Dark Promises (Dark 25)

Her hand was trembling and he knew it. He immediately enveloped her hand in both of his.

"You're safe with me, Gabrielle. Always."

She knew that. She had always known it. She loved the timbre of his voice. So gentle, like a caress. He was such a good man. As much as Gregori intimidated her and she didn't want Gary to be anything like him, she couldn't help but admire the flashes of Daratrazanoff in Gary. The confidence. The ability to keep her safe.

Maybe it wasn't so bad that he was a Daratrazanoff, especially if they could move away from the prince. Always Mikhail Dubrinsky and his family would draw vampires and now, rogue Lycans. To eliminate the prince was to eliminate the Carpathian people. Mikhail now had a daughter and a son. Both were threats to the vampires and rogues.

The attacks would never stop, and Daratrazanoffs protected the prince. If they remained, no matter that she was his lifemate, even putting her first, Gary's life would always be in danger, and she didn't want that. She couldn't have that. And that made her so not a Carpathian. It was ingrained in every man, woman and child to protect the prince and his heirs. Even she felt it. Gary, as a human, had always taken on the protection of all the Carpathians, from unborn children to the prince himself. Now, as a member of one of the most powerful families of Carpathians, he would be twice as in demand.

"Gabrielle?" Gary prompted softly. He didn't tug on her hand or try to hurry her in the least. He never did. He was never impatient with her. She knew he was capable of impatience because she'd seen him giving orders to some of the other males and he did it in a voice that meant business--and they obeyed him.

"I'm ready." She lifted her chin, pushing aside the weird urge to run that kept getting in the way of her happiness. Run where? To what? Everything she wanted or needed was standing right in front of her. She just had the vague, persistent feeling of dread, as if something terrible was going to happen any minute. The feeling was growing stronger every day. Another war? Another moment when Gary would save a life at the expense of his own? In saving Zev Hunter, Gary had been eviscerated by the rogue Lycans. He waded in where no other human--well, except her brother--would dare to go.

"Are you ready, Gary?" she asked, needing his reassurance. Needing to know he wanted her with the same urgency that she wanted him. She'd waited so long. Everything Carpathian had gotten between them. They had never had a moment to themselves. It was as if fate had conspired against them.

"More than ready, princess. This is our night. Our time. I want to give you everything you ever wanted." Gary snapped his fingers, and a horse emerged from the trees.

Gabrielle caught her breath. The horse was a good seventeen hands. Pure white. Tail and mane flowed like so much silk with every move the graceful animal made. He came to them, prancing as he did so, his eyes on Gary.

Gary put his hands around her waist and lifted her onto the horse's back, sidesaddle, her dress flowing around her much like the horse's mane. The ivory lace settled in a beautiful drape. Her breath settled in her lungs as Gary took the reins and began to lead the horse through the trees toward the mountain where the fertility flowers grew in abundance--another thing Gary had contributed to their people. He had planted and cultivated the flowers until an entire field grew once more wild up the mountain.

White petals drifted around them and settled on the trail so that there was a carpet of white for the horse to carry her over. Overhead, the leaves rustled as they went under the canopy of trees. She glanced up and swore some of the branches bowed toward them as they passed, setting the leaves swaying so that they appeared a beautiful silver in the moonlight.

Wolves began a serenade, and she knew they sang to them. She loved that. She loved that nature surrounded them and seemed to bless their joining. The horse's gait was so smooth she didn't even have to hold on, but could balance without effort. She felt as if she was floating through the air toward their ultimate destination.

The hoofs made a light sound on the rock as they started up the mountain, adding to the beauty of the moment. She couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to make the ascent. Her man--no, lifemate--leading her to an incredible field of flowers on the back of a white stallion. Who had a man like that? Only Gabrielle Sanders, soon to be Daratrazanoff. Only she did.

2

The scent of the Night Star flowers permeated the air. Gabrielle found the perfume potent, almost an aphrodisiac. As Gary lifted her from the back of the horse and set her on the ground, the feeling of his strong hands at her waist sent a thrill through her, even as a strange tingle of fear crept down her spine.

She looked around at the field of white. Above them was a ceiling of sparkling stars and surrounding them were the beautiful flowers that had been thought to be extinct. Gary had discovered them in South America with her brother, Jubal, and brought them back to help with the fertility problems the Carpathian women were experiencing. It had been Gary who had discovered the existence of the flower in centuries past and realized it was a vital part of the Carpathian courtship.

The blossom was large, shaped like a star, but the petals and texture were much like that of a lily. The inside filaments were striped and the ovary was ruby red. Joie had told her the blossom took on the scent of the Carpathian male and female, adding to the need for consummating the lifemate bond. Gabrielle had waited so long for Gary she didn't need a flower to make her any more ready for him, but she couldn't find one fault with the setting.

In the center of the field of flowers was a four-poster bed, draped in white. Petals from the Night Star flower were strewn over the white satin sheets. Her breath caught in her throat. She lifted one hand to Gary's chest. Her fairy tale. The outdoor bed in a field of fragrant flowers with the stars shining down on them. He remembered the one time she'd told him of her dream wedding night.

The moonlight hit the bracelet on her wrist and it seemed to come alive, going warm, looking like a ring of fire, the links glowing red and gold. It looked beautiful on her wrist, so delicate, and yet she knew the bracelet was far more than that.

Unexpectedly, Gary's hand came up under hers to pull it away so he could inspect it. "There's power in this. Where did you get it?"

Her stomach somersaulted. He sounded . . . dangerous. Not at all like her Gary. Gabrielle pressed her lips together. Gary sounded fully Carpathian, a male hunter refusing to be denied an answer. When she glanced up to look into his eyes, they were glittering down at her. Her heart jerked.

"You're scaring me, Gary," she said. He really was, but she didn't know why. And she didn't know why the bracelet felt as if it was a threat to him, but it, too, had gone from beautiful to deadly, just as Gary had.

Gary didn't touch the bracelet and his gaze didn't leave her face. "It's a weapon, Gabrielle. Where did you get this?"

"My brother. For the something old. You know," she persisted. "Something old. Something new. Something borrowed and something blue. This is something old. My father gave it to Jubal to give to me when the time was right. Jubal told Joie the time was right."

"On our wedding night?"

"I don't understand what's wrong." She didn't, and yet she did. Her bracelet had begun to hum. It was low, but it was there. She heard it. Gary heard it. She pulled her hand out of his and put her arm behind her back to quiet the bracelet. She didn't know how to take it off or she would have. She didn't want her beautiful bracelet to ruin this night for her.

"What is wrong is that bracelet is looking to slice me to pieces. Take it off."

She bit her lip hard. "I can't, Gary. I don't know how."

He drew in his breath, his eyes going electric green. He looked more of a predator than she'd seen in a wolf. She drew in her breath and willed the bracelet to behave and stop humming.

"You put an object of power on without having any idea how to remove it or how to make it work or stop working?"

That was a blow. A huge blow. She could hear the sarcasm in his voice. He looked down at her as if she wasn't quite bright, when, in fact,

she was brilliant. Okay. Maybe he had a point, it wasn't the smartest move, but it was her wedding night and a gift from her brother. And father. It was hers. It felt right on her wrist, and she knew it was hers. Just as the pendant was Joie's and Jubal had his weapon from the mages.

"I shouldn't have," she conceded. "But it was a gift from Jubal, and I was caught up in the wedding traditions. When Joie gave it to me, I thought it was a bracelet, a piece of jewelry, not a weapon."

She didn't want to take the bracelet off. She kept willing it to connect with her as Jubal's weapon connected with him. She knew Jubal could control his weapon with his mind.

Gary studied Gabrielle's face. She was beautiful. She had always been beautiful, but since being converted to a Carpathian, she was even more so. It was difficult to resist the look on her face. Her eyes, a true dove gray, stayed on his, held captive there. He wanted her with every breath in his body. He had since the moment he'd laid eyes on her. The Carpathian people had been facing extinction and he had worked day and night to help ease those problems, hoping to buy them enough time to actually find ways to solve them permanently.