Dark Carousel (Dark 26)

Tariq Asenguard had been the wood-carver. Her Tariq. The man she had given her body, heart and soul to. She'd entrusted her niece and her best friend to him. Her brother's throat had been torn out. His blood had been taken. The three men in the bar, the ones that had driven a stake through another man's heart, they had to have believed they killed a vampire.

She touched the soft swell of her breast. His mark. His brand. Just touching with her fingers through the thin material of her blouse caused her sex to clench. Remembering the feel of his bite. The most erotic thing she'd ever experienced. She touched her mouth, remembering it being on his chest.

"Oh. My. God." She whispered it a second time, tasting him in her mouth. On her tongue. Hot. Spicy. Wholly hers. All for her.

The walls around her curved. Went dark. She could only see those blue eyes watching her without blinking. She shivered, the cold seeping into her body. She raised her hand to her throat defensively, unable to look away. Suddenly she was back in the present, looking right into Tariq's eyes. He was only a foot or so from her, watching her carefully.

Charlotte backed away from him, taking a step to the side to try to get an angle on the stairs. "You took my blood." She blurted it out, just like an idiot in a horror film, not playing it all cool and smart.

"Is that a question?"

He didn't sound remorseful. Not in the least. She wanted to glare at him but she was too scared. "Yes." The single word was spoken so low she was surprised it came out of her mouth.

"Yes, I took your blood."

She nodded as if in agreement with him. She took another cautious step toward the stairs, making certain to keep a distance between her and Tariq. He didn't appear to move and the expression on his face never changed, yet he was blocking her escape and his blue eyes were more predatory than ever.

"Charlotte, your heart is beating too fast. Take a deep breath and hear my heart. Let yours slow to the rhythm of mine."

She'd done that before. Her heart had beat in absolute sync with his. She'd thought it was sexy; now she thought she was in real trouble. She tried another step. She deliberately didn't blink, didn't look away, watching him the whole time to see if he moved. He didn't, yet once again he was standing in front of her, blocking her escape route. If she screamed, no one would hear her.

"What are you?" Her voice was low. She couldn't keep the fear out of it.

"What I am not is a vampire. That is what you're thinking and it isn't true. I hunt vampires, but I am Carpathian. My soul is intact and I have never killed while feeding." His gaze didn't waver from hers.

She rubbed her cold arms, her mind racing, trying to figure out her next move without triggering aggression from him. "What are you going to do with me?"

"I already told you that. We have had this conversation, sielamet. You gave yourself to me, and I have made our vows."

Our vows. He had to be referring to the words he'd said in his native language. He'd made vows for both of them. A little hysterical, she tried to picture herself telling Genevieve about how she'd accidently slept with a vampire. Or a vampire hunter. Whatever. Either way, he seemed intent on taking her blood.

"This is so like me," she muttered aloud. "I choose the one man who has been on earth for centuries. He likes mind control and taking blood from people."

"Charlotte."

"Don't." Now she was getting angry. She could feel the surge of her temper building like a volcano inside of her. "You seduced me and you took my blood. Don't bother to lie to me because I remember you doing it now."

"I cannot lie to you. It is impossible. Stop looking for a way out. There is none. You cannot outrun me. Just stay and communicate with me."

He wanted communication? She'd give him communication, although he wasn't going to like her way of talking. She reached down and pulled at one of the crate slats, then snapped back up, swinging the board at his head. He didn't try to sidestep the blow, but his hand came up to deflect and the board shattered into pieces.

Throughout the attack, he didn't change expression. His eyes darkened. Became more predatory than ever. Her heart jerked hard in her chest and she wanted desperately to run, but her feet seemed frozen to the spot.

"Sielamet." He expressed so much with one word. This was a reprimand. A gentle one, but still a reprimand.

"I want to leave." She stuck her chin in the air, wanting him to see that she meant business. She was leaving his property, taking Lourdes and Genevieve with her whether he liked it or not.

"You cannot leave. Our vows were said. Your soul is tied to mine for all time. You will not be able to leave without harming yourself. Already you feel the pull between us. You cannot eat properly. You haven't had anything other than water this evening."

She pressed her fingers against her lips. Every single word coming out of his mouth was the absolute truth. It was also terrifying. "What did you do to me?"

"I am bringing you fully into my world."

Her heart stuttered. Her stomach did a slow, scary somersault. His voice was implacable. She knew his tone warned her not to argue. Her chin went up another fraction of an inch. "Which part of 'I'm not the submissive type' did you not understand?"

He sighed. "You can fight me, sielamet, but it won't do you any good. You know I can protect you from Fridrick and you know I will. I will always stand in front of you should there be a threat. Not only to you, but also to Lourdes. Everything I said to you earlier I meant. You are my woman, and your niece, Danny and the girls, they are my family. A war has started and whether you like it or not, you're involved. Fridrick and his masters targeted you. They went after Emeline, Liv, Amelia and Bella. There were other women down in those tunnels, women who didn't fare very well. We chased them out of there, but they got away. They haven't gone far, because Fridrick would never be so bold without an army behind him."

She shook her head. "I'll take Lourdes and leave. They won't find me."

"They will find you. They'll always find you. Lourdes won't be as important to them as you will be. If you don't cooperate with them they will use her for food, or give her to one of their puppets, like with Liv."

His expression still hadn't changed. He still hadn't blinked. Now she knew what a true predator was. Subconsciously trying to protect herself she wrapped her hand around her throat, covering it. "Why did you take my blood if you aren't a vampire?"

"I am Carpathian, an ancient race. We exist on blood, but we do not kill those we use to feed. We are careful. Respectful. Our prey never know we took their blood."

She winced at the word prey. Somehow she knew he deliberately was being stark, raw, not wrapping what he was in pretty words to mislead her.

"We seem immortal, but we can be killed. We do have longevity and sometimes that is more of a curse than a gift."

Charlotte studied his face. He hadn't taken a step toward her. He hadn't tried to touch her. She knew if he did, he would be able to convince her of anything. That would have made it so much easier. When his hands or mouth were on her, she would have flown to the moon and back with him. So why wasn't he touching her? She almost wanted him to hold her, kiss her, convince her that she didn't want to leave him.

Because she didn't. The idea of being separated from him made her physically ill. "You can't expect me to calmly decide to go along with all this."

"I can and I do. You have genuine feelings for me. I am in your mind, and to make it fair, at any time, you can be in mine." He nodded his head toward the tools neatly laid out on the table. "I suspect your psychic gift is strong, and it involves reading antiques. That was how you realized I am far older than I look."

Was there a faint note of humor in his tone? If there was, it didn't show on his face or in his eyes. His gaze was as watchful as ever. His expression very serious.

"Yes, I saw you carving the horse. You were surrounded by your friends."

His expression changed then and she realized she'd triggered a long-forgotten memory. He looked sad.

"They w

ere giving me a hard time. The Malinov brothers, all five of them, were there that evening. They liked to discuss politics. They didn't always agree with our prince and they wanted debates going all the time. It was tiresome, but that night, they were just having fun. Fridrick was there as well. The prince's lifemate was close to having her first child. A son. He would be the reigning prince one day. It was a time of great joy."

She studied his face. "Why does the memory make you so sad?" She felt his sorrow, felt it like a weight pressing down on her. She had the unexpected urge to go to him and put her arms around him to comfort him. She forced her feet to stay where they were. This entire revelation was far too scary to even consider. She believed every word he said to her.

"That night was a fun night, but later, some years later, it all turned wrong. Terrible. I had never given the carousel to the prince for his son. I hadn't finished it. Work got in the way. I had to chase vampires, and the piece was never finished. Later, when I went back to it, that's when everything went wrong."

Charlotte could feel his anguish, although she wasn't certain he could.

"The Malinovs had a sister, Ivory. A beautiful girl. Everyone loved her, especially the brothers. Ivory was ultimately betrayed by the prince's eldest son, the one I was originally carving the horse for. At that time, there was unrest between human factions and a war broke out. We were interrupted and had to choose sides. Many of my people, including the Malinovs, didn't think we should involve ourselves in the wars of humans. They avoided them other than to feed."