Dark Lycan (Carpathian)

“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.





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.