"Feehan, Christine - Dark 13 - Dark Destiny" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feehan Christine)

"Don't move," Destiny cautioned MaryAnn. "Call him off, Nicolae. Call him off now."
"He is only protecting me," Nicolae explained gently. "He knows your intent and knows I will not hurt you. It is his warning to you. Should you harm me, he will kill her. I cannot stop him, and you know that, Destiny. He is my brother and seeks only to protect me. Think before you act." Nicolae kept MaryAnn firmly between them.
MaryAnn frowned. "Destiny, are you angry with Nicolae? I asked him to do this. I wanted him to take my blood."
Destiny winced visibly. "You have no idea what that means. You didn't want it. It isn't reasonable to think that you would. His voice is a weapon. It can deceive you into doing anything. His voice holds compulsion. Do you know what that is? It means you'll do anything he asks, anything he commands, anything he wishes. You think he gave you a choice, but he didn't. There was never a choice. You would have said yes to putting a gun to your head and pulling the trigger."
Lightning slashed the skies, nearly striking the owl as it circled above them, but the raptor dissolved in midair, leaving behind a trail of vapor. A shower of sparks scattered like gems, seeking a target, but just as quickly a fine mist blanketed the night, snuffing out the hot points of light.
"Do not do that again, Destiny." The warning was a low growl. For the first time there was a distinct threat emanating from Nicolae.
"Wait, stop this right now!" Mary Ann shook her head decisively. "This was my idea, I reasoned it out every step of the way. Nicolae wanted to remove my memories, as a protection for you, for his people, and even for me. He said that my knowledge made me more vulnerable to a vampire."
That revelation penetrated Destiny's red haze of anger. The terrible pain of betrayal. There was truth in what MaryAnn said. A vampire could easily scan MaryAnn's thoughts and learn she had knowledge she shouldn't possess. Destiny took a breath, let it out slowly, trying to be calm while the wind whipped at her and lightning split open the sky. The crash of thunder reverberated loudly, shaking the ground, shaking the buildings.
The owl had settled on the rooftop above their heads, its dark eyes fixed intently on Destiny's face. It was silent, watching with a predator's rapt attention.
The wounds in her heart felt fresh and jagged. She had allowed Nicolae to get too close to her. She had let him inside.
I did not betray you, Destiny. I did what had to be done, what I knew you could not do. She is unharmed and now protected. It was her choice alone. I give you my word of honor.
His voice was always the same. So perfect. She lowered her lashes, indecisive again. She had come to the alley to kill him, but hope was swirling in her stomach and crushing her heart at the same time. She loved his voice and she hated it.
"DestinyЧ" MaryAnn could see tiny beads of sweat on the young woman's forehead. Only it wasn't sweat, it was beads of blood. "Look at me. Please look at me. If you can do what you say you can, look into my mind and see what happened between us. I wanted this. I don't want to forget you. I'm your friend. That matters to me."
Destiny's fingers curled into tight fists. "I don't have friends."
"Yes, you do. It might be frightening to have friends, but they're there for you. You know how I feel; you know it's real. I care what happens to you."
"I don't want you to care." Destiny snapped the words, her vivid eyes glittering, picking up the veins of lightning so that she looked dangerous. "I don't want any of this." She swept her hand to encompass all of them. The neighborhood. MaryAnn. The silent sentinel on the roof. Nicolae. Especially Nicolae. She wanted nothing to do with him. She hated him, hated the way his hands curved over MaryAnn's shoulders.
Nicolae allowed his arms to drop to his sides. If Destiny made a threatening move toward him, he was certain he was fast enough to escape danger, but he couldn't control Vikirnoff's response to an attack on him. Do not hurt her. He couldn't stop himself from warning his brother.
I am fully aware that if I attack, you will be forced to protect her from me. Vikirnoff was unshakable. She will not be allowed to harm you. Should she attempt to do so, I will divert her by attacking the human woman.
Nicolae sighed softly. "Destiny, come with me." He held out his hand to her. "This situation is dangerous and belongs between us and no one else. Come with me now before something happens that neither of us can control."
Destiny went pale. Her teeth bit at her lower lip. She glanced up at the owl, looked at Mary Ann. Took a reluctant step toward Nicolae. Another. Nicolae felt as if he could breathe again. He had known what she would think when he had made the decision to take MaryAnn's blood, how Destiny would react, but he hadn't counted on how painful his apparent betrayal would be to her. Seeing her suffer shook him more than he had ever imagined anything could.
Destiny looked at his outstretched hand, wiped her palm on her thigh, as if she were afraid to be alone with him. "MaryAnn, will you be all right walking home alone?" She sounded as if she were pleading with MaryAnn to save her.
"Perfectly all right," MaryAnn said firmly. "You go with Nicolae and talk things out. I'm certain the very interesting bird will see me home safely." She grinned at Nicolae, waved daringly at the owl.
Nicolae couldn't help giving an answering grin. He liked MaryAnn. Who could not? There was something special about her. Her courage and loyalty set her apart. He could see why Destiny had settled in the neighborhood, drawn by this woman who worked so diligently for others; she was a woman of great compassion.
Nicolae took Destiny's hand. He couldn't say she held it out to him, or even met him halfway. He had to reach out, shackle her wrist and bring her hand to him. Lace his fingers through hers. But she didn't pull away from him. A small victory, but one that he treasured. Her fingers were ice-cold. And she was trembling.
He didn't make the mistake of tugging her to his side. He went to hers, standing close so that his larger frame sheltered her body from the wind. So that she could feel his body heat. So that electricity seemed to arc between them, crackling and snapping with a life of its own.
The owl flapped its wings, took flight overhead. The movement seemed to calm the wild winds. Even the white-hot whips of lightning faded from the dark clouds as Destiny began to relax.
Mary Ann reached out and, to Destiny's horror, hugged her briefly before walking determinedly away. Destiny simply stood frozen in place, as still as a statue, unaware her hand was gripping Nicolae's so hard that he was afraid she would pulverize his bones. She watched MaryAnn walk out of the alley with the owl flying just above her as if guarding her. Or stalking her. "He won't hurt her," Nicolae said. It was in her mind to try another attack on the owl. Knock it from the sky so she could be sure MaryAnn was safe.
"He only threatened her to stop you from attacking me."
Nicolae stepped closer to her. "You have not fed." It was an invitation.
"I don't trust myself yet." She looked up at him then. Studied his face with its dark sensuality, its sharp angles and planes. The eyes had seen too many centuries. Faced too many battles. He was a man who had been alone for far too long. "I can't be what you want me to be." She had touched his mind often. She knew his thoughts. Lifemate. She understood all the word implied. Everything. Lifemate. Something she could never be.
His hand framed her face. Exquisitely gentle, his fingers trailed over her cheekbones, lingering with tenderness. "You are everything I want you to be. There is no need to worry about such things. You do not know me. How can you decide?"
His touch wreaked havoc with every cell in her body, caused a small rebellion of her senses. A mutiny of blood and bone and nerve endings. He confused her. Every time he came near her, she felt different from normal. Restless. Needy. His voice found its way into her body, wrapped itself tightly around her heart and lungs, so that each time he spoke, he robbed her of breath. Of life. Of the ability to hate. Him. Herself. What she was.
"It was easier without you."
"You have never been without me," he pointed out. He curled his fingers around hers, brought her knuckles to his mouth.
Her heart jumped at the touch of his lips against her skin. A whisper of velvet. A stroke of heat. He was so beautiful there in the night. Tall and strong and alive. Too real. Too masculine. Too strong. There was a lump in her throat that made it almost impossible to speak. "You are, you know. Too strong for me." Her voice came out husky, strangled, so unlike her.
His thumb feathered along her cheek, traced the path of an imaginary tear. His palm cupped her forehead, removed every trace of the tiny beads of blood. "You were honed in the fires of hell, Destiny. No one will ever be as strong as you are. I know you fear you will lose yourself by being with me, but that would be impossible. I am not asking you to join with me. I am not asking anything of you other than for you to grow accustomed to my presence. I have shared your mind for many years, shared your fears and every unspeakable evil that was done to you. I shared your battles and I know your every secret. It is my physical presence that is unsettling to you."
He leaned closer, so close that his lips skimmed over the corner of her mouth. Her blood heated and her stomach clenched. "I need you. To live. To save my soul. I am willing to wait as long as it takes."
Her eyes met his. She flinched away from the dark sensuality she saw there. From the tremendous intensity. "I know that you're willing to wait. But you can't really wait, can you? I've read your mind. I know that this thing you call lifemate is essential to keep you from turning vampire."
He didn't even blink at the accusation. He nodded, his gaze drifting possessively over her face. "I can wait, Destiny. If it is difficult, that is not your failing but mine. Let me worry about how I will manage it."
"I can't be intimate with you." Her chin rose slightly; her soft mouth trembled. "I could never be intimate with you, and that's a big part of what you want from me."
"We are already intimate, Destiny. Sex is not necessarily intimacy. We have shared far more than other couples, shared intimate details of our lives." He tilted her chin, studied her vivid eyes. "Come with me. Let me show you what you are, not what you imagine yourself to be."
"Why does everything you say sound like a temptation?" A faint smile gleamed for a brief moment in the depths of her eyes. "Can't you just be dull and uninteresting?"
He laughed softly, brought her hand once more to his astonishing mouth. His teeth teased the pads of her fingers. "At least that is a start. I would much rather be a temptation than dull and uninteresting."
"Where are we going?" She moved backward, a subtle retreat. "I haven't spent so much time with people in my entire life. It's"Чshe searched for the right wordЧ"uncomfortable."
At least she was willing to come with him. He couldn't ask for more than that. When he was near her, his pulse pounded and his head throbbed. His body was hard and full, aching for her. The ritual words beat in his mind, and deep within, the crouching beast lifted its head and roared for release. Nicolae didn't flinch from the knowledge in her eyes. He had deliberately given her an advantage. She needed to be able to touch his mind at will. To feel she could know his true intent. He had no intention of hiding his difficulties from her. It was the Carpathian way of life, the male struggling to keep darkness at bay. It was a fact, and finding his lifemate created its own complications.
Nicolae dissolved without another word, streaking through the dark clouds, a heavy mist mixing with the fog and moving determinedly over the city. He didn't hesitate, once again giving Destiny a choice. She had to want to take the steps, want to give them a chance.
That's not what I'm doing, she replied, responding to his last thought. There was no chance of their being a couple. Together. Lifemates. Destiny leapt into the air, bursting into the sky like a rocket. Her body dissolved into a prism of colored molecules, tiny drops that slipped lightly through the veils of fog.
She knew what his response would be and she braced herself. His laughter slipped into her mind. Nothing could rob her of breath the way the sound of his laughter did. There was something incredibly sexy about his laugh. Destiny followed the streaking comet through the sky, away from the city, toward the mountains and the forest some distance away.
She allowed the joy of flying to absorb her completely, to block out her every worry. There were certain undeniable pleasures the dark gift had given her.
More than a few, Nicolae pointed out. Each species has its drawbacks and incredible wonders. I do not think you have fully appreciated what you are.