Chosen: Book 1 in the Ancients of Light series (39 page)

Laughing merrily, she nudged his arm until
she was under the crook of it and ensconced firmly against his
side. Kaitriana countered as they made their way through the crowd,
“I am certain you are incorrect in your assessment of my behavior,
Milord.” Her eyes immediately found his, “How long do you suppose
it will be before we can go up to our chambers and evaluate your
misconceptions further?” She was nibbling at her lip and her eyes
were flickering black before she looked out over the celebration
once more.

His chest rumbled with a low growl, his body
responding enthusiastically to her teasing. Lorcan turned her into
his chest until she had no choice but to give him her full
attention once more and responded through gritted teeth, “Not
nearly soon enough.” His lips claimed hers in a hard kiss, heedless
of the throng surrounding them.

When he finally released her, she looked
undone. Kat blushed fiery red when she came to her senses enough to
realize that his heated embrace had garnered no small amount of
attention from those nearby. The ensuing lewd calls had her tucking
her face to his chest.

Lorcan quickly nudged it back up and cupped
her chin to hold her still for his attentions. He brushed his lips
over hers again simultaneous with the caress of his thumb to her
jawline, “We will make the rounds Witch, greet all of these guests
and then I will take you above. I intend to spend the remainder of
the night proving exactly what a shameless witch you are.”

Giving her a firm swat on her backside to get
her moving, he answered her objecting stare with a charming smile.
His little minx was still grumbling over the insult when he pressed
her forward to meet the next group of well wishers.

CHAPTER 32

Kaitriana had never felt so positively weary
in her entire life and this was after a long sleep. She rolled with
a loud whine of discomfort. Despite her immortality and rapid
healing, her muscles were plagued with aches from her long workout
the night before. Last night had been identical to the six
previous. When Lorcan had first told her that he intended to
personally see to her training and develop her Vampire strength and
speed to complement her Warrior magic, she had been overjoyed. She
had taken it as a sign that her mate intended to allow her to
engage in the conflicts within the Realm. Tonight she was not as
enthusiastic.

Lorcan’s oversight of her training had been
to allow the Elite to beat on her. Kaitriana groaned as she
stretched, idly wondering if she might feign illness tonight.
Initially Lorcan had let her practice her skills against his
younger warriors. A hint of smile touched her lips as she recalled
how she had taken those young Vampire down so easily. It had taken
her less than a single night to prove that she should be sparring
with the best warriors in the Realm and that would mean his
Elite.

By the end of the second night, she regretted
having advanced so quickly. The five had well earned their place as
the best, her bruised derriere could attest to it. Kaitriana was
new to her Vampire abilities so she was not as adept with shadowing
as her opponents. In addition, the Vampire strength and speed that
now supplemented her Warrior Caste powers at times caused her to be
more awkward with her weapons than better. The Elite had shown no
mercy in repeatedly knocking her on her backside. Lorcan had not
even begun working with her directly as she had yet to best any of
them.

Frowning, she sighed and stretched a hand
around to gingerly tap at her backside. Her injuries were never
serious but the compounded effect of them together caused her to
have lingering pangs into the next evening. The aches did not
prevent her training, but still caused her no small amount of
tenderness at the start of each night. She winced as her fingertips
pressed against the flesh and grumbled a few fine insults towards
Lorcan and his men.

His laughter startled her and she glanced
quickly over to find the origin of the sound. Lorcan sat before the
fire, elbows on knees, chin on steepled fingers, watching her. His
dark locks were disheveled and he had only pulled on the pants he
would wear for training. His chest and feet were bare and gleaming
golden in the light from the fire.

She sat up in bed, winced, and muttered,
“Insensitive beast.” In truth there was no ill intent behind it.
Her mate had been keeping his distance these past few nights. She
had been in no condition for him to toss her on the bed and do
wonderfully naughty things to her. As a result, his half-dressed
appearance and lighthearted demeanor had her mouth dry with want
and her body hot.

She crooked a finger at him and let the sheet
slip lower on her chest, instructing, “A good mate would assist his
female and massage the ache from her muscles rather than laugh at
her condition”

Rising slowly, Lorcan gave her a wry grin,
“This good mate let his lazy female sleep for three full hours past
dusk and has duties he needs to attend to before sun up.”

She gave up all hold on the material and let
the sheet pool at her waist. Her eyes sparkled with sensual
challenge, “
I
am a duty.”

Laughing he took a few steps in her
direction, “No Witch, you are a trial I must endure for
eternity.”

Much to her disappointment, rather than
coming over to join her on the bed Lorcan abruptly changed
direction and grabbed the remainder of his clothes. He donned them
quickly while asking over his shoulder, “Do you want to feed now or
after you are finished reacquainting your ass with the ground
tonight?” He turned when he received no answer and found her
looking him over with a pout.

Her demeanor shifted suddenly and her eyes
twinkled with mischief. He waited patiently for her to reveal the
source of it. Kat played innocent, “What dear? I fear I was
distracted...”

A hint of a smile pulled at the corner of his
mouth as he drawled, “Really?”

She had repositioned the sheet over her and
flopped back dramatically against the pillows before she gave him
the answer, “Aye, Milord, trying to decide whether you would look
better with a tail or pointy ears.” Kaitriana did not look at him
but raised a slender arm into the air and let her fingertips
sparkle to lend credence to her threat.

Lorcan shadowed and had pinned her beneath
him in a breath, much to her delight, but she adopted an expression
of feigned indifference, “Do you have a preference, Vampire?”

Nodding, he lowered his face to her neck and
nuzzled there, raising a shiver in her, “My preference is you. I am
decidedly enchanted with my mate.” At her soft sigh, he gave her
neck a sharp nip and then licked at the tiny wound while a tremor
ran over her. He finished with a reminder, “Do not forget that
anything you do, I can return in kind. Just because I do not flaunt
my magic does not mean I am not fully capable.” He rolled her and
gave her a sharp swat as he let her free, “I think you would look
fabulous with a tail.”

Her yelp was raised in response to the touch
against her sore muscles. Kaitriana flipped back over and took the
sheet with her, springing to her feet. Casting him a haughty look,
she sauntered past, “Brute. I will join you below shortly. Do tell
Colm I intend to rattle his fangs tonight.” She scurried through
the door of the bath, narrowly missing the second swing of his hand
towards her backside.

A hot shower later, Kaitriana was feeling
much better and experiencing only the occasional twinge of muscle
as she dressed. Tonight she decided she was going to play unfairly;
she was tired of being knocked around by the men during her
training. She was determined to use
all
her assets – her magic, her Vampire strength, and her wiles.
Choosing her attire purposefully, she pulled on tight leather
pants, heeled boots and tiny leather corset that left her abdomen
bare and hugged her curves sinfully.

Grinning, she was eagerly anticipating the
disapproval from Lorcan. He preferred her to downplay her looks
when engaging with his men and this outfit was eye-catching to say
the least. But a girl had to do what a girl had to do, and she was
determined to take down a couple of those Elite varmints tonight.
Kaitriana tugged her long curls into a high, sleek pony as she
considered her strategy.

Preparations complete, Kaitriana shadowed to
the practice area. It was set behind Breslein and encompassed the
entire back side of the keep. Warriors were already engaged in
swordplay in various areas throughout the fields. She was adjusting
her weaponry as she skirted around them. Sheathing her short sword
at her hip and checking the long daggers crossed over her shoulder
blades, she hurried to the location where the Elite trained.
Strolling past Colm and Lorcan, heads together in deep discussion,
she felt both pairs of eyes follow her. She missed the narrowing of
Lorcan’s, though the upset in his tone was clear when he called out
to her. Stopping, Kaitriana turned but held her place. Staying out
of immediate reach, she tilted her head in question.

Lorcan made short work of the distance
between them, his countenance growing darker with each step. His
tone was irate when he stopped before her, “What the bloody hell
are you wearing?” His hand waved impatiently to indicate her
attire, “Not wearing would be a more apt description, Witch."

Her face was expressionless when she swept
her hand downwards over her outfit in response though her eyes were
full of merry sparkle, “Merely using all the weapons at my
disposal, Lorcan.” She took a protective step backwards as she
added saucily, “Consider it my help in preparing your men for
battle. They must be able to ignore all distractions, let us see if
they are able.”

He growled ominously at her, “Go change
Kaitriana.”

She retreated another step, “I love you
Lorcan and I acknowledge you as my mate and leader of the Realm,
but…no.” She shadowed the remaining distance to where the other
four Elite were preparing themselves.

Lorcan growled again when he witnessed their
immediate reaction to her appearance. Their inability to keep
focused on their tasks was indicative that she had affected them as
intended. His murderous thoughts were interrupted when Colm slapped
his shoulder and laughed, “Maybe she has a point, Lorcan. It seems
she might make quick work of our men tonight.”

Lorcan strolled to the field to supervise the
weaponry practice with Colm keeping him company. He all but
snarled, “It does not matter if she takes them all down, her
backside will still be bruised after I beat her.” Reaching the
edge, the pair stopped to observe.

Kaitriana and the others had already moved to
the center and were warming their muscles with practice swings.
Lorcan gloated while observing them, whatever tricks Kat might try
to play against his men would fail. They were already focused on
the task at hand and no longer seemed preoccupied with the female’s
comely display.

He shouted for them to begin and Marcus
stepped forward, apparently having nominated himself as the first
to give instruction tonight. Much to Lorcan’s dismay, the male
stepped within striking range of the witch and was laughing with
apparent ease over some words from the girl. Lorcan noticed then,
nearly simultaneous with the startled shout echoing from Marcus,
that Kaitriana had not donned any measure to blunt the force of her
magic.

In order to get the girl to integrate her
Vampire strength with her Warrior Caste abilities, he had required
that she bind her other magic when sparring with his men. This
would force her to learn to assimilate the functioning of the two
types of strength together. The ornately carved mahogany box lay
opened on the ground near the field and the full assortment of
magical bands that could bind various Caste powers remained snugly
set in place in the velvet folds.

Obviously, none of the other of his men would
be caught unawares by her trickery. They had all seen her knock
Marcus on his backside with a bolt of light. Luckily for him it had
been just enough to give him a shock and not meant to cause damage.
Kaitriana was laughing uproariously as he dusted himself off and
gained his feet with a few choice curses. The others in her
training group all wore smirks over Marcus’s poor luck in
volunteering to engage first with the witch. As with all prior
nights since Kat had begun her training, a crowd gathered to watch.
Unlike the other times however, his little mate’s magic was
unfettered by any bands.

Lorcan’s voice boomed, filled with
displeasure, “Kaitriana, you have forgotten to bind your
magic.”

Shaking her head at him, she wiped away a few
tears caused by her riotous laughter, “No, I did not.” At his
unrelenting stare, she rushed on, “I did not forget that is. I do
not think it fair to bind my powers and let your men pummel me with
the full force of their strength, leaving me to defend myself with
only Vampire abilities that I am not yet accustomed to
wielding.”

He took a few short strides onto the field
and stopped midway as if to answer. Lorcan then turned abruptly to
scoop up the box and resumed his position next to Colm. He fingered
various bands before selecting an assortment and tossing them in
her direction. He reminded her of the reason without too much
irritation, “It is necessary to bind the magic to get you
accustomed to your Vampire strength, otherwise you will always rely
more heavily on your magic and not learn to incorporate your new
abilities into your fighting skills.”

Her failure to retrieve the bands immediately
had Lorcan folding his arms over his chest. His look became
thunderous when he issued the warning, “Do not disobey me,
Kaitriana. When you are on this field you are to follow all orders
without hesitation, the same as any warrior under my command.” He
tossed in the last as an afterthought just to rankle her,
“Apologize to Marcus while you are at it.”