She glared at him, her long hair wild, her small fists clenched. “You call it whatever you like, Gregori, but you stay away from me smelling like her.” She was furious with him. He insisted she was his lifemate, tried to force her into an eternity of hell with him, and he dared to come to her smelling of another woman? “Get out and leave me in peace.” For some unexplained reason she felt close to tears at the thought of him betraying her.

His silver eyes warmed to caressing mercury and moved possessively over her slender figure. A frown touched his face. “You are weak, Savannah. I can feel it when our minds merge.”

“Stay out of my mind. You certainly weren’t invited.” Her hands went to her hips. “And just for the record, your mind needs to be washed out with soap! Half the things you think we’re going to do are never going to happen. I could never look at you again.”

He laughed. Aloud. An actual, real laugh. It welled up unexpectedly and emerged low and husky, with genuine amusement. Gregori nearly leapt the distance between them and dragged her into his arms, grateful beyond imagining.

She flung a pillow at his head. “Go ahead and laugh, you arrogant jerk.” She wished she had a two-by-four handy.

His eyebrows shot up. Another new experience. He had been called many things, but jerkwas not one of them. His concern for her well-being overrode his intrigue, however. It even overrode the crouching beast within him so ready to possess her. “Why are you so weak, ma petite?This is not acceptable.”

She waved his concern aside. “Is it acceptable for you to play around with other women?” She didn’t stop to think why it infuriated her, but it did. “I’ve been taking care of myself for five years, Gregori, without your assistance. I don’t need you, and I don’t want you. And if I do have to have you around, a few rules are going to be followed.”

His mouth twitched, but his gut clenched hotly, his body so hard, it was painful. Hunger rose, swift and sharp, and the beast inside him roared for release. Five years. He had had to give her those five years. God help them both if he had waited too long. “The bath is ready. You can tell me these rules while we relax in its warmth.”

Her eyes widened. “ We?I don’t think so. You may be in the habit of bathing with women, but I can assure you, I don’t bathe with men.”

“That eases my mind,” he replied dryly, amusement curling in his mind, but the urgency of his need building. “I have never bathed with a woman, Savannah, so the new experience should do us both good.”

“In your wildest dreams.”

“There is no need to be shy. We are both of the earth.”

“Spare me the garbage, Gregori. I’m not going to bathe with you, and that’s final.”

His eyebrows shot up. All at once he looked the predator he was. No lazy amusement, no indulgence, but a hunter with eyes fixed unblinkingly on his prey.

Her heart stopped in alarm, then began to slam uncomfortably in her chest. The worst thing about it was, he could hear it. He knew he had scared her. That made her even more furious. Did he have to be so intimidating? Carpathian males were all enormously strong; they didn’t need to look it. There was no need for his huge chest and bulging arms and thighs like oak trees. She had started out with bravado, determined not to be intimidated, but he was power personified.

“I am reading your mind,” he mentioned softly.

She hated her traitorous body, the way it dissolved at the sight of him and the sound of his velvet, caressing voice. “I told you to stay out of my mind.”

“It is a habit, ma petite?”

She flung the other pillow at him. “Don’t you dare bring up the wolf. I’m sure our laws forbade such a thing. You’re a cad, Gregori, and you’re not even sorry.”

“Remove your clothes, Savannah.”

The soft command had her gaze flying to meet and lock with his. She stepped back, staggered, and would have fallen if he had not moved with his preternatural speed to cover the distance between them. His arms swept her up and pinned her to him, his silver eyes slashing at her. “Why are you so weak?”

She pushed at the wall of his chest in a vain attempt to escape a mind search. He would be able to extract any information he desired quite easily. “You know I never touch human blood. While I was a child, it didn’t seem to matter all that much, but over the last couple of years, there have been”—she searched for the word—”repercussions.”

He remained silent, his unblinking gaze steady, compelling her to explain. And it wascompulsion. She could not resist the command in his unwavering eyes.

Savannah sighed. “I’m weak most of the time. I can’t shape-shift without it taking a tremendous toll. That’s why my shows are becoming so rare. I can hardly manage mist to escape and then materialize again.” She didn’t add that she could no longer manage adequate safeguards while she slept, but she could tell by the sudden glint of steel in his eyes that he had caught the echo of her hastily banned thought.

His silver gaze became steel, and his arms tightened, threatening to crush her body against the hard strength of his. “Why have you not remedied the situation?” His voice, a soft menace, sent a shiver through her. She was all too aware of his enormous strength.

“I tried with Peter once, when I was really in a bad way. He was compliant, but I just couldn’t bring myself to take his blood.” She didn’t want to admit that the real reason was that she thought her unusual diet enabled her to walk in the sun.

“This will end. I forbid a continuation of this stupidity.” He gave her a little shake, his teeth very white as they snapped together in irritation. “Should there be need, Savannah, I will force your compliance.” He wasn’t bragging; his voice held no challenge or taunt. He simply stated the fact.

She knew he was threatening her not with physical force but with mental compulsion. “Gregori”—she was striving to sound calm and reasonable—”it would be wrong for you to force your will on me.”

He set her on her feet, holding her carefully with one hand, the other going to the buttons of her blouse. Savannah’s breath caught in her throat. Both her hands whipped up to catch his. “What are you doing?”

“Removing your clothes.” He didn’t seem to be aware of her hands straining to control his. The edges of her blouse parted, revealing her narrow rib cage, the soft swell of her breasts in nearly transparent lace.

The beast surfaced for a moment, wanting to tear, to feed, to claim. It was nearly impossible to control, and for the first time he was truly afraid he had waited too long to come to her. She could be in real danger if he slipped over the edge into madness. Need slammed into him, hard and painful, but he took a deep breath, fought, and won. His hand was steady as he removed the wisp of lace, spilling her full breasts into his view. His fingers brushed satin skin because he couldn’t stop himself, his thumb stroking her nipples into hard peaks. He murmured something—Savannah wasn’t certain what it was—before he lowered his mouth to taste the creamy offering.

At the first touch of his tongue, the scrape of his teeth, her legs nearly gave out. Her body went liquid with need. He drew her into the moist heat of his mouth, setting both of them on fire.

Savannah’s fingers tangled in his thick, midnight-black hair with every intention of jerking his head back, but flames were licking along her skin, igniting a fire deep within her. Just once, taste the forbidden. Just once.It was a measure of her pleasure that she didn’t know if it was his thought or hers tempting her.

His hand skimmed down her stomach, found the zipper of her jeans. Around her, colors whirled and danced, the air crackled, the earth shifted beneath her feet. A moan of despair, of desire, escaped her throat. The sound of their hearts, the rush of their blood, was music in her ears. It called to something wild in her. The scent of him, masculine and aroused, the scent of his blood, brought hunger, sharp and compelling.