Dark Curse Page 0,51

"I wish you could understand that I don't think I can actually stay here all day." It was hard to get the words out, to try to reason with the unreasonable.

"I realize you are having flashbacks, but I will help you get through this."

His arrogance set her teeth on edge. As if he could solve her inconsequential problems when she couldn't do it herself. Lara stepped past him and began walking along the narrow corridor. At once candles sprang to life in scones above her head, throwing shadows along the walls of tunnel. The light didn't dispel the fear in her mind. She was a prisoner, anyway she looked at it and she had promised herself it would never happen again-and it wouldn't.

The narrow corridor expanded outward several feet past a veil of stalactites-thin, dark daggers of brown and gold sharpened to lethal points. The hanging spears glittered with earthy tones, so long and thick she had thought the corridor closed, impenetrable on that side, but she could see more corridors, a maze of trails leading in different directions beneath the mountain. He could have gotten her lost, but he had been true to his word, giving her the directions to get out, even though he had no intention of allowing her to leave.

"In the story of lifemates that my aunts told me, the couple seemed to be very much in love. I don't really see that happening between us," Lara said, her back and shoulders stiff. "Do you?"

"Of course." There was complete confidence in his tone.

Nicolas paced easily one step behind her, his body so close she could feel his warmth. She sent him a small frown. His breath was on her ear, one hand brushed the small of her back. She tried not to feel the pull between them, that physical chemistry that persisted no matter what. Maybe she was drawn to the very danger in him she so strenuously objected to, but whatever it was, when he was so close to her, it was difficult to think straight. "It was only a story my aunts told me. Maybe it isn't even true."

"It is true. I could not have bound us together had the words not been imprinted before my birth. We 'marry' our woman immediately to protect the species from extinction."

"How lovely for the woman." Sarcasm dripped from her voice. Watching over her shoulder, she caught the faintest of smiles. It didn't quite reach his eyes, but it infuriated her. "Don't you think it's wrong that you can utter a few words and change a woman's life whether she wants it or not?"

"No. Why would a woman want to be with a man like me? It is the only way to protect our species from certain extinction. If you were not tied to me you would not so easily have come with me."

"I said I wouldn't be a prisoner." She walked faster.

Nicolas kept pace with her easily. "And you are not a prisoner."

She shook her head. "We don't even talk the same language."

It was impossible not to breathe him into her lungs. He was too close. He walked so silently she kept turning her head to see if he was there and she'd catch him. Real. Solid. Frightening. Fascinating. So male. Utterly handsome. He was almost too good-looking to be real. But his eyes gave him away. Hungry. Cunning. Intelligent. A hunter of prey. He made her pulse race and every alarm bell shriek. He made her aware of him as male and of herself as female. And he made her lose focus. She didn't have a clue how to handle him-but she knew absolutely she wouldn't allow him to turn her into the puppet her father had wanted.

His hand brushed the small of her back, his fingers trailing along her spine. "I think we will manage just fine, Lara. Give it time."

Chapter 7

The chamber was even more beautiful than Lara remembered, a dazzling display of gems and crystals of various colors. The water sparkled as it poured from the wall into the pool, the droplets like thousands of diamonds falling from the sky, but the warmth and beauty of the cave no longer made her feel safe and comforted. A cage was still a cage no matter what it looked like. She preferred the glacier-blue ice caves, cold and desolate, because she knew exactly what to expect there.

She moistened her lips and steadied herself. Yes, she had strong Carpathian blood running in her veins, and