Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (10 page)

“Balance
and coordination! I’m focused! I’m focused!”

Joseph
chuckled and proceeded to show Ava a couple of basic moves she could build on.
Time passed quickly and they worked together for the next forty five minutes or
so. Ava was a good student and quickly had the exercises down. Joseph could see
though that she was beginning to tire. “Okay now let’s put it all together. I will
attack you and you will…” 

“…
and I will kick your vampire butt.” Ava interrupted with a cheeky grin.

“…
and the kitten’s claws are back out.” Joseph grinned. “Have we learned nothing
tonight?” Joseph teased her.

“I’m
gona take you down to china town.” Ava taunted.

“Gods
Ava, where do you get this stuff.” Joseph shook his head at her antics. Then
suddenly he was coming at her. Ava quickly blocked his first two moves but
rapidly lost ground. The cheater was just moving too fast for her to keep up
with, even though she knew he was definitely taking it easy on her. Ava
squealed as she suddenly found herself flying through the air. Joseph flipped
her over onto her back, crouching over the top her and holding her down with a
single hand to her chest. Ava looked up in surprise at his smiling face. She
began to laugh when suddenly she heard a horrible snarling roar and then Joseph
was knocked off her chest by a something really big and really angry.

She
sat up in time to see Joseph slide across the floor and regain his feet before
he had barely stopped moving. Scrambling to her feet Ava focused on his
attacker and was shocked.

“TEAGAN!”
Teagan’s eyes glowed with a supernatural light and his hands were now tipped
with razor sharp claws. He had maneuvered himself so that Ava was behind him
and he was between her and Joseph. Both men faced each other preparing to
attack. “Don’t touch her.” Teagan growled.

“Teagan!
Wait! What are you doing?”

Teagan
had been feeling restless after seeing Ava in the meeting tonight so instead of
going out with Daniel he decided to spend some time in the training room. Her
scent had hit him as soon as he opened the door. Scanning the room to see where
she was he arrived just in time to see Joseph flip her onto her back and pin
her to the ground. From there he had just reacted on instincts. He was killing
mad and ready to sink his claws into Joseph’s hide.

“Ava
stay back!” Joseph shouted at her as Ava stepped closer to Teagan. Dam
werewolves were unpredictable and he didn’t want her anywhere near Teagan right
now.

“Teagan
stop. Please. He wasn’t hurting me! We were training!” To Ava’s surprise,
Teagan’s shoulders seemed to lower a bit and he actually seemed to be listening
to her. Joseph still stood braced for his attack, furious that he had got the
drop on him and pissed off that Teagan thought he was actually hurting Ava. He
would have just taken the werewolf down except that Ava was still standing too
dam close.

Ava
held her breath while both men faced each other. “Teagan, you don’t understand.
We were just training.” Again Ava moved closer to Teagan causing Joseph to
tense even more. Teagan dropped his hands and took a step back from Joseph
although his claws remained fully extended. Ava let out a sigh of relief.
“Training or not he has no right to touch you like that.”

“Who
are you to say what Ava and I do. You have no authority here Lykan.” Joseph was
pissed off and moved around Teagan to Ava’s side, ignoring the low growl that
came from the werewolf. Gods how he would love to kick the were’s ass but he
was concerned Ava would get hurt in the process. They were going to need to
have a talk about the dangers of being around an enraged werewolf. He should
tan her ass for ignoring him and moving closer to the were when he had warned
her to stay back.

“That’s
enough. It was just a misunderstanding is all.” Ava’s mind was quickly trying
to come up with a way to diffuse the situation. “Oh my god, you two gave me a
heart attack!” Ava grumbled at the two men. They both still eyed each other
warily. “Besides, I was totally winning.” Ava decided to break the unbearable
tension with her really bad sense of humor. Teagan looked at her with confusion
on his face and Joseph started to grin. “I mean really, I had him right where I
wanted him. It was all part of my plan, you see it’s all about control and
balance.”

“I
do not see how any part of you was in control or in balance.” Teagan growled at
her and Joseph made a strange snorting coughing sound.

“Yes,
well, I’m still working on that part.” Ava walked over to slip back into her
shoes and tug her sweater over her head. Her hands were still shaking but she
was hoping the two of them wouldn’t notice. “If you two gentlemen will excuse
me I think I am going to head back to my room now. Thanks for the tour Joseph,
and the lesson. Good night Teagan.” Ava blushed a little as she met his eyes
and then turned and headed for the door. Both men watched her walking away with
comical expressions on their faces.

Teagan
continued to glare at Joseph and headed for the nearest weight bench. “Just
watch your step vampire.”

“Like
wise.” Joseph absently rubbed one callused hand over his face and turned to
leave. “Think I’ll join your cousin for that drink.”

Ava
wondered down the hallway on her way back to her room. As she walked she
pondered the testosterone filled natures of men no matter what species they
are. This had to be the strangest day that she had ever had… or anyone else had
had for that matter. She paused for a moment outside of a door Joseph hadn’t
had a chance to show her yet. Peeking inside of the open door Ava let out a
gasp of awe. Walking into the room Ava spun in a circle admiring the floor to
ceiling books. Ah heaven. It was a beautiful library. Claymore certainly wasn’t
what Ava had expected.

She
hadn’t been looking forward to going back to her lonely room. She was afraid
that when she went to sleep tonight her nightmares of Salvatore would return.
This was just what she needed, a little escape from reality for a while. There
was a fire simmering in the gas fireplace and a velvet sofa with several wing
back chairs for reading in.

She
stood in front of the floor to ceiling book shelves in awe.
Oh my gosh. I
think I just heard angels sing.
Where to begin? Many of the books looked
very old and she was sure several of them had to be worth a fortune. Perhaps
this was Victor’s own private collection. Surely he wouldn’t mind if she
borrowed a couple. After several moments Ava had chosen a couple books that
looked interesting and settled in on the sofa under a throw to read.
This
was so nice. Ava almost felt normal again. Almost.

Teagan
had trained until his muscles burned with exhaustion. He finally managed to
burn off some of the adrenaline from his run-in with Joseph. He was on his way
back to his room when he caught Ava’s warm vanilla scent coming from one of the
rooms he passed. What was she up to now? The little female was going to be the
death of him. Teagan growled low in frustration. She was supposed to go back to
her room. He knew he should stay away from her but the temptation to just look
in on her for a moment was too great.

Teagan
found her in what must be the library. She was curled up on the couch asleep
and her book lay where it had fallen on the floor besides her. Quietly he
walked over to where she slept and crouched down on his heels to pick up her
book. There was no way to tell where she had stopped reading at this point so
he closed it and sat there looking at her for a moment.

Unable
to resist, he lifted the lock of hair that had fallen against her cheek while
she slept. Slowly he rubbed the silken strands between his fingers. Teagan let
out a sigh of frustration. Foolish girl had fallen asleep unprotected in a
house full of male vampires. What was she thinking? Dam it, he thought Victor
was supposed to be keeping an eye on her.

Perhaps
he should wake her up so she could return to her room where it was safer. “Ava…
Ava, wake up.” He gently shook the arm that lay across her stomach. Ava turned
her head a little but didn’t wake up. “Ava.” Dam, the girl was a heavy sleeper.
She looked exhausted. She still had dark circles under her eyes. Was Victor not
taking care of her or what? Well, he wasn’t leaving her here. He didn’t want
one of the other guardians finding her here alone, especially that dam Joseph.
He did not like how famaliar with Ava he had gotten.

Gently,
Teagan picked Ava up off of the couch. Still she didn’t wake up but wrapped her
arms around his neck, sighing, and snuggling her head up under his chin like
she belonged there.
Dam it, the girl didn’t have any instincts for
self-preservation at all. Surely some part of her new vampire senses would say.
“Hey you’re snuggling up to a werewolf! Wake up!”

Teagan
headed out of the library with Ava in his arms, trying to ignore the way her
small body felt, pressed against his chest. He continued down the hall a few
rooms past his own until he caught her scent coming from behind one of the
closed doors. He opened the door and carried her into her room. Laying her on
the bed, he put her under the huge pile of blankets and watched as she sighed
and burrowed deeply into their warmth.

Briefly
he imagined what it would be like to slide in next to her and warm her with his
own body, tucking in behind her and pulling her back against his chest. Shaking
the image away, he abruptly turned and left her room, needing to put some
distance between him and the temptation. He locked her door from the inside as
he closed it.

The
next day Ava walked down the hall with her arms wrapped around her stomach for
warmth. She had awakened this morning not knowing where she was for a moment.
She must have been so tired she didn’t remember walking back to her room last
night. She had slept for a little while but had awakened in terror half way
through the night. When she was awake she determinedly held back her horror
filled memories of that night but when she slept, nightmares of Salvatore
always seemed to slip into her dreams.

She
knocked softly on Victor’s office door. Her stomach did a flip flop and her
hand shook with nervousness. Today Victor expected her to feed for the first
time.

“Come
in Ava.” Ava walked into the office and was greeted by Victor. There was a
young attractive couple sitting on the sofa. “How are you feeling today?”
Victor asked while taking note of the dark circles under her eyes.

“I’m
doing fine, just a little tired I guess.” Ava offered Victor a shy smile and
began to play with the hem of yet another new sweater, one of her favorite
nervous habits. Ava glanced at the couple sitting unnaturally quiet on the
sofa. Victor noticed the direction of her gaze.

“Relax
love, everything’s going to be fine. I want you to meet two friends of mine.
This is Chad and Emily. I met them in the village this morning and they agreed
to come with me to help you with your session today.” Ava glanced at Victor in
surprise. Not sure if she had misunderstood.

“You
mean they are here for… um… “

“They
are under my thrall and will have no memory of being here today. They have been
selected for your first feeding.”

“Oh…
Okay…” Ava could feel herself beginning to panic.

“Settle
down sweet. I can hear you heart racing.”

“No…
it’s fine really. I’m okay.” Victor could clearly see the panic on Ava’s face.

“Perhaps
I should go first. Would that make you more comfortable?”

“Um,
yes, if you think that’s best.” Ava clenched her hands tightly in front of her.
Oh God. This is just so wrong. How can he be so calm about this?
Ava
struggled not to turn and run out of the room.

Victor
walked over to the couple. “Chad would you mind sitting on the other sofa for a
moment.” Chad hopped up with a smile and moved to the next sofa so Victor could
sit next to Emily. “Ava I want you to know that a vampire can feed without
causing harm. What you witnessed at Salvatore’s hands is not at all how we
usually feed. You have nothing to fear, no harm will come to these people
today. As a matter of fact most people experience pleasure from a vampire’s
bite. We experience pleasure too, there is a feeling of euphoria that follows a
feeding.”

Victor
sat next to the woman on the couch and she eagerly swept her blond hair out of
his way, exposing her neck for him as he leaned in. Ever so slowly he leaned
into her as she waited, holding her breath in anticipation of his bite.

Ava
watched in fascination as he tasted her with a sliding caress of his tongue.
Leisurely he trailed small, warm kisses along her neck, teasing her and sending
goose bumps down her arm. Ever so gently he sank his fangs into her neck. The
woman gasped in pleasure, leaning into him and holding his head closer to her
neck. Ava could see his lips on her neck and noticed him swallowing quietly.

After
a moment or two he stopped and pulled away slightly, licking the bite marks on
her neck, he sealed the wound and then closed his eyes like he was savoring her
taste. Ava felt like she had just witnessed something private between the two
of them and found herself a little embarrassed to have been spying on them.