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hadn't recognized him until he had taken her into his arms. She had been so afraid he might see through her disguise, she hadn't allowed her senses to reveal the information she so desperately needed.

"You would have died." He said it starkly, without embellishment.

"I know that. I willingly offered my life so that you could continue your fight to save our people."

"You are Carpathian then." Very gently he reached out and took her hand, carefully prying open her fingers one by one and exposing the fingernail marks on her palm. Before she could guess his intention, he bent his dark head, his mouth brushing the marks with exquisite gentleness.

Her heart nearly stopped at the touch of his lips, the warmth of his breath. Snatching her hand back, she scowled at him. "Of course I'm Carpathian. Who else would recognize you? Gabriel. The defender of our people. You are the greatest vampire hunter our people have ever known. You're a legend come back to life. It took me some time to realize who you were, but you were in bad shape. You have been thought dead these last few centuries."

"Why did you not immediately identify yourself to me? I would never have allowed you to place your life in danger." His voice was very soft, a clear reprimand.

Color swept into Francesca's pale face. "Don't you presume to have rights over me, Gabriel. Your rights have been long since revoked."

He stirred, a slight ripple of muscle warning of his enormous strength. Francesca's black eyes flashed at him; she was not in the least intimidated. "I mean it. You had no right to do what you did."

"As a Carpathian male, I can do no other than protect you. Why do you live here alone, unclaimed, unprotected? Has our world changed so much that our males no longer care for our women?" His tone was soft yet all the more menacing.

Her chin lifted. "Our males have no idea of my existence. And it isn't your business either, so don't think you're going to get involved."

Gabriel merely looked at her. He was over two thousand years old. It was ingrained in him to protect women above all else. It was part of who he was, of what he was. And if this woman was his lifemate, it was more than his duty, it was his right. "I am afraid, Francesca, that I can do no other than watch over you properly. I have never neglected my responsibilities."

She felt very much at a disadvantage sitting there with him towering over her. Francesca stood up and moved gracefully across the room to put distance between them. He was making her heart pound with nervousness. Francesca had forgotten what it was like to be nervous. She was no fledgling. She had done what no other Carpathian woman had ever done: managed to escape undetected from both Carpathian males and marauding vampires and live her own life by her own rules. She was not about to allow this male to walk into her life and just take it over. "I think we should get something straight, Gabriel. I am not your responsibility. I'm willing to allow you to use this chamber until you get your bearings and find your safe place, but after that, there will be no contact between us. I have my own life here. It doesn't include you at all."

His eyebrow rose, an elegant, polite way of calling her a liar. "You are my lifemate." He felt the certainty of those words. She was his other half, the light to his darkness, the one woman created just for him.

For the first time Francesca showed fear. She swung around, her eyes wide with fright. "You didn't say the ritual words to bind us, did you?" Her hands were trembling so, she put them behind her back. From the very moment she had recognized him, this was the moment she had feared most.

"Why would you fear so natural a thing? You know I am your lifemate." Gabriel watched her closely, noting every expression. She was definitely frightened. And she had known before he had that she belonged with him.

Her chin went up almost defiantly. "I was your lifemate, Gabriel, many centuries ago. But when you made the decision to hunt vampires with your brother, you sentenced me to a life alone. I accepted that sentence. That was a long time ago. You can't just come back into my life and decree something else."

Gabriel was silent, touching her mind