Dark Challenge Page 0,21

threat from vampires. The presence of a Carpathian woman nearby was sure to draw the creatures. And her safety was now of paramount personal importance to him.

Without warning it struck. An intense need to leave the dome, to get out. The feeling, a dark, oppressive dread, beat at him, swamped him, and for a moment he could barely breathe. Furious that he had left himself open for such an assault from the guard, he allowed himself to slump against the wall, the heel of one palm pressed to his forehead in a manner of distress while he carefully sought out the position of the guard.

Only then did it hit him. The touch was feminine, not masculine. Desari. He countered the compulsion to leave with a search of his own. He gathered his strength and waited. She was in a dressing room, seated on a stool. Julian inhaled her scent, taking it into his body. She was nervous. Not about her performance, but because she knew he was there. She was afraid of what he might do.

Julian smiled, his white teeth gleaming like a predator's. He fed her fear a bit. Not sharply, but with a simple, gentle flow of information. He was there. He was strong. Invincible. Nothing, no one could stop him. She could not possibly send him away.

Desari's right hand went to her slim throat in a gesture of protection. She knew the stranger was close by. Waiting. Watching. She could feel the weight of his presence. She could feel Darius's uneasiness. She was afraid. What was the stranger going to do? She couldn't bear it if Darius and he got into another fight. Someone would die. The stranger was so strong, he might kill Darius.

Her head jerked up, fury washing through her. No one could defeat Darius! That cad. He was amplifying her fears, her agitation.

Stop it, you!

That irritating, mocking, male laughter echoed in her mind.

You started it. If you want to play games, cara mia, I am more than willing. I do not want you here. Yes, you do, Julian countered calmly.

I am in you. I feel your excitement at my presence. The same excitement is in me. You feel my agitation. I have a job to do. Your presence is unsettling. Only because you are afraid of your future. You know it lies with me. A major change in life can be frightening. But I can do nothing other than to make you happy.

Desari pounced on that.

It would make me happy if you left this place. I do not want you and Darius to fight. The first is a lie, cara.

You seem to be able to tell untruths easily. But I will respect the second. I will avoid a confrontation with your guard if it is at all possible. You do not understand.

Desari was beginning to feel desperate. She had to find a way to make him leave. She didn't dare risk his presence, even if what he said was true, that she secretly wanted him there. She had never felt so alive. Every cell in her body was like her music, wild, free, soaring. She didn't understand it, but it was exhilarating. And he knew it.

I understand, piccola. His voice was tender, almost caressing. It slipped under her skin, producing an unexpected curl of heat in her bloodstream.

Trust me.

Desari was battling unfamiliar emotions. In all the centuries of her existence, she had never felt such a sizzling chemistry. She had actually feared that nothing would ever make her feel the erotic longings she had heard and read of for so many centuries. Her body had been cold and unresponsive until now. She had never laid eyes on this stranger, yet he easily evoked this reaction.

I do not know you. How can I trust you? You know me.

He said it in that same soft, arrogant voice. A statement of fact. Simple. Easy.

A loud knock on the door of her dressing room set her nerves jangling. She should have known someone was right outside. She had never before failed to be aware of the presence of the others. She rose and smoothed the silken sheath that fit her every curve. The slit up one side was nearly to her hip. The fabric was white with a garden of red roses. Her hair fell in a cascade of ebony silk past her hips and moved with a life of its own. For the first time in her life, it mattered that she looked good.

"Desari! Get a move