“Then consider it done. As soon as the cleanup is finished, I’ll get someone right on that.” He was pleased at how well she was taking his small gift to her.
Chevalier got a mischievous glimmer in his eye and just as Emily was about to question him, he blurred and appeared on Patra behind her. He quickly spun her to face him and positioned her legs over his, “There… I like this better.”
“I don’t think this is an American Equestrian approved riding position though,” she explained, and then laughed.
“MmHmmm” he mumbled as he began kissing along her neck.
Chapter 11 - Bonding
Emily waited, crouched behind a stone pillar in the field behind the castle. She was hunkered down waiting, patiently holding the small gun firmly in her hand and her breathing was steady. There was a sheen of sweat on her forehead as she peeked around the corner and drew back quickly. Looking down, she noticed her tennis shoe was untied. She set the gun down beside her, tied it, and then picked the gun back up.
It was almost time, almost time to defend herself again. The cows around her ignored her as she waited, her legs beginning to strain. She checked her gun again, it was fully loaded.
She heard footsteps coming toward her from the barn. She held her breath, afraid it might give her away and she got ready to aim and fire.
“Emily?” Kyle called to her.
She kept still.
Kyle sighed and she could hear him, he was almost close enough to launch her attack. After taking a deep breath, she rounded the corner, took aim, and fired, shooting long streams of water directly into his face. He was caught off guard, so she took that opportunity to run.
“That’s it!” he shouted, and followed after her.
She ran as fast as she could, but heard him gaining. She took a blind aim behind her and shot again, not sure if she’d hit him. Mid-stride, her feet disappeared out from under her as Kyle picked her up and threw her across his shoulder.
“You cheated!” she yelled at him.
“I did not cheat, I ran… someone who attacks someone else should take their abilities into consideration.”
“Ha-ha, now put me down.” She was laughing.
“No.” He began to run faster and she could feel the wind blowing past her.
“No!” she screamed, sure of what he was doing.
Kyle didn’t answer.
“Stop or I’ll tell Chev!”
She heard him chuckle and the sound of waves came closer.
“Kyle, no! It’s cold!” He didn’t slow and she saw the sand turn to wooden planks.
“Good afternoon, Sir,” said one of the guards, hiding a laugh.
“Good afternoon, Travis.”
“Stop!” she shouted. “Travis, help me!”
The guard laughed, “No can do, Lady Emily.”
She felt herself fall off of the pier the three feet down to the icy cold ocean. She surfaced, the cold water knocking the breath out of her, then swam up to the beach and stepped out, soaking wet and shivering.
“Some guard you are,” she teased Travis.
He smiled and chuckled, his teeth glistening in the sun.
She spun and looked at the pier, but Kyle was gone.
“Wimp!” she shouted after him, and she thought she heard laughing on the wind. She tossed her water gun to Travis and he glanced at her questioningly.
“If he comes back, shoot him,” she said, starting off for the castle.
The guards at the front of the castle grinned at her and opened the door. She stepped in, her clothes dripping water all over the floor. A towel flew out at her from the dark shadows and landed at her feet.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, and headed to her room to change.
As she walked up the stairs, she saw Chevalier standing at the top, watching her with a grin, “Long day?”
“Kyle tossed me into the ocean!” She knew tattling wouldn’t do any good.
“I see… and before I behead him… who started it?” he chuckled.
She began to dry her hair as she passed him, “Heku… always sticking together.”
Chevalier walked behind her, chuckling, “You know it’s not fair for you to ambush him, he can smell you from 2 feet away, less if you are downwind of him.”
“I was downwind, I made sure of it, and I did get off a few good shots.” She grinned and walked into the ante-chamber. Kyle was standing in the corner grinning, “But he cheats.”
Kyle cleared his throat.
Chevalier raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, “We all cheat, it’s our nature.”
Emily disappeared into the bedroom and headed right for the wardrobe. Chevalier looked again at Kyle and shook his head.
“One hot chocolate coming up,” Kyle said, smirking.
Chevalier nodded and walked into the room, shutting the door behind him.
“I don’t think Kyle knew what he was getting himself in to when he took up this position,” he said, sitting down on a chair by the fireplace, though there hadn’t been the need for a fire in months.
“Oh… he knew.” She disappeared into the bathroom.
“Which reminds me, I heard a congratulations is in order,” he called into the bathroom.
Emily walked out in dry jeans and a t-shirt, “Hrm... not planned exactly.”
She took the hot cocoa from Gordon and thanked him and then sat down in a chair by Chevalier and sipped at the warming drink
“Well, Kelly does apologize.” Chevalier was trying not to laugh, he wasn’t sure why he found it funny.
“He shouldn’t have let your monster out while Patra was in heat,” she grumbled. “I’m not saying this place doesn’t need more horses, but we could have at least gotten her a paint stud instead of that grouchy Arabian you ride around.” She frowned. Chevalier’s horse was ornery and temperamental.
“Well, maybe he found her mouth wateringly appealing.”
Emily blushed and sipped on the hot cocoa.
“So what brought on the sudden attack on Kyle?” He was still working on being casual about their relationship, but at times, found it hard. He couldn’t help but find it irritating when the two of them were together so much, and they had begun to have inside jokes that he didn’t understand.
“He made fun of Patra for being pregnant.” She glared at him and he took the sign to drop the laughter at her mare’s expense.
“You don’t find it the least bit funny?” He grinned and looked at her eyes, “I’ve been thinking…”
“Yeah?” She was watching him because he seemed nervous, which was extremely uncharacteristic for him.
Chevalier grinned broadly, “Marry me.”
Emily sighed, “Be serious, Chev.”
“What if I am?” He moved to kneel in front of her and took her hand, “Please… consider it.”
“What about our secrecy? You know… mean ol’Enforcer can’t be caught loving a mere mortal.” She raised an eyebrow and smiled down at him.
“We’ll get married in secret… just us and one other… it will finally make you mine.” He smiled, knowing how much she hated to be claimed that way, but he loved to see the way she blushed when she heard it.
“Ugh… Chev… we don’t need to get married. I’ve done that, remember? White wedding, hundreds in attendance, the stress… the panic… the pressure. You see how well that one worked out.” She was still sipping at the hot cocoa.
“Not a human wedding, Emily… it’s amazing how hard it is to find any type of preacher from any flavor of mortal religion that will marry a mortal to an immortal. It goes against the ethics of every theological professional in the world.” He was still smiling. She was getting uncomfortable and he found human emotions fascinating.
“Well then, what are you suggesting?” Her curiosity peaked.
“An immortal bonding… sealing us together, forever, as mates.”
She frowned, “Doesn’t that sound romantic.”
Chevalier leaned his head back and laughed.
He leaned back and stared into her vivid eyes, “Please, Emily, I want you to officially be with me forever.”
She sighed, “What exactly does it entail?”
He grimaced a bit. This was the part he was afraid to tell her, “Well… normally… it’s a small ceremony with just one other witness present.”
She could tell he was leaving something out, “And?”
“Well to finalize it… there’s an… well an exchange.”
Her eyes narrowed, “An exchange of what?”
“The ceremony is for immortals.”
“Don’t you see one tiny problem with that?” Emily sat her empty cocoa cup on the table.
“It can be done with a mortal too, Em… it’s just different for them.”
“How? You’re trying not to tell me something and that’s making me nervous.” She studied his eyes and the nervous twitch of his lips.
“It’s an exchange of …” he sighed, “Blood.”
Emily was horrified, “Ew! No way!”
He loved the way her nose wrinkled when she said that, how something so intensely pleasant to him, could be so repulsive to her.
“Well I knew you would feel that way, so I figured we could improvise and use the mortal replacement for blood… wine.” He watched her for a reaction.
“For both of us?” She could feel the panic rise to her throat.
“I’m an immortal, Emily.” He thought that part of the ceremony would be obvious.
She spoke in a whisper, her hand on her throat, “You’re going to bite me?”
“It won’t hurt. If done right, you might actually enjoy it.” He smiled and noticed her eyes fell onto his teeth.
“I don’t….” She couldn’t even speak clearly.
Chevalier leaned up and brushed his lips across hers, “Trust me…”
Her eyes filled with tears, “I don’t know.”
He frowned, “Do you not want to marry me, then?”
“That’s not the problem.” Her voice was higher and nervous, “I’m starting to think a big white wedding would be better than this.”
He laughed, “Stop worrying about it… we’ll do it tonight, and then you won’t have time to worry.”
“What!?” She stood and backed away from him.
Chevalier stood up and met her gaze, “Calm down, Emily.”
Her breathing slowed and her shoulders relaxed.
“Calm… this isn’t scary… this isn’t vicious… this will bind us forever.”
Emily nodded at him slowly.
She broke his gaze and gasped. He hated when her stubbornness broke the bond and he immediately lost the ability to do it again for a while.
“Don’t do that!” she said, walking toward the door.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To talk to Kyle.” He knew she would tell him. Chevalier figured Kyle would be the one to do the ceremony as he’s the only other heku Emily trusted. There was another motive for having Kyle there though. He wanted Kyle to see the bonding ceremony and to show him how much Emily truly belonged to him.
Kyle moved to her quickly when she walked through the doors. He could sense that she was extremely upset and she motioned for him to follow her before he could ask what the problem was. He followed her silently outside, through the barn, and to the new corral that housed the herd of cattle. She stood in the middle of the small herd and began to cry.
“What happened?” he asked, touching her shoulder softly.
Her voice was soft and she choked out the words through sobs, “He wants to marry me.”
Kyle smiled and tried not to chuckle, “That’s it? He wants to marry you and you’re this upset?”
She nodded.
“He’ll be lucky to find someone to do the ceremony but…” He froze and looked at the pained expression on her face, “He wants an immortal bonding, doesn’t he?”
She nodded again.
Kyle growled, “How dare he suggest that to you!”
Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed her and pressed her to his chest. He could feel her tears wet his shirt, “Do you want me to talk to him? Try to talk some sense into him?”
She shook her head. She didn’t want Chevalier mad at Kyle, she feared enough for Kyle’s life because of Chevalier’s temper.
“When?” he asked her softly, running his fingers through her hair.
“Tonight,” she finally managed to say.
Before she could react, Kyle’s lips were pressed firmly against hers, his hands wrapped around her waist. She tried to pull away, but he moved one hand to the back of her neck to hold her in place.
Kyle’s body stiffened and he quickly moved a few steps back from her, his eyes were fearful, “I’m so sorry, Em, I shouldn’t have done that.”
She watched him, her eyes wide.
“I… I….” Then he was gone.
Emily stood in the pasture, the cattle grazing absentmindedly around her. The air suddenly felt too hot and she sunk to her knees. She looked around at how normal everything seemed, as if nature itself didn’t understand the thoughts in her mind and the feeling in her body. Emily found she couldn’t even cry. Her tears had dried in her as her body reacted to the shock.
She could still feel Kyle’s lips pressed against hers, soft and gentle, different from Chevalier’s strong, passionate kiss. Emily suddenly realized that she would have to do as Chevalier asked, and it would have to be tonight. She couldn’t risk losing Kyle as a friend over this, and the pain of drawing it out would be too much. Minutes passed before she found the strength to stand up and head back into the castle to tell Chevalier.
***
Chevalier and Emily stood facing each other, the rock outcropping fell drastically behind them to a majestic waterfall. When Kyle disappeared, Chevalier found another heku to take his place, an older man named Morgan. He smiled to both of them as he wrapped a thin black ribbon around their wrists, binding them tightly together.
She was shocked when he spoke and the language was foreign to her. His words drifted softly around the clearing as if he were singing. Chevalier watched her and smiled at the nervous look in her eyes. Morgan continued to speak quickly and his foreign words blurred as Emily watched Chevalier and fought the urge to run.
Emily’s breath caught in her throat as Morgan handed her a glass flute filled with a scarlet colored wine. She looked at Chevalier, who nodded and smiled at her. She took a long drink and handed the glass to Morgan. Before she even turned back to Chevalier, he was pressed against her and she fought to get away from him, but his hands held her tightly and his lips were at her neck. Adrenaline surged through her body, every natural instinct she had fought against his hands.
“Relax, Em,” he whispered, just before his teeth sank deep into the flesh of her neck.
He groaned as the pleasing taste tickled the back of his throat and soothed his senses. He gripped her tighter and felt her body go limp against his. The beast rose quickly to the surface and he drank more fervently. With great effort, he was able to pull away from her and tightened his grip, she was weak in his arms. He gently slipped the diamond ring onto her finger and kissed it softly.
Chevalier picked her up when her legs gave out completely, and he smiled at Morgan, who nervously continued. Emily laid her head against his shoulder. She found it hard to concentrate, she was so relaxed that all she wanted to do was sleep and the soft incantation Morgan was saying helped only to soothe her. Emily drifted off to sleep in his arms.
“Emily?” His soft voice brought her out of her relaxed state and she realized she was lying down, “Drink this.”
She felt a cold cup touch her lips and she drank deeply, the cold juice seemed to help wake her back up.
“Good girl,” Chevalier said, and kissed her forehead lightly as he pulled the glass away.
She looked up at him, “
What happened?”
Chevalier smiled, “It’s all over… you did perfectly.”
“I feel strange,” she said, her words seemed slow and slurred.
“That’ll pass.”
Emily sat up and her head swam, the world began to spin around her as Chevalier laid her back against the bed, “Just stay down for a bit, I promise it will pass soon.”
“Why do I feel like this?” she mumbled, hoping he understood her.
“Well… that’d be my fault. I had some problems stopping and you lost a little too much blood, I apologize. Then there’s my blood in your system, that doesn’t help.” He winced away from her.
“Wine…” was all she could manage to say.
“Mostly, yes.”
“Wine…” she said again, and fell back to sleep.
“How dare you!” Kyle yelled, growling.
“It’s none of your concern, Boy.” Chevalier’s voice was enraged.
“It is my business... how dare you lie to her and then feed off of her like she’s one of your donors. It’s disgusting how you treat her.”
Emily tried to yell back, to stop them from fighting, but no words came out of her mouth.
“You will not speak to me like this unless you want to find yourself without a head,” Chevalier hissed.
“I’ll take my chances, she can’t speak for herself. It’d be worth dying knowing that I didn’t mistreat someone I care for.”
Chevalier’s growl deepened, “If she didn’t care so much about you, I would kill you where you stand for such insolence. She knew what she was doing.”
“Oh really? She knew you put drops of your blood into her wine then? Because it sounded to me like she thought it was pure,” Kyle shouted.
He can’t talk to Chevalier like that, Emily thought. She feared for Kyle’s life, why didn’t he stop? Why didn’t he let her fight for herself? She wasn’t worth Kyle dying for.
“It was necessary and you know it.”
“By deception?”
Emily could feel the hatred in the room, could feel the rage building, but she couldn’t move, couldn’t respond to stop it.
There was a loud rush of wind and a choking sound, “You’ve gone too far, Boy,” Chevalier barked, but there was no response.
Heku : Book 1 of the Heku Series Page 19