“And they can’t know. Every now and then, down through the ages, a society raises the alarm and there is a massive witch hunt. They kill everyone they suspect, human, Carpathian, and just people who they don’t like. As far as I know they’ve never managed to actually kill a vampire.”
She shot him a confused look. “You don’t want us to say anything.”
“We handle it,” he said. “Just as we’ve been doing for centuries.”
Joie swept a hand through her hair, pushing it back from her face. “I am tired, Traian. I feel as if I could sleep for a month.”
He drew her to her feet, and then simply lifted her into his arms as if she was no more than a child, cradling her against his chest.
Joie burst out laughing. “This is so medieval. Male carries little woman over mountain. Oh, the utter humiliation of it all.” She wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck in case he thought to put her down. Joie allowed her head to drop back as she scanned the heavens. “If you ever tell a single soul I let you do this, I’ll have to hurt you. I just want to be very clear on this. Not one single word.”
Traian looked down into her upturned face. She was trying to be courageous when she was obviously exhausted. He wanted to kiss her. More than anything, it seemed necessary to bend his head and find her mouth with his. Just taste her. Put in his claim. “What is your position on kissing?”
Joie’s gaze jumped to his mouth. The wicked, sinful temptation of it. “I’m thinking it over,” she conceded. “If I let you kiss me, I’ll melt on the spot. That’s a given. I already know that, and it’s so very humiliating. Worse than being carried around like I’m a fainting, weak bundle of femininity.”
“True, but it would be worth it,” he pointed out seriously.
She sighed and lifted her hand to his face, her fingertips tracing his sinful mouth. “Yes. But there’s another consideration, Traian.” Her voice turned very somber. Her gaze went to his. “You’re going to be addicting. And then I won’t be able to get you out of my system and I’ll get all weepy when we have to part, and that’s just more than I can bear, crying over some idiot man. Do you see the complications I’m facing here?”
His heart twisted inside his chest. “I do see that might be a problem if we were ever to part, but since we are truly lifemates and have no choice but to be together, I do not really think it is of much importance. In fact, under the circumstance, being addicted to my kisses would be an asset.” He couldn’t resist turning his head to capture her finger in the warmth of his mouth.
“The lifemate thing—see? That’s part of the problem. I have this overwhelming need to be mistress of my own fate. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a lifemate if it entails a have to sort of relationship. I’m a want to sort of woman. There is a difference.”
“That is good, Joie. I do not foresee any problems whatsoever, because it is clear we think so much alike. I am definitely a want to sort of man—and I want to kiss you.”
There was a devilish smirk on his face, one she couldn’t possibly resist. And who wanted to anyway? His mouth descended toward hers, and Joie lifted her face to meet him halfway—because this kiss was her choice, and he needed to know it.
Joie’s lips were soft, yielding, welcoming even. After all the long centuries, Traian felt like he had come home. It didn’t matter where they were, whose world they were in, she would always be home to him. The Earth stopped spinning, just as he knew it would. Bursts of star fire rained down around them. The embers smoldering deep in his belly burst into flame and raged through his bloodstream. His body knew her almost as intimately as his soul, though he hadn’t even really touched her yet.
Joie couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, forgot whether it was night or day. It was impossible to get her brain to function. She could only feel. Nothing had prepared her for the unrelenting pressure building so swiftly in her body, the heat rising, flames dancing along her skin, creating an inferno deep inside. Passion coiled tighter and tighter, a spring threatening to explode. Her breasts ached. Her fingers