She couldn’t speak, not with her heart so full, not with lightning zinging through her veins and that unbearable pleasure coiling so tightly she thought she might go insane. I love you, Dragomir, but I need…

I know exactly what you need.

His body kept moving in hers. Hard and fast and so deep she felt so connected to him, felt they lived in the same skin. She kept her eyes on him, her cheek pressed to the mattress, his hand on her neck, collaring her. She felt her heartbeat surrounding him, pulsing and gripping. His heartbeat answered, throbbing like a drum in her deepest core.

His face. That face – her fallen angel. So beautiful to her. She watched the rush come over him. The way his eyes darkened and the gold turned antique. The way the lines of lust and love carved deeper, giving him a look of pure sensuality. His fingers tightened on her neck and hip.

“Now, míca. With me now.”

His shaft swelled in her, stretching her tight muscles, the burn adding to the terrible, brutal beauty of the friction, of that steel spike moving in and out of her. His command whispered in that silken voice, hot and husky with need, sent her careening over the edge. Hot seed poured into her, bathing the walls of her sheath. She was flung into the sky. Free-falling. Soaring. It was as terrifying as it was beautiful.

Her orgasm went on and on, tearing through her with a force she’d never known. Taking every cell by storm. All the while she watched his face, watched what it did to him. Such perfection. She could only hang on to the comforter with both fists and ride out into the night sky with him.

He was there, surrounding her with his protection. To catch her when she came tumbling down, gasping for breath, heart exploding, so far gone she wasn’t sure who she was, where she was. Only that he was there. That face. His hands, stroking her, soothing her. His mouth, whispering to her, kissing his way up her spine. His cock, inside her, tying them together, giving her love with every stroke. Giving her ecstasy. Just simply giving her – everything.

He withdrew, and she cried out as his heavy cock slid over the bundle of sensitized nerves, setting off another strong wave of ripples. His arms went around her and he pulled her down to her side, his body curling protectively around hers. One hand went to her belly, where their child was growing.

“Every time I touch you, it is a miracle.” He nuzzled her hair aside with his chin. The brush of the bristles of the shadow on his jaw sent yet another round of heat and ripples careening through her. “Your skin is incredibly soft. I thought of you so many times over the centuries, but the reality is so much better than anything I could ever have conceived of.”

“I didn’t dare hope to dream of someone like you,” she admitted. Her lashes drifted down so she could savor him. Savor the scent of him, the feel of his body against hers and his arms, so strong, surrounding her. She felt safe. In her life, she didn’t remember a single time before him when she’d ever felt safe. Now she equated that with him.

He kissed the nape of her neck, gently put her on her back. He stayed on his side, bending over her, waiting until she opened her eyes. His hair fell in long waves around both of them, brushing her skin as he kissed her eyes, brushed her nose, and then his mouth settled on hers, causing the flight of a thousand butterflies in her stomach. He kissed his way down her throat to her breasts, spent a few minutes there and continued to her belly button. His tongue strayed, did a quick foray and then he was whispering to the baby in his own language. Talking to her. Reassuring her.

Love swamped Emeline. So much she couldn’t contain the emotion. It filled her heart and soul and spilled over so that she didn’t know what to do with so much feeling. She could only stroke his hair with trembling fingers, and vow to herself that as much as he gave her, she would find a way to give him the same.

“You give me as much or more every minute in your company,” Dragomir whispered against her skin. He kissed the pooch where the baby nestled. “You’ve given me a child. What greater gift is there? You’ve given me your love, your heart and soul. You’ve given me you. There is nothing else, Emeline. You are my miracle.”

“This from a man who carves dragons for our child’s crib.” She didn’t want to cry. Blood tears were messy. “I know you have to go to your council thingy, but would you teach me to do the clothing thing? And flying? And maybe cleaning house?”

He laughed and rolled to the side of the bed, keeping her hand. “Just picture what you want to wear in your head. Have the image of you fresh and clean from a shower, your hair washed and dry. The details are the most difficult. Just pay attention to every detail.”

Emeline wrinkled her nose. Could it really be that easy? She pictured herself clean and fresh and added a dress of soft white covered in delicate red roses. It had been one of her favorites in a catalogue she’d looked at almost daily. She chose it because she remembered every detail. She found herself wearing it, the soft material falling around her ankles, flowing in swirls when she jumped up, shocked and excited that it had worked. “I did it. I can’t believe I actually did it.” She flung her arms around his neck and hugged him. Of course he was fully clothed and looking perfect. “I’m going to clean every room. It’s good practice. Then I’m going to talk to Liv about dragons and how to fly them.”

He kissed her. “Housecleaning – okay. Talking to Liv about flying dragons – absolutely not. That child is in enough trouble without you helping her get into more.” He stalked to the door, that other Dragomir already taking over. The one that was intimidating and scary. The dangerous predator that moved with fluid power over the ground and through buildings. The one that took her breath just as easily as the one that treated her so gently.

He paused at the door and turned back to her. “Before you go outside, sívamet, you might want to add undergarments. Personally, I like you without panties and a bra, but I’m not so certain you will be as thrilled when someone else notices.”

She watched the door close and then burst out laughing, hugging the baby, knowing she was truly happy for the first time.

18

The breeze stirred the leaves on the ground, throwing them playfully into the air. Dirt, cement and debris were piled high in the alley just behind the deserted building. The entire block of empty stores looked like a ghost town. The slight breeze used the alley as a private playground, lightly touching the debris, rifling through it. The wind slipped across the dirty glass of the windows, as if peering in, looking to see what state the shops were left in when people abandoned their businesses.

Dragomir circled one way, using the breeze to carry him where he wanted to go. Sandu and Ferro moved around the outside of the buildings from the main street, each searching for signs of vampire activity. Andor took the roof. The hunters were traveling in packs, spreading out through the city, following the underground map Emeline had laid out for them. She’d given it to Dragomir, leaving it in his mind after she’d pulled him into her dream.

Tariq and Maksim stayed in the compound surrounded by the human security force. With their women, they began teaching the children, the Waltons, Genevieve and Emeline as well as the security force how best to slay vampires. The drills had begun in earnest. It wouldn’t matter that they were children, women or humans, they were in the fight to stay alive and keep others safe. To do that, they needed to know how.

Carpathians had always been hunters. They had other skills, but it was ingrained in each of them that they had to hunt the vampire or any other threat to their people. They were born with the drive. In some it was stronger than in others, but no matter what, they hunted, found the enemy and destroyed him. It wasn’t personal. There was no sense of fairness, no rules. It simply was. They locked on to a target and they destroyed it.

Five ancients made up Dragomir’s pack. They had hunted together many times and were used to the way one another thought. They had taken one another’s blood and could communicate together separately from the common path of the Carpathian people, which gave them an advantage since the vampires couldn’t hear them.

It was their good luck that when they put out the call, others from the brotherhood answered. Benedik had joined them. He made up the fifth man in Dragomir’s pack. He was as cold as ice, with unique midnight black eyes that never blinked. He made his way around the block, coming in from the other side of the alley.