Sorry for not updating in a while! I hope this chapter makes up for it, I have had a lot of time on my hands recently, I was in a bus accident so have had some time off to recover. Anyways hope you guys like it!
Please review!
UPDATE 17/09/2013 : Again this story is being revised! Only minors changes have been made to spelling, grammar and to the flow of writing. No major changes to the plot have been made. So welcome old and new readers, hope you all enjoy it equally.
Everlet woke in the arms of the stranger, though she did not even remember falling asleep. She opened her eyes to find her face pillowed against Diederik's chest, she blinked and then as she realized this she jerked slightly lifting her head. But her body was held firmly against him by the strong band of his arm that was looped around her waist.
Feeling the shifting of the petite body in his arms, Diederik was alerted to her awakening. She had fallen asleep in the taxi, tears had stained her face, and when they got back to his home he carried her inside and back down the sub-terrain room in the basement. Currently he lay on the bed his back against the dark oak headboard holding her against his chest. As she moved he lifted a hand and gently stroked her hair gently to soothe her, he could already feel her worry as she woke.
"Shh… Calm now Grádhág. You are safe in my home, where you should have stayed." Diederik murmured against her hair and then breathed in her scent. He felt some peace inside of him from just holding her. Knowing she was real and she was here with him. Though he knew it was no so simple, his lifemate feared something so greatly, and for that alone he knew it was a matter he had to fix and soon. But his biggest challenge he would have to face was exposing her to his world.
"I guess I should thank you." Everlet murmured against his chest. The Carpathian male could feel her confusion, that she didn't understand what was going on, but knew she did not think he would harm her as she did before. After all he had so many opportunities to harm her yet he had not, yes maybe kidnapped her but not physically harmed and his lifemate seemed to recognize this.
"No need for thanks, it is my honor and duty to see to your safety." He said and Everlet felt her heart stirring to hear him say that. To hear someone cared, even if she still had her doubts. About him, and about herself.
"I don't know why you do it… you don't know me." She murmured stubbornly which made Diederik smile, though he was upset that she had left, he knew the way she acted was a part of her, and he wouldn't have her any other way. She needed to run to find out how much she needed him, how much he was willingly to do for her.
Now hopefully she wouldn't run again.
"But I do Everlet, I know you are afraid, you are on the run, you have a man, obviously a very resourceful and dangerous man who is after you. You are smart, because you have been on the run for months and he still has not found you. But you are so much more, you are beautiful, kind because you tried to protect me from any harm by pushing me away. Which was a bad idea, because I will never let you go Grádhág." Diederik said and took his hand from her thick hair and moved it under her chin and tilt her face up to look at him. His dark eyes bore into her silvery ones, his face hovered mere inches from hers.
"No matter where you run, or how you try to hide I would find you. I will always find you." He said as his eyes bore into hers. Everlet gasped slightly as she looked at him, she could feel the truth ringing from his words. Both in my mind, in her heart and even in her very soul she knew that was true. But it only made her think of the one she was on the run from, whoever it was had promised that as well. But when this man said it she did not feel fear only a calm and almost relief.
"H-How?" she asked and Diederik just smiled, so far everything was looking good. She was accepting the truth that he would always be with her, no matter how she tried to deny or run from it. His fingers moved up the side of her face, his hand wanted to tremble at the smoothness of her ivory skin. Had he ever felt something so wonderfully smooth before? Surely nothing would ever compare to her warmth both physically and in her soul. She wanted to know about him, and he could deny her nothing.
"I am a Carpathian male. I am the earth, the water and the air, and sometimes even the fire." He said and smirked as his hand cupped her face, which he knew sent a feeling of warmth across her skin. "I can be the wolf, or the eagle in the sky. Carpathians are immortal… but it comes at a price, and that price can mean our salvation or our doom. Your race confuses us with vampires… and in a way you can be right, because all vampires were once Carpathian's who lost their soul."
Everlet felt her stomach clench at this new knowledge, but she felt nothing but warmth from his hand and his arms. He held her so gently, like she was something that was to be cherished. He felt so real, yet the words that spilled from his mouth were so unreal... what he said could not be real. She stared at him with wide eyes, her mind blank as he continued to speak;
"For Carpathian males, we loose our ability to see in color at 200 years old… as well as our ability to feel any emotion. The only time that those two things are returned to us is when we see or hear our lifemates. The one woman who can save us from our dark, lonely existence, is the one woman meant for us, is our other half, is the light to our darkness. You Everlet… are my other half, when I ran into you last night, I saw again in color. I can see your brown hair, the color in your skin, in your eyes. You were made from me and I for you." Diederik said and went silent, to allow her time to think and understand what he told her. He slipped into her mind and could see her swirling thoughts, but all he was glad about was he didn't fear him, but she was still trying to understand.
"I know it is a lot. But I will do anything and everything to make you understand how grateful I am too you, and how much I care for you." He said choosing not to say love, because he worried about scaring her off. But deep inside he did feel great love and devotion to her. He would be forever thankful that she came and saved his soul, though he was unsure if he was even worthy of being saved, and he would spend every day of his existence trying to make himself worthy of her.
"Wow… and here I just thought you were some crazy guy…" she said jokingly to cover her shock and Diederik chuckled. One of the first time in centuries he could actually feel humor. he had almost forgot what it felt like.
"Crazy… maybe… but just for you Grádhág." Diederik said and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He felt her shiver in his arms and he also felt the ritual words on the tip of his tounge, his Carpathian instincts desperate and crying for him to say them too her and bind her too him for all time. But he swallowed back those words, he would say them when she was ready for them. He would not try and push her too fast, he would give her some time to adjust.
"You know… somehow I believe you." the brunette breathed lowly. She didn't know why she did, but she was unable to find any reason to think he was lying to her.
"I only speak the truth to you… there is only truth between lifemates." Diederik said and shifted his arms around her to press her closer to him. He had waited centuries for her, and now to finally have her in his arms was like a dream come true. Something he never thought would ever come to pass. Everlet breathed in deeply and closed her eyes and she just enjoyed the feeling of the gesture.
"What do you want from me?" Everlet asked in barely a whisper.
"Just you… I can't live without you Everlet. The moment I saw you, you became my world, you are the air I breathe, the very center of my world. I would give you the moon if that's what you wanted, if that's what it took just to get you let me in. Just let me show you that I am your lifemate, for there will be no other for you. There never has been. You would always wonder when you let a boy touch you, kiss you…" he said having to pause, for he knew she had, had boyfriend before, and he had to put a hold on the jealousy he felt.
"You knew they weren't for you. You even wondered if something was wrong with you. But the truth is Everlet was that you always knew I was the one made for you, though you never knew me before, you knew I was out there. In your soul you knew I was out there looking for you, waiting for you" Diederik muttered to her lowly. As he said this she buried her face into his chest and he knew what he had said resounded in her, and she knew he had spoken the truth. Everlet suppressed a sob as everything he said finally locked into place in her mind, and as overwhelmed as she was, she knew he was right.
"What do I do now?" she asked softly against his chest. The question was slightly daunting, because as much as she felt that what he had said to her was true, she still didn't know what this all meant for her. For her future.
"Just let me take care of you, protect you. The one who hunts you I can deal with, but I have a home in the Carpathian mountains that I can bring you too, you will be safe there. No longer will this thing chase you, or harm you anymore." he continued to mutter lowly. This he was sure of. In his homeland she would be better protected, there were more than just he who could protect her. Anything that tried to chase her there would live to regret it deeply.
Everlet just nodded slowly and sighed, Diederik knew she was tired. She had been on the run for a long time, and finally she was being given a chance to relax. She was crashing from the effort and energy she had exhausted on keeping herself alive. She was finally able to give in. Shifting her down so they were in a more comfortable position, still he stroked her hair in a soothing manner.
"Time for you too sleep Grádhág. I will help you but this time when you wake I will be up, ready for you." Diederik told her and waited until she nodded before he slipped into her mind and started to place a compulsion that would put her into a deep sleep.
"Can I at least know your name before I sleep?" Everlet asked softly and Diederik nodded slowly.
'Diederik' His voice was a hot velvet whisper in her mind. The mental voice in her head seemed lost on the exhausted brunette. As her eyes drifted closed and she settled against him she smiled to herself.
'It suits you' she mentally murmured back to him and then her mind relaxed against his, ready for sleep to claim her. Diederik surrounded her mind in warmth and comfort until she was in a deep asleep and then sent a compulsion for her to sleep, deep and restful sleep until he woke her again. This time he wove it deeply, placing layers upon layers that would surely this time keep her asleep.
The hunter lay with her for a long while even after she had fallen to sleep, he didn't want to ever let her go. He had never had a more perfect moment than just then, just being able to hold her too him and know that she belonged to him. If he could stay with her in that bed and just hold her for the rest of his life that would have been enough for him to make him perfectly happy. But Diederik knew the sun would be rising soon and he would have to go to ground if he wanted to eliminate this threat and keep her safe. They still had much to do, many steps to cross before they were to be joined as lifemates.
A smile crossed his face as he placed her down in the bed and covered her with the sheets, careful to tuck her her and make her as comfortable as possible. As he moved away from her Diederik noticed how she unconsciously tried to reach out for him, and hold him there to her. Seeing this unconscious action made her heart melt for her. If he had thought she could be any more perfect for him, he had been proven wrong. He watched her for a minute or two more before he tore himself from the bedside and went to the closet and opened the earth underneath him. Laying himself down his mind brushed against his lifemate's just once more before he slowly started to shut his heart and lungs down before settling into his own restful sleep.
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