«With a beautiful backside,» he pointed out when she dropped to her hands and knees, head disappearing into the ice hall.
She wiggled her bottom suggestively and grinned back at him, grateful to him for giving her something to laugh about.
His heart nearly stopped beating and the air left his lungs in a burning rush. She could have lit up the entire cavern with her high wattage smile. Thunder roared in his ears. Deep inside, his demon struggled for release and unexpectedly, desire shot through his body. Not the intense lust he experienced earlier, but something bright and passionate and deep that came, not from his groin, but from his heart.
«You don't have to come with me,» Natalya said, forcing the words out as she looked back at him. He had gone so still, his expression carved in stone. How could he want to be mixed up with whatever was happening? The fact was, she was terrified of the cave. Something she couldn't even remember from her childhood warned her she was in danger and the increasing volume of the dripping water was nearly driving her out of her mind. Every instinct told her to run, but her body and brain refused to obey the command.
She had longed for a partner, someone to share her life with, but for the first time she needed to be with someone. And not just anyone. Vikirnoff. Not just for his fighting skills, but for the sheer comfort of his presence. And that was almost as frightening as the situation she was in.
Vikirnoff exuded power and confidence. She couldn't imagine anyone defeating him, not when he was at full strength. But he wasn't at full strength. The thought came out of nowhere. She realized that not once had she worried about his physical condition since they'd been in the cave. He wasn't fully healed. She had seen the agony on his face on more than one occasion earlier, yet he carried himself as if nothing was wrong. Had he been subtly influencing her or was she really that selfish? She groaned softly.
«I am with you because I want to be. I am not under compulsion, Natalya. And I am fit enough to protect you should there be need.»
She turned away from him before he could see her reaction to his words-his voice.
There was just something about the man that called to her. She crawled through the twisting ice tube until it began to widen and opened into another series of galleries. The ice formations and columns were impressive. Following her instincts she chose one chamber and discovered streaks of old blood along the ice wall. Her own blood ran cold and she stood gaping at the thick, frozen clots dinging to the wall. «This doesn't look good, does it?»
Vikirnoff put a hand on her shoulder. She wasn't used to being touched and she trembled in response, but didn't shrug him off. «You can see where they put ice picks through him to hold him to the wall.» He touched the frozen blood. «There was a Carpathian being tortured in this chamber.» He examined the entire room. «It was not within the last week. Someone rescued him, human I think, and at least one vampire died here.» He sighed. «Why would a vampire risk coming into the cave of the dark mage?»
«Secrets? Power?»
«Maybe. But is it worth the risk? There have to be traps scattered everywhere. The vampires are looking for something. There is no other explanation.» He glanced around warily. «I can feel something watching us, can't you?»
She wanted to deny it, but the back of her neck prickled with alarm. «Yes. The vampires think I can help them find whatever they are looking for, don't they?» Natalya said. «That's why Arturo said he had a small task for me. He wants me to find something, probably something the dark mage left behind.»
«Anything Xavier had of power would be deadly to the entire world, not just our species, if a vampire wielded it.»
«Can you tell where the others got out? The ones that killed the vampire?» She pointed to a solid wall of ice. «Because I want to go there.»
Vikirnoff examined the wall. «A Carpathian closed a slide tube behind them. I still feel the power lingering.»
«Can you open the slide?»
He studied the bluish wall of ice. «Yes.» He knew he sounded grim. He felt the weight of the ice over them, the pressing of their enemies closing in and more than all of that, the certainty that they were going somewhere far worse than where they were. He hesitated, the need to get his lifemate to safety hammering at him. He actually settled his fingers around her wrist in protest.
Natalya shook her head. «I really have no choice, Vikirnoff.»
Swearing under his breath, he found the original opening, the tube slide that led to the lower caverns, and commanded the ice to bend to his will. Even within the cave of the dark mage, he wielded power over the things of the earth. The ice shifted, parting, to once again form the slide leading to the lower chambers.
«Thank you,» Natalya said. She didn't have words to express how grateful she was that he didn't fight her on the issue. She had the same warning bells shrieking at her and she sensed he was forced to fight age-old instincts. His protective nature simply did not allow him to see her in danger without shielding her. And without him, she had no idea how she would have made her way through the ice to the lower chambers.
«We go in together,» he decreed.
She sent him a black scowl, just to warn him to back off with the orders, but didn't mind in the least when he wrapped her in warm, safe arms and climbed into the cold of the ice chute. Vikirnoff pushed off and they slid deeper into the freezing world of blue and crystal ice, spiraling fast down the long, cold tube. His arms kept her from ice splinters and the thicker, jagged crystalline protrusions that hung above their heads. It was breathtakingly beautiful, yet utterly frightening in that she knew the formation was unnatural.
Natalya felt a little dizzy by the time they reached the bottom and she held onto Vikirnoff until she knew her legs would support her. In a narrow hall of ice they both were able to stand up straight without fear of hitting their heads on the ceiling.
«Are you all right?» Vikirnoff kept his arm around her until her legs stopped shaking.
She shook her head. «I feel strange. Afraid. I'm not usually afraid all the time. My heart is pounding so loud it's hurting my ears. And I feel sick to my stomach. Worse»-she looked up at him as she pressed her hand against her body, low, to the left, just below her stomach-«the dragon burns. A vampire is close.»
«Ahead or behind us?» He was already scanning, as he had been since they'd entered the ice caves and was dismayed to find he couldn't locate the vampire. And that meant it wasn't Arturo. Arturo couldn't hide his presence from the hunter. He sent up a silent prayer that he wouldn't be facing a master vampire when he was already wounded.
«I can't tell.» She began to jog, hurrying through the tunnel.
The hall ended abruptly, the floor dropping away to a great abyss. Vikirnoff caught her before she ran off the edge of the precipice. He held her against him. «That was close.»
Natalya stared at the ice bridge glittering so invitingly. The structure was made of ice and stone, very narrow and had several holes in it. The bridge appeared to be the only way across. She frowned, gesturing toward the gaping holes. «I'm not going to set one foot on that thing.» She grinned up at him. «I knew you were going to come in handy.»
«Are you expecting me to carry you?» He lifted an eyebrow.
«Without a doubt. We go to the other side.»
Vikirnoff reached for her, gathered her close. Natalya wished it felt impersonal, but his touch was electric, heat coursing through her body, making her acutely aware of him, aware