“Valentin would know. Liv, the little girl, is his lifemate. What is in her mind, he knows.”

“I didn’t think of that. I thought he left.”

“There was that trouble with the lightning when we were converting you. He came back to protect Liv.”

“I don’t understand how he would know she was his lifemate. She’s too young. I thought it had to do with sexual maturity.”

“That plays a huge part,” he admitted. “Sometimes being in close proximity over time can make a man aware his lifemate is near. His colors fade but don’t altogether leave him. His emotions don’t completely disappear and he has a sex drive. One that won’t go away. I’ve heard all kinds of things that tip off the male. Most don’t have those luxuries. Valentin most likely discovered it when Vadim brought the child to him to take her blood. Vadim had kept Valentin starving for so long, he thought when he gave him a child, Valentin wouldn’t be able to resist killing her. It was Vadim’s poor luck that he handed Valentin’s lifemate to him.”

“What will Valentin do?”

“He will watch over her until she is of age. What else can he do? She’s too young to claim, nor would he ever consider it.” Dragomir shrugged his broad shoulders and gave more powerful strokes of the oar so that the canoe slipped over the water easily.

Emeline realized he was keeping along the shoreline for her, recognizing that, although she loved the water and what they were doing, she was nervous. She licked at her lips. “I don’t know how to swim. I never had the chance to learn. I was more of a dancer.”

Dragomir’s look wasn’t one of shock or judgment. His eyes had gone soft and his incredible mouth curved in that sweet smile that always shook her. “Now you don’t have to worry about it, sívamet. You are Carpathian. You can swim, fly or dance up to the stars.”

Her breath caught in her throat. She loved dancing. She lost herself in dance. “Blaze’s father paid for dancing lessons for me. I was homeless, crawling in his daughter’s window at night, and he paid for my dance lessons. That was better than eating regularly, although he let me raid their fridge and cupboards whenever I wanted.”

“But you didn’t.” He set the oar across his lap, his focus completely on her.

She shook her head. “I didn’t trust easily in those days. He was a really good man, but I didn’t dare wear out my welcome. At first I was very young, and the streets were intimidating. Then I grew up and there was an entirely different set of obstacles.”

“You still don’t trust easily.”

“It’s difficult to believe you’re for real,” she admitted, her hand moving in and out of the water, as if she were dancing on the surface with her fingers. She’d given him her body and her heart. She was fairly certain she wouldn’t survive without him, but he was right. There was a part of her that didn’t trust that he’d stay. Maybe she’d never be able to trust that he’d stay.

“I’ll stay. And if you really want to dance in the stars, we’ll do that, too.”

“Any time you want to go dancing in the stars, or the clouds, or on the pier, I’m ready,” she assured him.

The sound of childish voices drifted on the wind and made Emeline smile. She hadn’t seen the children yet and she missed them. She turned her head toward the sound. The boat glided over the water as the oar cut through it, powered by Dragomir’s strength. She made out Danny with Lourdes on his back. Bella ran beside them, calling out to him that it was her turn. The scene was familiar to her. Danny gave the youngest ones rides all the time. It was the two littlest ones’ favorite pastime.

Liv had a book in her hands and walked with Amelia, talking softly; the sound carried on the slight breeze, but the words were lost. She was animated as she talked to her sister, occasionally stopping to make a point. Amelia took the book from her when Liv’s wild gestures threatened to send the book skittering across the lake.

Amelia indicated the ground, and Liv crouched low, searching for a moment. She picked up a rock and sent it skipping across the surface of the lake. Amelia followed suit. Both girls laughed.

“I love to see them like that,” Emeline said. “Sisters are so wonderful together. Do you want more than one child, Dragomir?” She rubbed her palm protectively over the place the baby was nestled and safe.

He frowned, and her heart clenched hard in her chest. “As many as you want.” His gaze remained on the children rather than on the lake.

She sat up straight, her hand going protectively over the baby. “Dragomir? Do you not want children? Because if you don’t…” She trailed off. She was having a baby. If he didn’t want children that was a big problem. Huge.

“Of course I want children. Why would you ask me that?” He dipped the oar in the water and they went soaring over the glassy surface.

He’d frowned, and she’d panicked. That was another testimony to the way she felt about herself. Unworthy. Not good enough for him. For someone to really love her or want a life with her. She was going to be the problem if she didn’t watch it. What man liked a woman who was afraid every minute that he was going to leave her?

“Emeline.” He said her name softly and her gaze jumped to his. His eyes had gone that molten gold she loved, as if it was melted and hot. “I want you any way I can have you. Children. No children. You’re always going to be my world. There is no other and there never will be. I know you have a difficult time understanding the concept of lifemates, but you’ll get it eventually. I would tell you to stop worrying, but I can see that won’t help.”

“I’ll try, Dragomir,” she promised. “It’s just that for a moment I thought maybe you didn’t want children, and I do. I want it all. The family, the home, the man who adores me just as much as I adore him.” She ducked her head, her gaze going to the water, anywhere but facing that penetrating stare. “I want you to want that same thing. Especially the children.”

“I want the same thing,” he assured. “The more girls we have, the more lifemates we give to the Carpathian people.”

She rested her head back, letting the gentle sway of the water lull her. “I never thought about that. How a child we have might save one of the males of the Carpathian race. All those women…” She broke off and closed her eyes, shaking her head as if to get the sight out of her mind.

“Those women?” he prompted.

“In Vadim’s underground city. They were psychics. He told me they were, but not strong enough for his purposes. The bodies were piled up, and I could see half-formed babies, some fully formed, all dead. When those women died, they were lifemates, weren’t they? Lifemates to some of the hunters waiting.”

“More than likely. The loss was felt deeply. The souls will be reborn but there is no way of knowing if the hunters can hang on that long. That was part of Vadim’s plan. If he takes the lifemates away, destroys them, more hunters will turn, helping him to create a larger army.”

“If they know they’ll be reborn…”

“There is no way of knowing when they will be reborn. What century. Where. The world is a big place, and some of these hunters have held on for centuries. When there is nothing to hold on to but honor, it can be very difficult.”

She studied his face. He had suffered. It was there in his harsh male features. Dragomir would never have been called handsome in the traditional sense of the word – his features were too angular and male. Almost brutal. But he was beautiful and sensual. The scars on his face and body added to his appeal. He looked dangerous. Walking into a room, she knew he would command attention and scare most people. Maybe all of them.

“I hate that you had to wait so long.”

“You are worth every moment of that wait.” Sincerity rang in his voice.

She turned her head toward the shore where the children were playing. “Listen to the frogs. So many. It sounds like they’re gathering for a frog concert.”

“Noisy little things,” he observed. “If I’m going to take you dancing in the stars, we need better music.”