Sex and the Single Vampire

by Katie MacAlister

Chapter Twelve

 

  You will cease struggling against us.

  I tried to take a deep breath, but the protective crouch I'd assumed as the triumvirate's joined mind slammed into mine made it impossible to breathe deeply.

  You will recognize that we are stronger.

  I took lots of tiny little breaths instead, and struggled to focus my attention on something trivial and innocent, something that couldn't be used against me or be corrupted by the power flooding into my mind.

  You will tell us what you have done with the ghosts you have in your possession.

  The bits of broken bud vase erupted into powder.

  I forced my attention to my shoes. The toes were scuffed. I wondered how it was possible to scuff the top of the toes when it was the soles that made contact with the floor.

  A small muted green pillow on the love seat beneath the etched black picture exploded in a flurry of foam bits.

  The triumvirate's power was increasing, small tendrils of it leaking out into the office.

  You will tell us with whom you were speaking.

  I pushed the bits of foam away from my feet. It wasn't as if I had made a habit of scraping the upper part of my shoes against things. Yet it was the tops of my shoes that were scuffed.

  Allegra Telford.

  There was power in a name. Pain shuddered through me as I fought to resist their unspoken command and tucked my head between my knees, praying help would arrive soon. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold out against the triumvirate's strength.

  Books began flying from a glass-fronted bookcase. Straight through the glass.

  Help will not arrive to save you. You must yield to us. You cannot do anything but yield.

  My inner voice screamed in agony at the sheer volume of power that was being thrown at me. It was like standing directly in front of a jet engine's fan, shards of power piercing me and weakening both my mind and body. Shoes, I desperately told my screaming self. Shoes were what was important. What did they call the little plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces?

  Books struck my body. The triumvirate was directing the power leaks, forcing them into a pattern that would help them and weaken me further. I couldn't believe anyone had enough control that they could direct the leaks, and yet with every blow I had proof.

  I started to wonder if I was going to make it.

  It is no use. You are not strong enough. You are not good enough to resist us. Until you came to England you were a failure, unproven, tested and failed. Do not destroy yourself trying to prove you can best us. No one can. We are all powerfull.

  For one moment I listened to the words shouted in my mind, and in that moment I found myself walking toward the threesome.

  No! I screamed, grabbing the back of the chair to keep from moving closer to them, flinching every time a book slammed up against me. Another power leak had manifested itself as a whirlwind inside the office, bits of paper and foam from the cushion whirling around us, occasionally hitting me in the face. I clung to the chair and tried to lecture myself. If I gave myself up to them, if I answered their call when they summoned me, my wards would be dissolved and I would be at their mercy.

  I am strong, I grimly told myself. I lived through hell in my life, and I've overcome it. I could last here a little bit longer, just until. . . I erased the image of Christian my mind had wanted to draw even before it formed. I wouldn't give him to them.

  You will tell us who you believe will save you.

  The little plastic shoelace thing has a name, I screamed to them. I know it has a name; I just can't remember what it is.

  Two windows looking out onto the street below shattered, the faint tinkle of glass hitting the pavement sucked up by the howling of the wind within the room.

  We have run out of patience. We will tolerate this no longer. You have brought this upon yourself, Allegra Telford, the forces of life shine strong within us.

  Panic filled me as I clutched the chair even harder. Those were the first words of grounding, of the way a Summoner bound a spirit. Why were they saying it to me? It couldn't work on a living person, could it?

  The power of life binds you to us.

  I looked down on myself. It felt like a hundred little ropes were tied to various points on my body, and were slowly snaking outward to form a solid connection to the triumvirate. I started slapping at the invisible ropes, breaking them off, terrified that they really had the power they claimed over me, but as each rope snapped, another formed.

  You are lost, my inner voice screamed. Give in now while you still have your mind!

  Until you are released, you will heed our command.

  A heavy book flew into the back of my head, making me see stars. I fought desperately to stay conscious, to keep the remainder of my strength focused on the wards, but I knew it was a lost cause. The wards burned brilliant gold now, filling the room with warm light that seemed to be instantly absorbed by the blackness that seeped out of the triumvirate. Cracks started to appear in ancient symbols, showing a bright, blinding white through the gold. I had no idea how they had twisted the words of grounding to affect me, but I wanted out of there, out of that room and away from the power that was being thrown at me. I knew the limitations of my abilities, and they couldn't stand much more.

  Suddenly Eduardo's eyes opened, the gray of his irises glowing with an eerie inner light. I clung to the chair, knowing that the second he turned those eyes on me, I was a goner. I could feel that the grounding was unfinished, but I knew he was about to say the last words, to bind me against my will to them. I just didn't have the strength needed to feed power to the wards and keep my mind focused away from their control.

  You can do anything you want, a soft voice soothed me.

  Christian?

  Ah, it is her fianc¨¦ she speaks to.

  Oh, hell, they'd heard me!

  It is all right, Allegro. You are not alone. They cannot harm you. I would not allow that.

  He poured power into me, draining himself to give me the strength that I needed to face Eduardo and fight the grounding, filling me with strength and reassurance and a belief in me that warmed my heart. I pulled on his power, reinforcing the wards until they were whole again, and the hundreds of little cords stretching from me to them were dissolved.

  By the triumvirate, you are thus bound.

  I braced myself, but the final words of Eduardo's grounding couldn't penetrate the reinforced wards. I almost cried in relief.

  Your connection to Christian has doomed him. We have seen your thoughts. We know now what he is. You have sealed his fate.

  I fell to my knees at the smug satisfaction in the triumvirate's voice, the wards once again glowing gold and white. Despair filled my heart at their words because I knew that what they said was true, knew that I had failed. My dream wasn't a warning; it was a glimpse of the future.

  A future I had just made sure would come true.

  Beloved, you have more faith in yourself than this. I do not believe you have doomed me. I know you are my salvation. You are everything light and good; you take my darkness and you make me whole. You have more power than you will ever realize. Do not listen to their lies. You know what is within you. Hold tight to that.

  I shut out the triumvirate's voice that was screaming in my head and focused on Christian's words. He was right; I was strong. I'd done amazing things. I had survived my own hell, I had Summoned ghosts, I had taken darkness and made it light. That was not the description of a woman who would buckle before a triumvirate.

  With grim determination, I got to my feet and faced them, the air full of paper and bits of debris, the wind howling its fury that had a source within the three people facing me.

  You have no future without us. If you do not join us, we will destroy you. We will destroy everyone you care about. We will damn you to an eternity of suffering.

  "Been there, done that," I ground out through my teeth as I pulled m
ore of Christian's power to keep from giving myself over to them, slowly, painfully restoring my wards. Loud noises outside of the room finally penetrated my consciousness, blessedly also drawing a bit of the triumvirate's attention. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, trying to catch my breath in the moment of respite.

  Someone pounded against the door; then it splintered and was kicked aside, the ward guarding it shattering as the triumvirate's focus wavered. Several policemen poured into the room, stopping almost immediately at the scene that met their astonished eyes. Books still flew around the room, caught now in the whirlwind generated by the three people forming a triangle. Two policemen didn't duck in time and were struck by books; another just escaped being beaned by a small potted plant.

  A hand reached out from the mass of blue-suited bodies and pulled me backward, out of the room. I looked up. The hand belonged to a very large man with glittering yellow eyes.

  Christian had sent Raphael.

  "I think I'm going to be sick," I told him. I assume I must have been green, because he immediately shoved me over to a chair in the hallway and pushed me down so my head was between my knees.

  "Stay here. "

  I mumbled that I wasn't going anywhere.

  Beloved?

  Thank you, Christian. Thank you for everything. I appreciate it more than I can ever tell you.

  Allegra, I hear your thoughts. You cannot protect me from Guarda and Eduardo. You cannot leave me. Without you, I have no life.

  Reluctantly I closed Christian out of my head and stayed in the chair, rocking with pain and sorrow and the knowledge that my heart had been healed just in time to fall in love with a man whom I would lead to destruction if I didn't give him up. Sometimes life really sucks.

  "Thank you for taking me home with you," I told Raphael later as he drove through the rainy, crowded streets of London. "I really appreciate it. "

  "Joy was nearly out of her mind with worry. She'll want to make sure you're okay. And besides, it's still daylight; Christian. . . " He made an odd little abrupt gesture.

  I stopped my horrible introspection long enough to look at the man who had called in every favor he had with the Metropolitan Police to save me. "Why do you have such a hard time admitting to yourself what Christian is? You've known him for over a year, haven't you?"

  "Yes, but. . . some things are difficult. It's just not natural, just like you and your. . . " He made the odd gesture again.

  I smiled and stuck a hand out of the blanket he'd wrapped around me in an attempt to stop the shaking. I patted him on his arm. "I know, sometimes it's all so hard to take in. One minute you think you have a handle on everything; the next people are telling you to believe in ghosts and vampires and werewolves. "

  "Werewolves?" he asked, his eyes getting a bit panicky. "You know werewolves?"

  I couldn't help but chuckle at him. "No, I don't. I don't think they exist, not really. "

  His strange yellow eyes lost their worried look.

  "Then again, I didn't think vampires existed, either, but I have more than ample proof how wrong I was there," I mused, fingering the faint mark just below my ear.

  Raphael was back to looking worried again. "What. . . uh. . . what exactly were those people in the office?"

  "Psychics. Very strong ones. They'd formed a triumvirate, a sort of focus for their combined psychic power. It's almost impossible to overcome a triumvirate's power; there's something about the pyramid that becomes stronger just by being. This particular one was more powerful than anything I've ever felt. " I rubbed at a bruise on my forehead. "It almost felt as if. . . "

  "As if what?" Raphael asked, cursing under his breath as a car shot out in front of him.

  I didn't want to put into words the feeling I'd had that one of the three had been tapping into a dark source of power. "It doesn't matter. "

  He glanced at me, and I had a brief feeling that those yellow eyes of his could see straight through all my guards and protection. "Ah. "

  "How did you get to me so quickly?"

  His mouth twisted in a wry grin. "Joy can be very persuasive when she wants to be. "

  "But how did she know? Oh, Christian must have called her. "

  His wry grin turned into a grimace. "Yes, without bothering to use a phone. "

  "Oh. " I let that thought sink in. If Christian could speak to Joy as easily as he did me. . . I sighed and rubbed my forehead again. It was too much to figure out until I had some time to myself. I needed to put some distance between what had happened before I was able to figure out all of the ramifications. "So what'll happen to them? Guarda and Eduardo and Phillippa? They weren't arrested, were they?"

  Raphael shook his head and maneuvered us through a roundabout. "No grounds for arrest. Some friends of mine in the yard just had them in for a little interview regarding their source of funding. Seems Mrs. White has been suspected of doing a little money laundering. "

  "Money laundering?"

  He smiled, and suddenly I had a glimpse at what it was that had attracted Joy to him. "It was the only thing I could think of to get in there quickly. "

  I grinned back at him. "Well, I truly am grateful for your help. "

  He murmured something about it being his pleasure as he peered out through the rain-streaked window. The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

  "I wish there were some way to repay you for your help," I told him a short while later as he delivered me to the door of his building. "I would have been in serious trouble if you hadn't come when you did. "

  He smiled. "Don't mention it. Your taking Christian's attention away from Joy is repayment enough. "

  The answering smile faded from my face. I straightened up and waved as he drove off. I couldn't tell him that I wouldn't run the risk of diverting Christian's attention any longer.

  "Oh, man, what a horrible muddle," I said, rubbing the ache in my forehead. I sighed again and pulled the blanket around me as I waited for Joy to buzz me into the building. I felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to me, both externally and mentally. I was abused, mentally raped, drained and heartsore. I was such a mess that I burst into tears the second Joy opened the door to me, and didn't stop crying for twenty minutes, ending up in a fetal ball on her couch, a box of tissues at hand, blankets heaped over me, two worried women hovering just beyond my view as I cried out the pain of knowing Christian was lost to me forever.

  "That baby has addled your brains. She doesn't need coffee; she needs a stiff belt. "

  "Alcohol never solved anything, Roxy. Coffee and chocolate, however, can work miracles. "

  "Don't go all teetotaler on me, missy; you're just saying that because you can't drink anything stronger than a Shirley Temple now. "

  I sniffled one last time into a tissue and looked up. Roxy and Joy stood next to the couch, Joy with a steaming cup in one hand, a bowl of something that look chocolatey in the other. Roxy held a bottle of whiskey. My decision was quickly made.

  I took the cup from Joy, poured a sizable slosh into it from Roxy's bottle, and scooped up a handful of chocolate-covered almonds. "Thanks. This'll work just fine. "

  "Oh, good, you're done with the water show," Roxy said as she pulled a chair over to where I sat. "Now you can tell us everything. And don't leave out any of the good parts, the way Joy does. First off, did you and Christian do the nasty? I bet Joy you wouldn't be able to hold out against the scrumptious Mr. Dante for very long. "

  "Oh, for God's sake. " Joy whomped her friend on the arm. "Will you stop prying into things that aren't any of your business? Just ignore her, Allie. She was raised by wolves and has no manners. "

  Roxy just grinned at me. "So? Did you?"

  "Roxy!"

  I swallowed the mouthful of almonds and washed them back with spiked coffee. "I will tell you what I told my ghostly friends: the subject of physical relations between Christian and me is off-limits. "

  "Atta girl," Joy praised me as she lowered herself into an armchair. <
br />
  "Well, you can at least tell us about why Christian did the mind-meld thing with Joy and had her getting Raphael worked into a frenzy. What was all that about?"

  It said a lot about my wounded, exhausted state that I didn't even consider shielding them from the truth, as I might under normal circumstances. People not directly involved in paranormal research usually don't take hearing about things like powerful psychics and ghosts and such without a lot of distress. I've found it's easier to pick and choose a few things to tell the general public, and keep the unvarnished truth for the experts. Unfortunately, I was too tired and sore to think rationally, so I spilled all of it to Joy and Roxy.

  "Wow," Roxy breathed when I was finished. "You have five ghosts now? Bring them here, would you?"

  "Another time, maybe. " I smiled wearily.

  "That's right, another time. You just sit there and rest, Allie. " Joy glanced at the window. "The sun should go down in about an hour, Christian will come and get you then. "

  I was shaking my head even before she finished speaking. "No. "

  "No, what?"

  "No, Christian will not come and get me. I don't want to go with him. I was hoping I could stay here with you for the night, until I can find another hotel. "

  Joy glanced quickly at Roxy. "Allie, I know Christian is very concerned about you; he asked me just a few minutes ago how you were feeling, and - "

  I sat up straight and pushed the blankets off me. "He what?"

  "He was concerned; he said you weren't talking to him and he wanted to be sure you hadn't been hurt - "

  "That. . . that. . . "

  "Man," Roxy supplied helpfully.

  "Man!" I yelled, snatching another tissue and blowing my nose. "How dare he question another woman about me? How dare he pry when it's clear I don't welcome his concern! How dare he - "

  " - be so much in love with you that he chafes at the fact that he couldn't be the one to save you?" Joy finished.

  "I can save myself," I snarled at her, immediately feeling ashamed because it's not a nice thing to snarl at a pregnant woman. "I didn't mean to attack you, Joy; I'm just angry at Christian. And he doesn't love me. I'm not his bloody Beloved; you are. "

  "You know," Roxy said thoughtfully as she popped a chocolate almond into her mouth. "That sounds awfully jealous to me. I think maybe you're not being quite honest with yourself or Joy. Or Christian, for that matter. "

  I glared at Roxy.

  "Rox, you're not helping matters. "

  "Well, I'm trying to!" she argued, and took a swig off the bottle of whiskey. "Look, Allie, this thing between Joy and Christian just isn't important. So they can do the mind-meld, big deal. You only have to get Joy and Raphael together for a couple of minutes before they're going at it like rabbits. Joy couldn't give a hoot about Christian, not in the way you do. She punched him in the nose once, almost broke it. Not to mention kneeing him in the happy sacs. "

  I stared at Joy, who nodded. "Christian can be a little overbearing sometimes. So can Raphael, but it looks much better on him. "

  "You hit him? You hit Christian?"

  "And she stomped on his foot. He limped for a week afterward. It's 'cause she weighs as much as a draft horse. "

  We both ignored Roxy.

  "It's not something I'm proud of," Joy said at last, not looking in the least bit contrite.

  I nodded, sucking on an almond. I wondered if I would ever get so mad that I could punch Christian in the nose.

  "I fervently pray you do not. I do not wish to experience that again. "

  I stared at the man leaning elegantly in the doorway, my eyes opening wider as I looked beyond him to the window.

  It was still daylight out.

  "Christian, what on earth are you doing here? I told you Allie was all right!" Joy gave a little grunt, hoisted herself out of the chair, and bustled around the windows, closing the drapes and shutting out the weak daylight.

  I looked back at Christian as Roxy turned on the lamps scattered around the room. "You shouldn't be able to do that, should you?"

  He shrugged and peeled off his coat and hat. "No, but I did. I believe I owe the gain in tolerance to daylight to you. "

  I shook my head. "I'm not your Beloved, Christian. Joy is, only she has other priorities. "

  He ignored my protest and kissed Joy's hand, kissed Roxy on the cheek when she threw herself into his arms, and then sat next to me with the casual possession of longtime lovers. I wanted to push him away, but it felt too good when he tugged me against his side. I closed my eyes for a second and let myself melt into him.

  Why did life always have to be so difficult?

  If it weren't, you wouldn't appreciate what you have, Christian answered.

  Go away. I'm too tired to cope with you.

  "Poor Allie, she's been through so much. Christian, she's asked to stay here for tonight. I'm sure you won't mind, and won't pressure her into changing her mind. "

  "Allegra knows I would never force her to do anything she does not want to do. " I rallied enough strength to snort at that. He ignored me. "If she wishes to spend the night here, she shall. "

  I looked up at him in surprise. I had expected him to at least make a token objection.

  "I don't imagine Raphael will be too pleased to have us both move in with you, but if Allegra insists on remaining here, then here is where we shall stay. "

  I opened my mouth to object, then snapped it shut again. I don't think you were invited.

  Christian looked at Joy. "That is, assuming that your invitation extends to me, of course. "

  Joy smiled at him, her eyes full of laughter. "But of course! If you would be more comfortable with Allie at hand, then you're more than welcome to join us. "

  "If anyone suggests having a pajama party, I'm leaving," Roxy said, standing and pulling her friend toward the door. "Come on, Mama. They can't talk if you're sitting there mothering them. "

  Joy made an exasperated face as Roxy gently shoved her through the door. "I was not mothering them; I was being supportive and concerned. It's what friends do. I'd be happy to give you lessons. "

  The door closed on Roxy's retort, which I suddenly quite desperately wanted to hear. Anything was better than being smashed up against Christian's side, feeling his warmth sink into me, wanting to bury my face into his neck so I could inhale that wonderfully spicy scent, wishing I could forget the world and just spend the rest of my life in his arms.

  That sounds like an excellent plan to me.

  Eavesdroppers never hear good of themselves, I snapped.

  Mmm. I don't believe having you think of me as the sexiest man on earth is hearing ill of myself.

  "I haven't thought that all day, and get out of my mind. "

  He started kissing my neck.

  "And you can just stop doing that, too. " He nuzzled the sweet spot below my ear and I shivered with pleasure. "It's. . . it's. . . it's not going to change my mind. I'm nothing but danger to you, Christian. Oh, Lord, you really shouldn't, not. . . Oh, yeah, right there. " All of my aches and pains were forgotten as he worked around the back of my neck, delivering hot little kisses on my nape, making all sorts of things inside me go up in spontaneous combustion. "I. . . um. . . I won't bring you anything but more torment. You have to understand why this thing between us isn't going to work out. "

  He stopped kissing my neck long enough to turn me to face him. "I know you feel responsible for me, maly v¨¢le¨¨n¨ªk, but in truth you are not. If you leave me now, there will be nothing left of me for Guarda and Eduardo to torment. "

  "Now you're exaggerating," I told him, allowing myself just one, swift little barely there kiss to show him that I appreciated the fact that he thought he couldn't live without me.

  The kiss turned into a smoldering inferno of passion the second my lips met his. I fought giving in to the need that rose within me in answer to his longing, then told myself I'd been through a lot, and deserved a little reward. I threw every
thing I had into my kiss, running my hands over his chest and up to where his hair was once again confined.

  I like it loose, I chastised him as I pulled it free from the leather thong.

  Then you will have to see to it that it remains that way, he answered.

  I heard the door open behind me.

  "They're kissing," Roxy called down the hallway.

  "No, really kissing. Tongues and everything. What? Oh, all right. You sure have become a prude lately. . . "

  The door closed.

  Christian's tongue danced a fiery dance around mine, melting my flesh and bones until all that was left was pure emotion. Tears streaked my cheeks as I kissed him harder, deeper, wanting to lose myself in him.

  I would not have that, he told me as his thumb brushed away my tears. I could not love a woman who was not strong enough to be whole on her own.

  His lips parted from mine, turning to kiss the wet tracks of tears.

  You said I complete you; are you not whole?

  Not without you, he answered.

  But I am complete without you?

  He kissed one eye, then the other. "You are whole, perfectly finished as you are. You are a little warrior. Without me, you would still exist. You would laugh, you would learn to love, you would have a satisfying life. You would seek and achieve success because you cannot do otherwise. "

  I stroked the hair back from his face and looked into his eyes. "You've lived for nine hundred years, Christian. I'm sure you've had relationships with women in the past, and I'm sure they've ended. You survived that, you will survive me. "

  His eyes, warm, so full of something that I wanted to believe was love, but wouldn't allow myself to acknowledge, studied my face. He opened his mind to me so that the pain and torment that were within him were also within me. He spoke, and it felt as if I were speaking. His thoughts were mine; mine were his. We were one; we were joined together in way so profound it scared the life out of me. If you leave me, I will have no future. I am not as strong as you are, Beloved. I cannot face the thought of a future without you completing me. If you turn your back on me, I will end my existence rather than live knowing I have failed you.

  "You haven't failed me," I whispered, hot tears welling up in my eyes at the knowledge that what he said was true. His agony of almost a thousand years of despair was as real as anything I'd ever felt, and I knew with my heart and soul that what he was telling me was the truth. He would destroy himself rather than face a bleak future that held nothing but the misery of the past.

  I don't know why I thought I had a choice in this. I didn't; I couldn't. Either I left Christian and he would kill himself, or I stayed with him and Guarda and Eduardo would do the job for him.

  In the dream Eduardo had told me I must make a choice. Silly me, I thought it was a choice between my own survival and Christian's - not a choice of how he would die.

  Why do you believe we will be so easily overcome?

  I sniffed. He handed me a handkerchief. I wouldn't allow myself the intimacy of speaking into his mind. "I don't mean any slur, Christian, but if Guarda and Eduardo could overcome your friend, what's to stop them from overcoming you?"

  "Sebastian has not found his Beloved. "

  "So?"

  "Is it not true that two are stronger than one?"

  I thought about that. "Oh. I guess so. You're saying that a Dark One who's found his Beloved - "

  "One who has Joined with his Beloved. "

  " - is more powerful than a solo Dark One, but that means squat in this case. I'm not your Beloved. "

  "You are. I was incorrect earlier when I said you weren't. I know now that you are the woman I have waited for, the one who holds my future in her hands, the Beloved who can redeem my soul. "

  "I'm not! I'm not a soul-saving sort of person; I'm a Summoner. That's all I am. "

  "There is nothing that says you cannot be both. "

  "But - "

  He took my hand and kissed my palm. Little streaks of fire shot up my arm. "You have already started to heal my soul; you have ever since I met you. That is why I am able to tolerate the last hours of the sun. The hunger within me has diminished, changed so that I crave only you. That, too, would not happen unless you were the woman intended to make me whole again. "

  "You crave me?" I looked at him suspiciously. "You crave us together, you mean? Sex?"

  "That is part of the hunger, yes. "

  I had a momentary glimpse into what he needed from me. There was the hope that I would salvage his soul, there was an intense desire for physical joining, and there was a deep, dark thirst for - "

  "Blood. Oh, I see. Dark Ones only dine off their Beloveds, eh?"

  "You will be all I need, all I will want. The act of taking blood from another has become repugnant to me. "

  He watched me closely to see how I would take that news. I felt for one horrible moment like some sort of deranged cow, fed and pampered so I could donate blood on a regular basis, then thought, really thought about what Christian was feeling. I knew from experience how intimate - how erotic - it was for him to feed off me. Did I want him doing that with anyone else?

  I most certainly did not.

  Still, there were questions to be answered. "Why did you think Joy was your Beloved? Why did you think I wasn't? Why did you change your mind?"

  He ran a long-fingered hand through his hair and leaned back on the couch, taking me with him. "Joy once said that she thought it was possible for there to be two women with, as she put it, their wires crossed: one who was born a Beloved, but who was never meant to fulfill that role, and another who was not born to it, but who would grow into it. I did not think it was possible at the time, but now" - His eyes lightened to a beautiful warm reddish brown with gold flecks that made his eyes seem to shimmer with light - "now I believe she was right. You were not born to be my Beloved, but you are she. If you choose to stay with me now, to help me overcome my darker self, there will be only one more step before we are truly Joined. "

  Ick. I knew what that meant. A blood exchange. I pushed down the pesky little thought that when we made love, I had a deep, forbidden, primitive urge to taste his blood even as he was drinking mine, and instead focused on the here and now.

  "All right, letting the Beloved question go for a minute, how can you expect me to believe that you and I have enough strength, even working together, to face the triumvirate again? They almost did me in, Christian, and that was with you pouring your power into me. I felt how weak you grew doing that; you were giving me everything you had. "

  He kissed my palm again. I fought back the shiver of pleasure that his breath on my sensitive skin triggered. "Once we are Joined, we will be as one. You will complete me, and in return you will be made immortal. "

  "Even immortal, I can still be hurt. You said yourself it was possible to kill a Dark One, and your friend is proof that you can be held prisoner against your will. "

  "Sebastian was not trapped by Eduardo and Guarda. There was another's hand in it, one who was able to blind Sebastian because he had no Beloved. A Dark One who is redeemed would never make that mistake. "

  "Don't tell me: When you're redeemed you become even more perfect than you are now?"

  A smile flirted with his lips. I wanted to flirt with the smile. "Nothing so arrogant, Allegra. It is simply that a Moravian who has Joined would not do anything that would endanger his Beloved. She is everything and all to him. He lives for her happiness. He would take no chances with his own life simply because he must live to protect her. "

  I gave in to my desire and let my lips flirt with his smile. "Now why do I find that statement a bit questionable?"

  He tugged me closer, until I was sitting on his lap.

  That is because you have never had a Dark One of your own. I promise I will make the experience one that you will never forget. . . or regret.

  The door opened again. I stayed where I was.

  "Now she's sitting on his lap. No,
wait, they're kissing again. And he's got his hand on her boob. Will you stop yelling at me? Geez, Joy, I'd appreciate it if you'd make up your mind! Either you want me to see what they're doing, or you don't - "

  The door closed again, rather firmly this time.

  I smiled into Christian's mouth. "You know, you're not giving me any choice. What you're doing is called emotional blackmail. "

  His smile sobered instantly into something that filled me with sorrow to see.

  Guilt. He felt guilty about telling me the truth.

  "If there were another way, Allegra - "

  "You've let me see into that thick head of yours," I said, running my fingers through the cool length of his hair. "I know what you're telling me is true, just as you know I could not let you destroy yourself. So I guess it means we're going to have to work out some sort of a relationship. "

  I fisted my hands in his hair and tugged until he tipped his chin up. I nibbled on his neck, gently biting the tender flesh around his Adam's apple. There are going to be some rules, Mr. Arrogance. Lots and lots of rules.

  "Rules can be good," he said, lowering his head until his lips teased mine. "I particularly like the one that says I must make love to you until you beg me to stop. "

  "I have a very high tolerance for lovemaking," I warned just before he claimed my mouth.

  A short while later the door opened behind us.

  "Guys, I think you might want to put some clothes back on. Joy's gone to pee - for the five hundredth time today - but she's coming in to check on you next. So. . . um. . . guys? That is you two under those blankets, right? That looks like your clothes on the floor. Oh, boy, Allie, you really need to get yourself some new underwear. Yours looks like the kind my grandmother wears. I didn't know they still made - "

  Christian closed the door on her without ceasing doing what he was doing. I moaned into his mouth and gave myself up to the sharp stab of pure pleasure as our bodies and minds once again merged into one.

  There had to be a way to save him from the fate my dream predicted. There just had to be.