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Darius. I'm not really the adventurous type."
He groaned at the blatant lie. "My heart could not take it if you were any more adventurous." His black
eyes pinned her. "Obey me in this, Tempest. I do not want to come back and find you hang-gliding off
another cliff."
She rolled her eyes. "What trouble can I possibly get into up here? No one's around for miles. Really,
Darius, you're becoming totally paranoid." She strode to a boulder with a flat top. "I'll just sit here and
contemplate nature until you return."
"The other alternative is for me to tie you to a tree," he mused, straight-faced.
"Try it," she dared him, green eyes flashing fire.
"Do not tempt me," he shot back, meaning it. He examined the boulder for himself. With Tempest,
anything was bound to happen. A snake under the rock, a stick of dynamite blowing it up.
Tempest laughed at him. "Go away. Do you have any idea how pale you are? I'm afraid in a minute
you'll decide that I'm your midnight snack." Swinging one crossed leg back and forth, feigning
indifference, she blinked up at him, wishing she could take back the words. She didn't want to give him
any ideas. "Do have any idea how truly bizarre all this is?"
He loomed over her, tall and enormously strong. "I only know you'd better be sitting right here when I
get back." He made it an order. No velvet over iron this time. Just pure iron. He said it between his teeth
to show her he meant business.
Tempest smiled up at him, all innocence. "I can't think what else I would possibly do."
He kissed her then because she was so damned tempting that he thought he might incinerate if he didn't.
Her mouth was incredibly soft and pliant, such a mixture of sweet fire and hot honey that he had trouble
pulling away. Hunger was beating at him to the extent that he was finding it difficult not to nuzzle her
throat and seek the taste of her, rich and hot, flowing into his body. He felt his fangs lengthening at the
thought and quickly jerked away. His restless sleep and long night of sexual activities had drained his
control. He needed to feed.
One moment Darius was kissing her as if he would never let her go, the next he was gone, just
disappeared. In his place was a trailing vapor of mist, streaking away from her toward deeper woods.
She watched the cometlike phenomenon almost idly, not certain if it was re-ally Darius or some strange
effect created by the lofty atmosphere and the waterfall. It was beautiful, a prism of colors and lights
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flickering like countless fireflies through the trees. She wondered if he had scented prey, and she shivered
at the choice of words that had come to her mind.
She inhaled then, taking the scents of the night into her lungs. It was amazing what tales the various
smells could provide. Darius was right; it was only a matter of holding oneself very still and listening with
one's entire being. Focusing. It was almost overwhelming. The trees, the water, the bats, the animals. She
patted the boulder, liking that it felt so solid. She felt as if Darius had awakened her and brought her up
from the very bowels of the earth to rediscover the beauty of nature.
Something slightly off-key inserted itself into her magical world, but it was so slow, so insidious, she
barely noticed it. Everything around her was so exciting, seen through new eyes, a true awakening. The
color of the water particularly captured her fascination, the way the wind played with the surface, tugging
and teasing it into a frothy foam. But the nagging intrusion was persistent, a mournful note, a jangle, as if
something was out of step with the rightness of all she was seeing.
Tempest frowned and rubbed her forehead. It began aching, throbbing, getting worse as she sat still. She
stood, shifting her weight from foot to foot, and very carefully took stock of her surroundings, trying to
see without the vivid colors and details, to perceive the reality around her.
Her foot began aching, and she slipped off her shoe and knelt to rub the sole. But the pain wasn't where
she had hurt herself. It was deep within the tissues, and she knew it wasn't her pain; she was feeling the
echo of something or someone hurting. A sudden stillness seemed to sink into the forest, quieting all
wildlife. She heard the rush of wings and thought she understood the sudden silence. An owl hunting
would keep mice and small animals cowering in their snug homes. Yet the bats remained busy with the
insects above her head. Thoughtfully she replaced her shoe and straightened.
A thin ribbon of a deer trail led into the straggly timberline. She wandered over to it, something pulling
her in that direction. She wouldn't go far; she just wanted to find the jarring note intruding on the beauty
of nature. The feeling persisted even as she followed the minimal trail. At times it led into thickets of
bushes and brambles. She sensed the presence of rabbits crouched below the thorns. They remained
unmoving, only their whiskers twitching.
The new intensity of nature's colors and details began to overlap her need to hunt down the mournful
sound seeping into her brain. She found herself sneaking glances at the starlit sky and occasionally turning
in full circles to admire the forest. Ferns were becoming taller as she walked deeper into the interior.
Moss covered the tree trunks rising skyward. She touched the bark of one and was in awe at the
complex blend of textures.
It occurred to her that her senses were so heightened that no mind-altering drug could ever compare.
She wandered away from the trail for a moment so she could study an unusual rock formation. The
boulders were covered on one side with lichen and tiny life forms, minute insects creating their own
world. Tempest glanced up at the sky again, amazed that she could see so clearly even within the deep
shadows of the trees.
She was moving into thicker woods, where it was much darker, yet she could see quite well, her
eyesight as acute as her hearing. She turned the focus of her newfound senses inward. Her stomach was
slightly upset. She felt full; the thought of food made her slightly sick, yet she was thirsty. She became
aware of the sound of the stream bubbling happily toward the waterfall. She angled toward the water,
pushing her way through the brush.
As she knelt at the edge of the stream, she became aware of the discordant note again. It was louder this
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time, jarring her, making her head hurt. Somewhere close by something wasn't right. Something was in
pain.
She dipped her hand in the running water and brought it to her parched mouth. Her mind was tuning
itself to Darius's, automatically seeking him. She needed the contact. Tempest didn't know why, but if she
didn't reach for him, find him, just for a moment, she knew she would be terrified. She needed him.
The idea of needing him alarmed her, but, unerringly, her mind had already found his. Giving it the lightest
of touches, she was no more than a faint shadow sliding in, seeking the comfort of knowing he was alive
and well, that he was sating his voracious hunger. Her heart pounded wildly for a moment. She withdrew [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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