Dark Sentinel ('Dark' Carpathian Book 32)

by Christine Feehan

  She loved him. She chose him. She was choosing his life, his world. Their hearts beat a little wildly—but together. Her breathing turned ragged, his was labored, but each time he bent his mouth to hers, they exchanged breath, exchanged air. His mind remained firmly in hers, feeling every stroke of his cock, stretching her, claiming her, while she surrounded him with a sheath of pure fire. The friction as he rode her was phenomenal. Artistry. Pure beauty.

  Lorraine was everything he had ever thought a lifemate could be, and yet so much more. “Tet vigyázam.” He couldn’t say it enough. He tightened his fingers around hers, holding her beneath him, staring down into her eyes, his body on fire, in paradise.

  Already, far too soon, that feeling was starting in his toes and moving up the backs of his calves, flames licking up his legs, threatening to ignite a firestorm. Her breathing was ragged, labored, her hips moving to match his, her sheath gripping so tightly it felt as if he had been swallowed alive and was being strangled by that silken, scorching hot fist.

  “Come with me, hän sívamak.” It was a command, nothing less.

  Her gaze clung to his, and he saw what he’d needed all along. Her complete trust. She let go, her hips bucking, the waves intense, so strong her sheath clamped down on him, and then the flames reached his balls and the seed boiling there. As if she’d touched a match to a stick of dynamite, he erupted, a long explosion, jet after jet splashing the walls of her sheath, triggering even stronger ripples in her.

  They rode it out together, soaring, shuddering, their hearts keeping that same wild rhythm. Andor realized that he liked being out of control. He’d spent so many centuries with complete discipline, he never thought that he would be able to let go the way she made him. There was such freedom in feeling, in emotion.

  When he could get his breath back, he kissed her, tasting her pleasure. Tasting the way she loved him. He savored that as well, locking it in his mind to take out and look at at a later date. There were so many new sensations. So many overwhelming desires and emotions. “Thank you, Lorraine. I cannot say that enough.” He brushed kisses on her eyelids, on her nose and down to her chin, where he couldn’t help but nibble. He could stay there for the rest of the night, although he knew that sunrise was coming all too soon.

  “Andor?” Lorraine’s voice shook. Her breath suddenly hitched in her voice. “Honey, you have to move right now, get off me.”

  “What is wrong?” He was puzzled. The quake of fear and anxiety in her voice was very real. He felt it in her mind. He was still reeling from the way his body was feeling. Almost euphoria. Certainly, he had experienced something very close to ecstasy, and it wasn’t all about his body. All of him had been involved, his entire being. “Csecsemõ?”

  “I think you’re bleeding again. Honey, move right now and let me see.” Her hands pushed on the heavy muscles of his chest. “All of them will kill me if we opened any of those wounds. They’ve already given you so much blood and I don’t know how many healing sessions. Between you and all the injuries the others sustained in their battles, Gary was exhausted. Just when we were leaving, I heard Tariq order him to go to ground.”

  Andor smiled down at her and nuzzled her chin with the dark, shadowy bristles on his jaw. He left behind a smear of strawberry so he kissed that little spot on her chin. “Did you catch Gary’s response?”

  “No.”

  “It was in Carpathian, and I think he managed as many of the swear words as possible in one sentence. Not that it would deter Tariq from giving him another order. Gary’s in the ground right now. So are Ferro, Isai, Sandu and Dragomir.”

  “How badly was Ferro injured? And don’t change the subject.” Her hands pushed harder. “Get off, right this minute, Andor.”

  He laughed. A full-out laugh. He hadn’t even known he could laugh that way so the sound was startling. Shocking. “I cannot believe you just ordered me in the same way Tariq gave a command to Gary. I am your lifemate, Lorraine.”

  She leveled her green gaze at him. “Exactly. I took note of those vows you said for both of us when you irrevocably tied us together without my consent. Your body was placed in my care, so get off me, you big oaf, and let me care for you.”

  He was still laughing. Happy. He liked her bossy tone. It made him hard all over again, and the last thing he wanted to do was withdraw from that hot haven of sensual pleasure. She was right, though, he felt the wet slickness spreading across his belly and smearing blood onto her. With a little sigh, he withdrew and rolled over. She sat up immediately, her eyes going wide.

  “You are bleeding.”

  It was an accusation. He even wanted to laugh at that. “I know, csecsemõ, but believe me, it was well worth those few drops of blood.”

  “Few drops of blood, my ass,” she countered him, in the cutest, sternest voice he’d ever heard her use. “Tell me what to do right now. Do you need my blood?”

  He noticed her gaze shifted away from the blood on his belly, her aversion rising in spite of her attempt to keep it from happening.

  “The healer has been working from the inside out, so most of the damage inside is repaired. What you see is simply surface laceration. It is more cosmetic than anything else. There is no need to worry. I can stop this myself.”

  “Then do it. Right. Now. Do you need blood?”

  “Lorraine, look at it. You are afraid for me and it is not necessary—”

  “You nearly died. Maybe you did die, I don’t know. I only know I had to go to a really dark, cold place to find you, and it was horrible. Everyone said you were gone. Gary and Ferro went repeatedly. Sandu went. Then they told me it was our tie that was the only thread they had to you, so maybe you weren’t in a coma and you were dead. It’s your world, and your beliefs, Andor, but I saw you. I saw you like that.”

  The confession burst from her. No, the trauma. He hadn’t considered the cost to Lorraine emotionally, that journey his brothers and the healer had chosen to make to retrieve him from the land of the dead and dying. “Sívamet, I am sorry you were so frightened for me. There is no need to remain so. I cannot die from these wounds now. They are mostly repaired. The healing soil provided here is extraordinary. It will aid me faster than you can imagine.” He covered the seeping blood with the palm of his hand, sending warmth to the injured area where the master vampire so many risings earlier had tried to rip his intestines out of him and nearly succeeded. Light erupted around his fingers, and he felt that burst of shocking heat. “It is closed now. The blood is no more than one would expect if a human scraped a knee when they fell.”

  She lifted his palm away from the injury and stared down at his smooth stomach. Relief lit her features as she let out her breath. “Okay, I have to admit I panicked a little bit.”

  He took her hand and wrapped her fingers around his needy cock. She glared at him. “We are done playing until Gary gives you the thumbs-up.”

  He scowled at her when deep inside he wanted to laugh at the idea that he would allow another man to dictate to him whether or not he could make love to his woman. “That healer is not going to have any say in our sex life whatsoever.” He growled out each word, making the noise as close to that of a wolf as he could get.

  He found himself in a staring match with her. His woman. Love had his heart aching, there was so much there. It spilled over into every part of his body. She sighed, conceding the battle to him. He wasn’t about to tell her Carpathians didn’t need to blink the way humans did. That would mean, later, when she was Carpathian, she might actually win in a stare-down.

  “Everything with you is fun,” he said. “Or sensual. Thank you for giving me your trust. I know, after the things that happened and the way your friends turned on you, that trust is not easy, so it is all the more cherished as the gift it is.”

  “Tell me about Ferro’s injuries,” Lorraine persisted. “I won’t tell Gary on you, and I’m not going to tell you how much I love you because you don’t deserve it right now, but I need to know why it’s always a hush
ed-up thing when one of you really gets hurt.”

  She hadn’t let go of his cock and her fist slid up and down his shaft almost lazily, as if she wasn’t really aware she was sending heat spiraling right down his spine. He took a breath and tried to think with a clear mind.

  “We cut off all pain, Lorraine, so we do not feel it. Therefore, if we do not feel it, pain is not acknowledged. Injuries, even life-threatening wounds, happen in nearly every battle. You cannot fight a vampire and expect to walk away unscathed. These vampires we have been fighting are not nearly indicative of what the undead are capable of doing.”

  “I felt Ferro’s injuries.”

  “I was afraid you might have. It concerned all of us, Ferro, Sandu and Gary, that you would be able to do just that. I shielded you the moment the pain slipped through. Ferro had tried to keep it from you, but he fought a master vampire. He ended the battle quickly, but in taking the heart, the vampire managed to do damage to him.”

  She nodded. “I replayed the images I saw when he was battling the vampire.”

  Andor stiffened. Ferro was extremely powerful. She had no business being anywhere near Ferro’s mind. “You cannot ever do that again.”

  “I wasn’t prying,” she defended.

  Her hand stopped, but her fist tightened, squeezing down, threatening to strangle him. The sensations tore up his body. A firestorm burned out of control in his belly. She propped herself on one elbow, turning her body toward him, leaning over his thigh so her hair brushed over his legs and groin. The silky mass of chestnut teased every one of his senses.

  “I caught a glimpse of the battle when he was fighting and then when he was injured. I wasn’t in his head. He slipped inadvertently into mine. I kept those images and studied them because I wanted to see technique. I was able to see that he didn’t shield his body from the vampire’s claws and teeth. He got torn up while he worked to extract the heart.”

  “It is not easy to remove a heart, so giving the undead something to do while the hunter pries that wretched organ loose makes it easier. I never want you to do such a thing. Not ever.” He made that a decree.

  A slow smile sent a burn spiraling through his body. “I won’t. You don’t have to worry. I never want to get that close to one of those things.” She gave a delicate little shudder and then sat up, her fingers leaving his shaft.

  He caught her hand and guided it back to his cock. “You started something, csecsemõ, you cannot leave in the middle of it. I want that hot mouth of yours wrapped around me.”

  “I want to talk.”

  “Talk with your mind.”

  “It’s distracting to have my mouth on you while I’m trying to talk.”

  He liked the fact that she was already sliding her thumb over the crown and using her saliva to make him slick so she could easily slide her fist around him and then began that glide that could slowly take his breath from his lungs.

  “I cannot talk if I am thinking of other things. I liked the way you sucked so hard and used your tongue. I want to see how much of me you can take.”

  “As it is, you’re stretching my limits,” she pointed out.

  “You did not have a problem; in fact, when I was in your mind you were enjoying yourself. If I checked you right now, just thinking about taking my cock in your mouth, will I find you hot and slick?”

  “We just made love. Without a condom, I might add.”

  “Carpathians can regulate ovulation. In any case, I made certain you felt fresh and clean, as if you’d had a long bath. There will be no excuses.”

  She squirmed, the corners of her mouth turning up. “Checking is cheating.”

  “I want to make certain you enjoy yourself with as much pleasure as you are giving me.”

  Lorraine smiled at him and then lay out over him, wiggling until he opened his legs for her. Andor stretched, linking his fingers behind his head, propping himself up so he could watch her. “Tell me what you like about having my cock in your mouth.”

  She licked up his shaft and then swirled her tongue over the head of his erection. Her mouth engulfed him. He watched the way his girth stretched her lips. She had naturally rosy lips and seeing them around his cock sent more steel to his groin.

  “Tell me, Lorraine.”

  Your taste. I love the way you taste. The feel of you. Like velvet, but then so hard. And hot. So very hot. The shape of you. I’ve never felt anything like it. I especially love how hard you get, right in my mouth.

  Her tongue swirled up his shaft and then teased under his crown until he thought his head would explode. He couldn’t just lie there as he had first planned. It was impossible not to move. He gathered her hair into one hand, holding it up and out of the way so he could see the way he filled her mouth and stretched her lips. Her lashes were down, those two thick crescents that fanned her cheeks. He wanted to see her eyes looking up at him. Nothing was sexier to him.

  How far can you take me?

  His hips moved, gently, but insistent. He pushed an increment deeper with each thrust. He’d been careful before, making certain to stay shallow, but keeping his head was becoming more difficult each time she suckled hard, her mouth a tight fist. Seeing her taking him like that added to the need building.

  I’m working on finding that out. I want to swallow you down. Hold you inside. I love this so much, Andor. I love giving you things you’ve never had and didn’t even know you wanted.

  He wanted to throw his head back and roar like a saber-toothed tiger. Heat enveloped his entire body. Sensations poured over him. It wasn’t just about what she was doing to his body, it was about how she loved doing it to him.

  I know I want this now. I will never get enough of your mouth.

  You asked me to tell you what I like. More than anything, I like making you lose control. Knowing I can. Knowing I can give you so much pleasure you don’t know what you’re doing.

  His hand slipped to the base of his cock, worried he would thrust too deeply and hurt her. He was right there where she wanted him, on the very edge of his control.

  Soft laughter slid into his mind, brushing musical notes along those walls and spreading a tight symphony over his cock like a vise. He could feel that endless well of seed in him begin to boil, as if his balls were two blazing pools of magna.

  Csecsemõ. He tried to warn her. He gripped her hair harder in his fist.

  Yes.

  Her long lashes lifted and he found himself staring into her eyes. That was all it took. He erupted again. This time he watched her throat. Watched it move as he poured his essence down her.

  Instead of pulling away from him, she very gently licked along his shaft, the tip of her tongue sliding under the crown and then swiping over the top of it. The movements were tender. He couldn’t remember having been cared for. Memories were so faded over the centuries of nothing, that he couldn’t remember laughter or fun, let alone a tender gesture. The way she attended him felt loving to him.

  She looked up at him, those green eyes meeting his. “Tet vigyázam.” She pronounced it correctly, but more, she poured meaning into the words. “I do love you, Andor, more and more with each minute I spend in your company. I want to show you that. I want to give you things you’ve never had. I’m very aware, from sharing your mind so often, how little you’ve ever expected or taken in spite of how much you’ve given.”

  “You are what I’ve been given, Lorraine. And you’re everything.”

  She stared at him a few moments, looking up at him over his cock, and then she crawled up the bed, which was something he found sexy as well, but he remained silent while she turned over and lay on her back beside him, staring up at the ceiling. He did file it away that he liked the way she crawled up the bed to him. Her breasts were two perfect mounds, her nipples still erect. They swayed with every movement, calling his attention and memory to the way they looked and felt. He wanted to be healed so they had more time and could be much more adventurous.

  “When you’ve been sleeping, Andor�
��—Lorraine’s voice was uneasy— “I’ve been sleeping beside you. You weren’t all the way in the ground. I know it hasn’t been all that long, but for some reason, the thought of being separated from you makes me very uneasy. Unsettled …” She trailed off.

  He was aware she was an independent woman. The pull of lifemates would eat at her. Disturb her. Just bringing up the subject had to cost her, but he knew the conversation had to come up. He had to warn her.

  “That is perfectly normal and to be expected. When I go to ground this sunrise”—and it was only a few minutes away—“I will be buried deep and I will sleep the full sleep of Carpathians. If I do not, the injuries will take much longer to heal. The soil rejuvenates and aids in healing.”

  “I understand you need the soil, but does your face have to be buried as well? Can’t I sleep beside you? That way, if I wake earlier than you, I can watch over you?”

  He turned to her, locking his arm around her waist. “Lorraine. In this compound, we are both safe. It will be this one day, from sunrise to sunset. I will send you to sleep …”

  “No. Absolutely not. You may think we’re safe, but I am reserving judgment. You know that horrid bird didn’t just peck the crap out of my skull. He had to have put something in my brain. What if it comes crawling out while you’re asleep? I need to be alert.”

  “Everyone looked. Every inch of you was inspected. Organs. Bones. Blood. Brains. Four of our best examined you, each going over the other’s areas repeatedly. They found nothing.”

  “I know.” She put her hand on his chest and rubbed absently. “Do you believe he just sliced me open for no apparent reason? Just to attack?”

  He wasn’t going to lie to her. “No. I do not know what he intended. Maybe he lost out on time. Maybe whatever it was dropped to the ground before he could implant it. I can only say, they inspected you carefully and it was not there.”

  Her fingers thumped his chest as if in protest. “Please don’t make me sleep. I’m tired, I’ll fall asleep naturally, but can be alert if there is a problem.”