Dark Secret

detested the control he had over her body and mind. Did it show? Natalya had looked at her with pity and she felt scorn for herself every time she thought of the way she had been so grief-stricken, almost to the point of harming herself. She had been forced to reach out to Nicolas, someone she didn't altogether trust, in order to get through each night.

'Let them go,' Paul yelled, grabbing at her arm, out of breath from his headlong dash through the street. She was limping and didn't seem to notice her teeth were clamped together in pain.

Colby shook off her brother. 'Shut up!' she snapped.

Paul halted immediately. Colby's hair was red for a reason. She could go up in flames if someone pushed her too far. He regarded De La Cruz with intense satisfaction. He was about to be publicly put in his place. The crowd was certainly big enough.

Colby caught at Rafael's arm, momentarily taken aback by the sheer hardness of it. It was like clutching a piece of iron.

'Stop it, Rafael, right now!' She attempted to place herself between the two men, but Rafael glided around her easily, keeping his body squarely in between her and Harris. It only made Colby angrier. 'I don't want you handling my problems. You understand me, not ever again. This is my business.' She understood power, understood, better than most people, the need to stay continually in control, but she was so angry with both men she attempted to drag Rafael away from Tony by his arm without much success.

Harris took the opportunity to stumble away, clutching at his smashed face with both hands. Over the top of Colby's head, Rafael watched him go, red flames still flickering in the depths of his eyes.

'Damn it, Rafael.' He was making Colby feel like a fly buzzing around him. She slugged him in the chest, all her pent-up anger behind her well-thrown punch.

He stood towering over her, blinking down at her as if seeing her for the first time. Slowly amusement crept across his sensual features, warmed the bitter ice in his eyes. Did you hit me, querida? His voice was soft, sexy, intimate there in the middle of the street, making her blood heat and body clench, and that made her angry enough to want to strike him again.

'Don't be funny.' She would not be charmed by him. She would not feel her body melting and pooling with hot heat. 'You stay out of my business. If I don't want Tony Harris mauling me, I'll handle it myself. You've made the situation ten times worse; the entire town knows something happened, thanks to you. In case you've forgotten, you're in the United States, not Brazil, and here we call the sheriff.'

He picked her up easily, casually, right there in front of everyone, cradling her against his chest, moving back up the street toward her truck with effortless long strides. 'You know I would not stay away when you are injured, Colby.' His voice whispered over her, velvet soft, irresistible. Magic. There was possession in his burning gaze, and something else, something wild and primitive, as if he wasn't yet finished with Tony Harris. 'And I am not about to allow another man to put his hands on you.'

Colby reached up to touch his mouth. Her fingers trailed over the lines etched so deeply, lines of strain and weariness that had not been there before, reminding her he had awakened before Nicolas said he should. There were faint marks on his face, slowly receding but evidence of the claws that tore at him. He had suffered terribly to provide a barrier for her. She smoothed her hand over his heart, wondering if the bite marks were still there. Something softened inside of her when she didn't want it to. 'I can handle Tony Harris,' she said more gently than she intended. 'Our laws don't allow people to just go out and kill someone because you don't like what they do.'

'Our laws are very clear.' There was no emotion in his voice, just a dead calm and a merciless slash to his mouth.

'Tony's a bully.'

'Tony is going to learn a lesson he should have learned a long time ago or he will not be around to bother women anymore.'

'Don't, Rafael. I know you could really hurt him, even from a distance, but it isn't right. Just don't.' Her temper was rising in direct proportion to the pain in her leg and the implacable set of his jaw.

'If you want me to say I will not touch this man, I cannot lie to you and I refuse to make such a promise. If this man ever attempts to lay his hands on you, he will not get another chance. Ever.' He said it with complete finality.

'How very macho. I'm really impressed. So is Louise. For God's sake, put me down, I feel like a fool. I'm quite capable of walking' To her horror tears welled up out of nowhere. Damn the man. The entire town was looking on, smirking at her, right under Louise's gloating gaze.

'Stop struggling, Colby, or I will command you to do so,' he bit out. 'What did you expect me to do, querida? I could not allow that poor excuse of a man to touch you. You are bleeding and in pain. I am your lifemate and it is my duty and my right to see to your care. I intend to do just that.'

She felt it then, deep inside him, the volcanic rage that had not been allowed near the surface when he faced Harris. Barely leashed, barely controlled. Her large eyes were swimming with tears and it added to the fury burning in his gaze as it roamed over her face. 'I just want to go home, Rafael.' Away from here, away from you. It slipped into her thoughts before she could prevent it.

A muscle jerked in his jaw. I will never, ever, give you up. Not now, not ever. We should be past this. There was a lash to the quiet whip of his voice.

Past this? Are you crazy? I have a few issues, you know. Like you pulling a man's heart right out of his chest. That isn't done, Rafael.

He deposited her very gently on the seat of the pickup truck, ignoring Paul's black scowl. 'Move, kid, I'm driving.' He said it softly, but there was something in his voice, a warning note that had Paul shrugging helplessly at his sister before jumping into the back of the truck.

Nothing dared defy Rafael's power and the truck started up immediately.

'Do you know how to drive?' Colby asked.

His black eyes flicked over her and then he stared at the road, driving straight through town, narrowly missing Tony Harris as the man stood by his car. 'You were thinking of leaving me. And you defend that poor excuse of a man.'

'Of course I was thinking of leaving you.' She glared at him. 'Do you think I'm nuts? And damn Tony Harris. Do you think this is about him? It isn't about Tony, Rafael, it's about you nearly killing me. Do you think I'm going to fall into your arms and trust you not only with my life, but with Paul and Ginny's lives?'

There was a small silence. 'I can explain about that, Colby.'

For the first time Rafael seemed hesitant. Her eyebrow shot up. 'I don't want to take a chance that Paul might hear. Let's wait until we're at the house. But you are going to explain. All I'm thinking about right now is the way my leg is hurting,' she added and knocked on the window. Paul slid it aside. 'Hand over the pain pills. I'm taking all of them.'

Paul put the bottle in her hand and Rafael took it out. 'You do not need those.'

'How do you know? It hurts like hell.' She glared at him. 'You're making me crazy. You really are. You did something to tie us together and then you got yourself nearly killed and left me to go sleep in the ground. Give me the pills.'

'No. And you do not need to chastise me, I have done so enough for both of us.'

'Maybe enough for you, but it will never be enough for me.' She let her breath out slowly and lay back against the seat. 'My leg really hurts, Rafael.'

'I am aware of it. I feel what you feel, remember? It is not good to use such medications; you are partially in my world and your body will reject such things.'

'Like the way it's rejecting food?' she asked, glaring at him. He glanced down at the bandage. 'The doctor sewed your leg. Very barbaric.'

'Should he have packed it with dirt and spit in it? Maybe shoved me in a grave and left me there for a few days?'

'Just be quiet.' He knew she had a mad desire to leap out of the truck. She was confused and agitated and the pain was making her feel sick. 'I'm pulling over so I can relieve the pain in your leg.'

Colby didn't argue. If he could take it away, she'd be more than grateful. He found a small sheltered area on the winding road and pulled off so he could focus his attention completely on Colby. Rafael sent himself seeking