Chosen: Book 1 in the Ancients of Light series (13 page)

Lorcan ran an assessing gaze over her, noting
that she had only evidence of marks from him marring her skin.
Another puzzle, but he kept his expression neutral while he
explained, “The Vampire physiology requires that you maintain a
certain level of blood to sustain you and you need to replenish
yourself with a substantial volume before you begin to suffer ill
effects.” He was pleased to note that she had been drinking the
offering, no hesitation in her after the first reluctant sip.

Absent the haze induced by his kissing, she
was increasingly aware of the throbbing that would not leave her
brow, the light making her eyes ache, and the marked dryness in her
throat. She gave him a gingerly nod to convey her understanding.
Kaitriana had been surprised that the contents of the cup actually
tasted wonderful; the warm drink was soothing and it was as though
she could feel the liquid coursing through her body. She was far
from done, she actually
craved
more.

He smiled as he took the cup to refill; he
was doubtful that she was even aware how quickly she was consuming
his offering. The creases in her brow indicated she was mulling
over his explanation when he slipped the cup back into her
grasp.

When she reached for the refill, her eyes
probed his, “So if I drink too much blood from one vampire, I will
be ‘mated’?”

Lorcan could tell by her tone that she
thought it was ridiculous, “No Kat, if your blood stores are
severely depleted and you replenish from a living vampire source,
it will result in a ‘mating.’ Your kind would refer to it as a
bonding, the kind between witches when they take a spouse. When
vampires mate the female is bonded to the male by the sharing of
blood and the bond cannot be severed.”

She halted the goblet’s path to her lips,
unaware that she was nearly done, as she had gulped the liquid down
in her hunger. Kaitriana was so engaged in the conversation that
she had failed to note that Lorcan had patiently refilled it each
time. She was becoming drowsy and settled back deeper into the
pillows. His easy tone was lulling her, but she still fired off her
questions in rapid succession, “How do the Vampire do this? And why
is the female bonded to the male and not the male to the female?”
Continuing to sip, she let her eyes drift closed.

Lorcan could tell she was becoming sated and
would be unable to keep awake much longer. Smiling over her
question, he wondered how long it would take her to equate herself
to ‘the Vampire.’ Rather than answer, he made her finish her cup.
Finally he took it from her hands and pressed her back into the
pillows. One hand on her shoulder, he trailed a single fingertip
slowly up the length of her arm with the other. His desire to touch
her creamy skin was insatiable.

Kaitriana roused herself enough to push at
him with a mighty frown, protesting, “I need this blood off. I
cannot sleep covered in the stench of those evil Darks.”

She was stubborn, fighting the effects of the
feeding and the herbal mixture that should be knocking her on her
sassy little butt. Lorcan had a feeling he would need to grow used
to a battle of wills with this one. He shadowed to the bath and
returned momentarily with a basin and cloth, “This is as good as
you will get this eve, little one. No arguments.” His strict tone
told her that he would tolerate none.

Her frown remained until she realized his
intention as he rubbed the dampened cloth softly across her brow.
She made a purr of pleasure and he continued gently over her face
and neck. He gave careful inspection to the flawless skin there for
any lingering evidence of his earlier abuse. Lorcan took his time,
thoroughly cleaning her chest and arms; he left and returned once
more with a basin of clean water.

Dipping her hands, he stroked each finger to
make certain no gore remained. He thought Kaitriana may be deep
into her sleep when he finished his ministrations and he smiled
with pleasure at the picture she made. Her dark curls were tousled
about on his pillows and her pale skin was gorgeous against the
dark blue silks that covered his bed.

Her hand brushed to his and her lashes
fluttered. Kaitriana rolled on her side so that she would remain
facing him and burrowed into the pillows. Lorcan settled a coverlet
over her but she issued a sound of objection when he stood. Her
delicate hand shot out from under her coverings towards him and her
heavy-eyed blue gaze found his. “Please do nae leave me,
Lorcan…please?”

Lorcan smiled at her slipping into the older
dialect in her sleepy state and sat down to the side of her yet
again, “Little Kat, you must sleep. I am ordering you to do this
and you will not disobey me.”

Kaitriana snuggled closer to where he sat,
“If you will stay for but nary moments more, I will be asleep,
milord.” She had his nod of assent before murmuring, “You did nae
tell me how…the mate…”

“If you close your eyes…” Lorcan petted her
hair and Kaitriana obediently closed her eyes. He smiled tenderly
at her; she pleased him greatly. He was so drawn to her that he
would have much preferred to have shown her and been done with it,
claiming her rightfully as his alone. That was not for this
night.

Instead he slipped his fingers down her hair
and drew the heavy mass of curls back from her neck. Lowering so
that his breath tickled her ear, he traced lazy designs over the
column of her neck with his fingertips, “We bond our females to us
because we are an arrogantly dominant and fiercely possessive
species Kaitriana. Instincts drive us to guard our females, we are
the protectors. Few females of our breed have the strength to
become warriors, and even with those that do, their males would not
submit to being drained and bonded. It would be a sign of
weakness.”

He was telling the truth, but he was also
having a little fun goading her. As a Warrior Caste witch she would
not agree with his breed’s attitude towards females. Lorcan was
rewarded when she began to protest, a grin tugging at his lips as
he shushed her and moved on, “Your mate will pierce your neck right
here.”

He pressed two fingers firmly against the
vein in her neck. Lorcan was pleased with her shiver, but he was
charmed when Kat countered grumpily in an obstinate tone,
“Perhaps…if I allow it.”

Lorcan continued, noting her blush when he
boasted in a hot whisper, “You will allow it…you will beg for it.
When he takes you to his bed, your instincts will make you want him
to drink of you while he loves you.”

Kaitriana tugged at her lip in reaction and
her breath quickened. His little witch’s responsiveness astonished
him and he felt a moment’s guilt. She was innocent and he should be
getting her to sleep, not playing these games with her but Lorcan
could not help himself. Her unguarded reactions made him crave her
and he was not looking forward to walking away from her for the
remainder of the night.

“He will be slow in taking your blood,
prolonging his pleasuring of you,” his fingers continued to trace
the vein in her throat. “When he has nearly depleted you…” Lorcan
leaned in and ran his tongue along her neck as if tending the
wounds that did not exist.

Kaitriana gasped at the unexpected contact
with the warmth of his mouth and shifted to her back. Her hands
left the confines of the blanket to grasp at the front of his
shirt. His eyes flickered at her response to his teasing; he knew
her arousal, knew without seeing that her eyes were swimming with
black.

Lorcan tugged her hands free and captured
them together in his one. Easing her wrists over her head, he
lowered to lightly brush his lips across hers…twice. Her eyelids
fluttered and he slid his lips across her cheek to hover over her
ear, “No Kat, eyes closed.” Her lashes stilled.

Kaitriana was restless beneath the coverlet,
her body straining for contact with his. The vampire was making her
crazed despite her fatigue. Her mind grabbed at the random thought
that Lorcan absolutely must find her as appealing as she him, else
he would not be toying with her so. If he had not been holding her
hands, she would have clapped them together repeatedly with
delight.

Lorcan flicked his tongue around the
sensitive curve of her ear just then, scattering her thoughts
completely. He gave the lobe a gentle nip before continuing, “If
you were mine, little witch, I would feed you my blood just as
slowly while pleasuring you. I would give you small doses, until
you were nearly mad with hunger for my claiming and my blood. I
would not allow you to sate either completely until the night
ended. The very last time I claimed you I would put my vein to your
lips as you were crying out my name, so that you would sleep with
the taste of me lingering.”

Kaitriana moaned against his lips when they
brushed hers a final time and then Lorcan raised her head gently.
Stretching his length out beside her, he cradled her up and settled
her against his chest. He cautioned again in a whisper, “Shhh…eyes
closed, witchling.” Pressing his wrist against her mouth, the small
wound he had made allowed his blood to spill between her lips. She
licked sensuously at it, enjoying the taste of him bathing her
mouth for prolonged minutes until he pulled free.

Lorcan knew it was not the best form to give
the new vampire female his blood but he could no longer resist the
pull to feed her directly from his vein. He smothered her
complaining groan at the withdrawal of his wrist with a fleeting
kiss. Pulling her tightly to his chest, he pushed her head down
firmly on the same, “Shhh…Kat. I want you to find sleep with my
taste lingering now.”

He did not deny his needs any longer either
because Lorcan knew he had no intention of leaving her. He had been
aching for the witch for centuries and would keep her with him the
remainder of the night. Given that he had lost her once, he was not
quite certain when he would be ready to allow her leave his
presence, if ever. Lorcan waited until her breathing grew even and
then allowed himself to find a blissfully peaceful rest as
well.

CHAPTER 14

Kaitriana woke with no remnants of sleep
clouding her consciousness. She stretched lazily in the bed, her
hands skimming across the cool silk linens and bringing her back to
the awareness of all that had transpired since she awoke yesterday.
She rolled to her side with another languid stretch, wondering
where her protector could have gone. The room was not so large that
she would not have heard him if he were about in one of the
adjoining chambers.

Opening her eyes her gaze lit on a young male
reclining in a chair pulled up a few feet from the bed. Kaitriana
stifled the yelp of surprise as her eyes narrowed on him. A quick
study indicated that though his eyes were trained on the bed he was
not seeing her. Her mind grabbed the random memory and she knew
this would be the witch, Jortha.

He spoke plainly to her, offering no
introduction as though he knew precisely the line of her thoughts,
“Lorcan has been called away for a brief time and he asked that I
watch over you in his absence.” His tone was not cold exactly, but
given that they were of the same species she had expected to
receive more from him than cool detachment.

Tilting her head she perused him thoroughly
before, only half joking, she asked, “Did he ask you to watch over
me, or to
watch me
Jortha? Those are two
entirely different requests.”

Her use of his name did not seem to catch him
by surprise though she had not entirely expected that it would.
Kaitriana’s knowledge of him was that he held the magic of the Seer
as well as a Spell Caster. Jortha could see the unseen nearly as
well as her grandfather. Her grandfather’s memories of the younger
male were filled with warmth.

Kaitriana had gained feelings from certain
recollections when they had been passed to her and she suspected
that Myrrdyn would not be pleased if he knew it. Myrrdyn had taken
specific measures to make certain that anything he had divined
through his powers regarding herself, and the Prophecy
specifically, were not given to her, but obviously he had not known
of this particular affect from sharing his thoughts with her. The
memories of Jortha were warm and that meant that Myrrdyn had a
fondness for the male witch. She intended to adopt the same
affection towards this one.

Jortha rose from his chair as she climbed
from the bed. His tone was definitely unfriendly as he reported, “I
believe his actual words were, ‘Keep her out of trouble,
Jortha.’”

Kaitriana laughed delightedly over Lorcan’s
dictate and the witch’s obvious distaste with the babysitting
assignment. Jortha appeared taken aback, as though he expected her
to be angry over his taunt, but Kaitriana was oblivious to his
reaction. Sidetracked, she had spied a gorgeous gown draped over
the back of one of the large couches on the other side of the
room.

The satin material was ice blue and Warrior
Caste symbols had been embellished on the material of the skirt in
the same shade that was in the silks of Lorcan’s bedding. Her sigh
echoed her appreciation; she loved beautiful clothes though she
frowned at the little matching slippers placed to the side of the
couch. Shoes, bah. Lorcan either had a seamstress at his beckoning
call or the garments had been created through magic. She guessed it
was the latter of the two. Spinning back to Jortha and barely able
to contain her eagerness to get into that exquisite dress, she
gushed excitedly, “Jortha, did you create the gown?”

He gave her an odd look before answering, “I
assumed you would be more comfortable in garments of old until you
acclimated to this era…” Trailing off as he heard her dash across
the room and scoop the material into her arms, her coo of pleasure
followed as she lovingly felt of the material.