Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh, I get it. You don’t have to take proper care of yourself, but I do. It isn’t going to happen that way, Darius. You can growl at me all you want, but if you’re insisting on forcing this relationship on me, you can darn well see to it that you take care of yourself so there’s no possibility of your leaving me alone.”
Darius felt the curious melting in the region of his heart that she always caused. Tempest was trying hard to lecture him, to be tough, but her voice wavered, her fear for his well-being clearly evident to him. He leaned over to brush a soft kiss across her mouth. “You will do as I say, honey, as you are meant to do.”
Tempest’s eyes flashed fire. “That’s it. One of you go get me a club. A big one. He clearly needs to be hit over the head to bring him back to his senses. He must have lost them somewhere in the forest. You idiot, I’m not your child to be dictated to. I’m a grown woman perfectly capable of making my own decisions. Now just this one time in your life, do what you’re supposed to do and go to ground or whatever you call it.”
Julian made the mistake of allowing a laugh to escape, then hastily tried to cover it with a cough. Darius glared up at him, noticed the others grinning openly at him. “I am certain you all have things to do,” he instructed pointedly.
“Not really,” Barack answered.
Dayan shook his head. “Much more entertaining here, Darius. You know, I’m still trying to get this relationship thing down, so is necessary to observe one up close.”
Syndil took the more innocent approach. “Naturally our concern is for you and Rusti, Darius. Nothing is more important than aiding you.”
Julian smirked at him. “This is enlightening. I am new to your particular ways, Darius, and do not mind learning how to handle the women properly when they refuse to be obedient.”
Desari’s eyebrows rose. “I’ll show you obedient,” she threatened.
Darius groaned. “All of you, go away.”
“You go away, too,” Tempest directed, fitting her body more closely into the pillows. “I need to sleep.”
He could hear the utter weariness in her voice. “It is unsafe, baby.
We
cannot stay here. We are hunted, and none of us can remain above ground in our weakest hours. There are caves close by. You will be comfortable there, I promise.”
Her lashes fluttered for a moment, her heartbeat audible to them all. “It’s the bat thing again, isn’t it?” She forced humor into her voice. “I think I’m going to have to go into therapy if we keep doing the bat thing. Closed-in places don’t agree with me.”
“I will make you sleep,” Darius said gently.
“Let’s do it then.” She lifted her lashes long enough to catch Desari’s worried expression. When she glanced at the others, she could read the concern on their faces. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Darius’s black eyes suddenly came alive, burning with a kind of fierce protectiveness. His gaze swept over his family.
Tempest sighed heavily and sat up, pushing at her wild mass of hair, which was tumbling everywhere. “Darius, I’m too tired to figure this out. What is it everyone is worried about? It’s unfair to keep me in the dark just because I’m unfamiliar with your needs.”
“He must sleep our sleep in the ground,” Syndil blurted out, not daring to look at Darius.
“Isn’t that what we’re doing? I’m going to the blasted cave. I’ll sleep while he’s in the ground,” Tempest said. “That’s the plan.”
Syndil shook her head, ignoring Darius’s warning growl.
Tempest clamped her hand over Darius’s mouth to shut him up. “Tell me.”
“He will not go to ground. He will sleep as a mortal with you above earth because he fears to leave you vulnerable to attack.”
There was a silence while Tempest digested the information. It was clear to Tempest that Darius was displeased with Syndil for interfering. Very gently Tempest stroked his neck with loving fingers, soothing him while she thought it all out. Eventually she shrugged. “So put me to sleep, and then both of us can be in the ground.” The idea of it turned her stomach; it sounded like a burial. But if she was completely unaware, it was a small thing to attempt if it helped Darius.
Her calm statement brought a collective gasp of admiration. “You would be willing to do such a thing for Darius?” Desari asked, gripping Tempest’s wrists. “You suffer greatly from confined spaces. Darius has told us this.”
Tempest shrugged. “I wouldn’t suffer if I was asleep,” she pointed out. “Let’s get to it, Darius. I’m tired.” And she was. Her body felt heavy and cumbersome. She didn’t look at him, not wanting him to see the revulsion and horror at the idea of being buried alive reflected in her eyes.
Darius’s arm swept around her and brought her small body into the shelter of his, his heart swelling with pride in her. He didn’t need to see her expression to read her true thoughts. A part of him was dwelling in her mind like a shadow. The terror burial and caves held for her was clear to him, yet she was willing to make the sacrifice if it meant his health. “This is a great gift you offer me, Tempest, but it is impossible. My body is made to shut down my heart and lungs. Your body is not. You would suffocate in the ground. It may take a little longer, but my body will eventually heal,” he assured her.
Over her head, Darius’s black eyes blazed at his family. No one dared defy that look, except Julian, who grinned at him. Desari kept a death grip on Julian’s hand to deter her lifemate from riling her brother further.
“Please fix Tempest a vegetable broth,” Darius instructed his sister.
Tempest shook her head decisively. “I really couldn’t eat a thing, Desari, but thank you. I just want to go sleep for a week or so.”
Darius glanced at his sister, a quick, steady look she could read all too easily.
She nodded almost imperceptibly. “Come on, we must allow them to clean up a bit.”
Barack growled low in his throat. “Syndil, Sasha has need of our healing powers. I will carry her, and you bring the herbs.”
Syndil’s eyebrows shot up. “Have you forgotten we are entertaining a guest? I was going to fix him dinner and then take a walk with him.”
Barack caught her arm just above the elbow. “Don’t keep baiting me, Syndil. I have only so much patience.”
She gave him a haughty look. “I do not have to answer to you, barbarian. Not now, not ever.”
“Dayan can walk with your precious guest into the woods. I will send Forest hunting him,” Barack snapped. “You will stay with me.”
“I think you have forgotten yourself.” Syndil glared at him. “I am leaving for a while, taking a small vacation.”
There was a moment’s silence. Darius’s head snapped up, his black eyes burning, but he refrained from the violent protest welling up within him. Dayan paused in the act of heading out of the bus, his face all at once harsh. Even Julian stilled as if Syndil had dropped a bombshell.
“With that human?” Barack hissed softly, menacingly, between clenched teeth. Syndil stuck her chin in the air belligerently. “It is not your business.”
Barack’s hand slid up her arm to the nape of her neck. He caught her chin in his palm, holding her still while he bent his head to hers. His mouth fastened on hers right in front of them all. Hot. Burning. Sweeping away everything that had gone before and replacing it with heat, with a smoldering fire. Barack lifted his head reluctantly. “You are mine, Syndil. No one else will have you.”
“You cannot just decide that,” she whispered, her hand pressed to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.
“No?” He placed both hands on her shoulders. “In the presence of our family, I claim you for my own. I claim you as my lifemate. I belong to you. I offer my life for you. I give to you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul, and my body. I take into my keeping the same that is yours. Your life, happiness, and welfare will be cherished and placed above my own for all time. You are my lifemate, bound to me for all eternity and always in my care.” He spoke the words aloud, decisively, furious with her that she couldn’t see it, that she refused to acknowledge his right to her.