“You can’t see yourself biting someone’s neck, is that it?” Raven laughed softly. “I can’t do it either. Yuck. Well . . .” She blushed, a faint pink stain spreading across her creamy skin. “Mikhail has a way of making it…” she trailed off.Shea found herself blushing, too. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Jacques seems to have that same way about him.”

“No, really, Noah," she said. "I'll wait until you 're dressed." So i could miss that blush creeping across her face? No way.”

“Should I tell her that I can’t sleep, I can’t eat and I miss talkin’ to her? Or just sittin’ with her? That I miss the secret way she smiles at me? That I constantly think about the way she smells, the taste of her mouth, the feel of her skin, and the sound of her laughter?”

“Gregori’s silver eyes moved over both women, then settled on Shea. “The child must be protected. It is no use appealing to Raven for logic, as she has none, and Mikhail is so besotted with her that he does not see his first duty, so it is up to you. For the sake of all of us, you must protect this child. Do you understand?”She felt ensnared by those molten eyes. She might not fully comprehend his reasons, but she felt his genuine urgency. She nodded. “I’ll watch over her, healer.”“It is not for my sake only, but for humans and Carpathians alike. This child must live, Shea,” he reiterated. “She must.”She felt clearly the warning, the plea from his otherwise damned soul. This child was his only hope.“Gregori,” Mikhail reminded him softly, “if the child is your lifemate, and you do something careless, you are condemning her to death. Keep that in mind when you enter this place of madness.”Gregori’s eyes flashed at his old friend. “Do you think I would chance harming her in any way? I have waited several lifetimes for her. These humans are nothing. They have persecuted our people for far too long. I mean it to stop.”Mikhail nodded, his dark eyes, so like his brother's, black ice. "You are up to this, Jacques?"Jacques' smile was a humorless promis of retaliation. "Have no worries about me. I am looking forward to this."Mikhail sighed. "Two bloodthirsty savages thinking they are in the dark ages."Jacques exchanged a humorless grin with Gregori. "The dark ages were not such a bad time. At least justice could be dispensed easily without worrying about what the women would think.""You both have gone soft," Gregori snickered. "No wonder our people have such problems. The women are ruling, and you two besotted idiots just follow along."Jacques' solid form wavered, became transparent. "We will see who proves to be the soft one, healer." His body completely disappeared from sight.Mikhail glanced at Gregori, shrugged, then followed suit. None of this was to his liking. Gregori was a time bomb waiting to explode. And God only knew what Jacques was capable of.”

“He got out a tube and since she’d yet to put the sweater on, squeezed ointment onto his fingers and began to gently rub it on her abraded skin. She recognized the scent. “That’s for horses.”“So?”She laughed and let him fuss. “Does this make me your mare now?”“No, you’re too young and delicate of bone for that. You’re still a filly.”“Are you going to train me, Donnelly?”“Oh, you’re out of my league, Miss Grant.” He glanced up, cocked a brow when he saw her grinning at him. “And what amuses you?”“You can’t help it can you? You have to tend.”“I put the marks on you,” he muttered as he smoothed on the ointment. “It follows I should see to them.”She lifted a hand to toy with the ends of his damp, gold-tipped hair. “I like being seen to by a man with a tough mind and a soft heart.”That soft heart sighed a little, ached a little. But he spoke lightly. “It’s no hardship running my fingers over skin like yours.” With his eyes on hers, he used the pad of his thumb to spread ointment over the gentle swell of her breast. “Particularly since you don’t seem to have a qualm about standing here half naked and letting me.”“Should I blush and flutter?”“You’re not the fluttering sort. I like that about you.” Satisified, he capped the tube, then tugged the sweater over her head himself. “But I can’t have such a fine piece of God’s work catching a chill. There you are.” He lifted her hair out of the neck.“You don’t have a hair dryer.”“There’s air everywhere in here.”She laughed and dragged her fingers through her damp curls. “It’ll have to do.”

“Do you take this man as your husband?"I receive you as mine," she began with a pretty blush, "so that you become my husband and I your wife. And I commit to you the fidelity of my body, and I will keep you in health and in sickness, nor for..." Like Galen she trailed off, but it was clear from the widening of her eyes that she had simply forgotten the words. As her blush spread, I heard Galen lean toward her and tenderly advise, "Just Promise to love me." "And I will love you until the day I die.”