Dark Lycan (Carpathian)

Before he could answer, her teeth sank deep. He threw his head back and growled in ecstasy. Her hands smoothed his shoulders, traced his ribs and dropped lower to find the girth of his burgeoning cock. She danced her fingers over his sensitive skin, then wrapped her fist tightly and slid the length of him from base to head in that firm grip. Her other hand dropped a little lower to find his heavy sac. She rolled and caressed, squeezing gently.

The sensations she created, between her hands and her mouth, turned his brain to absolute mush. Thunder roared in his ears. Blood pounded through his body. He had set out to give her a night of pleasure, only to have her turn the tables. She licked across the small wound in his chest her teeth had caused, her eyes nearly glowing as she lifted her lashes.

“I need more of you, lifemate,” she said softly.

If it was possible, his cock hardened even more.

She tugged very gently, not relinquishing her hold on him. “I think you’d better come with me.”

He did. How could he not? She got as far as the first pool where the rocks were smooth all around it and stepped into it. The water came to her waist.

“Sit right here.” She patted the edge where the rock was the smoothest.

He complied with her command, sitting right on the edge. His cock was rock hard against his stomach, but his sac hung down toward that steaming water. Standing so much lower than him, her head was perfectly aligned with his groin.

“This night was meant for you,” he said, his voice raspy and raw.

Tatijana gave him a siren’s smile, one that made him hotter than ever. “Exactly. I want more of you, and it’s time I got what I wanted. Ever since our night in the field, tasting you on that flower, I’ve been craving that exact taste. I could be addicted.”

Her mouth slid over him like a silken glove. His entire body shuddered with pleasure. He was hot, his skin, his blood, his desire. Her mouth was cool silk, wrapped tightly around him, drawing him deeper into her with every movement she made. She didn’t take her eyes from his, so that he could see her pleasure.

Fen cupped her breasts, his fingers finding her nipples. He rolled and tugged, watching the glaze come into the very depths of her eyes. Her hands moved over his groin, soft hands, but her touch drove him wild.

Tatijana had butterflies in her stomach. She’d never been nervous, but this time, she wanted to give Fen as much pleasure as he always gave her. More, she wanted this for herself. She wanted to make her own demands of him and know he found everything as pleasurable as she did.

She looked up at Fen’s rugged features. He was a man who had seen more in life than he ever should have. There was the stamp of confidence, of dominance, an alpha who took control when necessary. He was beautiful to her, wholly masculine, his face sensual. She loved his eyes. Those amazing, glacier-blue eyes. When he focused on her, there was no one else in the world and she knew it. He made her feel alive and vibrant and beautiful herself.

She loved the control she had, driving him wild, and she knew he was nearly crazy with pleasure. Her mouth and tongue teased and tortured, and clamped around him, tighter, urging him deeper, his hands on her breasts making her just as wild for him. She hadn’t known she was so sensitive there, but every tug on her nipples sent fresh, welcoming liquid between her legs.

Fen bunched Tatijana’s hair in his fist, groaning, his body swelling more. He tried to keep his hips still, giving her the control, but her tongue teased his most sensitive spot under the head of his cock and then suddenly flicked back and forth. Fire sizzled through his veins, settling in his groin, roaring as it grew out of control. She used the edge of her teeth, scraping gently, and then her tongue danced again. She slid her lips up and down his shaft, over his tight sac and the very base of his cock and then swirled her tongue around the head.

She sipped at the pearly drops leaking almost continually, keeping him so off balance he knew he would be lost. She took him deeper, her mouth constricting around him, and he took over, thrusting into her, giving her what she wanted most. Both hands gripped her hair, holding her still, drawing her into him as he thrust upward. She braced herself with one hand on his thigh while the other cuddled his sac, her hold intimate.

His body tightened, the fire roaring. He could feel flames from his feet to the top of his head. Blood pounded through him. His pulse thundered in his ears. She flattened her tongue, keeping her mouth tight while he thrust deep over and over. He felt the blast coming and there was no way to stop, not when she felt like heaven.

Nothing prepared him for the way she suckled him, the constriction and the feel of her silken mouth clamped around him. He threw back his head and howled like a wolf as he poured down her throat. His hands gripped her hair hard, but she didn’t pull away, only licked gently at his shaft and the exquisitely sensitive head until he felt thoroughly loved.

“Yep. That’s definitely the taste I remember,” Tatijana said. “Definitely addicting.”

He couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t certain he could ever breathe again. She smiled her siren’s smile and swam away from him, her bare buttocks flashing white. She rolled over and leisurely floated, her breasts thrust up toward the sky. The mist had come in, so soft and light, it was barely noticeable, or he’d been preoccupied and hadn’t observed it.

Now it was becoming thicker, denser, falling lightly into the steaming pool. He watched her for a few minutes, clearly enjoying the feel of the water against her skin. Even in the heat of the pool, Fen knew her skin would feel cool and inviting against his. He leaned back and let the mist fall on his face, watching the tiny drops fall like glittering diamonds from the sky.

He would always associate Tatijana with fresh rain, with the feel of cool water against hot skin. There was a sensual feeling he couldn’t deny with the mist falling softly over him. He’d never connected rain or fog to sensuality, but would forever more.

Tatijana sent a wall of water shooting at him. He ducked under it using the speed of his mixed blood and did a shallow dive into the water. The heat after the cool rain was shocking. He gave chase, catching her just near the far side, nearest the mountain where icy cold drops from the waterfall splashed over them to hiss in the heat of the pool.

Standing, he pulled her to him, catching her legs to wrap them around his body. The vee between her legs nestled over his already thickening cock. Her skin was cool, just as he suspected, but that sweet invitation was hotter than ever. She linked her fingers behind his neck and leaned in to kiss him.

“Thank you. I love this place, Fen. My beautiful wolf man. First you write me a song, and then you give me this wonderful night.” She threw her head back, allowing the mist to fall into her face. “I think it’s going to rain. Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

He laughed, enjoying how happy she was. “Only you would say that, my lady. Most women would prefer to be indoors when it rains.”

“They don’t know how good it feels on their skin.” She leaned down to lick droplets off his neck. “Or how good rain tastes on skin.”

“Lean back. I’ll hold you,” he promised. “Just enough that I can get a taste of you.”

When she complied, stretching her arms to full length, the movement pushed her body into his. She moved, a subtle circle, rubbing against him, so that his cock jerked with demand. Her breasts swayed invitingly and the silk of her hair fell in waves like a bright cape. Behind her, the waterfall spilled continuously down the mountainside, long crystal streaks of water racing toward the pools below. Wind moved through the trees, so that the tops swayed as if to music. Steam rose around them, creating even more of an intimacy.

“There is music to the rain,” Tatijana confided. “Haven’t you ever heard it?”

“No,” he admitted, nuzzling her breast. “When it rains, I’ll listen,” he promised.

The temptation of her taut nipple was too much for him. She was a redhead and her nipples were more of a pink than dark—and very sensitive. Each time he stroked his tongue over and around her breast, he felt her body’s reaction. He used his teeth, tiny little nips, before he drew her nipple into the heat of his mouth and suckled strongly.

The mist turned to a light rain, the drops feeling cool against his body heat. Cool, like Tatijana. His mouth was burning hot. His skin. His cock. His blood, surging, rushing, inflamed in the midst of such temptation. He couldn’t leave her other breast unattended and took his time paying tribute to her soft flesh until she was crying out his name, cradling his head and arching into him.

Her body squirmed against his, each delicious movement sliding over his shaft, rubbing and teasing, inflaming him more. He still had trouble believing that such a beautiful woman had chosen him, and each time he reached for her, gave herself again and again so generously. He touched her mind often, and she always was as eager to explore his body as he was to explore hers.

He kissed his way up her breast, over the creamy slope, his teeth nipping along the way, just to feel the hot liquid response of her body against his shaft. Using his tongue, he eased each sting and then found her pounding pulse. The frantic rhythm beckoned and called seductively to him. He felt the pull of her blood as deeply as he felt the need of her body. The taste of her burst through his mouth even before he actually sank his teeth deep.

Tatijana cried out, sweet music to his ears, as he drank from her, taking the essence of her into his own body. The rain fell over the both of them—small, gentle droplets cooling the heat of his skin, making his core burn hotter than ever. She cradled his head to her, holding him close, her body writhing against his. Twice she lifted her hips, trying to impale herself on him, but he held her firmly in place, drawing out the need, building it in her.

“Fen. What are you doing?”

She gasped his name. Chanted it again and again. Adding to the music. He was beginning to hear the rain’s song through the pounding of his own blood. Small little drops plopping in the water. The random hiss of droplets from the waterfall accompanying the steadier fall of the rain. Her ragged breathing. His pulse thundering in his ears like a drum.

He took his time, savoring the taste of her and the response of her body, before he finally closed the wound over her breast.

Her breathing became part of the symphony. The drops hitting the leaves produced a different sound than when they fell on the ground. He heard it now, the music the rain made, that same music she heard, and it became part of their night, part of them. His hands slid down her body to grip her buttocks, lifting her so that the head of his cock lodged just inside of her.

Tight muscles closed around him, gripping and squeezing, trying to drag him inside of her, desperate for him to move hard and deep. Her panting gasps and desperate pleas added to the melody of the rain, that perfect song. He would always love her soft little cries, the way she said his name over and over.

Very slowly he lowered her body over his, burying his cock in her scorching hot feminine sheath, such a contrast to the cool of her outside skin. Her body was tight, reluctantly giving way for his invasion. Her breath hissed out against his neck, a long sigh of pure rapture.

“At last,” she whispered, her fingers locking at the nape of his neck. “I feel I’ve waited a lifetime for this moment.”

“Clearly I’ve been remiss in attending to your needs,” he said, lifting her hips so that her body rode his.

She moved in a small, intriguing circle as she rode his cock down, her tight muscles locking over him so that the friction sent streaks of fire racing from his core up to his head and down to his toes.

Tatijana laughed softly, throwing her head back so that fine rain could touch her face. Her hair fell in long waves and her breasts jutted up, swaying temptingly. She looked so beautiful, wild, and obviously happy. He loved that about her, that inhibition, showing him how she felt about him every moment.

“Do you hear the music now, Fen?” she asked, her hips shifting to a faster rhythm.

The raindrops felt like little tongues against his skin. The concentration on her face added to her beauty as she rode him, her muscles a fiery velvet fist wrapped tightly around him. Yes, he heard it. The plinking of the drops in the water. The wild beating of their hearts in complete synchronization. The creaking of the trees and the little sounds she made that drove him completely and utterly mad with love for her.

He tightened his hands on her hips and took over, lifting her, picking up the pace so that he drove hard and deep while he held her still. He thrust over and over, surging into her, a piston out of control, listening to her gasping breath, her little cries, watching the glaze come into her eyes and the flush come to her body. The slap of the water just added to the crashing crescendo as he took them both right to the edge, teetered there, and then both fell together in a long erotic free fall.

Tatijana collapsed over him, her head on his shoulder, fighting for breath, pressing little kisses along his collarbone and neck.

Fen carried her to the edge of the pool before sinking into its warmth, keeping her on his lap as he sat, stretching out his legs, stone behind him and his woman a soft bundle in his arms. The soft rain fell on them both and Tatijana turned her face sideways so she could feel it.

“This has been such a beautiful night, Fen. A gift. Thank you. I love the way you love me. I was—” she broke off, searching for the right way to tell him. “I was having trouble closing the door on my past. I accepted what happened to me. One has to learn acceptance in a situation like ours, but it becomes a way of life. The terror of being outside that cave was almost as bad as being inside of it.”

He brought her hand to his mouth, kissing her knuckles and nibbling on her fingers. “Yet you’ve done so well, Tatijana. You set out exploring on your own, learning things you wanted to learn.”

She nodded. “But I avoided people. I observed them, but I still didn’t want to be part of anything else. I’m not explaining this very well. But I want to be a part of us. You and me. More than you and me. We have family. Branislava, Dimitri. Razvan and Natalya. Their lifemates. Young Skyler. My niece Lara who led the rescue of us. You’ve done that for me. You’ve given me the ability to go beyond just Bronnie and me.”

He nuzzled the top of her head with his chin. “You loved them all before I came along.”

“From a distance. I didn’t want any interaction with them. I avoided them, just as Bronnie is doing now. We both retreated underground where we were safe. Where we didn’t have to figure out the rules of the new world we lived in. Where no one could ever get to us again. We had no measure of trust. How could we? It was our own father who tortured us and held us prisoner. You made me realize just how honorable a man could be.”

“I’m glad then, that it was me, Tatijana. For me, you’re a complete miracle.”

“That’s it, right there. You think I’m the miracle, Fen, but really it’s you.” She caught his face between her hands and kissed him hard. “I love you with all my heart. You, Fen. You’re my lifemate and that means everything, it means we’re bound together. One. But I want you to know, I love you, my wolf man. I would follow you anywhere.”

She had followed him—into the labyrinth of evil her father had held her captive in. She had supported his every decision, following him into danger and fighting alongside him.

He kissed her again, savoring the taste of her, a part of him wondering how he got so lucky. His world had changed almost overnight. “I love you more than life itself, Tatijana,” he murmured. “Inadequate words but heartfelt.”

Tatijana laid her head on his shoulder again, closing her eyes, her body relaxing into his. Sometimes, like now, for Fen, it felt as if she simply melted into him. Soft. Cool. His lady.

“Fen.” Tatijana lifted her head from his chest to look into his eyes.

He felt the familiar tightening of his gut, the strange slow somersault of his heart the moment their eyes met.

“What’s next? What are you planning to do?”

“I’ve got to stop Abel. He’s after Mikhail. He plans to wipe out the entire species. We’re all connected through the prince. I don’t know what Abel stands to gain from killing Mikhail, but he’s dead set on it.”

“Maybe he’s moved on,” she said hopefully. “He’s lost most of his pack and now Bardolf. It would make sense for him to run.”

Fen sighed, his fingers at the nape of her neck, massaging gently. Tension was creeping back in when she’d been limp and relaxed only moments earlier. “I don’t think he’s going anywhere. I think his mission was to kill Mikhail, and unfortunately for him, I ran across his tracks, as did Zev. He wasn’t expecting either of us.”

“Do you really think you can kill Abel? How long has he been a Sange rau? Isn’t it true that your abilities grow with time?”

He felt the anxiety in her mind, heard the note of worry she tried to keep from her voice. “I’ve seen him in action, and I think we’re fairly evenly matched. So, yes, I believe I can kill him. It may take a little bit of luck and I know I’ll probably need recovery time after, but I’ll get the job done.”

He didn’t need to pretend confidence for her, and in any case he doubted if he could deceive her. He was confident. He brushed another kiss on the top of her head for reassurance. “No matter if Abel moved on or not, I would have to hunt him down. It’s what I do. It’s who I am. I can’t let him kill whoever he pleases. He lives for that now. The rush. The blood. No one is safe, no species. He has to be destroyed.”

“I know. But isn’t Zev supposed to hunt rogues?”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Abel is no rogue. He’s far more than that and you know it. The key to killing Abel is to remember what he’s like, I think. I grew up with him. I knew him as a child. The memories are vague, but I’m slowly pulling them up. He was a good man. Honorable. He didn’t have the character flaws one associates with those who choose to lose their souls. I have no idea what would make him choose to become the very thing he hunted so successfully for centuries. I ran across him once in a rare while. He was unswerving, even relentless in carrying out his duties.”

“What usually tips someone over the edge?” Tatijana asked, curiosity in her mind. “You all start out with honor.”

“I think it has to do with character. I’ve met Carpathians who crave power. Who enjoy killing. Remember, we are predators. We’re born to hunt. The darkness is in all of us, but just like everyone, we have character strengths and weaknesses. There were some whose paths I crossed that I was certain would turn if they didn’t find their lifemate very quickly. Abel wasn’t one of them.”

“Would he turn if he did find his lifemate and she was killed somehow?”

That gave him pause. There was always that danger. In the midst of grief, of wrenching intense sorrow when the other half of one’s soul had been ripped away, insanity could ensue. Tatijana may have hit on something, although he didn’t like the idea. If Abel had become vampire upon losing his lifemate, and it was known, that would make it much more difficult for Mikhail to convince the Lycan council that any Guardian who had a lifemate would be safe from becoming the Sange rau.

“It’s possible. That’s definitely one of the most feared moments for any Carpathian. Males refer to that moment as the madness thrall. You hold light in you, Tatijana, but we’re all darkness until you provide us with that light. You’ve given me life,” he tried to explain. She might be able to understand, because she had to have felt hopeless in those long, barren years prisoner in the ice caves.

“The centuries go on endlessly. There’s nothing but the kill. After a while a hunter begins to look forward to the kill because there is nothing else for him. There is no beauty in the world.” He looked around him. “Look at this. The falls, the pools and forest. The colors, so vibrant. Without you, I couldn’t see any of this. I wouldn’t even notice it. You provided that for me. I had no ability to feel for others. I hunted. I killed. I fed. That was my life. That’s the life of a Carpathian male. I was luckier than most because I found the Lycans. For a long while I could see as a wolf sees, but as my abilities as a . . . Guardian grew, so did the darkness in me.”

Tatijana pressed closer if it was possible, holding him tight in her arms.

“Can you imagine what it would be like for me, having been given these incredible gifts, this miracle of a lifemate who allows me to see such beauty in the world, to feel so intensely, such emotion and then have it ripped away? A madness grips, takes over. Most get through it, but not all.”

“Is it really a choice then, to become the vampire?” Tatijana asked.

“I haven’t been in that situation, but because the decision has to be made, give up one’s soul or follow your lifemate, it is decreed that it is a choice. I believe, in a moment of madness, anyone can make a bad decision.”

“How sad. How tragic.”

“It’s both,” he agreed. “But once he’s vampire, then there is no choice for the hunter. He must destroy the undead, even if it’s one’s father, brother or best friend. Vampires are wholly evil. Believe me, Tatijana, over the centuries, I’ve tried to reach one or two and pull them back.”

She nuzzled his throat. “Of course you did. You had little or no emotions, but you still had it in you to try.”

“We have memories. That is one thing we don’t lose. That is the one gift left to us. Our memories are vivid and very much alive. They do fade as the centuries go by, but we hold them close to us. Dimitri and I aided one another, keeping those important memories alive in one another. If not for him, I would have met the dawn a century ago. The pull of evil is so strong in a mixed blood. I think the predator is strong in both species, and when they come together it is far worse as time goes by and the gifts develop.”

“I feel sorry for Abel if he did lose a lifemate. I can’t imagine losing you. But Fen, if something happens to me, follow me. I don’t want to think of you lost without me and I can’t get to you to save you.”

She frowned up at him and he tried not to melt. It seemed a ridiculous thing to do for a Carpathian hunter and worse for a Guardian. One shouldn’t find their lifemate’s frowns adorable.

“I’ll do my best to always stay honorable, my lady,” he assured her.

“You’re worried about Dimitri, aren’t you?”

“I don’t worry that he will turn,” he said slowly. “The connection between Skyler and Dimitri is very strong. Intense. I’ve never seen anything like it, but, having said that, he puts himself in harm’s way more than I would like.”

She laughed softly. “In other words, he’s just like you. You throw yourself in front of people when there’s danger. Is that what you mean?”

He tugged on a strand of her hair. “He took me in even when I explained the dangers of what I was to him. He went into battle with me over and over and when we gave each other blood to survive, he knew the risks and still did it anyway.” He caught her chin and lifted it, forcing her to look up at him. “As you’re doing now.”

“And always, my Guardian, you have to know it is my choice. Just as it is Dimitri’s choice. None of us have control over what another does, we can only control ourselves. Dimitri is a strong man. He’s one of the best in any battle. He’s known for some time that he’s becoming as you are . . .”

“Yet he didn’t tell me until this evening.”

“He’s a man who handles his own life, just as you do,” Tatijana said. “He may be your younger brother, but he caught up with you many centuries ago. He has a need to protect you, just as you protect him. Skyler returned his emotions to him and he feels deeply. You can’t fault him for being a man.”

She spoke the truth and Fen knew it. Dimitri would always be his own man. He’d make his own decisions. Fate had given Dimitri the skills of a hunter and he’d excelled at his job.

“I love that the two of you are so close. I don’t know what I’d do without Bronnie. We definitely relied on each other all those centuries. It’s nice to know you understand that unbreakable bond we have.”

Fen sighed. The sky overhead was becoming lighter in spite of the rainclouds drifting across. “We have to go to ground, my lady.”

“I know.” She kissed his throat again. “I wanted this night to never end. I know you’re going to hunt Abel this next rising.” She paused to look up at him. “Aren’t you?”

“It has to be done. I can’t take the chance of waiting. He’s got a plan to kill Mikhail and he believes he can do it. That means the plan is already in place. I can’t wait for him to put it into motion and maybe get away with it. If I push him, actively hunt him, and he knows I’m coming for him, that might throw him off his game.”

Fen stood up, taking her with him, cradling her in his arms, close to his chest. He didn’t bother with clothes, there seemed no need. Both could regulate their body temperatures and she loved the feel of the rain on her skin. He was coming to love it as well.

“When it’s over, will we stay here? Make our home near the others?”

She was asking if they would remain close to her sister. Again she tried to hide that little anxious note from him, but he felt it would be impossible for him not to recognize when his lady was upset.

He leaned his head down and fastened his mouth to hers. She tasted like the rain. Like wild honey. Like Tatijana. She always made him hungry for more.

“I would never take you far from your sister, sívamet,” he assured when he had kissed her thoroughly. “I would never do anything that would make you unhappy.”

Tatijana’s eyes searched his. She nodded her head and tightened her hold on his neck. “Let’s go back to our little spot in the forest. I want to lie close to you for a while before we go to sleep. I need you to hold me.”

“Always,” he said, and took to the air.
Chapter 19

Tatijana woke before Fen. She lay curled in his arms, her head on his shoulder, just as she had when they’d finally closed the earth over them. They’d made love two more times, and she knew part of that terrible hunger in her was sheer fear. The Sange rau terrified her. There would be no stopping Fen, or Dimitri for that matter. Both had sworn loyalty to the prince and the Carpathian people. They would defend Mikhail Dubrinsky with their lives.

She waved her hand to open the earth. It was dark in the forest, although still rather early in the evening. Tree branches swayed and danced to the wind. The rain had stopped, but gray clouds spun in the sky. A storm was coming. A big one. She pressed a hand to her wildly beating heart. She would not lose her lifemate to this monster. Strangely, last evening, when she thought it was possible Abel had turned because he’d lost his lifemate, she’d felt compassion for him. That was gone this rising. She only cared that Fen came home safe to her.

She took a deep breath of the fresh air. The rain always left behind a fresh, clean scent. Now, it was mixed with the soothing aroma of forest—trees and rich soil. She arranged her surprise for him, the candles set in a protection circle around soft blankets right out under the canopy so they could look up and see the night arriving through the beauty of the trees. Fen hadn’t seen much beauty these past centuries and she was determined to make up for lost time. She’d awakened early just for that purpose.

When she was ready, Tatijana floated him out of their sleeping quarters and over to the blanket, ensuring his body was clean and free of all rejuvenating soil. She knew he was aware, but he didn’t stop her or try to take over. That made her love him all the more. Fen always provided what she needed most. Right now, she needed to feel his strength and know they were both alive and well.

She crawled over the top of him, kissing her way up his thigh, his groin, the erection that was already becoming heavy and thick, his belly and chest with all that beautiful muscle definition. She traced the muscles with her tongue, exploring him, imprinting him into her bones, in her mind so there wasn’t a single inch of him she didn’t know.

His hands tangled in her hair as she took her time with her exploration. He turned his body over and let her do the same to the back of him and then each side. He never said a word, but she felt completely surrounded by his love. She’d never felt so close to anyone in her life. She knew he was telling her silently that he belonged to her. Whatever she needed, whatever she hungered for, he provided.

When she turned him back over and took his face between her hands, her body stretched out over his, so that every inch of her was pressed into him, she kissed him long and hard. Taking her time. Telling him she loved him with her mouth, with her hands.

When she lifted her head, Fen smiled at her. He traced her mouth with the pad of his fingers. “My turn,” he said abruptly and catching her in his arms, rolled her beneath him.

She couldn’t help the little thrill that burst through her. He was so strong, his body fit and hard, yet he never hurt her. Fen repeated her actions, exploring every inch of her, but she was certain he was far more thorough than she had been, he had her squirming and mewling like a kitten, her hips bucking at times when he used his tongue and teeth on her most sensitive nerve endings. He paid no attention, but took his time, making certain he didn’t miss a single spot.

He pulled her to her hands and knees, wrapping his arm around her waist and jerking her body back into him as he knelt up behind her. His hands massaged her buttocks, his finger slipping into her to make certain she was ready for him.

The position allowed him to go even deeper, to take her harder and faster. He started slow and gentle, giving her body time to get used to his invasion as he almost always did. Her sheath always seemed reluctant at first, so tight she strangled his cock, but then opening for him like a sensitive flower to allow his deeper penetration.

He seemed to know without words what she needed and he pounded into her, showing no mercy, taking her up fast and hard and then stopping just before her release. Over and over he built the tension, stretching them both out on a torturous rack of pleasure until she was nearly sobbing. Still he was relentless. Merciless.

Fen waited for her pleas. The chanting of his name. The music that always accompanied their lovemaking. He didn’t stop until he heard it, surging deep, his cock swelling gloriously, while her feminine sheath gripped and milked him. He heard his own hoarse cry blending with hers as jet after jet of hot seed filled her. The ripples went from her core to her breasts and down her thighs, the aftershocks nearly as strong as the orgasm itself and he felt them all, merged deep as he was in her mind.

Fen leaned over her, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling her back. “There is no better way to wake up, my lady, than with you like this.”

Tatijana didn’t say anything at all, but he felt her heavy sorrow pressing down on him.

Very gently, reluctantly, he withdrew, pulling her back onto his lap. She wouldn’t look at him and he had to grip her chin and turn her face up to his. There were tears on her face. “I will not die. I know you’re afraid, but I will not die.”

“I have a terrible feeling of dread.” She traced her finger over the faint image of the dragon over her ovary. “Sometimes, I know something bad is going to happen before it does. I don’t know what, but when I woke, I could barely breathe.”

“I will not die,” he reiterated. “I have battled the vampire for centuries and I have sustained many mortal wounds. It could very well happen again in this fight with Abel, but I survived without my lifemate. How much easier will it be for me this time? You are Dragonseeker. Mother Earth has accepted me as her son. We have Gregori close, a great healer, and young Skyler, who we both know is exceptional. I do not fear this. I don’t want you to be afraid either.”

Fen brushed at the tears on her face, and then leaned down to take one into his mouth, tasting her fear.

Tatijana knelt up in front of him, taking his face between both hands. “You are everything to me, and know this, wolf man. Should you go into the next life, I will follow. Look for me only minutes behind. I will not give you up.”

“There will be no need. Unless you see my body and know I am dead, do not even consider such a thing,” he cautioned. “I’ve come back from wounds worse than Dimitri’s. The wolf in me is strong and regenerates fast.”

Tatijana sat back on her heels. “Like the Sange rau. Abel can regenerate very fast, can’t he? Like everything else it speeds up with the length of time you’ve been a mixed blood.”

Fen wasn’t surprised that she was aware Abel would be a far cry from Bardolf. “True. But silver will still kill him. I just have to figure out where he set up his lair.”

“I woke you early so you would have time to prepare,” Tatijana admitted. “And feed from a Carpathian ancient, one with pure line. I will give you my blood, but seek out Jacques Dubrinsky. You need to be as strong as possible.”

She stood up, clothing herself as she did so, but she left the candles burning. “This is a circle of protection. I was careful setting it up and as long as you’re in it, no harm can come to you. More, if you and Dimitri use this circle to figure out what Abel might do and where he might be, no other can accidentally overhear words, thoughts or telepathy.”

As frightened as she was for him, she had still taken the time to give him such a gift. He stood up as well, clothing himself, his hair tied back with a cord, his boots and long coat ready for war. He called his weapons to him, a multitude of silver stakes slipping into the loops made for them, as well as a long sword. He didn’t bother with gloves as he had no intention of running into any member of the pack. Instead, he coated his hands and arms with sealant as Dimitri had.

My brother-kin. Let us come together with a battle plan. Fen wasted no time at all waking his brother.

Tatijana stepped close to him and offered him her neck, sweeping back the long length of hair. Her arms went around his head, bringing it down to the warmth of her neck and throat where he nuzzled her.

“Take what you need, Fenris Dalka, and come home to your lifemate.”

“I will take that as a command, my lady,” he said.

She smelled so good. He’d just had her, but that woodsy scent, fresh honey and rain aroused him all over again. He folded her into his arms and took her offering without hesitation. He was already addicted to her taste, and Dragonseeker blood would be invaluable in his pursuit of the enemy. For a moment, he lost himself in the sensual, intimate act of taking his lifemate’s blood, but still, he was aware the moment Dimitri approached.

He closed the small wound on her neck and held her a moment longer. Tatijana smiled up at him, waved at Dimitri and shifted, using a small wolf to move through the forest to the edge of the village where she would find sustenance.

Fen wrapped her up in warmth, pouring his love of her into her mind for a moment, before he had to turn his attention to business.

“She made us a protection circle,” Dimitri said as he stepped inside. He was dressed very similar to Fen, his weapons concealed but easily accessed.

“She’s worried and wanted us to be as safe as possible. We’re going to have to remember at all times we have more than one enemy. Should the pack become aware of what we are, they will turn on us,” Fen cautioned.

Dimitri nodded. “I had hoped to avoid them.”

“We know Mikhail is the target. I’m almost certain Abel has come here on a mission to assassinate the prince. It can’t be personal, Mikhail is far too young and I doubt Abel ever crossed paths with him. He would gain nothing from destroying an entire species.”

“But you believe someone else has something to gain?” Dimitri asked. “You’ve mentioned this before, but whom?”

“I don’t have that answer, and at this point, we have to deal with one thing at a time. Try to remember Abel as a young man. He was closer to my age than yours, but he would have been around. Anything might help.”

Dimitri frowned, trying to call up old, faded memories. He shrugged. “The only thing I remember of him, other than that he was a good man who answered questions when I asked him about various weapons, was the one time he took me out to the lake to show me how to fight in the water.”

Fen swung around. “The lake. He was obsessed with that lake. When anyone needed him in the old days, they would find him there. That’s where he is, Dimitri. He’s found a lair somewhere near the lake.”

“There’s a small island in the lake; it’s actually close to the shore and he might be able to use it,” Dimitri suggested. “It would be unusual for a vampire to do something like that. Wouldn’t he have to have a retreat, an exit? There’s not much on that tiny island, some trees and a few rocks.”

“I say we check it out,” Fen said. “He would have safeguards. No Carpathian will go to ground without safeguards and he was a Carpathian for centuries. He’ll fall back on what he knows best.”

“Let’s do this,” Dimitri said.

The moment both stepped from the circle, it disappeared as though it had never been. Before either could move, an owl settled into the tree above them. They spread out, moving quickly so that the owl was in the middle. Jacques Dubrinsky shifted, leaping to the ground to land closer to Fen.

“Tatijana sent me to you. She said you were going to hunt the Sange rau and you would need blood. She sent your message, that the prince needed to be guarded and we’ve got him protected. Have you sent word to the Lycans?” As he spoke he used his teeth on his own wrist and extended his arm toward Fen. “I offer freely,” he added, using the ritual between battle mates.

Fen took the proffered wrist, ingesting a small amount, making certain there would be enough to sustain his brother and yet not taking so much Jacques would grow weak.

While Dimitri fed, Fen answered. “No. The Lycans would handicap us at this point. They would do better guarding the prince with you. If Abel gets through us, I doubt he’ll stop trying to go after Mikhail. Better to have all of you there. We’ll have to fight as Guardians, not Lycan or Carpathian, and we can’t worry whether or not we’re observed.”

Jacques nodded. “That makes perfect sense.”

Dimitri politely closed the laceration on Jacques’s wrist. “Good luck this day.”

“Good hunting,” Jacques replied. He gripped Dimitri’s forearms hard and did the same with Fen before shifting and taking to the air.

They waited until Jacques was out of sight and then both brothers shifted to owls and took to the sky in the opposite direction, heading for the lake. The forest was thick, the canopy hiding the ground below, but twice, Fen sensed wolves below him. Not animals, but small groups of werewolves making their way toward Mikhail’s home.

We could be wrong, Dimitri ventured. He could be making an all-out assault on the prince’s home.

He has to believe the prince would never be left in his home. We already found out the safeguards wouldn’t hold up against Abel, Fen said with confidence. He knows the prince isn’t there. He wants everyone to think that’s what he’s doing.

I hope you’re right, Dimitri said. I’ve got this feeling . . .

One person with a feeling was bad, two was far worse. Fen believed in instincts. His gut told him Abel had made his lair somewhere near the lake. He would be sending what was left of his army as a diversion, but he would have another plan altogether.

Tatijana had a feeling as well. We’ll have to be doubly careful. Abel knows that realistically, we’re the only ones standing between him and Mikhail, Fen said. His plans include us. He’ll want to wipe us out first.

He plays chess or at least he’s studied it. Take the King’s Queen, his best defense. In this case, we’re his Queens, Dimitri speculated. He’s left with Bishops, Rooks and Knights.

Fen, in the body of the large owl, flew out of the forest into open air, flying over the meadows and farms. He saw the marsh below and in the distance, the glacier mountain where Bardolf had established a lair. Dimitri, from Bardolf’s position, could see both Mikhail’s home and the lake.

You have to be right. Bardolf was his lookout. He used him for information. Bardolf would have told him if anyone was poking around the lake, Dimitri agreed.

Reeds choked the shoreline of the lake on the west side. The island looked deserted and had little to offer in the way of shelter, but Fen knew better than to take chances. There was a mud bank to the left of the reeds with a suspicious looking slide on it, as if a heavy body had been dragged from the tall grasses growing on shore, down the embankment and shoved into the lake.

The lake seemed placid enough except the few ripples the wind caused. The water was murky, but tinged with blue. It was fed by the glacier and very cold, if Fen remembered correctly.

The island first? Fen suggested. Watch my back. Let’s see what he’s got.

The owl circled the island and then dropped down fast, talons extended, in hunting mode, as if it had spotted a mouse and was homing in for the kill. Several meters from the largest rock, the bird hit an invisible force field and bounced backward. Squawking, feathers floating toward the ground, it flapped its wings hard to get airborne again.

He’s down there all right, Fen said. And that hurt. He used silver against us. He’s managed to make it so thin it’s impossible to see.

We did that at the farm and again at Mikhail’s, Dimitri reminded. He stole the idea from us. So where on that tiny island is he? Where could his lair be?

Fen studied the island from every angle. That might be part of his escape route somehow, although I can’t figure out how.

Or it’s simply a trap or diversion, Dimitri suggested.

Dimitri, what if he’s in the water. Underneath the water. Is that possible? He was so obsessed with the lake and learning to fight beneath the water. Most of the others ignored him, thinking he was a little strange. After all, what vampire would choose the water as a battleground? Fen asked, as he looked at the large beaver lodge built close into the reeds.

Dimitri studied the lake. A beautiful trap. That would appeal to a vampire. He could kill anyone fishing, or bringing their animals close, he would have a wealth of victims to choose from. They would simply disappear beneath the water and no one would ever find them.

Fen indicated the slide. A body could have been dragged along there, but why? He wouldn’t need to do that.

Unless they were alive and he wanted the adrenaline rush when he killed them. He might deliberately torture his victims just for fun, Dimitri added. Certainly that’s a favorite pastime of vampires.

Alright, we’ll have to check it out, Fen said. The minute I hit that silver, if he was close by, he probably knew that was no owl. He’s smart. Forget pretense. Let’s just straight up hunt.

The brothers dropped through the air fast, shifting just before they touched the grass-lined shore. The moment their boots stepped onto a clump of greenery, both felt the ground shift beneath them. Their boots sank just an inch, but it was enough to give the lurking mutated leeches the chance they needed to swarm up their boots to their legs, biting and sucking in a feeding frenzy.

Dimitri swore under his breath in ancient Carpathian. “I really detest these things. Did he have to put giant teeth in them?”

Both men leapt back away from the edge of the lake and the leeches swarming to the top of the muddy holes their boots had made in the grass. They began to peel the creatures off of them, killing them and throwing their bodies into the swarm.