Dark Challenge (Dark Series - book 5)

by Christine Feehan

  At once pleasure beat at her; it took hold and rushed through her body like a wall of flame, a firestorm of beauty and ecstasy. Sweet and hot. Immeasurable. Like nothing she had ever known. It was addictive, consuming, eternal. There would never be a Desari without Julian. Never a Julian without Desari. She would need his body, his blood, and his soul for all the rest of her days. He would need hers.

  Gasping, terrified, Desari closed the tiny pinpricks and held on to him, the only solid anchor in a world that seemed to be disintegrating around her. At once his arms were there, real and strong, his chin nuzzling the top of her head so that silken strands of her hair were caught in the golden shadow on his jaw, weaving them together like threads. “Do not fear this,

  piccola.

  I know what to do. I am ancient and powerful and know the ways of our people. This is natural for us.”

  She shook her head, her heart pounding. “Not for me. You do not understand at all, Julian. I cannot leave my family. I have been in your mind and know your intentions for us. You are a loner, even a bit of a renegade. You like to set your own rules and go your own way. You follow your Prince, but rather loosely.”

  Julian’s hand again came up to caress the nape of her neck, easing the tension out of her. “We have time to get used to one another.”

  “I sing, Julian. I love to sing. I like the crowds, the sharing, the excitement in the audience, the connection with them. And I love my family. If we have a prince, a leader, it is Darius. He had dedicated his life to us, lived for us, protected us. You do not know what he has done for us. I cannot leave him at this time, when he is so close to the edge of destruction.”

  The night whispered to them, enfolding them in its dark cloak. Julian lifted his face skyward, staring at the stars spread above them like a glittering blanket. “Tell me about him. Tell me how it is possible that no other Carpathians know of your existence. If you managed to escape notice, perhaps there are others, also. This could be very important to the continuation of our species.”

  His voice was so gentle and tender, it turned her heart over. Yet she could sense his implacable resolve. Like Darius, he had a strong and relentless will. He chose to follow his own path, make his own rules. He coaxed the entire long-ago story out of her. The terrible massacre. The precariousness of the ship. The terror of the children in a savage, lawless land surrounded by predatory animals.

  Julian soon realized that Darius and Desari were indeed living relatives of the healer, the Dark One. They had to be Gregori’s younger brother and sister, presumed murdered by the Turks. Perhaps others had escaped as well. The moment he knew the truth, he reached across time and space.

  Gregori! I have found what I long sought. There are others. Your bloodline. They survived the massacres and escaped far away.

  It was no wonder that Darius reminded him so much of the healer. Darius was every bit as resourceful and powerful as his older brother. He would make a bitter, relentless enemy, dangerous beyond imagination. He would make a loyal, protective friend despite his inability to feel emotions. His word was his law. He recognized no other. Julian found himself respecting Darius where he respected few others.

  I thank you for sending me word of Darius and Dara, Julian. I also feel your need, Julian. Desari is your lifemate. Attend to her.

  There was great satisfaction evident in the healer’s voice even over the distance.

  Have you need of me at this time? No, healer. I welcome the challenge your male kin provides.

  And Julian did. The wonder and beauty of the world was within his grasp.

  I will contact Mikhail and inform Savannah. We will come if you have need of us; otherwise, we will all meet at a later date. I have no need,

  Julian assured the healer. He had faith in his own abilities. He didn’t want or need the healer’s interference or presence. Gregori doubtless knew the exact nature of the darkness crouching in Julian’s soul, a fact Julian had successfully kept even from his own twin. Gregori believed in his honor, but he also knew Julian was shadowed, and might decide such a one had no right to Desari, no right to her atal

  Julian had no intention of giving up Desari. It would be impossible even if he were inclined to do so. They were tied together for all eternity. The ritual words had been spoken. Although they had not completed the entire cycle of the ritual, the ancient words themselves were binding, and Julian knew the consequences. They would be unable to be apart without intense grief, without dire physical discomfort. And the waves of Carpathian heat would eventually overcome them, demanding they unite.

  It was a protection for the male’s sanity, for his soul, that he could bind his mate to him for all time regardless of her fears. Fears could be dealt with; the destruction of one’s soul was for all eternity. Desari believed she could control her destiny, that she had a choice, but Julian knew better. She belonged to him, was a part of him. Not even Darius could change that without destroying her. And if his own honor demanded he do the right thing, release her from one such as him, it was already too late. He had tied them together in the heat of their first meeting. It was done.

  Julian sighed softly and held her close to him. “Your brother is Carpathian and blood kin to you. I would not wish harm to him. If it is necessary that we remain with him to ensure that he does not allow harm to come to himself, then that is what we will do.”

  Desari knew Julian believed he was making a great concession for her, but he wasn’t doing her any favors. Darius would not accept him easily into their circle. Neither would Dayan or Barack. The males were difficult at best. For hundreds of years they had depended upon one another, interacted with one another. They would not willingly allow a stranger into their midst.

  Chapter Five

  Desari lifted her head from the warmth and temptation of Julian’s chest. Her enormous eyes were soft with sadness. “I know you do not understand, but I can do no other than return to my family right now. I refuse to continue being irresponsible, selfish, when my brother has given so much.”

  She expected Julian to argue with her, and her hand, positioned over his heart, trembled. Julian’s golden eyes drifted possessively over her upturned face. His burning hunger, so intense, so blatant, took her breath away, stole her resolve. How could a man need her so much? How could he show that need to her without ego or fear that he would be totally vulnerable? How could she turn away from such an honest burning need? “Julian.” She whispered his name, an aching desire, feeling torn between two strong men, two loyalties, one she didn’t even understand.

  “We have a few short hours until the dawn,

  cara

  . If you insist on returning to Darius, then we must do so.” His voice was a soft, mesmerizing spell, seductive and masculine. Just the sound of it threatened her precarious will. His words said one thing, while his blatant, sexy heat whispered something altogether different.

  “Julian, you have to stop looking at me like that,” she cautioned him, something blocking her throat so that it felt impossible to breathe. She tried to pull her gaze away from the intensity of his. “I cannot think when you look at me like that.”

  His hand moved over the silken mass of her hair, his fingers rubbing the strands against the pad of his thumb as if he couldn’t help himself. “Have you always been an entertainer?”

  There was a note in his voice, a drawling caress of admiration and sorcery that set her heart beating fast. He disarmed her entirely with that lazy, Italianate drawl of his. His question also threw her off track. It felt like a seduction, though it was innocent enough. “Yes, I always sang. We traveled to different continents every twenty-five years or so. That way no one ever noticed we did not age.” His hand, the one that had been so innocently fingering strands of her hair, had somehow slipped to her shoulder. Those fingers were now rubbing heat right through the thin material of her top so that she felt as if his skin were connecting to hers. Her voice faltered as she lost her train of thought.

  Julian bent closer as if
to soothe her. “Please continue. This is extremely interesting. I searched centuries for lost Carpathians but had given up hope. How all of you accomplished what you did is extraordinary.” His fingertips moved to the neckline of her shirt absently tracing its delicate embroidered edge.

  Desari swallowed as little flames licked at her skin, as her breasts reacted to the pad of his thumb sliding sensuously over the soft swell. She glanced up at him, determined to reprimand him, but he was looking intellectual and earnestly interested in whatever she had been telling him. Except for his eyes. His eyes were molten gold and burning with a liquid fire that seemed to consume her, to mesmerize her.

  “I have no idea what I was saying,” she finally admitted, her voice so husky it was an invitation.

  His body crowded closer to hers, not touching, simply so close his heat and masculine scent enfolded her, surrounded her, swamped her. It called to her as nothing else could have. “You were telling me about traveling around from place to place singing.” His voice was aching with need.

  She heard it clearly, and her body responded on its own, dissolving into liquid heat. Desari cleared her throat. “We simply became our own ancestors if someone remembered us. It was seldom necessary, as we made certain we stayed away from areas for decades at a time. Dayan is a poet, a master with words, and no one is better on a guitar. Syndil, too, is a wonderful musician. She can play almost any instrument. Actually, Barack is the same way. He seems to really enjoy playing for our audiences.” She gave him the information, but her mind was on the fact that his fingers had slipped inside her neckline and were moving hypnotically back and forth as if he were memorizing the feel of her.

  “Barack and Dayan.” Julian repeated the names softly. There was the smallest bite to his voice, his perfect teeth snapping together, reminiscent of a hungry wolf. “Those two act as if they have certain rights where you are concerned.” There was a cruel edge to the set of his mouth, a darkness in his golden eyes. “They do not. In lieu of your father, Darius is the only one you are answerable to until your lifemate claims you. I have done so.” He leaned forward as if drawn beyond his own will and touched her collarbone with his lips, the harshness in his face at once softening. The touch was feather-light, but it penetrated her skin and made straight for her heart, setting it pounding with some emotion she didn’t want to try to understand.

  His mouth moved, a trail of fire running from her collarbone up to the pulse beating so frantically in her throat. Her soft mouth trembled, long lashes sweeping down to cover the luminescent glow in her dark eyes. She should stop him. For her own sanity, she should stop him. But his mouth was moving slowly, gently, a heated exploration not at all aggressive.

  Desari tried desperately to marshal her thoughts. “You have claimed me?”

  His fingers tangled with hers. He brought her hand to press against the muscles of his chest, his thumb feathering with false innocence over her pulse. He felt it jump as his lips drifted lower, pushed the limits of the neckline of her shirt, where the creamy invitation of her breasts swelled in anticipation. “I have. You are bound to me.” He whispered the words into the valley between her breasts, and her entire body clenched with such need that Desari felt weak.

  She swore there were flames dancing over her skin. She actually looked down, expecting to see little orange tongues of fire licking along her skin. She shivered and tried to withdraw her hand, tried to put some much-needed space between them. “You believe I am. I do not.” Desari found that where her head was certain she wanted to move, her body refused to cooperate.

  His laughter was low and husky with male amusement at its worst. “You cannot possibly think you could get away from me now.” Julian transferred his attention to her arm. His lips skimmed along her bare skin, stopping to dwell in the sensitive inner elbow before moving on along her forearm. Then he was doing something to her inner wrist, his teeth scraping over her skin, making every muscle in her body clench until she thought she might have to scream with need. “I would not be much of a lifemate if I could not hold what is my own, now, would I?”

  As he bent forward over her arm, his golden hair was brushing against her skin, and she closed her eyes against the waves of heat rising so sharply between them. In spite of herself she smiled. “You are every bit as arrogant as Darius.” She liked the feel of his hands, the molten gold of his eyes burning over her. She even liked his arrogance.

  “Mmm,” he murmured rather absently, clearly distracted. “Am I?” His hand glided over her rib cage until he found the edge of her shirt. “You know you love everything about me.” He buried his face in the waves of ebony silk cascading around her shoulders and down her back. “I love the way you smell.” His hand slipped beneath her thin cotton top, his fingers splayed wide to take in as much satin skin as he could.

  The sensation was beyond her wildest fantasy. So hot. Reaching into her insides and simply melting everything. “I thought we were going to talk,” she said a little desperately. Her arms seemed to have a will of their own, sliding around his neck. For a moment she closed her eyes, savoring the heat of his body in the coolness of the night..

  “I am talking to you,” Julian whispered. “Do you not hear what I am saying?”

  His voice moved like velvet over her skin. How could she not hear him? Inside her body, Desari felt a volcano of molten heat erupt. It raced through her, thick and heavy and hot and aching. She wanted him, and he needed her. Could it really be that simple? She turned up her mouth to the demanding invasion of his.

  Julian swore the ground moved beneath his feet. Desari knew she heard the roar of thunder and felt the blue-white lash of lightning. Julian kicked open the door to the cabin and managed to make it inside, his body raging. The beast within, ever present, fought for supremacy. Julian fastened his mouth to hers, a little out of control, a soft warning growl emanating from deep within his throat as she tried to lift her head.

  His hand spanned her throat, holding her to him, holding her as if she were a part of him. Holding her as if she was the most precious thing in the world and he couldn’t be without her. His other hand skimmed her waist, then stopped to rest there, hot and urgent even though his palm was lying quietly against her skin. Desari was so aware of it, aware of how close it was to the most intimate, sensitive parts of her body. She ached for him. Wanted him. She was beyond thinking rationally; she wanted his hand to move. Either direction, it didn’t matter. His mouth was hot and hard, yet velvet soft, demanding her complete surrender. And then his hand did move, finding the tiny catch at the front of her lacy bra, and her breasts spilled free. It was such a small thing, but her entire body felt wild and untamed and in need.

  She felt the moan rising from deep within her soul as his hand caressed the full rounded underside of her breast. It amazed her that he could make her feel such intense pleasure when his palm was simply cupping the weight of her breast. Her mouth was open to the invasion of his, her body receptive to his every advance. When his hand encircled her breast, his palm pushing against her erect nipple, she gasped and pulled her mouth free so that she could taste his skin, so that she was free to do her own exploring.

  She could feel his hand shaping her, tracing the curve of her breast, the soft, swelling invitation, her nipple, aching and hard, pushing into his palm. Desari slid her own hands under his shirt, found his heated skin, the ridge of defined muscles, the golden hair spreading across his chest. He made her feel so alive, so completely feminine. He made her feel restless and hot, her body a cauldron of creamy liquid fire.

  Julian caressed her breast, marveling at the sheer perfection of her body. It was amazing to him, the satin texture of her skin, the silken feel to her hair, the heat rising between them, how small and delicate she felt beside his own strong body, yet her every muscle was firm and supple. Her hands were driving him crazy, threatening not only his tenuous control but his very sanity. His body was raging at him, so hard with the need for release that his clothing felt tight and unbearable ag
ainst his flesh.

  Desari tugged at his shirt, heedless of the buttons flying in all directions. She needed to burrow as close to him as possible. Julian’s body trembled, driven beyond the boundaries of endurance. The feel of her hands on his heated skin only served to arouse him further. His body went rigid as her mouth moved over his chest, began to trace a path down the fine trail of gold hair.

  Julian caught at the neckline of her shirt, easily parting the material, tossing the lacy scrap of bra aside so that her skin gleamed invitingly in the darkness. His breath caught in his throat at the perfection of her. His hands spanned her waist, bent her backward so that her breasts rose up to meet his descending mouth. She was luscious, beautiful, everything good and perfect in the world.

  His mouth was hot and moist, closing around her, all heat and fire so that flames erupted inside her, inside him, like a firestorm. With each strong pull of his lips as he fed on her, there was an answering rush of hot, creamy liquid as her body called out urgently to his, a rush of swelling heat from his own body.

  Julian’s hands slid down along her waist to the slender curve of her hips, pushing her faded jeans and silken panties ahead of them. Her legs were satin smooth, firm to his touch yet so soft as he trailed his fingers back up along the inside of her thighs. His mouth left her breasts for just a moment so that his tongue could trace the tiny indentation of her belly button, then once more returned to the temptation of her full, soft breasts. His hand slipped between her legs to find moist heat.