Dark Guardian (43 page)

Lucian bent his head to her breast, savoring the feel of her creamy skin. He wanted this night for lovemaking. Maybe the next rising also. He wanted the luxury of taking her again and again without hurry, with no fear of interruption. He wanted time to show her, tease her, please her. He wanted her to know the full beauty of their life together. Make love to her again and again. His hands moved over her legs, her thighs. "Do you have any idea just what you mean to me?" His black gaze moved over her face, inspected her body, his eyes hot and smoldering with desire.

She smiled then, loving the way his eyes devoured her with such hunger, such intense need. His body was hard and taut, burgeoning with urgent demand. His hands stroked her thighs, shaped her hips. He turned her over easily, exploring the clean line of her back, her tiny waist and firm buttocks. Lucian bent over her, blanketing her smaller frame with his. His teeth nipped her shoulder, his hands skimming along her ribs, the softness of her breasts, the curve of her hips, the smooth line of her rounded bottom. He caught her hips, lifting her so he could pull her back against his throbbing shaft. Just the feel of her satin skin, the shape of her body, sent molten lava spreading through him, flames dancing over his skin.

"I want you, angel, right now," he murmured softly, his black-velvet voice washing over her like his hands worshiping her body.

He pushed against her, rubbed closer, his hand once more finding moist, damp heat beckoning him, ensuring him she was ready. He pressed against her creamy entrance, hot and slick. She was tight, her channel gripping him as he pushed deeper, invading her body with his, his hands holding her hips still as he buried himself again and again, long, hard thrusts of sheer ecstasy.

Colors danced behind his eyes. His heart pounded. His hips thrust forward aggressively. His teeth held her shoulder with the ancient dominance of the Carpathian male. Fire raged through him, over him, so much pleasure it was almost more than he could take. She moved then, her body so delicate and soft and feminine, the complete opposite of his. He shared his pleasure with her, the building, sweeping firestorm that threatened to engulf him.

Jaxon pushed back against him, making a small sound of submission, indulging the growing wildness in him. They were both spiraling out of control, her body winding tighter and tighter, his hips thrusting forward in a frenzy, welding them together, closer and closer. She caught every desire in his mind, adjusted her body instinctively to accommodate him, just as he did for her. Her body seemed to tighten, to clench, then ripple with fiery release. His hoarse shout was muffled against the smooth skin of her shoulder. It was like an explosion of color and light, the earth itself moving under them.

Lucian gathered her to him closely, pressing his large frame tightly into hers while waves of sensual pleasure washed over them, through them. They were both covered in beads of sweat. He sipped several, following the line of her spinal column to the small of her back.

"You are so beautiful, Jaxon." He breathed the words more than saying them, his lungs working overtime. He rested his forehead between her shoulders, his body still buried deeply in hers.

He wanted to stay there for all eternity, in her mind, in her heart, in her body. His hand moved around to unerringly find the swell of her breasts. "Everything about you is so perfect—the way you feel against me, the way you move, your taste. I do not understand how I could have lived all those endless centuries without you. How did I do it?"

Jaxon pressed back against him, on her hands and knees. Where only weeks earlier she would have been embarrassed by the position, now it was beautiful, sensual, erotic. She listened to the sound of their hearts beating in perfect unison. He was everywhere, surrounding her, swamping her with his masculinity, his enormous strength. The feel of his body over hers, in hers, was, frankly, very sexy. "I love this, Lucian. I really do. Every single moment with you."

Reluctantly he withdrew, lying back, rolling her with him to bring her up on top of him. His black eyes smoldered with intensity. She was so beautiful. He wrapped his arms around her, wanting to maintain closeness between them. "No one other than you has ever teased me before."

"You have that look." She lifted her head so she could look into his eyes. She loved his eyes. Tenderly she traced his mouth. "Sort of scary. I imagine most people are intimidated by you."

His eyebrows shot up. "I do not intimidate people," he said.

Jaxon burst out laughing. "You intimidate people all over the place, and you do it on purpose."

Lucian lifted her in one smooth move and was on his feet with fluid ease. He tossed her without ceremony into a sparkling pool.

Jaxon came up sputtering, her dark eyes laughing at him. "Are we going to stay here for a while?"

He nodded, his smoldering gaze caressing her body beneath the shimmering water.

Jaxon smiled at him, a siren's invitation. "I do like the way your body responds so beautifully, Lucian."

"So do I," he answered, his voice a whisper of seduction. "I think we will stay here in this cavern for a few risings. A honeymoon."

"We aren't married," she pointed out.

"Of course we are. The Carpathian ritual is binding, my love, more so than the human ceremony. There is no word for divorce in our society. It is not an option." Although his tone sounded mild, there was nothing mild about the smoldering passion of his hungry gaze.

She shrugged one white shoulder. "You're married, then, not me. I was human when you started all this."

"Then I will have to do something to make you realize you are well and truly bound to me for all time." His white teeth flashed at her, gleaming menace like those of a predator.

Jaxon had just enough time to get off one little yelp before he was diving through the air, slicing cleanly through the water, and coming after her. Laughing, she tried to swim away from him, only to be caught by strong hands at her waist and pulled up against his body.

They spent three nights in the glittering cave, three nights of paradise, indulging themselves in each other: talking in low, intimate whispers, making love all night, flying through the sky as owls, shape-shifting into wolves so Lucian could share the joy of running free in the forest with Jaxon. They spent every moment together, holding hands, laughing, just being in love.

Their ultimate destination, the old lodge Lucian had purchased, was made of huge logs with high-beamed ceilings and an open landing on the second floor. It was rustic but quite beautiful. Someone had built the house with loving hands and lived there long before it had been used as a hunting lodge by some rich sportsman. Lucian merely waved a hand to dispel any dust and grime that might have accumulated. She was grateful to see no deer antlers or stuffed wildlife decorated the place. The idea of so many animals slaughtered for sport made her sick.

The furniture was interesting, in good shape, and rugged, as befit a lodge. Jaxon wandered through the rooms, wondering what was wrong with her. Her stomach was clenched in knots, and she couldn't dispel the feeling of death and violence from her soul. She wished they were back in the cave, in the cleansing pools, where the stench of violence couldn't seem to reach them.

The lodge was built overlooking a lake, with trees all around, grasses and ferns everywhere. It was an unbelievably beautiful location, far from civilization, the nearest neighbors several miles away. Jaxon wanted to feel as if she was in a honeymoon cabin, but the cavern with its crystals and pools was much more to her liking. The lodge made her uneasy, as if, perhaps, she was feeling an echo of things long dead. Was it the animals slaughtered for sport? Was she now too sensitive for a hunting lodge? Had something terrible happened here in earlier days? Was it possible a previous owner of the lodge had committed a crime in his beautiful but remote home and the house still vibrated with violence?

She walked through the large structure, able to admire the architecture without liking the lodge at all. Jaxon found herself shivering despite the fact that she could easily regulate her body temperature. Running her palms up and down her arms to warm herself, she knew her trembling had nothing to do with really being cold. "Do you feel peculiar in here?" she asked softly, not wanting to hurt Lucian's feelings if he loved the house.

Lucian had been watching her alertly, a shadow in her mind. He could feel her increasing uneasiness, yet there was no real echo of evil in the lodge. He glided in his graceful, silent way to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "What is it, honey? You are afraid here." He knew she had a curious built-in radar system when it came to trouble, yet he felt nothing. Just to be on the safe side, he scanned their surrounding area. The closest human was a mile or so away, a solitary hiker. He was staring down at the lake, watching for otter, his mind occupied with the wildlife. He was humming low, the sound vibrating softly in his mind. A group of humans was several miles away in a cabin. They were laughing, playing some kind of game together. There were campers in three other locations, all within a day's hike of the lodge, yet they appeared to pose no threat to anyone. He picked up no thoughts of violence in any of the humans near them, and certainly there were no vampires or ghouls in the area. He would have known immediately.

"I don't know what it is, Lucian, only that this place gives me the creeps. It feels haunted in here."

His eyebrows shot up. "Ghosts?"

Her elbow nudged him in the chest, her dark brown eyes censuring him. "Very funny, Lucian. And don't tell me your best friend is a ghost. I don't want to know."

"I have never met a ghost," he reassured her with his most charming grin. "I like this place. It is very remote, affords us privacy, the view is beautiful, and we are right in the middle of one of nature's mountains born of fire and ice. What more could we want?"

Jaxon allowed him to pull her body back into the protection of his. He was warmth and strength. She could feel him washing through her, enveloping her, but the uneasiness remained. She didn't like the lodge, and she didn't know why. "Do you already have a secret sleeping chamber?" Even as she asked it, she was trying to do as he did, scanning the lodge itself, looking for something hidden, something that might be making her nervous. No one had been there since Lucian had last visited the place. Not even a camper or hiker had discovered it. She knew Lucian would have caught that immediately, and she felt no echoes of another whatsoever. Since she disliked the idea that someone had purposely killed wild animals just for the sport of it, that must be the answer to why she was so uneasy, Jaxon decided.

"This mountain has many chambers beneath its surface. We can readily make use of them for sleeping. Study the layout in my mind and know where they are so you are never caught without several escape routes."

She received a flood of information, marveling at how precise it was. Lucian was a walking map, detailed and perfect, and he transferred information to her in the same way he had always transferred it to his twin. She laughed softly. "Do you still do that?"

"What? Share my knowledge with Gabriel?" Lucian grinned a little sheepishly. "It was the one thing, even as I masqueraded as a vampire, I could not stop myself from doing. Even then, if I learned something new, something of value, my mind automatically touched his. But he did the same thing."

"And you still do." She made it a statement. She had studied the path in his mind he used to communicate with Gabriel. There was a wealth of affection there. Lucian didn't realize the extent to which he was tied to his twin. It was just natural to him, as it was natural to Gabriel. Lucian and Gabriel were so close, Jaxon was certain she could just as easily reach Gabriel, even though she had never exchanged blood with him.

"Are you a city girl, Jaxon?" Lucian teased gently. "Are these trees and wide-open spaces too much for you?" He was still aware of her uneasiness and attempting to use humor to put her at ease.

They walked together out onto the huge wraparound porch that on one side jutted out over the cliff. The view really was breathtaking. Jaxon rested both hands on the railing and leaned over to look at the drop below them. Snow blanketed the ridges above them and dotted the canyon below. The trees looked frosted and decorated in the crisp night air. It was beautiful. The air was cold and crisp and smelled fresh and clean.

Lucian's much larger frame trapped hers against the railing. "So? Is that it? You miss those tall buildings and the sounds of traffic?" He swung her around, sweeping one arm out to encompass their surroundings. "I give you all this, and you prefer the city?"

Jaxon laughed and reached up a hand to his shadowed jaw—just as his body jerked. A spray of crimson showered her head and shoulders, and Lucian slumped forward, an enormous rag doll with the stuffing knocked out of it. He was so large he took her with him straight to the deck, covering her. It was only then that the sound caught up and she recognized the whine of a bullet.

Her heart in her throat, she maneuvered out from under his lifeless form. She knew immediately that Drake had found them. He must have flown a plane and gotten there ahead of them. She had no real idea her brain was computing the information; she could only hear herself screaming over and over, although no sound escaped. On her knees she examined Lucian. There was no pulse, no sign of life. He lay without moving or breathing, his heart and lungs utterly motionless. It took a moment to still the chaos in her mind enough to realize that there should have been far more blood than there was. Lucian had stopped his heart to minimize the blood loss! Time slowed to a crawl. This man was her life, the air she breathed. He was not dead. Lucian had said he could not be killed, and she had to believe he was not. He was trusting her to do whatever needed to be done.

What is it? What am I supposed to do
? she cried out to him, wanting to weep, to scream, to throw things. She had to save him.

How bad is it
? The voice came out of nowhere, in her mind, on a strange mental path she had never used before. The tone was as calm as the one Lucian often used. It served as an anchor to quiet the terrible panic gripping her, that voice so like Lucian's.