Christine Feehan - Dark Descent (Dark Series - Book 11)

His mouth fastened on hers, a hard kiss that staked his claim on her. That kiss told her he meant to have her and nothing would stand in his way. She felt his body tremble and tasted his passion, tasted his fear for her.

He pulled away abruptly, lifting her brother and sister easily, as if they were no more than children, shifting into a creature with wings, half man, half bird, and flying across the abyss into the dark where she could no longer see him.

Joie was left standing alone on the edge of the precipice with the darkness pressing down on her. With the strange rhythmic clicking and the dripping water. Heart pounding and mouth dry, she turned toward the sound, shining her light to see what was behind her.

In the small confines she could see water trickling from the side of the cavern; it was not clear, but a milky yellow, and gathered into a foul-smelling pool. She moved cautiously, positioning herself to keep an eye on what was gathering there. Something evil. Something alive.

The water rippled in response to a dark disturbance below the surface. The pool darkened into an oily substance, revealing two red orbs glaring with terrible malevolence. A chill crept down her spine. The hair on her arms stood up.

Traian.

Automatically, without conscious thought, she reached out for him, showed him the pool with its macabre secrets.

Move! Get out of its line of vision, Joie.

Joie stared back at the flame-red eyes in horror, unable to look away. The eyes were real, watching her, some terrible apparition set on her destruction. She had never seen so much malice, so much black hatred pouring from any entity. Her body rebelled, sickened by the evil emanating from the thick slime.

At Traian’s warning, she tried to wrench her gaze away, but she was trapped, unable to break eye contact with the red flames. Her airway began to close, choked off by an invisible noose. Instinctively her hands flew up to her throat as if she could pry unseen fingers from around her neck, but there was nothing there. As white stars flashed across a black background, Joie realized dizzily she had only precious seconds to break the invisible hold on her throat. She reached for her knife, following through in one smooth motion with a throw directed by sheer desperation.

The blade sank deep into the fiery left eye. Immediately the water bubbled up in a blackish-red ooze and the hold on her throat loosened, allowing her to breathe. A terrible howl filled the cavern, assaulting her ears. She stumbled away from the poisonous pool, dragging air into her lungs, coughing as her raw throat protested.

In the next moment Traian was dragging her into his arms, his body crowding hers, his hands moving over her to assure himself she was unhurt. As he lifted her, she clung to his strength, not bothering to pretend the encounter hadn’t shaken her. He moved quickly through the air, so fast the cold air bit at her face, numbed her arms, and tore tears from her eyes. Joie buried her face against his chest, allowing herself a few moments to recover before she faced her siblings.

“You are teaching me the meaning of fear,” he said.

“Really? I thought it was the other way around. I don’t think your world is the calm environment a woman like me should be in.” Her voice shook, embarrassing her.

“Having courage does not mean being unafraid.”

“True, but everyone doesn’t have to know I was shaking in my boots. Literally.”

“I am not everyone. I still cannot believe you are real,” he said softly. His lips moved against her cheek, a brush lighter than a butterfly wing, yet she felt it all the way to her toes. That small caress sent blood rushing through her veins, her heart leaping; his touch warmed her as nothing else could.

“I’m having a difficult time believing that any of this is real,” Joie admitted. “And what’s up with the wolf? Telepathy, okay, I can accept that. Even your strange little blood fetish, but don’t you think changing into animals and flying through the air might be going a little too far?”

His arms tightened possessively. “You do not enjoy flying?”

“I don’t enjoy anything when I’m not in complete control. And you didn’t have to intimidate my brother.”

His arm was curved around her, pressed against the underside of her breasts. “You will not be in complete control when I make love to you, Joie,” he told her softly.

She closed her eyes at the velvet sound of his voice. Danger surrounded them. Her family was close. It didn’t seem to matter. She was so aware of him, her body ached with need. With hunger. With absolute longing. She felt edgy and hot; a terrible pressure was building inside her.

I feel the same way.

She often spoke with her brother and sister using telepathy, a secret they all shared, but this was different. So much more. An intimacy that whispered of erotic nights and appetites that would never be sated.

Why? Why with you? I am your other half. We belong together. I have searched the world for you. Waited lifetimes for you.

Joie tightened her grip on his shirt, burrowed closer to his heart. She was a woman who knew herself well. An adrenaline junkie. A feminist. A believer in justice. She loved her life. Traveling from country to country. One assignment after another taking her into danger. Her recreation time was spent caving, white-water rafting, or skydiving. She was not a woman who wanted or needed a man. She was not a woman who clung to a man.

Joie looked up at Traian, the light from her helmet shining on his face. He had changed her very existence for all time. “I’m not altogether certain I approve of you.”

Laughter rumbled in his throat. “Fortunately, your approval is not strictly necessary. Lifemates simply are. We have no choice in the matter. We are like two magnets that cannot be torn apart.”

“Great. I don’t know a thing about you except I can’t exactly bring you home to my mother and father. My family is very close, by the way.”

He put her carefully on firm ground. Jubal and Ga-brielle rushed to her, flinging their arms around her and hugging her close. “I had not noticed,” Traian said with drawling amusement. “We are not safe. We have to keep moving.”

“Wait, Traian,” Jubal objected. “We found something. Something really important. You said those vampires were hunting something. You have to take a look at this. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Traian hadn’t relinquished Joie’s hand, even when her siblings dragged her into their arms. She felt a little silly holding hands—she’d never really done it, not even in high school. But there was something warm and comforting, something extraordinary about being close to Traian.

“You can bring me home to your parents.” He said it softly, honestly, as he followed Jubal and Gahrielle through a narrow hall. “I would never embarrass you, or frighten them. I want to meet them. Anyone important to you is important to me.”

Joie tried to prevent her heart from going crazy. She was no young girl, but a fully grown woman. A man shouldn’t have such an effect on her, yet he did. There was honesty in his voice. A simple sincerity that shook her. She knew nothing about him, not even what he really was, yet she knew everything. She knew what kind of man he was. The knowledge was instinctive, the one thing she was certain of.

“Where is your family?” she asked.

“I have only my people. My prince.” His eyes gleamed a deep black in the soft glow of the helmet lights. “You are my family. Your brother and sister have become my family.” He arched an eyebrow at her. “And we have only just met. A very strange concept for you, but completely natural to me. Lifemates are two people who meet and need to be together, two halves of the same whole. Finding a lifemate is what every Carpathian male dreams of and longs for and fights to keep our world together for, yet few of us ever gain such a treasure. I never thought to experience such an earth-shattering event.”