Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
He whispered the command to her, and just the soft demand to take his blood set his heart pounding. One fingernail lengthened. He drew a line over the heavy muscles on his chest, his breath catching in his throat. Bright red ruby beads appeared and slowly began to drip down his chest. He fitted the back of her head into his palm and pressed her toward his chest, keeping up the whispered command because she seemed just a little resistant. He didn’t want her to be uncomfortable or feel fear. He kept his voice soothing, soft, a compelling temptation.
Despite Tomas being an ancient with a vast amount of power, and he was very used to being one of the strongest, most dangerous of the Carpathian hunters, his woman didn’t respond the way she should have. She had been sitting relaxed in his lap, but now she pushed against the lock he had across her back. She sat up straighter and tried to turn her head away from his chest.
The fact that she could resist his compulsion shocked him. Not just surprised him, shocked him. It had never occurred to him that this could happen. He shared that moment with his brothers, replaying the exact moment she seemed aware of what was happening and began to fight him.
I know you’re wondering why I didn’t simply take over her mind and force her acceptance, he said to his brothers.
It would have taken you seconds, Tomas, Lojos objected. Seconds. She wouldn’t have been upset because she wouldn’t know.
Tomas knew that was true. If he invaded her mind and shut down all resistance, he could see how her mind worked, look into her memories and figure out how she came to be strong enough to resist an ancient warrior’s command.
She asked me not to go into her mind without her consent. I didn’t make a promise, but it was important to her, so it was important to me. He knew his brothers wouldn’t understand. To them, they considered it a protection for Sarika, and that action would also give Tomas more of an understanding of who his lifemate was and how she thought. What her abilities were. All very important since she would be traveling with them as they attempted to track Justice.
I didn’t want her to wake, and she was in danger of doing so. I deepened the command, and she resisted for one short moment before she succumbed. Then her mouth was on me, and I swear my entire world imploded. I have never felt such a deep, intense need as I did in that moment.
The rest was too personal, and he held it back, merely showing that he had insisted she take enough blood for a true exchange. That had been an exercise in control. He’d never expected his body to be raging at him simply because his lifemate was taking his blood. It was a ritual as old as time, but no one had ever shared the feelings and emotions that swept through him like a tidal wave. He understood. It was far too intimate, too personal to share, even when trying to give his brothers a heads-up for when they hopefully found their lifemates.
I sent her back to sleep without examining her memories. I know I should have, but I wanted her to share with me. I wanted her to give me her consent.
Tomas glanced toward the screen and then switched to speaking aloud so Luiz and Dominic could hear him. “We can weave the safeguards to protect her and keep her inside this time. I will have to wake her long enough to explain what will happen and what she’ll feel should she wake before sunset.”
The five men stood together and began a complicated weave to encompass the entire tree, including roots and the above canopy. The safeguards were individual ropes that twined around one another until they were so strong they were unbreakable. It would be impossible for any enemy, including mages, to unravel that weave when it was constructed by five ancients. They had been weaving safeguards long before Xavier, the mage, had shared his secrets with Carpathians. Not a single one of the weaves had come from the dark mage.
By the time the five ancients had finished their task, the safeguards were so thick and impenetrable that there was no access to the tree house and no way to destroy it, not even with fire or magic. Tomas was astonished at the degree of relief he felt. His lifemate, should she awaken, would be unable to leave. She would be safe from any type of attack.
Luiz ensured there was plenty of food and drink for her, although Tomas hoped she wouldn’t need it. The blood exchange would make it difficult for her to be apart from him. He had been told the separation was extremely hard on the woman aboveground. Their prince, Mikhail Dubrinsky, had been the first to realize a human psychic woman could carry the other half of a Carpathian’s soul. Their species had learned many lessons through his lifemate, Raven.