You will return to me, Shea.Itwas a clear order, and he hoped she would obey him, hoped he would not have to force her.

Shea leapt over a rotting log and stopped abruptly under the canopy of a huge tree. The command was stark, impressive in its absence of emotion. She recognized anger in herself. It was new to her. Brand new. She couldn’t remember being angry before. Shea was usually careful not to feel anything at all. She preferred to analyze things.

Please try to understand, Jacques. I won’t be a part of this. I will not argue long distance with you. Come to me now.

For strength Shea clutched at an overhead tree branch. Jacques’ lack of inflection frightened her more than his anger could have. She sensed a power in him, a total confidence. I won’t come back. I can’t. Just live your life, Jacques. You have it back now.If Jacques had really felt no emotion in centuries, then he would be struggling just as she was to stay in control. Everything seemed so intense. She wanted the calm, tranquil world she understood, where her brain ruled and emotions could be pushed aside.

You cannot possibly win this battle, Shea.Itwas a warning, nothing less. The tone was devoid of any feeling whatsoever.

Why does it have to be a battle? You need to accept my decision. I have the right to leave.

Come to me, Shea.There was iron strength in his command. This time he exerted a subtle but frightening pressure.

Shea pressed both hands to her head. Stop it! You can’t force me.

Of course I can.Even as the words echoed in his mind, he realized they were true. He could do almost anything. He stepped off the porch into the driving rain and stretched his muscles lazily, reveling in their response. He was truly alive again. He could easily bring her to him, bend her will to his. She needed to learn that Carpathian women were under their lifemate’s protection at all times. She never took precautions, never scanned her surroundings; she never took care for her own protection.

Was that the kind of man he had become? Had he always been so? Someone willing to force his will on the one person who cared for him, risked her life for him? Was it so much to ask that he give her time to adjust? Jacques rubbed the bridge of his nose thoughtfully.

She was so fragile, so vulnerable. Shea could brave the wildest river or highest mountain. She had the strength to handle any crisis, but not her own emotions. His competent little redhead was terrified of her feelings for him. Her childhood had been a nightmare. He could not allow her life with him to become the same thing.

Jacques actually felt the curious melting in the region of his heart, the surge of heat that rushed through his bloodstream.

Little one, why do you persist in fighting me?His voice, whispering so softly in her mind, was filled with tenderness. Do you know what will happen to you without me?

Her entire being responded to the velvet caress of his voice, the rising tide of love. If he had continued to argue and chastise, she would have had a chance, but the moment he spoke in that tender, caressing way, she was lost. At once she felt overwhelming despair. She could never be free of him, never.

Is that such a terrible fate, love?Hisvoice turned her heart over. To be with me?This time there was a single thread of hurt. AmI truly such a monster then?

I don’t know how to be with you. I feel trapped, like I can’t move or think.Shea pressed her fingers to her temple, her back to the tree. Idon’t want to need you. I don’t want to be with any of them.

He was moving steadily toward her, not fast, not slow. The rain drove down on his broad shoulders, glistened off his back. The coolness only added to the gathering heat in his body. She seemed small and defenseless. With each step into the night, with the soil beneath his feet, and the ancient’s blood flowing in his veins, his strength grew.

I need you just to breathe, Shea,headmitted starkly. Iam sorry that terrifies you. I wish that I had more control, but I cannot be alone like that, not ever again. I try to keep my presence in you but a shadow. Perhaps with time I can let go a bit. Being with me terrifies you, but being without you terrifies me.A note of amusement crept in. We are so compatible.

Shea knew he was coming toward her; she could tell by the way her heart pounded in anticipation, the way her body came alive. She buried her face in the crook of her arm, hanging on grimly to the branch above her. You don’t know me, Jacques.

I am in you. I know you. You are afraid of me, of what I can do. You are afraid of my instability, my power. You fear what I am and what you have become. Yet you are strong and determined that no harm shall come to me. You know your brain is excited at the possibilities of the existence of our race.Hislaughter was soft and inviting. I am your lifemate, bound to treasure you, cherish and protect you. Always see to your happiness. And you have the same abilities as I.

Your first thought was to force me back to you,sheaccused him.

Shea, my love, you never think to scan, never check for danger. And you cannot exist without me. It is my duty and my right to protect you.

What happens to me if you die? What happens to you if I die?Sheknew the answer; she had watched her mother’s empty life. This is obsession.She said the words aloud so that the wind could carry them through the mountains. “I won’t be like her.” She lifted her face to the driving rain so that the drops ran down her face like tears. It was too late. She couldn’t survive without Jacques. Wasn’t she just like her mother after all?

He came out of the night so beautifully male that he took her breath away. His black eyes moved over her possessively, curiously predatory.

Shea shook her head. “I’m not strong enough, Jacques.” The wind whipped at her, nearly drove her sideways.

“Choose life for us, Shea, for our children. I will not be easy to live with, but I swear to you, no one could love you more. I will do anything to make you happy.”

“Don’t you see? You can’t make another person happy. I’m the only one who can do that for myself. And I can’t do this.”

“You are just afraid. We both have some problems, Shea. You fear the intimacy and I lack of it. It is simply a matter of meeting somewhere in the middle.”

His voice was so soft, she felt it on her very skin, as if his fingertips were skimming over satin in the lightest caress. Jacques stepped closer, beneath the tree’s canopy, his dark eyes intense. “Choose me now, Shea. Need me. Want me. Love me. Choose life for us.”

“It shouldn’t be like this.”

“We are not human. We are Carpathian, of the earth. We command the wind and the rain. The animals are our brethren. We can run with the wolf, soar with the owl, and become one with the rain itself. We are not human, Shea. We do not feed on flesh as humans do, and we do not love as humans do. We are different.”

“We are hunted all the time.”

“And we hunt. It is the cycle of life. Shea, look at me.”

Chapter Ten

Shea lifted her emerald gaze to the disturbing intensity of Jacques’ black eyes. He was so close that she could feel the heat of his skin reaching out to her. His fingertips brushed the curve of her cheek, her mouth. His need of her was as elemental as the storm itself. It burned in him like the hot sizzle of electricity, like the slowly spreading heat of molten lava. “Need me, Shea.” His voice ached with it. “Need me the same way I need you. I would give my life for you. Live for me. Find a way to live for me. Love me that much.”

Her eyelashes swept down, raindrops glistening on the ends of the feathery crescents. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me.”