Dark Fire (31 page)

"Don't start," Tempest said. "I mean it, Julian. We've gone through this already. Darius is hardly the ogre you're all making him out to be. He could care less if I had a dozen men here to visit."

Do not ever risk that one, my love,
Darius said softly in her mind, the snap of his white teeth audible.

"Do you want a mass murder taking place?" Dayan teased.

Tempest tilted her chin in a challenge. "Darius isn't like that at all."

Darius came striding out of the woods, tall, elegant, power personified. Cullen actually came to his feet. The bodyguard was the most impressive man he had ever seen. His body rippled with leashed strength. Power oozed from his every pore. His midnight-black hair was pulled back and held with a tie at the nape of his neck. The harsh planes and angles of his face seemed carved of granite. His mouth held latent sensuality and a hint of cruelty. His black eyes took in everything, the smallest detail, yet never left Tempest's face.

Darius moved silently, like a stalking panther, straight to Tempest's side, his arm curving around her possessively, drawing her beneath his shoulder. He bent his head to find her soft, trembling mouth with his hard one. "You look tired, baby. Perhaps you should lie down and rest before we move out tonight. You have been working all day."

The moment his perfect mouth touched hers, Tempest forgot his teasing and gave herself up to the sizzling chemistry between them. Her arm slipped halfway around his waist, her fingers bunching in his shirt. "I'm fine, Darius. The truck is running, so we can leave as soon as we need to go. I brought this man here to speak with you."

The black eyes at once rested on Cullen Tucker's face. Involuntarily Cullen shivered beneath the icy gaze. It was like looking into a graveyard, the eyes of death itself. Cullen felt as if the bodyguard could read his every thought and was judging him worthy or unworthy-and that his very life might be hanging in the balance. He watched as the bodyguard carefully, deliberately raised Tempest's right hand to his mouth, his tongue moving slowly, almost erotically over her scraped knuckles, those black, burning eyes never leaving Cullen's face. Cullen could feel Syndil at his right side, close yet not touching him. He was aware that she was holding her breath.

"I'm Cullen Tucker," he introduced himself, grateful that he still had his voice. Tempest had been telling the truth about this man. He would go after anyone who attempted to take her from him, and he would never stop. The bodyguard, as he'd guessed earlier, was the type of man who was utterly relentless, who had no mercy in him.

"Darius," the bodyguard replied briefly. His hands went to Tempest's shoulders, and he pushed her toward his brother-in-law. "Julian, perhaps you would take the three women to shelter while I speak with this gentleman. Desari, please see to the needs of the cats, and make certain Tempest eats before she goes to bed."

Syndil moved closer to Cullen, for the first time in her life defying Darius.
I will stay here and listen
. Her chin was up belligerently.

Without warning Barack was there, his handsome face a twisted mask of fury. He literally shoved past the other men and caught Syndil's arm, yanking her away from the human. His eyes were burning with rage. "What are you thinking, Darius, that you allow this man to come into our camp while our women are unprotected?" he demanded, forcing Syndil backward despite her struggles. His body was a solid wall of muscle, pressing her softer one away from the group.

"How dare you treat me this way!" Syndil hissed, outraged.

Barack turned his head, his black eyes blazing at her. "You will do as I say in this matter. You know better than to put yourself in a vulnerable position."

"Barack, have you lost your mind?" Syndil demanded.

He growled, a low warning that rumbled in the air, his white teeth snapping like a predator's. I
refuse to
argue with
you. If you do not wish to suffer embarrassment, Syndil, you will do as I say right now. Do you think that I did not know you actively
s
ought this man's company?

Syndil moved backward into the shelter of the trees, partly because Barack was giving her no choice and partly because she was so astonished. Barack was the most easygoing of all the males. He tended to be amused by everything, and he flirted outrageously with human women, enjoying his image of the playboy of the band.

You have no right to tell me what to do, Barack
.
If I wish to seek out a thousand men, it is my
right.

Like hell it is.
Barack literally lifted her by the waist and carried her deeper into the woods. "Who is this man, that you suddenly wish to be with him? You have never displayed interest in human men before."

Syndil's chin went up. "Well, perhaps that has changed."

"What has changed? What did this man do, bewitch you? I warn you, Syndil, I am in no mood for this foolishness. You touched him. You put your hand on his arm, flirted with him." His eyes were blazing at her.

"And this is considered a crime? Should I remind you of all the times I have known you were with human women? Do not dare to judge my behavior. This man makes me feel beautiful, desirable, like a woman, not some shadow to be ignored. He looks at me, and I feel alive again," Syndil defended herself.

"That is the reason? He makes you feel alive? Any man can do that, Syndil," Barack snapped.

"Well, he is the one I want," she said defiantly.

His hand closed around her neck, his dark eyes furious. "I have waited patiently for you to recover, been as gentle as I know how to be. But this I will not give you. If you dare to go near that man, I will tear him apart with my bare hands. Now get in the trailer, where I know you will be safe, and stay away from him."

Syndil blinked up at him, shocked and wide-eyed at his uncharacteristic outburst. "I am going, but not because you order me. I do not want a scene in front of an outsider."

Barack pushed her toward the bus. "I do not care what foolish reason you come up with to do as I
order
you. Just do it. Go now. I mean it."

"Where did you get the idea that you were my lord and master?" she indignantly threw back at him over her shoulder as she went toward the motor home.

"You just remember that I am, Syndil," he snapped and watched to assure himself that she did as he commanded before he returned to join the men, who were questioning Cullen.

Rusti and Desari met Syndil at the door to the bus. Desari wrapped an arm around Syndil's shoulder. "Was Barack very angry?"

"I do not know about him," Syndil said, "but I am. What is he thinking, treating me that way? As if I am his daughter, his baby sister. Do you have any idea how many women he has been with? It's disgusting, that's what it is. It makes me sick, the way the men have such a double standard-one for their own behavior and another for ours. The only reason I even listened to him was because this is a matter of your security, Desari. Otherwise I would have told him to go straight to hell. I may yet. In fact, I may just leave altogether after this next concert of yours. I need a vacation from that idiot."

"Maybe I should go with you," Tempest ventured. "Darius is even worse than Barack. What is it with these men?"

Desari laughed softly. "They are overbearing and domineering and often royal pains. Julian is forever trying to lay down the law with me. The thing is, you have to stand up to them."

Syndil pushed a hand through her hair in agitation. "You and Rusti, maybe, but I do not belong to anyone. I should be able to do as I wish."

Tempest sank into a deep, cushioned chair. Both leopards immediately wrapped themselves around her legs. "I don't belong to Darius. Where does everyone get the idea I'm his girlfriend? And even if I were, I wouldn't have to do a dam thing he says."

"Rusti," Desari said gently, "you cannot defy Darius. No one can, not even one of us, and we are very powerful. Finding a lifemate is not like a human marriage.

More powerful instincts are at work. Each of us has only one true lifemate, you as well as Darius. You must be the other half of his soul. The light to his darkness. You cannot change what is simply because you fear it."

Syndil nodded in agreement. Taking up a brush, she removed the clip from Tempest's hair so she could tame the thick red-gold mass. "Darius is always so gentle with you, but there is great darkness in him. You must understand what he is. You cannot think of him as human; he is not human. He is quite capable of forcing your compliance in matters of your health or your safety. The men always protect the women."

"Why? Why are they so dominating? It sets my teeth on edge."

Desari sighed softly. "Darius has saved our lives over and over again. The first time he was only six years old. He has done miraculous things, but to do them, he had to believe implicitly in his own judgment, and with that comes a certain arrogance."

Tempest gave an inelegant snort, but a part of her was awed at what Desari was telling her. She had seen glimpses of Darius's life in his memories, had heard some of his stories, and they astonished her, his implacable resolve to keep his family alive.

"Julian told me that the Carpathian race is dying out," Desari continued. 'There are few women-fewer than twenty, counting Syndil and myself. We are the future of our race. Without us, the men have no chance of survival. It used to be that a woman waited a century before she settled with her mate and even longer to bear children. But now the males have no choice but to claim their lifemates when they are mere fledglings. You must see why it is of vital importance to all of them that we are protected," Desari said.

Tempest felt her heart skip a beat. It was easier not to think too much about what she had gotten herself into. When Desari said the words aloud, she knew terror was waiting a heartbeat away to claim her. She bit down hard on her lower lip. Both women heard her suddenly pounding heart. She was human, not Carpathian, and she didn't feel safe in their world.

Desari sank to her knees in front of Tempest. "Please do not fear us," she said softly, persuasively. "You are our sister, one of us. No one in our family would harm you. Indeed, Darius would give his life for you. He is giving his life for you." Her dark eyes filled with tears.

Tempest's green eyes widened at Desari's obvious distress, her choice of words. "What do you mean, he's giving his life for me?"

"We Carpathians have great longevity, Rusti; that is both our blessing and our curse. Because you are his life-mate, yet mortal, Darius will choose the human way of things. He will grow old and die with you rather than remain an immortal," Desari explained gently.

"Already he shows signs of stress," Syndil added. "He is refusing to go to ground to sleep properly."

"What does that mean?" Tempest asked, curious. Darius often used that phrase, but she still wasn't certain exactly what it meant.

"The soil is healing to our people," Desari said. "Our bodies require sleep in a different way than yours. We must shut down our heart and lungs to rejuvenate ourselves. Without doing that, we cannot sustain our full strength. Darius is our protector. He is the one who must face the human assassins and hunt the undead who threaten us. Unless he goes to ground as he must, he will lose his great power."

Tempest felt her breath catch in her lungs. The thought of Darius in trouble was frightening. "Why doesn't he just go to sleep the way he's supposed to? He spends the entire time driving me crazy, always talking to me, giving me orders, and mixing in a threat or two just to keep things interesting."

"Darius would never leave you unprotected. He could not. You are his lifemate. He cannot be apart from you."

Tempest sighed, enjoying the way the two women made her feel, as if she belonged in their family circle. "Well, he'll just have to get over it already. I'll insist he go to sleep the way he's supposed to. If he won't, I'll have no choice but to leave."

Desari shook her head. "You still do not understand. Darius can never be apart from you. It would destroy him. Do not think that anything will change if you attempt to leave him. He will only put a tighter leash on you, Rusti. He has never once, in all the centuries of his existence, wanted anything for himself. But he wants you. Needs you."

"Perhaps I don't want him," Tempest said. "Don't I have rights?"

Syndil and Desari both laughed, the notes like silvery bells, like water tripping over rocks. "Darius can do no other than make you happy. He dwells in your mind. If you did not want him, he would know. Can you not understand, Rusti?" Desari asked her. "You cannot be without him any more than he can be away from you. Do you not feel it when you are apart? When he is sleeping the sleep of mortals?"

Tempest ducked her head, the memory of that precise discomfort firmly in her mind. For a moment she felt close to tears. At once he was there in her mind.
Tempest? I am here.
He flooded her with warmth, with reassurance I'm
okay, just being silly.

I will come to you if you have need.

Your touch is
enough. And it was. The two women were right. She needed him whether or not she was willing to admit it to anyone other than herself. She felt the brush of fingers, a tender caress that trailed over her cheekbone, down to her mouth. She could feel the instant response of her body, the warmth, the heat, the distress when the contact slipped reluctantly away.

"Rusti?" Desari asked softly. "Are you okay?" She turned Tempest's hand over to examine the scraped knuckles. "How did you do this? Has Darius seen this?" She closed her palm over the scrape in the same way Syndil had. At once Tempest could feel a soothing warmth.

"Of course," Tempest admitted, blushing slightly as she remembered the feel of his mouth on her skin. "He doesn't miss anything. What exactly are the undead? You said Darius hunted the undead. Are you talking about vampires?"

"If our males do not find a lifemate, in time they eventually lose their souls to the darkness within them. They become vampire, preying on our people as well as humans. They must be destroyed," Desari answered.