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What had Zakara done to her. "My beloved," he
whispered, his eyes trailing
to the line of blood on the floor. Instinctively, he
licked his lips at the sight,
the growling in his belly becoming hard to ignore.
Raphael turned away as his fangs descended,
the transformation
coming on strong. Fighting the urge to bite, he
laid his fingers against her
throat to feel the pulse. A sigh of relief escaped
his lips. It was strong and
steady, beating hard under his fingertips.
"Elizabeth," he murmured,
bringing her close to his chest. As he held her,
he looked around the room,
his anger rising. How dare Zakara do this.
His attention was drawn to the mirror. Written
neatly in blood was the
dire warning issued by Zakara.
Deep growls escaped his throat, the hungry
moisture dripping from
his fangs. He was finished playing Zakara's
games. The time was quickly
coming to take Elizabeth and make her his
completely, whether or not she
wanted to be.
"Wha ... what ... happened." Elizabeth's voice
cut through the aura of
anger surrounding his head.
He looked down quickly, his features returning
to normal thanks to
years of practice. "My love," he whispered as he
held her closer to him, the
warmth of her skin utterly welcome. "You must
have fainted," his gaze
flicked to the bathroom, "after what you saw."
Painfully, her expression changed to one of
absolute fear. "Please
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79
don't let her kill me," she begged, her voice
barely above a whisper. "Where
did you go."
He held her tighter. "I had gone down to the
store because you had
nothing to eat this morning. I was only going to
be gone for a few minutes,"
he confessed as he rocked slightly with her on
the floor. "This was all my
fault."
"She didn't do anything to me, Raphael. She's
trying to scare me, that's
all," Elizabeth said in a comforting tone, her
words calming the turbulent sea
of emotion in him. "I'm not going to let her scare
me."
"Neither will I," he murmured, his cheek against
the top of her golden
head. "I'm never leaving your side again."
* * * *
Liz gazed up into his warm green eyes, her body
responding to his
touch. Her heart swelled and the tears rose in
her eyes. All her doubts about
him disappeared, almost like lightning after a
summer storm. "Nor will I,"
she said softly, the smile on his lips spreading
wider.
"You know what this means, don't you."
She looked away. "I have to become what you
are, Raphael," she said,
her voice flat and even. Was she ready to give
up her humanity completely.
"Condemned for all eternity to walk the earth in
search of blood."
His hand turned hers back. "No, it means we
have the chance to band
together and defeat Zakara. Once that is done,
we will spend the rest of
eternity together, the way we should be."
"But that means we'll never have children or a
family of our own."
His expression changed to one of sorrow. "It's
an even trade, one for
the other. As much as I want my children
growing inside of you, it won't
happen if you become one of us."
Liz blinked hard, trying to push the tears away.
"That's all I've ever
wanted Raphael. To be a wife and mother. What
you're asking me is to sell
my soul."
His fingers traced her jawline. "What I'm asking
you is to walk beside
me for all eternity, to be my loving wife."
Unable to answer, Liz pushed up from his lap
and leaned against the
wall for support. She stared at him hard for a
moment, taking in his sexy
form. A white cotton shirt covered his upper
torso, highlighting the bronze
of his skin and emphasizing the girth of his
muscles. Denim wrapped around
his lower body, accentuating the strength of his
legs. Black silver tipped
boots completed his attire. "I don't know,
Raphael. I want to be with you but
The Unforgiven: RAPHAEL Tracy L. Ranson
80
giving up the idea of having children is not
something I'm ready to accept."
"Your desire to be with me must be stronger
than your desire to have
children," he insisted. "With me, you'd never
have to worry that I'd leave
you or die. We'll always be together, making love
for the centuries. Don't
you want that."
She looked down. "More than anything else in
the world, Raphael, but
I need more time to decide...."
"Time is running out, Elizabeth," he warned as
he slid down next to
her, his arm going around her shoulders.
"Zakara will stop at nothing to
destroy you, and I'm not going to let that happen,
even if I have to force you
to become one of us."
Her eyes widened. "You wouldn't dare."
"I would if it meant protecting you from her.
Now, what is your
answer to be."
She was incredulous. "I can't believe you would
force me to do
something against my will," she snapped, rising
from the floor. The fragile
trust in him that had begun to build shattered into
irreparable fragments. "I
trusted you up until this point but now, I don't
trust you at all. Get out of my
house
Raphael rose to his feet and towered over her,
his arms crossed over
his massive chest. "No."
Her brow wrinkled. "What do you mean. If you
don't leave, I'm
calling the cops."
"Go ahead," he growled. "All I will need to do is
convince them that
you're hysterical because you're pregnant and
that you're being
unreasonable."
"I'm not pregnant," she retorted as she took a
few steps away from
him. "Even if I were, don't think I wouldn't run
down to the nearest abortion
clinic and get rid of it."
His laughter rang through her apartment. "You
wouldn't because you
want children too much, Elizabeth. Try again."
"Damn you!" she screamed and stalked into her
bedroom, locking the
door securely behind her. At least here, she
could think quietly.
Splinters of shattered wood showered the bed
around her as the door
blew inward with the force of a hurricane. Her
door hung ajar, the hinges
torn from the jamb. Raphael stood on the other
side, his lips spread into a
wide smile.
"What are you doing." she demanded, rising
from her bed.
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81
"When I want to come into a room, no lock can
keep me out,
Elizabeth," he said in a sensually deep voice as
he strode over to her. His
hands grasped her arms, pulling her to her feet.
"You can't deny the passion
between us." He flicked at the knotted towel. It
fell away, leaving her
exposed to his touch.
She quivered at the effect he was having on her.
"Please, Raphael,
don't do this."
"Ah, but you want me to," he said as he sank to
his knees and took a
ripe nipple into his mouth, teasing it to marble
hardness while his other hand
kneaded the other mound with a gentle pressure.
Liz had no choice but to submit. Desire coursed
through her veins like
the sweetest wine, a fragrant nectar her body
desperately craved. "I'm not on
any birth control or anything"
"You said you wanted a baby," he murmured
against her flesh.
Liz felt her legs weaken and would have fallen
had it not been for his
hands around her waist. "When I was married,
with a husband...." she trailed
off
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