“My lifetime could be quite long,” she pointed out in warning.
“It will always be my first duty in life to ensure your safety at all times,
cara mia.
I want you to live with me a very long time.”
She turned to him, her body pressed close to his, her arms sliding around his neck. “How long is a
very
long time?” she murmured, her teeth nibbling at the strong line of his jaw.
His arms closed around her tightly as joy swept through his soul and a tidal wave of need consumed him. Julian bent his head to find her mouth with his. The sweet perfection of it. Velvet fire swept over him, through him, electricity arcing between them so that flames danced up their skin and through their bodies. A low growl escaped his throat, a soft sound of possession. Desari responded by moving even closer to him, her smaller frame molding itself to his.
A sound intruded. It was barely discernible, the rub of fur against a leaf, but it was enough to elicit a frustrated groan from Julian. He leaned his forehead against her crown. “This family unit you have is driving me over the edge. We have no privacy,
piccola,
none whatsoever.”
She laughed softly with the same frustration. “I know, Julian. But it is one of the small sacrifices we all pay for caring for one another. We help each other through any crisis.”
“Who is going to help me through this one? Believe me,
cara,
I am definitely having a crisis. I need you before I start to go insane.”
“I know. It is the same for me,” she whispered, her lips against the corner of his mouth, teasing, tempting. There was an ache in her voice, an answer to the ache in his. “We will have our time.”
“It had better be soon,” he growled, meaning it. There was a hidden laughter in her, one he felt in her mind, in her heart. She found humor in the situation yet wanted him with the same urgent need. Julian found he was smiling in spite of his body’s demands. There was something contagious about Desari’s laughter, whether it was in her mind or aloud. It was joy. Pure and simple. There was joy in him now where there had never been before.
Desari kissed his hard jaw, his stubborn chin. “We cannot desert Syndil at this time.”
“It is rather difficult to help her when she spends all her time in the form of a leopard.”
“Shh. There is nothing wrong with her hearing,” Desari cautioned, rising on tiptoe to kiss his eyebrow, rubbing at his frown with her cheek. “If she is willing to reach out for just a moment and talk to me as we used to, then I must be here for her.”
“Fine,” Julian agreed grudgingly. “But if that idiot Barack happens by with his hangdog look, tell him to keep going.”
“He seems to be strutting around these days with a rather macho look,” Desari pointed out. “He has gotten progressively worse since Savon’s attack on Syndil. He has appointed himself her personal bodyguard, and he is not very nice about it. Julian,” she added, her dark eyes lighting up with her brilliant idea, “maybe you should tell him to quit being so bossy. She needs him to be more gentle.”
Julian snorted inelegantly. “As if that will happen. I absolutely refuse to interfere with anything Barack is choosing to do. Carpathian males cannot do such things. We believe in allowing one another to work things out alone. Especially anything that might have to do with a woman. Now that I am thinking about it, perhaps I should go and leave you two females to talk privately.”
“Coward,” she whispered, her teeth nipping his ear. “Do not go far, as I have great need of you.”
Julian’s tall, muscular frame shimmered, then became transparent in the night air. He was smiling down at her, that little smirk that always got under her skin. Desari felt her heart take wing, soar, even as he disappeared, becoming part of the night itself.
Desari turned as the female leopard burst out from the brush, shape-shifting as it did so. “Desari.” Syndil’s voice was a mere thread of sound. “I am going to go away. I need to be far from these overbearing males. I do not wish to leave you, but it is necessary.”
Syndil was upset. Desari knew her so well, she knew every nuance of her voice. Yet, as always, Syndil appeared calm and unruffled. Desari reached out and took her hand. “It never bothered you before to have the males beating their chests like cavemen. We have always laughed together over their silly ways. Why are you allowing them to get to you now? If Darius has upset you, sister, I will speak to him myself.”
Syndil pushed impatiently at the long strands of hair framing her face. “It is not Darius, although he is bad enough. And Dayan, too, watches me all the time. But at least he does not say anything annoying to me. Barack, however, thinks himself my boss. He is rude and obnoxious all the time. I do not wish to put up with his arrogance one more moment.” She ducked her head so that her silky hair fell around her like a cloak, hiding her expression. “He denied I am his sister.”
Desari felt Syndil’s pain. Barack had really hurt her with that denial. They had been family, closer than family for centuries. How could Barack have said such a hurtful thing to Syndil? Desari had an unfamiliar urge to strike him. She put her arm protectively around Syndil’s shoulders. “I do not know why he would say such a thing, but you know he cannot mean it. He must be so worried about you that he says things without thinking.”
“Things to punish me because he thinks I, in some way, am responsible for what Savon did. Perhaps he wished Darius had killed me rather than Savon. He always looked up to Savon; you know that.” Syndil shrugged painfully, staring up at the darkened sky. “Who knows, maybe I did do something inadvertently to provoke Savon.”
“Absolutely not!” Desari denied adamantly. “You do not believe that, Syndil, and neither does anyone else. Julian says that the males turn after so many centuries without finding their other half. He says they have a choice, to meet the dawn or choose to lose their souls. Obviously Savon chose the latter. You cannot in any way believe you are responsible for anything that has been happening to the males of our race for hundreds, even thousands of years.”
“They all treat me differently now, but Barack is the worst.”
“Syndil,” Desari said gently, her voice soothing and gentle, “you
are
different. We all are. It is a change we have to go through just like any other, but as always, we go through it together. Barack may be having a difficult time adjusting to what happened to you. He may even feel responsible. Maybe he noticed Savon pulling away from us and did not say anything. Who knows? I believe he is simply trying to protect you. Perhaps he is going a bit overboard, but it might be that we should cut him a little slack.”
Syndil’s perfect eyebrows shot up. “Cut him some slack? He should cut me some slack. You do not see how he is with me. He is rude and abrasive and totally out of line. Even Darius does not speak to me as he does.”
Desari sighed and shoved a hand through her hair. “Do you want me to speak to him, Syndil?”
“I do not think it will be necessary. I meant what I said. I will be taking a vacation. It is time I went my own way for a while.” Syndil’s voice was defiant.
“Darius will never allow you to go away unprotected,” Desari reminded her gently. “He would send one of the men to look after you.”
A male leopard, large and well-muscled, moved out into the open and leapt with casual ease onto a low tree branch. It stared at the two women, its eyes unblinking, its sides rippling with power as it breathed steadily. Syndil glared at the animal. Desari shook her head.
Barack, you must stop pushing her so hard. She is going to run if you keep this up.
She used their common mental path, trying to convey the desperation Syndil was feeling.
She will go nowhere without the consent of Darius. And if he were to give it, there would be nowhere she could go that I would not follow.
The voice was arrogant.