Dark Demon (18 page)

"I don't know. I have disturbing dreams of him. He creeps into my dreams and when I try to remember my childhood with Razvan while I'm awake, I cannot. It's hazy and distant and pieces are missing. I have been afraid for some time that my memories of him are buried." She forced herself to look at him when she feared he might think she was crazy.

Vikirnoff was silent. She was nervous with him, attempting to trust him with something important to her, but more than that, he recognized the significance to his people. Xavier was a mortal enemy of the Carpathian people. He had murdered and kidnapped and waged war for one purpose, one end. He sought immortality. Should Xavier be alive he would be planning another strike against the Carpathian people. It didn't seem possible, but it had always bothered Vikirnoff that no body had been found to substantiate the claims of Xavier's death. Vikirnoff needed to choose his words carefully and not alienate her. He knew he didn't have the necessary skills to sweet-talk his lifemate. He only had the truth.

"Are you afraid Xavier is alive? That he is the one who placed you under compulsion? And that perhaps he tampered with your memories as well?"

Natalya sighed. "I don't know. I can't remember anything about him other than the stories told to me by my father, but I have dreams and they aren't pleasant. Worse, my father disappeared when I was ten. Razvan and I couldn't have lived alone, but I can't recall those days, or who took care of us. I dream about them and Xavier creeps into every dream."

"Do you suspect that he is alive?"

Natalya pressed her hand to her churning stomach. She did suspect Xavier lived, but that was crazy. She'd suspected it for some rime. And she worried that he wasn't the wonderful man her family had portrayed to her. Her dreams were often disturbing and Razvan and she suffered greatly at his hands. She had flashes of memories during waking hours that made no sense, memories of a shadowy figure that terrified her. She was afraid that man was Xavier.

"I don't know," she admitted reluctantly. "I know he was a dark mage and capable of controlling memory, but if he is alive and he didn't want me to remember him and he was altering my memories, why didn't he completely wipe himself from my mind? And what would be the purpose?"

Vikirnoff's dark eyes moved over her face, drinking her in, devouring her. She was so beautiful to him with her strong will and her warrior ways. When she sounded so confused and forlorn, his heart turned over. "Maybe he could not. You have tremendous strength in you, Natalya. Could he have controlled your memory to some extent but perhaps found it impossible to wipe it clean?"

She looked so downcast, so vulnerable, he stepped forward and framed her face with his hands. "I think you are a surprise to everyone you meet. You have more strength of will in you, more power coiled in you, than even you are aware. I see it in you. And I feel it when I am close to you. It would not matter how powerful a mage your grandfather is, I doubt he could wholly manipulate you should he attempt such a thing, because you have too much strength of character."

Tears glittered in her eyes and tangled on her lashes. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

"It is simply the truth." He bent forward, his breath warm against her cheek. "You break my heart when you cry, Natalya."

Natalya's heart nearly stopped beating when she felt his lips, smooth, firm, velvet soft, brushing away her tears. She hadn't been touched in years and he was seducing her with tenderness. "I don't mean to."

"I know. That is what makes it so appealing."

He kissed the corners of her mouth. She knew she should stop him, but she didn't want to. She waited, lungs burning for air, her heart beating too fast. His mouth settled over hers with infinite gentleness. Warmth spread and erupted into flames, searing her from the inside out. His arms enfolded her close, brought her into the heat of his body. Against his heavily muscled chest, his wildly beating heart. His scent enveloped her and she opened her mouth to his, tongue stroking hers with sudden wanton abandon.

Vikirnoff's kiss went from gentle to rough the moment she responded, the moment she gave herself to him, deepening into a fiery tango of possession and hunger and sheer passion. His hands bunched in her hair to pull her closer still until their mouths fused together in heat and fire.

They devoured one another, Natalya seeking his skin through his clothes. It wasn't until she felt him wince that she lifted her head and looked into his black eyes. "You are one beautiful man."

"Men are not beautiful." He traced her mouth with his fingertip.

She bit at him, drew his finger into her mouth and swirled her tongue around it. "Maybe not to you, but you certainly are to me." She could see how pale he was. Stark hunger burned in his eyes—both physical and sexual hunger. Her womb coiled tightly. "You need to feed again. The flight and shifting took too much energy."

Her voice was sultry with invitation. His entire body clenched in reaction, every nerve ending coming alive.

"I need to be deep inside of you." His lips skimmed down her neck, her throat, lower still, nudging aside the neckline of her shirt so he could flick his tongue over the swell of her breasts. So his teeth could tease sensitive skin. "You have no idea how much I want you." His hands pushed at her shirt, moving it up to bare her stomach and her enticing navel. "What is this?" He bent her back so that she rested against the slope of a boulder while he inspected the small belly button ring she was wearing. He nibbled at it, played with it with his tongue, flicking small velvet strokes much like a cat against her bare skin.

"I think you like it." He was making her crazy with desire. Her body was hot and aching and heavy with the need for release. His fingertips rubbed over her skin, pushing her shirt up further until he was touching the undersides of her breasts. She thought she might go out of her mind. Just the simple brush of his fingers on her sensitized skin had her dizzy with need.

"It is the only thing you should wear." He kissed the sparking gold band and tasted his way up her bare skin to her breast.

Natalya shivered in reaction, her hands tightening on him, pulling him closer to her, urging him on. She had never wanted anything more than she wanted the feel of his hands and mouth moving over bare skin. His teeth scraped erotically and her entire body tightened, heat building until she was nearly crying for relief. His mouth closed over her breast, hot and moist and so unbelievably seductive, she felt her body dissolve into liquid. "Vikirnoff." She whispered his name, stroked his hair. "I'm not going to make it if you keep this up." She didn't want him to stop. She wanted to strip the clothes from her body and wrap herself around him.

We could be in deadly peril here
. The reminder was punctuated with flicks of his tongue.

She laughed aloud. "You can't say
deadly peril
. In all those late night movies the stupid teens know they are in danger and they take time to kiss and touch just like this…" She groaned when his tongue flicked her nipple and sent waves of desire shooting through her bloodstream. "And then Freddie comes and kills them and they deserve it."

His mouth pulled strongly at her breast until her legs nearly gave out.
There are no vampires near so I do not think your Freddie will bother us right now. But if you are worried, we can leave this place
.

She groaned at the hopeful note in his voice, that deep husky aching note that tore her apart. Natalya smoothed his long hair. "I cannot leave." She said it simply, her throat raw, her heart breaking. It was the truth. She couldn't break the compulsion and leave the cave without entering it. "I'm sorry."

Vikirnoff nuzzled her breast once more and kissed his way higher until he found the pulse beating strongly right over the swelling curve.
Never be sorry for what you cannot change. I have you in my arms and that is enough
.

Natalya closed her eyes as his tongue swirled over her pulse. Her body throbbed and burned for him, but at the touch of his tongue, everything in her stilled. Waited, tense with need. His teeth sank deep and she cried out, clinging to him as the white-hot pain flashed through her and gave way to pure erotic pleasure. His hand cupped her breast, thumb sliding gently over her nipple while he fed from her pounding pulse.

He was nearly starved for her. For the essence of life. It all mingled together, his need of both. Hot. Sexual. He fought to stay centered when he wanted to lose himself in the lust and hunger. He heard the warning growl rumbling in his throat as the beast rose, fighting for supremacy, fighting to insist on the right to his lifemate. His body felt hard and painful but gloriously alive.
He felt
, his emotions and his cravings intense, so strong it shook him. He swept his tongue across the pinpricks at the top of her breast and pressed his lips across the creamy flesh.

They were bound together. Already his mind dwelt within hers. Their soul was shared, a complete bonding. He didn't want to wait for the joining of her body. Waiting went against every instinct, but he sensed she was not emotionally tied to him. If he lost himself in her body, could she call him back? Would she even try?

What is it
? Natalya straightened, not bothering to drag her shirt over her exposed breasts. She felt dreamy, wanton, hungry to touch his skin, to taste him. Centuries old drive took over and she used the palms of her hands to inch his shirt up to bare his chest to her. She ran the pads of her fingers over his chest, traced his muscles, leaned forward to taste his skin. He cupped the back of her head and pressed her closer, his hips moving against her body in a slow seductive rhythm.

"I don't actually like to take blood. I do it only when necessary," she confided, her lips feathering against his chest. Her tongue stroked over his hammering pulse. Once. Twice. She heard him groan. "But I can't resist the way you taste."

Her Carpathian legacy demanded she survive by occasionally taking blood, but for the most part, she was able to resist the lure. Right now it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the feel and taste of him. The lure of his body heat, the touch of his hands. She groaned softly and gave into the terrible addiction that seemed to have overtaken her. She
craved
him. She craved the feel and scent of him. His touch. His kiss. His body. She really wanted his body.

Her teeth sank deep and she felt him shiver with rising hunger. She wanted him. She would have him. She pressed her breasts against his chest, moved in a restless, enticing way, deliberately adding to the painful ache in his body. She felt him thicken, heard his breath leave his body in a rush. He tasted like nothing she'd ever experienced and it wasn't enough. She wanted it all. She flicked her tongue over the small pinpricks and stepped back, reaching to remove her shirt.

Behind Vikirnoff, the ground rippled as something raced beneath the dirt toward them. At once her ankles burned and hurt, just as if the creature that had dragged her below the surface had a hold of her again.

Chapter 7

"Something moved under the ground." Natalya jumped back and reached down to rub at her suddenly burning ankles. "Do you think it's that creature, the one that grabbed me?" She shuddered and backed up another step. "The ground did move, Vikirnoff, I saw it. Watch out. It might be after you. We
so
deserve this for acting like a couple of sex-starved teens in the late night movies."

Vikirnoff picked her up and settled her on the outcropping that had a half-inch crack zigzagging down the face of it. "I will be fine. You are obsessed with your movies, Natalya. I do not think viewing them has been a good influence on you."

"Well, I should have known better than to make out when
deadly peril
surrounded us. Please be careful. The Troll King could burst through the ground any minute now and take you to some disgusting lair. I'd have to rescue you again and…"

He shook his head, his faint intriguing smile capturing her attention and wiping out all coherent thought before she could finish. "Your imagination is running away with you. Tell me what you want to do."

"I want to get the hell out of here, but I can't. I have to go into the cave and get rid of this compulsion." She caught at his shirt. "I know you're thinking of taking me away from here, but I'd just have to come back and I'd search without you. Please don't do that, Vikirnoff."

He studied the desperation in her eyes. "I know you have this to do, Natalya. I am with you all the way. If Freddie or Troll King try to bother you, I will keep them off your back until this is finished."

Natalya let her breath out slowly, leaned forward and brushed a kiss over his lips. "Get up on this rock with me before that thing eats you alive."

His eyebrow shot up. "One of us has to be on the ground to find the opening. I know it is here, somewhere around this rock. We will have to be wary of traps. The cave does not want us to enter it."

"Good luck to you then."

He laughed softly. "I thought you might say that."

"Yes, well, I'm the practical type."

Vikirnoff studied the niche and outcropping, pacing back and forth around the front and sides of the boulder several times. Natalya was right, not only was something moving beneath the ground, but it was mimicking his every stride. The ground swelled slightly as if something large searched in serpentine motion just inches below the surface parallel to him each time he took a step. He also noticed, whenever he ceased to move, the creature raced to the boulder where Natalya was perched and remained still, melting back into the earth. The mist thickened around them, rolling in with cold blasts of air, but hovering to blanket the small peak, rather than continuing out in a path over the mountain as it should have. Voices howled and moaned and something dark and shadowy moved in the mist.