Blood Mercy (Blood Grace Book 1)

by Vela Roth

  “You thought ahead much better than I. I confess I envisioned us…” She trailed off.

  “The visions you described earlier were…life altering. Please don’t stop sharing them with me now.”

  Her heart was thundering, and her cheeks flushed as if he had kissed her. No matter how many times they spoke of this, it seemed, that blush would always overtake her.

  But the same defiance she had shown at the Summit table was a note in her scent, a chord in her voice, a chorus in her blood. “I assumed we might proceed against the pillar, the way we first began, only this time with my back against it and my legs wrapped around you. Or with me sitting on one of the stones there, and you kneeling in front of me, as before, only this time with my skirts around my waist. Or perhaps…”

  “Please. Go on. Please.”

  “…with you sitting and me on your lap, riding astride you. You know, the act is deceptively simple. It occurs to me there are many more ways to achieve it than I have yet imagined.”

  Lio fought not to take hold of her and show her what he thought of her imaginings. If he touched her this instant, he would not stop for anything, and their first night together wouldn’t proceed slowly at all. He focused on keeping the arm’s length of space between them as he gazed at her rosy face, which was still turned upon the room at large.

  He had hungered for her in these past nights more than he had ever hungered in his entire life. But he had waited so long to feel that way. He had looked forward to this moment in his life for so long it would seem strange to her. As much as he ached for her, he did not want to rush. He wanted to live every instant of this to the fullest, even when his wanting bordered on pain. He refused to risk missing something she might say or do if he only waited and allowed this night to proceed on its own, without him pushing it to its inevitable conclusion. For that conclusion…that climax…would come, and it would fulfill all their expectations.

  He hoped.

  “May I recommend a horizontal arrangement on soft blankets to begin with?” He gripped his hands behind his back, this time for no other reason than to keep himself from touching her. His voice seemed to have plummeted downward along with his blood flow. “Before we broaden our horizons to encompass your…excellent suggestions.”

  “Thank you, Lio,” she said quietly.

  “Of course. The first time should be as comfortable as possible.”

  Moonlight, roses and a bed amid the ruins were all he had to offer her. That and a spare bar of soap as a gift. And yet she seemed more than satisfied.

  Soap…cassia soap. That was the new snap in her scent now mingling with the fragrances of roses.

  “You bathed before you came.” He grinned. “With my gift.”

  Her gaze slid to his, and she wore a secret smile. “Yes. My ritual ablutions.”

  “I hope you liked it.”

  “Very much, actually. It made my skin feel so much softer than usual.”

  He shrank the distance between them and let his nose roam the air above her scalp. She had even washed her hair in it. A sure sign of approval. “It suits you. But you always smell divine to me.”

  He struck gold, and she treated him to her genuine laugh. “Now I understand the secret of my allure. I knew all that bathing would serve me well one day. Is the tallow soap not as off-putting as I imagined?”

  “It is the person under the tallow soap who smells better than any flower.”

  Lio glanced down to see not her nose, but her gaze roaming over him. She touched the breast of his robe, and he felt the impact of her small, tentative hand to the depths of his body. He watched her trace one swirl of embroidery. Her finger followed the curve of cerulean thread, then dipped into the circle of sapphire blue fabric directly above his left nipple.

  “I’ve never seen you wear this before. It’s different from your court robes.”

  Looser. Fortunately. “My veil hours robe. Every Hesperine has one.”

  “Veil hours?”

  “The time of night devoted to our families, friends…and lovers.” If he kept reciting the culture lesson, perhaps he would not lose his mind over the way her fingers played across his breast. “The veil hours robe is what we wear among those to whom we are closest. Those we trust.”

  Cassia ran both palms down the front closure of his robe, her voice steady and unapologetic. “I have no veil hours robe. You will have to accept me coming to you in my gardening dress.”

  He took one of her hands and lifted it to give himself a reprieve, but also to turn her all around. She spun, and her skirt twirled about her as if the practical, dark green wool were the finest festival attire. The lingering smells of soil and water, growth and life wafted into the air, along with a breath of contentment. Hers. A rare whiff of the consolation she found only in the garden. How seldom he sensed that.

  “This is my favorite gown you have,” he told her.

  She let out a sigh. “Good. For it is the only scrap I have that I do not hate.”

  As the spin brought her round to face him, he kept hold of her hand. “I’m delighted to hear that. I would be sorry to learn you hate something I have so often imagined you wearing while I make love to you.”

  A breath made her breasts rise and fall, and her fingers curled closer around his.

  “Tonight, however,” he said, “I would like to take it off of you. And let you take mine off of me, as you wanted.”

  “Yes. It must be so.”

  His teeth, already long unsheathed, surged further out of his gums. Cassia reached up and touched his top left canine. From root to tip, she ran one finger down his fang. His body responded as if she had bestowed the same caress much lower.

  “Cassia.” He had best say this now, before the remnants of coherent thought deserted him. “Before we proceed, if there is anything you wish to talk about…or ask me…any other concerns you have…”

  “Ah.” She had mercy on him, returning her hand to his chest. “You have indeed lived with fewer strictures than I. But we humans live close to matters of the flesh, even forbidden ones. I am far from ignorant.”

  “I understand that. Even so, knowledge isn’t the same as personal experience.” He let go of her hand, only to put both of his at her waist. “I don’t want anything to worry you.”

  She looked down, but her lashes hid only her gaze from him. He could feel the tension creeping into her body. Her anxiety was a tide in the Blood Union that threatened to rise.

  “I wish to offer you every possible reassurance,” he said. “With your permission, I can make tonight much easier for you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Every mind mage completes some training with Orthros’s physicians, even those of us who do not specialize in healing. We learn that any pain of the body begins in the mind. I know how to affect that part of your thoughts so that nothing you experience tonight will hurt at all. This is not like hypnosis or anything of that sort. It would not influence your Will, only ensure your comfort.”

  Cassia frowned. “Wouldn’t it be rather…uncomfortable…for you to try to maintain a spell like that while we are…otherwise occupied?”

  Lio tried not to smile. “Thelemancy is a great deal more intuitive than a light spell. It is certainly within my abilities to use my power to improve your experience, if you will allow me.”

  She leaned closer to him. “I am uncertain I wish to sacrifice any of the experience. I want to know what all of it feels like. With you.”

  Lio slid both his arms around her waist. “You will feel everything. I will not rob you of an instant of pleasure. Only enhance it by making sure no pain interferes.”

  She was silent for a moment before she answered. “You have protected me with your mind magery on more than one occasion.”

  “I will gladly do so again, but only if you are comfortable with my presence in your mind. That is all it would be—my presence. A connection. I would never read your private thoughts.”

  “Will it feel anything like t
he Blood Union?”

  “Yes. A great deal like that, I believe.”

  “A way for a mortal to have a taste of that? I would like to know what such Union feels like with you.”

  He cupped her face in his hand, as she had the rose moments before. “Thank you for your confidence in me.”

  “If you did examine my secret thoughts, you would find little there I have not already said to you aloud. Is this not a natural result of our Oath? And is it not also natural that…since I want you in my body…I would feel the same way about your mind?”

  Hespera’s Grace. Cassia had just disarmed the last of her defenses and thrown open the gates. She would let him into her beautiful, guarded mind. He lowered his forehead to hers. “I promise you will enjoy every moment of it. There is a reason we call lovemaking the Natural Union.”

  “I like that much better than what men here call it.”

  “This will be nothing like what you’ve heard them say, Cassia. Self-control is the greatest strength of every Hesperine. I am not an experienced lover, but you can rely on me to be a considerate one.”

  “I suspect you’re too modest. I know you will have had no shortage of lovers.”

  “Oh? And how do you know that?”

  She pulled her face back from his. “It is not forbidden among your people, and you are obviously greatly desirable by Hesperine standards.”

  “Such a complimentary analysis,” he teased. “But I confess to being more interested in your assessment according to human standards.”

  She let out a little huff, almost a laugh, as if it should be obvious. “To our eyes, you are…”

  Words seemed to desert her. Perhaps playfulness was not the best way to help her maintain her already fragile comfort with the situation. He searched for what he might say to soothe her unease.

  But she spoke first, her voice a hushed murmur he had never heard from her before. “You are beautiful beyond imagining.”

  He held her gaze, drawing her hand slowly nearer his mouth.

  “But you’ve been told that by more sophisticated females than me.” She looked away.

  That was a source of anxiety for her? The thought of how she might compare to some hypothetical past lover of his?

  He placed a languid kiss on her open palm. “The regard I treasure most is that of she who is careful in giving it. What you want to share with me tonight is higher praise than any I have ever received.”

  She was indeed speechless. Her struggle with what to make of his words was written all over her body, her scent and the sound of her heart. But by the same signs, he could sense her heart opening. Thirsting.

  How well he understood thirst.

  “I’ve never had a lover,” he told her.

  She looked at him as if he had just spoken in a foreign tongue.

  He raised his eyebrows. “You find that so hard to believe? This from someone who has labored to avoid it herself?”

  “You have none of my reasons to avoid anything! I fail to understand how you have escaped having any number of lovers in your bed and why you would wish to.”

  “It is a choice, not something that overtakes one like a wave, before which one must flee for one’s life.”

  Again the huff. “If Xandra expected to avow you, I cannot imagine her refraining.”

  Lio couldn’t resist rubbing a finger over Cassia’s bottom lip, which protruded stubbornly. “As intimate as we were, we never made love.”

  That raised the color in Cassia’s cheeks, although her expression became quite composed. “Ah. I see. I knew you could not have achieved your dexterity without some degree of personal experience.”

  “Desirable, mobbed by potential lovers, and dexterous. High praise indeed.” He chuckled, letting his gaze slide up and down her. “No, I am no stranger to the female form. But I have yet to know anyone’s as intimately as I intend to know yours tonight. I’ve never wanted anyone as I want you.”

  “But you’ve no lack of feelings and wantings, and…”

  Oh, he should not continue to tease her, but those words were priceless. “I’m very happy to know you haven’t found my feelings and wantings to be lacking.”

  “There must be some stricture then, which you haven’t told me about, regarding…”

  He waited to see what word she might use, but she made no boldly sensual declarations this time. When it became clear she was waiting for him to answer, he obliged her. “Xandra and I explored only as far as our thirst allowed. It is forbidden to drink from anyone who is not yet of age—even when both of you are underage. As you can imagine, it is rather challenging to make love to someone without giving into the temptation to drink. Thus we are encouraged to wait until after initiation for our first Natural Union.”

  “Do young Hesperines usually do as they’re encouraged?”

  Now it was Lio’s turn to blush. “Well, some of us do.”

  “For the first time I have an inkling how you earned a reputation as conscientious and well-behaved. You waited for her. For eight extra years. And then she rejected you.”

  No, it was not wishful thinking on Lio’s part. Cassia really was indignant. On his behalf.

  He smiled down at her. “It was more a mutual admission of defeat than a rejection, and it was the third best thing that could have happened to me.”

  “But after her… I have seen how beautiful Hesperine ladies are. And I know how popular you are with guests from the Empire. Orthros must be full of…willing possibilities.”

  “After Xandra, I fled to Tenebra at my earliest opportunity, and it was the second best thing that could have happened to me. Guess what the very best thing of all is.” He lowered his mouth to place a kiss on Cassia’s neck.

  Her breath tickled his ear. “You must have tasted someone as…good…as me…before.”

  “No one,” he said to her shoulder. “You are the best.”

  He nipped her, drawing a little jump from her and a tiny fleck of blood. He licked it away slowly, enjoying her skin as much as her blood, until his kiss healed the nick as quickly as his teeth had made it.

  Her hands fumbled for his robe, then drifted southward to rest on his belly. He stood very still, except for the kisses he feathered on her neck. He didn’t want to interrupt her impulsive caress. She slid her hands up ever so slightly, then down. He allowed himself to imagine for a moment they would descend further. But she let them rest at his waist, gripping and clutching as he moved his lips on her skin.

  “I…” she murmured.

  “Yes?” Goddess help him. It was the longest wait of his life. But he would stay himself until Cassia gave him another signal that he might proceed.

  How well worth the wait, each time she deemed it safe to welcome passion.

  “I can hardly believe I am to be the one, Lio. Your first choice.”

  He met her gaze again, so she would see in his he spoke only truth. “Then we are on equal footing tonight, for I feel the same when I realize you have chosen me.”

  She eased nearer to him. Then lifted herself on tiptoe. Her arms slid around his neck, and he realized. For the first time, she was not going to allow him or invite him to kiss her. She was going to kiss him.

  The Feast

  Lio’s blood pounded, urging him to commence the Feast. But he was not about to disrupt these first overtures that were all Cassia’s own.

  Her fingers ventured into his hair, and she guided his face down toward her. When she pressed her lips against his, he felt that first contact from fangs to feet. She hesitated, as if waiting for some signal. He nudged her with his nose, placing his hands loosely at her waist again, to encourage her without taking the lead.

  She took them onward, further into that kiss. First just lips on lips, a delightful exploration of the surface. But her mouth became determined, eager, sooner than he could have hoped. She opened her mouth a little, and he offered his lower lip for her consumption. She gave it one, two experimental tugs. But no, that was not all she wanted. Her tongue d
arted between his lips, seeking an opening.

  He let her lick and kiss apart his lips, then lick and suck her way into his mouth. Oh, no, he wouldn’t stop her for anything. Not now, when she was dining on his lips and tongue and fangs with greater alacrity than he’d ever witnessed her devote to a plate of food.

  She paused only to gasp a breath. With that breath, she said one word. “Lio.”

  The sound of his name on her lips, a seduction, a declaration, did something to him. He felt more himself than he ever had. Sure of who he was. Glad to be Lio and alive, to be the one she wanted and to want her.

  She joined their mouths again, and now they were devouring each other. Her heartbeat vibrated in his chest, as if their blood already flowed as one. He embraced her fully, holding their bodies together, and she flexed her hips into his in affirmation.

  He parted their mouths to muster some space between them, just enough to begin disrobing her. He swept his hands up her body, and he must have let more power touch her than he knew. She shivered as if she felt his magic on her skin. Her swollen lips rounded in surprise, but not displeasure. Her clothing answered to his touch as willingly as light. The front laces of her gown slipped free and drifted to the floor to land with a whisper amid the rose petals. Her dress fell open, and he eased it down off her shoulders.

  She looked up at him, panting, her gaze daring. He kept going. The gown pooled around her waist and caught there just below her navel, gathering about the slight curve of her lower belly. She had not even worn her tunica or the tight band that always confined her chest. Her small breasts were free and bare before him, two brown freckled moons, crowned in twin dark peaks that swelled before his eyes in the cold air.

  Self-consciousness crept out of the night and gripped him, crippling in its force. He stood before her clothed from neck to ankle, and yet he felt more naked than he ever had in his life. This was Blood Union. This was how she felt standing before him in nothing but her skin. Utterly exposed. Utterly vulnerable. She was fighting the urge to put her arms over her chest to hide herself.