He caressed her breasts with his long fingers, stroking and kneading, occasionally leaning forward to suckle while the water lapped at her as well. She bent her head again and swept her tongue across a graze on his lower abdomen. Every muscle in his belly bunched and knotted. Suddenly nothing was as important as feeling her mouth around him, tight and wet and hot. He pulled her to the shallow edge where the pool was lined with boulders, seating himself on a higher one so she could remain in the bubbling water.
His hands fisted in her wealth of hair and dragged her head down to his lap. He murmured in his ancient language, the harsh tone and explicit instructions making her hot all over. She loved the urgency in his voice, the control in his hands, the way his hips thrust against her mouth. It took a moment to pick up the rhythm; he didn't give her much of a chance to get used to the thickness and length of him.
Harder. His head was thrown back, his eyes closed, his throat exposed as he urged her on. She couldn't tell if he was talking to himself or to her, but the clipped, graphic need sent desire shooting through her.Take me deeper. That's it. That's what I need. Squeeze harder, suck on me .
His voice continued each whispered command rougher and wilder.All of me. Take more. You can do it . He was no longer looking to her comfort, or helping her breathe, and the demands only made her want to give up everything to him. He was fast losing control and she had never thought he ever would.
She increased her attentions, sliding her mouth over him, flattening her tongue, hollowing her cheeks until he was gasping for mercy, until he spilled over, his hot essence jetting strong before he could regain control.
More than satisfied with her success, she took over, climbing onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and settling her body over his still hard erection with exquisite slowness. He pushed through her tight sheath, filling her, stretching and burning until she was completely seated and she felt full and deliciously stuffed.
She began to ride him, lifting herself up and dropping back over him, squeezing her muscles, getting a feel for what robbed him of his breath and sent streaks of fire racing through his body. She loved taking his body and making it her own. There was a heady excitement in watching the breath slam out of his lungs. Of moving up and down his body, using it for her own pleasure. She rode him slowly, leisurely, refusing to give in to the urgency of his hands biting into her hips or the enticement of his tightening thighs. She took her time, letting the waves build in her, pushing her higher, sending fire streaking through her womb so that she all but vibrated with the building tension. All the while she watched him as his breath hitched, as his expression grew darker, more filled with lust.
Nicolas fought himself to allow her keep control, watching her face through half-closed eyes, enjoying the way she moved her body, the feel of her sheathing him like a tight glove. She was driving him insane with her slow, leisurely ride. She would rise up, twisting a little, contracting her muscles so her hot, silken sheath would tighten like a greedy fist around him. His body just kept building and building pressure until he was afraid he would spontaneously combust.
«Lock your ankles around my waist,» he ordered, through bared teeth.
She looked amused. «What do you want me to do?»
«I am not joking around with you.» Because she was torturing him slowly with her sensuous ride.
«Really?» Her eyebrow shot up and she lifted again, moving her hips in a small spiral as she locked her muscles around him.
Her creamy buttocks were far too tempting and he didn't try to resist, turning her skin a rosy red while reminding her who was the boss. She just laughed as she locked her ankles, gasping a little as he swung her around, setting her on the boulder and leveraging over her, locking her beneath him so he could have his way with her.
He slammed deep, driving into her the way he needed, burying himself into her so deep she went wild, exploding around him, gripping him hard as her orgasm tore through her. He continued to pound into her while her body squeezed and milked his, until, with a hoarse cry, he jerked hard, thrusting mindlessly, his hot release flooding her.
Still buried deep, his body rocking, he bent his head to her breast, teeth aching, mouth filling with the taste of her. He flicked his tongue, nipped at her.
Nicolas's teeth scraped along her breast and her toes curled. Butterfly wings brushed the inside of her stomach. His lips feathered over her pulse, his tongue rasping a light caress. She felt his bite of pleasure/pain.
Her wrist burned. A flashing image of teeth tearing at her flesh intruded. Her stomach lurched and she ground her teeth together to keep from crying out. Everything in her tensed. Waited. Screamed at him to stop.
Nicolas lifted his head, his black, hooded gaze, so sexy, so dark with desire, drifted alertly over her face. «What is it,han ku kuulua sivamet ?»
His voice was a velvet stroke, a dark caress as he called her «keeper of my heart.» How could she be the keeper of his heart when she couldn't give him everything?
«I don't think I can,» she whispered, tears burning behind her eyes. She'd managed to give blood to her aunt and that was all her mind would allow.
She detested disappointing him, especially now when she was feeling totally satisfied and loved. She wanted that for him as well. She wanted him to know she would give him everything if he asked-but she couldn't quite overcome the aversion she had. She knew giving blood was natural, even erotic between lifemates, she'd enjoyed it once, but now her stomach churned and panic set in. Everything had been so perfect and she had ruined it.
«I'm sorry,» she whispered, shamed. «I'm so sorry.»
He cupped her chin, lifted her face to kiss his way along her cheeks, collecting her tears with his tongue along the way. «Do you honestly think taking your blood every time I make love to you matters to me, Lara?»
Nicolas kissed her pulse and swept his tongue over the pinpricks there. «Tet vigyazam. I love you, it is that simple. Nothing else matters. You. Just you. I love to touch your body and make love to you, but it is you, who you are inside, that counts to me. If I cannot take your blood, will I miss that? I am certain I would occasionally. But truthfully, I would rather have you curled beside me, laughing with me, teasing, bringing me joy, than ever being with anyone else.Tet vigyazam , Lara. Forever. I love you for all time.»
She reached up to his beloved face. «Tet vigyazam, Nicolas,» she whispered, knowing it was true.
Chapter 20
Lara and Nicolas rose early the next evening, bathed in the pool and made leisurely love. The naming ceremony was in a couple of hours and Lara was looking forward to it. She could feel the excitement building in the air all around her, even from within their cave. As she dressed she studied Nicolas. The wounds were gone, but she could see the raw edges not yet healed.
«When are you going to ground? You haven't been since we've been together.»
«I will go when you are ready,» he said.
She frowned. «That's not good enough, Nicolas. I can only check a few people a day for the microbe. I'm not through with all the women, let alone starting on the men. And if the microbe is in the ground, it will be an endless, vicious circle.»
«You have to be converted, Lara.»
«I will be, just not right now.»
«Within the week. Check the women and you are done.»
She didn't reply, knowing when he got that edge to his voice that he was worried about her. She knew what that felt like when she looked at him and saw his wounds that should have been healed. And she was very aware how often Nicolas suppressed his need to protect and keep her healthy. He knew the drain the journey was on her when she was hunting the microbe and she was having trouble keeping even broth down.
Nicolas suddenly looked alert, his fingers settling around her arm, pulling her behind him. «We have company. Let us meet them at the entrance to the cave, away from where your aunts rest.»
To Lara's surprise, Shea and Jacques Dubrinsky stood waiting for an invitation to enter
, Jacques holding their infant son in his arms. It was the first time Lara had ever gotten a good glimpse of the man who was lifemate to the Carpathian's researcher. He reminded her in some ways of her father, that ravaged look, with lines etched deep, eyes that had seen too much pain and suffering. She had heard the rumors of this man, of his splintered mind and how truly dangerous he was, but watching him hold his son so tenderly, it was difficult to believe.
«We've come asking more from your lifemate, Nicolas,» Jacques said without preamble. «I understand
these journeys she makes are difficult, and I would not ask, but Shea thinks it is necessary.» His gaze slid to his lifemate and the tenderness in his expression was touching.
«It isn't so bad now that I know what I'm doing,» Lara said. «And I have Nicolas as well to anchor me.» She cleared her throat, thinking to confess her problem with giving or taking blood, which made the journeying difficult. She could only take blood from Nicolas and she didn't want to take a journey without him close. Reliving her childhood repeatedly was taxing.
It is no one's business. Nicolas reached out and took her hand, bringing her palm to his chest.
Shea touched her son's foot and looked up at both of them, blinking back sudden emotion. «He isn't doing well. Our son. He's struggling and I've tried everything I know how to do, and he's still losing ground. Gregori and Francesca have both examined him repeatedly, but he has the same wasting disease the other children we've lost has had. I cannot feed him properly and the mixtures I've tried for him are not nourishing him.»
«Shea, I'm so sorry,» Lara said. «We had no idea. No one's said a word.»
«We thought it best to keep it private,» Jacques replied. «A few of our women are pregnant now and we do not want to chance causing them more stress.»
«What can I do?» Lara asked.
«Journey and see if he is infected with the microbe.»
Lara and Nicolas exchanged a long look of sudden comprehension. «You think I'll find one, don't you?»
Shea bit her lip, nodding as she did so. «I think a microbe finds the male first and when he has sex with his lifemate, the microbe travels to her, leaving him open territory. While he lies sleeping in the soil, another enters, through his skin most likely. The first microbe has found the female host and lies in weight for conception. If she becomes pregnant, the organism forces her to miscarry by continually attacking the baby, but if it isn't successful, I believe the microbe then travels into the baby, again leaving her without one. So the cycle starts all over again with the man once again infecting the woman. Once inside the baby, the microbe slowly kills it.»
Lara closed her eyes briefly. Shea's theory sounded very sensible, especially since they had found Xavier's laboratory and his series of pools. Each was a different environment for the extremophile.
«Unfortunately, your theory matches evidence we found in the ice caves. These microorganisms are very difficult to kill as a rule, Shea. We re burning them one by one, but if everyone is continually infected each time we go to ground, it will be impossible to keep up.»
Nicolas's hand curved around the nape of Lara's neck. «Especially when so far, Lara's the only one who can find them. And when I convert her, she may not be able to do so anymore. Natalya cannot.»
Shea gasped. «You can't convert her, Nicolas.» She shook her head. «I know how much you both must want to, but you can't. We can't take any chances. This is too important to all of us. Until I can find an antibody that will fight this thing in the ground, Lara is our only hope.»
«Xavier corrupts the extremophiles. If someone collects them for you, perhaps you can use the original superpowered bugs to fight his corrupt ones,» Lara offered. «I've collected them for research before and
scientists all over the world believe the extremophile can be used to cure many diseases. They actually will defend against other microbes, so maybe the answer is the simplest of all. Use the original.»
Shea's expression brightened. «You saw evidence of mutation?»
Lara nodded. «I've seen normal extremophiles hundreds of times. Xavier definitely mutated these.»
«If that's true,» Shea said with confidence, «I believe we'll be able to find an antidote, or vaccine, or something to combat this. Finally. Hope. Real hope.»
«But you are talking experiments to get it right,» Nicolas said. «That takes time.» He tugged Lara to him protectively. «She is caught between both worlds, Shea. She can barely manage to keep any food down. She cannot go to ground, but she cannot be in the light either. Is it right to ask my lifemate to live in a half-world?»
«No,» Jacques answered for both of them-for the entire Carpathian people. «No, of course it isn't, but we have no choice. We have to ask you to save our children.»
Lara looked at the baby in his arms, so innocent, already slipping away from them. He was pale and thin, listless, his eyes dull. Her gaze met Nicolas's. She tried not to let him see or feel her despair. She couldn't sacrifice this child or any other-and neither could he. Until they could find a way to counteract the microbes already living in the soil she couldn't be converted.
You can, Nicolas said firmly.We have no idea what could happen to you living a half-life. No one can ask this of you .
I love you, too. She smiled at him.And you know there is no choice. This child belongs to all of us .
Nicolas swore and looked away from her, once again feeling helpless. His centuries of existence had failed to prepare him for failure. He had driven her to the very end of her endurance. He had been unable to protect her when she'd relived her childhood. He'd failed to save her friends, and now he could not take her from the half-life. What kind of a lifemate was he? Protection had always-always-come first in his mind, but now he was an utter failure at the one thing that was the most important.
Lara wrapped her arms around him, right there, in front of Jacques and Shea, leaning into him and tilting her head. «You are the best lifemate. That's what you are, and right now, I need you to help me find whatever is trying to harm this child. We'll need Natalya to draw the microbe out once I lure it to the surface and you'll have to be ready to give me blood. And then-« She smiled at Shea. «-then we have a celebration to go to. Everyone is so excited about the naming ceremony.»
Shea managed a weak smile. «Please find it, Lara. If you don't, I have no idea how to save our son.»
«I'll find it,» Lara said with more confidence than she felt.
* * *
A hush fell over the gathered crowd. Anticipation and excitement heightened awareness of details. The incense burning, the fragrance of sage and lavender blended with the aroma of candles. The chamber was warm, the direct opposite of the ice caves and Lara couldn't help but compare this child's welcome to the one given her. She wished her aunts could have been there to participate but after the healers had examined them, and given them more blood, both decreed it was too soon and the women needed far
more time to regain their health in the ground. She looked up at Nicolas and smiled.
Nicolas tightened his fingers around Lara's. Pride welled up in him in spite of the fact that a part of him wanted to throw his lifemate over his shoulder and take her back to South America where he could see to her health. If it wasn't for Lara, this child would never have a chance at life. She had taken the journey into the small body and discovered Shea's theory was right. The microbe had passed from mother to child and was slowly killing the baby.
The journey had been more difficult than he had expected. The baby was small and already weak and sick. Lara had to be careful and go in as an infant almost before she really got started. The microbe would have run from an adult. The continual reliving of her childhood was taking a toll on Lara, but when he tried to put his foot down and tell her enough was enough, she only smiled at him and pointed to the baby. With the microbe out of its body, it was already hungry and active, bouncing back fast.
He watched Jacques carry his son into the center of the chamber while the C
arpathian greeting chant swelled in volume. Everyone present would pledge their love and support to the child, become family to him, vow to raise him should anything happen to his parents.
Jacques handed his son to his brother and the prince raised the child high into the air. A roar of approval went up. Shea slipped her hand into her lifemate's and looked over at them.
Thank you both. You enabled this to happen.
Nicolas felt his throat tighten. He brought Lara's hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the center of her palm.
«Who names this child?» Mikhail asked.
«His father,» Jacques replied.
«His mother,» Shea said.
«His people,» the crowd of males and females, lifemated and single, added.
«You are called, Stefan Kane,» Mikhail announced, «born in battle, crowned with love. Who will accept the offer of the Carpathian people to love and raise our son?»
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