Chapter 8 #2
Like the others, he addressed her first, giving her that elegant, courtly bow.
“Sisarke, it is an honor to make your acquaintance. I am Mataias.” He didn’t wait for her reaction but immediately turned his attention toward Luiz and Dominic.
“Gentlemen. Is there a problem here? Tomas’ lifemate is radiating fear so strong that I felt it miles from here.
Between here and where I was, the forest is in an uproar. ”
“She doesn’t want to be claimed,” Luiz said. “She wants to go home.”
Sarika knew instantly that the triplets exchanged a private conversation in seconds. Without warning, there was the brush against her mind, a light touch, but she knew someone was invading, and it wasn’t Tomas.
Mataias and Dominic exchanged a look, and she knew immediately both had invaded her privacy.
That was so unfair. She detested that they could do that so casually, without giving a thought to whether she wanted to give them permission or not.
These were beings far too powerful for their own good.
Power corrupted; everyone knew that. She didn’t even bother to glare at them. What was the use?
“She is merely fearful,” Dominic said to Luiz. “Under the circumstances, that would be acceptable and normal. She knows little of our species and nothing about lifemates. I believe having one of the women come here and speak with her will take care of the problem.”
Sarika didn’t want to talk to one of their women; she wanted to demand Luiz take her home. Get her out of there to somewhere safe, where no jaguar shifter and no Carpathian male could ever get to her.
She looked at her cousin. Reached for him, mind to mind. I want to go home. You promised me.
Luiz’s gaze flickered over her. She felt the conflict in him, but she wasn’t going to relent. She needed out of the situation, and the only way out was through her cousin.
You are truly his lifemate, Sarika. He is telling the truth.
I am not Carpathian. I will fight this every step of the way. I counted on you to keep me safe. You can’t just give me to him like I’m some toy you can pass around.
He didn’t like that at all. He actually winced. His reaction wasn’t outward, but she felt him; she was so tuned to him.
That isn’t how it works, Sarika, Luiz told her cautiously. You are putting me in a terrible position. We would have to fight our way out of here.
I didn’t put us in this position. She was absolutely certain of that. When dreaming of this place and meeting her cousin, her only living relative, she had never once conceived of a catastrophe such as what had taken place.
Tomas’ shadow suddenly engulfed her, and then he was towering over her. “You will not speak with your cousin mind to mind when you refuse to do so with your lifemate.”
“Choices,” Lojos said, his voice very gentle. “Isn’t that your belief, brother?”
“Sun scorch that idiocy,” Tomas bit out. He reached down and caught a fistful of Sarika’s red-gold hair. “Eyes to mine.”
It was a command, the kind she found infuriating, but she couldn’t stop herself from obeying. The moment their eyes met, she saw the terrible storm building there.
“Te avio p?l?fertiilam. You are my lifemate.”
She tried to shake her head in denial, because as far as she was concerned, she wasn’t. His fist tightened in her hair, preventing movement.
“éntolam kuulua, avio p?l?fertiilam. I claim you as my lifemate.”
Not one man moved. Around them, the forest animals fell silent, as if they knew something huge was taking place. Her heart began to pound so hard her chest hurt.
“Ted kuuluak, kacad, kojed. I belong to you. élidamet andam. I offer my life for you.”
His gaze didn’t waver from hers. Those brilliant, slashing eyes held her captive. Revealed too much. His stark, raw passion. His total commitment to the path he had taken.
“Pes?met andam. I give you my protection.”
She put up her hand to stop him, so afraid of the way he was making her feel inside, as if a million tiny threads bound them together.
Strong threads. Unbreakable. “Luiz can protect me.” That was a plea if she ever heard one.
She wanted to break eye contact and look at her cousin, but she was helpless to do anything but stare into his eyes.
It was a little like being mesmerized by a cobra.
Lethal. Frightening. Shocking. But she was frozen to the spot.
“Uskolfertiilamet andam. I give you my allegiance. Sívamet andam. I give you my heart. Sielamet andam. I give you my soul.”
With his free hand, he captured her outstretched palm, pressing it against his chest, right over his heart. His fingers began to move in slow caresses over the back of her hand, right over her bare skin. That was soothing. Gentle. So at odds with the raging storm in his eyes.
“Ainamet andam. I give you my body. Sívamet kuuluak kaik ett? a ted. I take into my keeping the same that is yours.”
At his declaration, she shook her head, horrified that he thought she would share her body with a man who was a stranger. Letters be damned. She didn’t care how gorgeous she found him or if their attraction was off the charts; she wasn’t going to just give herself to him.
“Ainaak olenszal sívambin. Your life will be cherished by me for all time. Te élidet ainaak pide minan. Your life will be placed above mine for all time. Te avio p?l?fertiilam. You are my lifemate.”
Sarika had been paying attention to the declarations as he uttered each one.
The effect on her body was more frightening than anything she had ever experienced.
She had a mad desire to jerk away from him and leap over the railing, taking her chances in the forest. There were too many men between her and the railing, and she knew it would be humiliating if she made a break for it and didn’t make it.
His thumb, stroking back and forth on her skin, left a trail of heat that seemed to just get hotter as the blood first rushed through her veins and then pooled low.
“Ainaak sívamet jutta oleny. You are bound to me for all eternity.”
Eternity? The word horrified her. The way she felt so connected to him, as if her soul and his were one and the same, was even worse.
“Ainaak terád vigyázak. You are always in my care.”
The moment the last words were spoken, she felt tight bands snap into place inside her. Ties so tight there would be no getting away from him. Somehow, he had really bound them together.
“You have to undo this,” she whispered.
“I fear that is an impossibility.” He said it calmly.
Screw calm. She leapt to her feet, slamming both palms to his chest to knock him backward, away from her. “You undo it right now. Right this minute. You don’t get to take away my freedom of choice. Or any of my freedoms. I don’t care what kind of scary badass you are—undo it now.”
The fact that she hit him as hard as she could and he didn’t so much as rock backward added fuel to the fire.
Her temper erupted, and she swung her fist at his face.
He caught it in midair. As he did, she caught a brief flash of amusement, not just his but shared with his brothers. That only infuriated her more.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t close my eyes when you put yourself in the ground,” she hissed. “You never know what’s going to find its way to your bed.” She stuck her chin in the air and tried to pull her fist out of his hand. “It isn’t going to be me.”
“I think your woman just threatened you,” Lojos said.
“She’s got fire, that one,” Dominic said. “That’s a good thing. She’ll need it to stand up to you, Tomas.”
“She doesn’t need to stand up to me.” His voice was velvet-smooth again, and he looked straight into her eyes as he raised her curled fist to his mouth. “She can trust me to guide her through our customs.”
That strange fireball he seemed to be able to produce rushed through her veins and settled low again. That was so disturbing, when she wanted to kick him in the shins and maybe do even worse to him. She really didn’t like that he shared his amusement with his brothers.
“You aren’t going to guide me through anything.
Do you really think your taking away my choices in any way endears you to me?
” She leaned into him. “It does not. Just because you did this doesn’t mean I’m giving up my plans to leave this place.
Every single one of you is insane. The whole lot of you. ”
“Sivamet,” he said, using that same velvet voice so it not only stroked over her skin but ignited every nerve ending in her body.
“You know you’re speaking from a place of fear.
I’m well aware you have every reason to be afraid, but there is no need.
You trusted your cousin to protect you; you have three of us now. ”
She lifted her head to glare at Luiz. “I trusted him and look where it got me.”
Luiz lifted an eyebrow at her. “Our laws do not allow interference when it comes to lifemates.”
“So if he decides to abuse me, there is nothing any of you would do? All of you act so righteous, as if you’re better than those horrid male shifters, but you’re basically telling me I have no rights because I’m a woman. What’s the difference between them and you?”
She was furious. More than furious. She was terrified.
She despised being weak. She detested that she’d practically had a breakdown in front of these men.
Mostly, she hated that she wanted to burst into tears and cry for hours.
She was so close, struggling to hold on to her anger so she wouldn’t fall apart in front of them.
She didn’t know what being a lifemate entailed, but she was fairly certain Tomas was going to take her somewhere away from her cousin.
Luiz might say he believed one couldn’t interfere between lifemates, but he was a family man, and if he thought for one moment Tomas was hurting her, she was certain he would come to her aid.