Page 62 of Shadows of Eternity

Rohan shook his head. “I’m not sure my reason is as good as yours. My advice to you is go home. He’s your sire. You’ll never be strong enough to defeat him.” Josiah was his sire, too, Rohan thought. What made him so sure he could destroy him and Magdalena couldn’t?

“We would be strong enough together,” she argued.

Rohan grinned at her. “You would have made a hell of a warrior.”

“What makes you think I didn’t?”

He looked at her with new-found respect. It wasn’t unheard of for Lakota women to be warriors. In battle, they were as bold and brave as the men, sometimes more so.

“Will you help me?” she asked.

“Let me think it over for a day or two. I’ll let you know.”

“Do you love the woman with the flame-colored hair?”

“ ‘Fraid so.”

“I will see you again,” she said, and disappeared into the darkness.

She was a strange one, Rohan mused, as he went in search of prey. He fed quickly on the first lone female he saw, then willed himself back to Leia’s apartment. He had thought to find her asleep, but she was sitting up in bed.

Her eyes were filled with suspicion when she looked at him. “You went to see that vampire woman, didn’t you?”

Rohan swore inwardly. How the hell had she known? Woman’s intuition? “She was waiting for me outside.” He held up his hand, staying the next accusation. “She wants Josiah dead.”

“Why?”

“She’s madder than hell because he made some promises he didn’t keep. I guess you could say it’s a lover’s spat.”

“And she came to you for help?”

Rohan shrugged. “We’re related, in a way. Josiah made her, too. If she was a man, I guess we’d be blood brothers.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“She’s very pretty, isn’t she?” Leia asked.

“Yes, she is.”

“You have a lot in common. She’s a vampire. And she’s Indian, like you, isn’t she?”

Rohan blew out a sigh. He didn’t want to have this conversation. Siting on the edge of the bed, he took one of Leia’s hands in his. “Yes, she’s pretty and a vampire and Lakota. And it doesn’t mean anything. I don’t have any feelings for her, darlin’. It’s you I love and nothing will change that.” He paused and took a deep breath. “Are you sure it’s me you’re worried about, or are you having second thoughts again? You need to make a decision, Leia. I know it’s hard. I know there are a lot of differences between us, and that some of them scare you and some of them worry you, but if you love me enough, we can overcome them together. I love you and I always will, no matter what you decide.”

Lifting her hand, he turned it over and kissed her palm. She shivered as ripples of pleasure spiraled through her.

“Think about what I said,” he murmured. “Call me when you’ve made up your mind.”

“You’re leaving me?”

“I want you to be clear-headed while you think about it.” He grinned ruefully. “I’m afraid you can’t think objectively while I’m sharing your bed.”

Leia glared at him. “Of all the conceited … ” She gasped as he pulled her up against him and kissed her, his tongue dueling with hers in a long, slow mating dance that threatened to melt her very bones with its heat. She clung to him, desperate for more, for anything to quench the sudden fire burning through her.

“It’s not conceit,” he whispered against her ear. “It’s part of what I am. And that’s why you need to be alone to make your decision.”

Leia gazed up at him, her body still throbbing with need, even as she admitted he was right, because at that moment, she would have said anything, done anything, he wanted.

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