That mouth of hers. Hotter than hell. Igniting a firestorm in him—in her, in them—until it burned so out of control neither could think clearly. Kissing her took him to another realm, one he hadn’t known existed. Fire burned through him, flames licking along his spine, dancing over his skin, over their skin. Little sparks of electricity arced between them.
They had to stop before he couldn’t. He knew it was getting more difficult for him every rising, not claiming his woman. He didn’t want her to come to him for the wrong reasons—and she would. That would be so like Elisabeta, putting his needs before her own. Throughout the centuries they would spend together, he would always have to check himself that he didn’t take advantage of her giving nature.
He broke off the kiss reluctantly, clothing both of them as he stood, setting her on her feet, right on the narrow deer path just at the edge of the meadow.
“Ferro?” Elisabeta touched her lips with slightly trembling fingers. “Is something wrong?”
“Everything is right,
She moistened her lips, her gaze shifting up to his face. “Our traps?”
He nodded and pulled her closer, matching her shorter steps. “Cornel has devised a plan to attack the nightclub. He plans to let loose an army of their servants, all hungry for fresh blood, a diversion to acquire young Josef for them. And you for Sergey. We do not want to lose any humans to their army of servants. We have called our own army to combat them. You are our secret weapon against them, Elisabeta. And you are my secret weapon against Sergey.”
She walked beside him in silence, her back and shoulders straight. His woman, up to the challenge. Thoughtful. “Sergey is very dangerous. Cunning. Never forget that he has slivers of each of his brothers residing in his brain. If that is not enough to beware of, he also has two of Xavier, the high mage.”
“Does he know how to access their aid without you?” Ferro asked, keeping the inquiry gentle. It was always a sore subject whenever he brought up just how much Elisabeta had helped Sergey against his brothers over the years. She didn’t really understand that her own nature had betrayed her. It was impossible for her to watch the victim of cruelty suffer, no matter if that person was good or bad themselves. She was compelled by her nature to help them.
“I have never seen him do so. He has a disconnect in his mind with certain things, especially anything to do with magic or psychic abilities beyond Carpathian skills. His safeguards were always the weakest of the brothers’. They were always extremely cruel to him over his safeguards.”
“And you aided him?”
Elisabeta nodded. “I had to be careful when I was teaching him to weave more strands because he would get so angry when he couldn’t do it. I felt bad that I made him feel less intelligent. I didn’t mean to. I spent time studying how he learned things. Once I knew, it was so much easier to teach him things.”
The entire time they walked along the narrow winding path in the deeper forest that moved around and between trees, he could see she was scanning both sides of the path and noting every tree and bush along the way. She didn’t seem to miss anything even though the conversation they were having was obviously important.
“You taught him every one of his safeguards? He has never made up any of his own?”
“No. He is incapable of straying from utterly basic safeguards or the more intricate ones I taught him. He normally used those to keep his brothers and cousins away from his sleeping chambers. He was always paranoid, with good reason, that they might want him dead.”
“Did they want him dead?”
“Yes, they thought him the weakest link.”
“And without you, he was.”
She nodded. “I made certain that he became an asset to them, without making them feel as if he was in any way a threat to them. It was a difficult balance and I made mistakes. His ego, especially when they made fun of him, could make him especially cruel. He had to believe he was the one outsmarting them. It is strange that over the centuries I lost sight of that. I began to believe he was the one who was so powerful on his own.”
“Sergey had to know it was you.”
“He knew, but that made him angrier and more resentful. I suppose that was why he set out to convince me I was worthless to him.”
