Dark Secret

from sheer ecstasy or from a bone deep hunger that only Rafael could assuage.

'Did I hurt you?' He didn't think he could ever find the strength to stand up again. His fingers brushed gently at her tears.

'I don't know. I won't know for a few hours.' She was dazzled by the colors in the sky, the stars and the moon and the variations she'd never noticed. Her body sang, still gripped in the aftermath of their frenzied joining.

He lifted his head from her breast and looked into her eyes. 'You are a very stubborn woman.'

'You are a very pig-headed man.' She pushed the silky black strands of hair from around his face. 'You don't like anyone saying no to you, do you?'

A small smile curved his mouth. 'There is no reason to say no to me. And I especially do not want you saying no to me. You are my woman. My lifemate.'

'But that doesn't mean ownership,' she told him. Her fingertips were gentle on his face. 'You can't force me to love you, Rafael. I need to know more about you. I see into your mind and there are things that don't make sense to me.'

'What you see in my mind should not make any difference, querida.'

Colby stirred, pushed at his body, annoyed with his arrogance. 'You're heavy, Rafael. Move.' His fangs had not retracted and she was becoming nervous again.

He kissed her throat and pushed away from her to sit up.

'It is only because you are so small. You need to eat more.'

She looked at him from under her lashes. 'I can't eat anything lately. Do you have anything to do with that?'

'Yes.' One did not lie to one's lifemate.

Take her. Make her yours so we can leave this place and go home. Nicolas was hunting prey. His voice whispered in Rafael's mind. It was obvious he didn't understand why his brother was not simply forcing the woman to do his bidding.

It is complicated.

Nicolas sighed. You forget who and what you are. Do you want the vampire to kill her? To destroy the people on this ranch? If you allow this rebellion to continue, she will be the death of us all. We will be without honor.

Colby managed to find her blouse, although she had no idea where her bra was. 'Is he talking to you?'

'My brother? Yes.'

She slipped her arms into the shirt, wincing a little. She was sore from the strength of his fingers. Her body still held the stamp of his possession. 'What did you say to me? What were those words you said? They sounded suspiciously like a ritual of some kind.' She cast him a wary glance as she crawled toward her carelessly discarded jeans. 'What exactly did you do?' The buttons were gone from her blouse, so she knotted the tails together under her breasts.

'I bound us together in the way of my people.'

He sounded smug. Arrogant even. Colby bunched her panties in her hand and threw them at him. 'You ripped these.'

'You do not need them.' His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her back against his chest as she tried to wiggle into her jeans. Teeth nipped and scraped at her neck. 'You should never wear clothes.'

'That will go over big with the rest of the world. What ritual?' She leaned against him for leverage as she pulled the jeans over her bottom. She was sensually sore everywhere, inside and out. And of course, his hands had gone straight to her breasts, cupping the weight in his palms through the gap in the edges of her blouse. 'Is it ever enough with you?'

'Apparently not. Maybe you should not get dressed just yet.'

She turned her face up to his throat and lay against him, savoring being in his arms. In another few hours she would have to work nonstop, but she had the night with him. All she had to do was convince him not to bite her anymore. 'As it is, I'm not certain I can walk.' She stood up, using his shoulder as an anchor while she tested her legs. It was strange to look at him, to know the things he'd done to her, with her, to know she'd screamed his name, begged him for more, pleaded with him to consume her, and yet not feel in the least embarrassed.

Rafael stood up in one smooth motion, clothing himself in the way of his people. She gave a small gasp and stepped back. 'How did you do that? Even your hair looks clean and combed.' She lifted a hand to her own hair with a small frown. 'I'm afraid I look a bit on the used side. I need a shower and a hairdresser.'

'You look beautiful, Colby. You are always beautiful, especially when you are screaming beneath me.' There was a wealth of satisfaction in his voice. He held out his arm in front of her, his gaze on her face. His skin rippled, and feathers erupted as a wing developed, a huge expanse of wing much like that of a harpy eagle.

Colby sucked in her breath. 'It was you. I let you into my house.'

'Into your bedroom.' The feathers disappeared, leaving behind muscle and sinew. He leaned close to her, his fangs very much in evidence. 'Into your body. I am stealing your heart.'

Because he already had her soul. She knew it now with a strange certainty, in the way she knew things, He owned her body and her soul. He wasn't finished or satisfied. He wanted her heart and he wanted her mind. Colby shook her head. 'You aren't thinking straight, Rafael. Think with your brain, not overactive portions of your anatomy. Realistically, how do you think this is going to end?' She swept her arm to encompass the ranch and the high mountain peaks. 'You love Brazil and the rain forest. You and your brother want to go back. You need to go back. This is my home. It's all I've ever known. I have to hold it in trust for Paul and Ginny. I've fought a good part of my life to keep this ranch running. Do you really think I'm going to walk away from it and run off with a man I barely know because we have great sex together? I may be a ranch girl, but I have brains in my head.'

He stepped closer to her, his body posture suddenly aggressive. 'You think realistically, Colby. Do you really think I am going to walk away from the only thing in this world standing between me and the loss of my soul? Standing between me and utter darkness? The monster roars at me every rising. Whispers to me in the middle of the night, calls to me when I hunt, and when I take blood from my prey. I will never give you up. I am taking you with me when I return to my homeland. You will come with me as my lifemate whether you agree or not.'

She glared at him. 'You are such an arrogant savage. Is that the way men in Brazil get their women?'

'No, it is the way Carpathian males get their women. The ritual words to bind them are imprinted on them before birth. Once found, he can bind his woman when she refuses to see reason. It is what safeguards our men and keeps our species alive.'

She tasted fear in her mouth. He was serious. And he was closer. She hadn't seen him move, but he was there, a breath away, and there was something terrible in his eyes. She couldn't look away from him, mesmerized by the sheer force of his personality. She swallowed hard and shook her head. 'Don't, Rafael. Don't try it. I'd fight you and I can be destructive. One of us might get hurt and I wouldn't want that, not after what we've shared. I don't have the control that you have.'

His fingers curled around the nape of her neck with exquisite gentleness. With tremendous strength. She knew he could snap her neck if he desired. 'Then do not fight me, meu amor.'

A prickle of unease went down her spine. Her mouth felt dry and her heart pounded out of control. She took a step back. He glided with her, almost a dance, matching her every movement.

'Rafael.' She heard her protest through the sudden roaring in her ears.

His body jerked. His eyes went wide with surprise. He shoved her away from him with such force that she was literally lifted into the air and flew backward. She saw the blood spraying from his chest. Colby's scream was cut off as she landed so hard it knocked the wind out of her. She lay several feet from him, staring in horror as he turned to face away from her. She saw the gaping hole in his back, the river of blood. She hadn't heard the sound of a gun and she was certain she hadn't done such a thing.

11

'Good evening, Rafael.'