Christine Feehan - Dark Possession

«Are you going to ask her questions?»

«I don't know. I haven't decided yet. But I do know if Solange and Jasmine stay in Brazil, wherever they are,

they really need help. I think we should try to have a home near them as well as in the States.»

«I agree, and that is a perfect solution. Jasmine wants to go to the ranch, but Solange, I think, will be a problem. And in truth, MaryAnn, I do not believe she should ever be near my eldest brother, Zacarias. He does not take no for an answer, and she would judge him very harshly, not understanding that his word had to be, and continues to have to be, law. He was what kept us all from turning vampire. The darkness is in him, and we all tread softly to try to keep from pushing him over the edge.»

She could feel his sorrow and worry for his oldest brother. He obviously loved and respected Zacarias above all others. She brushed back Manolito's hair with gentle fingers and leaned forward to kiss him. The shadows in his eyes, the heaviness in his heart were almost more than she could bear.

«You think you will eventually lose him.» She made it a statement.

Manolito lay back, locking his fingers behind his head, and stared up at the sparkling crystals covering the ceiling. He sighed. «Zacarias is a great man, meu amor, highly intelligent, and he wields much power. He has stood in front of my brothers, in front of me, shielding us from the kills to allow us more time. Each kill we make our souls grow darker.»

«Can you, Riordan and Rafael try to…» She trailed off. What was she saying? Did she want Manolito to hunt the vampire?

He shook his head. «He would never allow us to do that for him. He believes he is responsible for us. I already see the darkness is strong in him. I was so close to turning myself, I should know. Even when I entered the other world, the other occupants knew. After a while the darkness runs together until you no longer know if you can resist the lure to just one time feel something. Anything.»

«But three of you have found lifemates. That should give him hope.»

«He cannot feel hope, not his own. He can only feel our hope for him. And even should he find his lifemate, I fear he would be too difficult for a woman of today's society to live with. Most of our lifemates are human or raised human. He is a throwback to a different era. You find me difficult. In comparison, I assure you, MaryAnn, I am a very modern man.»

«I'm very glad to hear you say that, Manolito, because this modern woman has come to a decision, and it's my decision to make. Mine. You have to understand that I believe I do have rights. This is important to me.»

«What decision would that be?» He sounded wary. He was wary. He wasn't about to free her from her obligations even if it was possible-which it wasn't.

«I want you to convert me. Now. Tonight. I want to share your life wholly with you.» She ignored the storm clouds gathering in his eyes. «I didn't have a decision at any time along the way. So this is me, thinking it over, knowing what I'm doing and saying, yes, I love you and I want to be wholly yours.»

Chapter Nineteen

M

ted

5»

Manolito bit down on his first response, forcing the sudden fear down. Emotions were much more difficult to deal with than he'd remembered. If he converted MaryAnn, and the wolf protested, it might kill her. No one, not even Vlad, remembered the pairing of a wolf and a Carpathian.

«Manolito?» Her fingers drifted over his face, tracing his cheekbones, gentle, filled with love.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned his face away from her so she wouldn't see him fight back the way she affected him. She shook him with her tenderness. With love. Being a lifemate seemed so simple, yet it was far more complex than he had ever considered. He wanted her conversion for himself. He had pride in what and who he was, but at the same time, he wouldn't-couldn't-risk her.

«Ask me for the moon, MaryAnn, and I will find a way to get it for you. But not this. Not when we do not know what will happen.»

«You are changing. You said so yourself.» She pressed kisses along his strong jaw and up to the corner of his mouth. «Whatever you are, I want to be. I've thought about this a lot. I had plenty of time while I was fighting off vampires and mages and jaguar-men. It's really rare to find someone you love, and even rarer to have them love you back.»

«We will still have that,» he said gently and reached up to pull her down on top of him. He couldn't look into her eyes and not give her whatever she wanted. «We will always have that.» When had it started? When had she turned his world upside down? His stomach was jittery and his heart melted the moment he looked at her. His brothers would laugh if they knew. He rubbed his chin on top of her head, feeling her hair catch like tiny threads binding them together. With a thought, he removed her top, sending it sailing to the floor so he could smooth his hand down her soft back.

«Do you feel the wolf inside you?» She rolled over to pillow her head on his shoulder. «Because his scent is all over you-and all over me. He's there, I know he is, reaching for my wolf when we make love. That's probably why you're even more dominant than when I first laid eyes on you.» He'd taken her breath away even then. «That's why you rub your body all over mine, to get your scent on me, and that's a wolf trait.»

«It's a Carpathian trait.»

She laughed, and he felt the sound moving through his body like small electrical currents. «Don't say that like it's a good thing. I'm not going into this relationship with rose-colored glasses. It has occurred to me you might be difficult to live with.»

He bit her neck, his teeth gentle, scraping back and forth over her pulse while the breath caught and held in her lungs. «As long as you do everything I say, I think life will be easy.»

The teasing note in his voice was almost as sexy as the way his hands came up to cover her breasts. He simply cupped the undersides in his palms, holding her close to him for a long moment before he slipped out from under her head, one arm wrapping around her waist and rolling her onto her side to face him. The way he did it, his hands so strong and sure, his movements decisive, sent a shiver of excitement up her spine.

She couldn't imagine never wanting him like this. The ache was so strong she thought she might die from the mixture of need, want and love. His body was firm and hot, hard and aching for her. She read it in his mind, felt it in the way his body was so thick and hard already, pressing against her thigh.

«You aren't going to distract me, Manolito,» she whispered. «Don't you see how important it is that I make this decision for myself? It has to be my decision.»

He nuzzled her throat, inhaled her warm, feminine scent, was pleased that his scent lingered over her skin. His tongue touched her pulse, swirled over the small, inviting dip before he pressed his lips to the temptation.

MaryAnn closed her eyes. Maybe he was going to distract her. Her heart beat in time to his. Her body should have been thoroughly sated, but, no, she was hungry for him all over again. He touched her and she was lost. He looked at her and she was lost. She gave a little groan and reached up to wrap her arm around his head and hold him to her. «I'm so pathetic when it comes to you.»

His lips brushed her shoulder when he smiled, sending little darts of fire streaking over her skin to the swell of her breasts. At once she felt achy and tight.

«No more than I am with you,» he murmured and shifted closer so that his mouth could wander across the soft, firm mound.

His tongue touched the small spot where his mark had lingered for so long, and at once she felt it burn and throb. Her body answered between her legs with that same burning and throbbing sensation, only a thousand times more powerful, so that she shifted restlessly.