Chosen: Book 1 in the Ancients of Light series (15 page)

She gave him a negative response with the
movement of her head and curled up so that her other cheek found
his chest. Melting against him she offered honestly, “No… but I
have missed your presence.”

He stroked her hair, gazing away into the
fire absently as he questioned, “You did not want to go down to the
hall and meet the Coven?”

Kaitriana was still amazed by the easy
familiarity she felt with him and apparently he had the same with
her. She began tracing circles over the fabric of his shirt, “I do
not know your ways enough to attempt to socialize with your kind
without fearing a serious misstep and whatever repercussions may
come along with it. I would rather not do anything that would bring
strife to you or grant anyone the opportunity to speak poorly of
you.” She leaned back so that she could see his profile as she
continued, “And in truth Milord, I am stilling trying to regain a
sense of myself. Given all that has transpired I must do so before
I can face endless questions from the masses.”

Understanding the truth in her words, Lorcan
tilted her face up to him once more and explained gently, “You
worry overmuch, Witchling. There is naught you could do to bring
shame to me.” Her relief was in the sweet smile she gave him. He
returned one of equal warmth, but then both his face and tone
turned firm with resolve, “You will be answering questions from me
tonight, all that I ask. You understand this?”

Her gaze was instantly wary and she pressed
him, “You will be patient? There is much that is very painful for
me and I have never yet spoken to anyone of all that has happened.”
At his assent, she gave her own, “Then ask what you will.”

Lorcan tucked her face back to his chest and
his hand moved to stroke the silky strands down her back, “Where
have you been and why would Myrrdyn let the Realm think you dead?”
His arms eased around her as she began the tale of that fated
night, two evenings into the Festival of the Moon. He pulled her
tightly to him as tears began to fall with the retelling of her
parents’ deaths. Kaitriana did not speak of the golden vial, but
only to say she was given blood from a container carried by the
Darks.

Kaitriana was not yet certain that the blood
in that bejeweled piece had been Lorcan’s. She had not been able to
reconcile how Rhydach would have come into possession of such and
was reluctant to offer Lorcan that information before confirming
the facts of her turning. She could tell by the narrowing of his
eyes that he assumed Rhydach’s blood had transitioned her and his
obvious displeasure was nearly enough to cause her to voice her
suspicions on her origin. Kaitriana hurried through the remainder
instead, telling of Myrrdyn’s appearance and his confrontation with
the Darks.

Lorcan interrupted, “You are speaking now
from Myrrdyn’s memories.”

Her disagreement with the statement resulted
in a baffled look from him. Her words confirmed, “No, Lorcan, I
awakened but a short time later, immediately prior to Myrrdyn’s
arrival.”

Lorcan considered strongly that piece; it was
significant he was certain. He brooded over what Rhydach may have
done to elicit the quickened turning of the witch. That Rhydach had
managed to turn a witch at all was disturbing, but to have done so
in such an unconventional way did not bode well. If Rhydach now
realized that whatever means he had used to turn Kaitriana had
actually been successful, he might already be attempting to
transition more of the Witch species. Her answer put him on edge,
but Lorcan nodded calmly so as not to belie his feelings and alarm
her.

Finishing the story, Kaitriana gave the tale
of when Myrrdyn had put her in the magically induced sleep, which
accounted for her whereabouts the past five centuries. Amazed that
her turning happened so long ago but that her final transition
occurred just last night, Lorcan remained silent for an extended
time, lost in his thoughts regarding the import of all that he now
understood. Finally, he dropped his lips to her hair and delivered
a light kiss, “You truly were not aware of the passing of time, you
have only Myrrdyn’s memories?”

“My awakening felt as though it were still
the night of the Festival; the only change was merely that it was
not. I am much….older; my magic is more controllable,” she offered
him a tremulous smile. Her eyes were still watery with the
recounting of the loss of her family. “Tis why I mix the languages
of past and present, the reason my words are sometimes confused. I
assimilated Myrrdyn’s memories during my sleep, so that there would
be no adjustment for me with the changes that have taken place in
the world. The difficulty is that I must call on experiences that
are not my own and attempt to determine from those how it is proper
to act and speak. I have not
learned
from
experience so to speak; I am just remembering experiences. It can
be overwhelming.”

Kaitriana noted the tenderness and
understanding in his gaze when he stroked his fingertips over her
cheeks and brushed the wetness away. She recounted for him the time
from when she awoke through the time that she was kneeling at his
gates, pointedly omitting that her place of slumber all these years
past had been Laverock.

Lorcan shifted her in his lap so that he
could gauge her emotions as she spoke of her destruction of the
Ancient Dark. He was amazed again by the power within the dainty
witch. His fingertips were still grazing her cheek as he leaned
closer, “So in all the chaos last night, in all your rage, and even
in your immense suffering, you still remembered that all those
years ago Myrrdyn told you to come to me?”

Her emphatic nod was his answer, but there
was sadness in the depths of blue as she searched his eyes. He saw
the tears welling in the corners again and her hands slid up to
embrace each side of his face. Her voice was barely audible, as
though shamed by confessing a horrible sin, “I believe I would have
come to you whether or not that instruction had ever been given
Lorcan. The draw I have to you is inexplicable, it defies reason.
It has always been in me.”

Sorrow was etched in her features as her gaze
broke away, but not before he saw the guilt that had wrapped itself
around her, “Because I followed those feelings, my parents gave
their lives at the Festival. I nearly gave my own last night
because I could not deny the need to come to you. The compulsion
was enough to override my own instincts towards survival.”

The magnitude of her admission was great and
Lorcan acknowledged to himself that the pull he had to her defied
reason as well. Perhaps he had felt haunted these past five hundred
years not by her death, but by her actual living presence. He
wondered if his instincts had been drawn to the pull of her force.
Rather than her death, her actual continued existence being the
reason her absence had weighed on him so heavily.

Brushing his lips across her brow, his arms
encircled her to pull her tight to his chest, “You are not
responsible for what happened to your parents Kaitriana. Cordelia
is. The bond that we share need not be explained. It simply exists
and there is no shame in it. You are here with me now lass and here
you will remain. You will
not
feel guilt
over it.”

There was a touch of amusement in her answer
when she looked up at him, “You are
ordering
me not to feel
badly, not to feel guilt? I suppose you expect me to comply with
this command?”

His voice and the set of his features were
stern, but there was a gleam in his eye, “I am and I do.”

She shrugged and attempted to look disgusted
when she pronounced, “You are a bossy vampire.”

He chuckled before nuzzling his cheek into
the softness of her curls. Next he whispered, “I had thought to
introduce you to your new home and your Coven this night, Kat, but
I find I would rather keep you to myself.” Kaitriana remained
silent but the way she curled herself more solidly against him gave
answer as to her preference as well.

Rising, Lorcan carried her back to the center
of the plush rug and positioned her as she had been before, on her
side. Lowering himself, he stretched out behind her. Propped up on
one arm, he curled the other around her and presented her with his
freshly wounded wrist.

Kaitriana cast a sidelong glance back at him
over her shoulder, eyes twinkling, “You do not want to drain me
first, Vampire?”

His eyes blackened at her teasing question,
causing her to draw a sharp breath, both immediately conscious of
of the desire surging between them. He nudged the broken skin
firmly against her lips, a dangerous growl against her ear,
“Tonight, what I
want
to do and what I
will
do are entirely different things,
Witch.” Her eyes widened, more over the heated ferocity in his
statement than the actual words, and she closed her mouth dutifully
over his wrist.

Lorcan exhaled slowly between clenched teeth
before moving his lips to her bare shoulder. Grazing sharp points
against her smooth skin, he was relieved when she cuddled more
firmly into the cradle of him rather than pulling free. Her
fingertips entwined tightly with those of his hand from where she
fed while she tentatively rubbed sharpened lengths of ivory against
the edges of the wound. The little sounds of pleasure emitting from
her mouth as she suckled were rousing and Lorcan could not help the
need to grind his hips against her backside.

He instructed, with his mouth never leaving
her skin, “Go ahead, Kat. Do it slowly.”

Needing no further encouragement, Kaitriana
increased the pressure with her mouth, amazed at how easily the
points slid into his flesh and how natural the action felt. His
groaned echoed hers and as she pushed deeper he rubbed his hips
against her again. She felt Lorcan nip at the skin of her shoulder
and then his tongue replaced the sharp points as he teased the
little scratches he had made there. She responded by licking
fervently at his arm and scooting back to settle more tightly
against the hard wall of his chest.

Pulling his arm free of her mouth, the palm
of his hand settled against her shoulder to push her to lie back on
the rug. Black clashed with black as their eyes met. Growling,
Lorcan shoved her hair away from her neck and gave her full view of
his fangs before he lowered his head purposefully, “I will have to
feed you more…later.” His mouth settled over the throbbing pulse at
her neck before he drove his fangs deep.

Kaitriana gave a throaty cry of pleasure, her
nails dragging at his chest as she arched up from the floor. This
bite was so much more than those he had delivered the night
before…experiencing one when given as a pleasurable gift was
mind-blowing. Her hand curled up into the dark locks at his collar
and delivered a sharp tug before pressing down to hold him firmly
at her neck. The nails of her other hand yanked the top buttons of
his shirt free. She
needed
to touch him. Venturing into the
opening of the material, her fingers splayed over the warmth of his
skin.

Lorcan withdrew his bite, but kept his lips
firmly planted there so that he could continue to lap at the broken
skin. Kaitriana felt as though she was nothing but liquid heat on
the inside and her nails curled against the flesh of his chest. She
tilted her head to the side to grant him better access.

He heard her breath catch as he began
trailing his lips and tongue up the column, then he paused to
nibble softly at the line of her jaw. Moving his mouth to hover
above hers, his lips pushed at hers as he murmured, “You like that,
little Kat?”

Kaitriana only moaned in answer, parting her
lips, wanting his kiss. Heavy lids half covered his intense gaze,
but she knew with one look he was not done tormenting, would not be
fulfilling that want just yet. His eyes kept hers captive when the
very tip of his tongue touched the bow of her upper lip. He
withdrew and then repeated, only massaging that tiny little spot.
The light touch was so erotically charged that Kat could not
contain her needy cry.

Sliding back, Lorcan delivered another nip to
her jaw before dropping his lips to her collarbone. He licked at
her skin there as his hand dropped onto her hip then dragged
heavily along the satin covering the length of her side. As his
head dipped lower, his fingertips teased over her ribcage. His long
shuddering breath washed over her bared skin just before his tongue
brushed along the swell of curves high above the tight bodice of
her dress.

Gasping, her hand lost its hold at the back
of his head and joined the other within the confines of the
material of his shirt. Another few buttons tore loose as her hands
roamed feverishly over the planes of muscle. Kaitriana arched up to
meet him as his tongue began trekking just above the edge of the
material.

Lifting his head, his eyes delved into hers
as his palm slipped higher to fully cup her breast and began
kneading the flesh. Lorcan shifted his position to move over her
and coupled that tantalizing caress with the press of his hips down
slowly against her, gauging her reaction. Kaitriana whimpered,
completely seduced. His searing gaze still held hers captive as his
tongue dipped once more to play at her curves just above where his
fingertips held her flesh.

Lorcan withdrew his hand and his tongue
without warning and shifted back to his earlier position.
Displeasure swept across her face a mere second before she issued a
disgruntled whine. Her eyes narrowed with her frustration as he
cupped the side of her face, murmuring, “Such an innocent little
beauty…I will be having your vows, Kat. Soon.”

Her surprise was obvious, as was the longing
in her eyes. Kaitriana was still breathless from his loving but she
managed her string of questions anyway, “You want my vows? How can
you be certain? And even if you are, you are Vampire, why do you
want Witch Vows?”