But you are mine.”
There was finality in those words, and studying his face, she could see there was little wiggle room around his declaration. He believed it absolutely and the scary thing was—so did she. She took another step back, shaking her head. It was too unbelievable. Fridrick murdering Genevieve’s boyfriend and her grandmother. Murdering Ricard Beaudet and then Charlotte’s brother. Tariq writing to Ricard—such a coincidence. The three men who followed them from Paris. Giving herself to a man she didn’t know after years of not allowing anyone to touch her. What was wrong with her that she was being swept down a path there was no returning from? She wasn’t that kind of woman.
She’d always been strong and confident, her own person. Independent. Too much so according to her brother. Yet one touch, one look, just Tariq’s voice alone could make her want to please him. Want to give him everything—anything he wanted. That so wasn’t her. She couldn’t just believe every incredible word coming out of his mouth. She knew, from touching the carousel horse, that he was ancient. She saw him, felt him, even thought he’d seen her looking at him. Now she knew he had.
“I did.”
Her heart jumped, stuttered and then began to pound. He’d heard her thoughts. He was inside her mind. He could read her escape plan almost before she came up with one. Worse, he’d confirmed what she’d suspected.
“That moment was the one that allowed me hang on so long. To stay with humans. To come up with the idea of the clubs. I knew you were somewhere in the world, although I had convinced myself I made you up. I didn’t actually ‘see’ you so much as I felt your presence. So strong. I smelled the fragrance that is so uniquely you. I smelled it in the club and knew you were close.”
He inhaled, taking in her scent, drawing it deep into his lungs, his eyes watchful. She knew if she moved he’d be on her. She just didn’t know what he’d do.
“I want to take Lourdes and leave.” She tried to keep her voice even. It was too late to hide the fact that he’d totally freaked her out. She needed to get away from him. From the whispers of the wooden horse, now calling to her. She stuck the pad of her finger into her mouth again, sucking on the stinging splinter. It wasn’t there. She thought it had penetrated the skin and broken off, but it had just ripped a small laceration, which now just stung. She was grateful she didn’t have to fish out a piece of old wood from her finger—a small thing, but it gave her something else to think about.
“You hurt yourself?” Instantly he was alert.
“It’s nothing.” God. God. The concern in his voice. That shook her. His eyes had gone soft. Beautiful. He was the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on. All hers. Offering her everything. Was she really going to throw that away? She took another step back, away from temptation. “I didn’t even get a splinter.”
“Let me see.” He held out his hand to her.
Panic set in instantly. He couldn’t touch her. He just couldn’t. She would go to pieces. Melt. Give him everything he wanted. Anything. She had to be careful because every step she took she could be entering deeper into a trap.
She put her hand behind her and shook her head. “No.” That was decisive. “You stay there and let me think this through. I know you’re capable of controlling minds. I know vampires in movies can do that, especially if they’ve taken blood from the victim.”
“You aren’t a victim. You are my lifemate, my woman, meant to be cherished and protected. Never a victim, Charlotte.”
His voice. Mesmerizing. Velvet. Stroking caresses. If that wasn’t mind control what was? She shook her head, trying to make a decision when she felt more like the proverbial cornered prey.
“Do I have freedom of choice?”
“Choice in what? You have all kinds of freedom. You are gifted and becoming even more so. Can you not tell the difference in your senses? Your hearing? Your eyesight? Your ability to move? Every sense you have is already heightened. You have the freedom to speak your mind, to make decisions, all the things every human values so much.”
“You’re leaving out my decision to remain here—with you. What about that?”