“Yes, I knew him when I was still human.” Jorick’s smile was one of cold amusement. “And I knew what he was. He paid me well to do odd jobs for him in the daylight hours.”
“You were his human then?” A delighted grin stole across her face at the idea.
“In a manner of speaking. Malick makes the Laws and enforces them. He doesn’t follow them.” His smile was now real. “Those who make the rules are usually above them.”
She nodded. “Isn’t that always the way?”
“Usually,” he answered. “But enough of this.” He rose and moved to the bed, letting his eyes trace the line of her body. “I can think of more interesting things to do on the eve of battle than reminisce.”
“Can you?” she asked, feigning innocence. “And what’s that?”
A mischievous light glinted in his eyes. “Perhaps I’ll show you.” And, before she could reply, he tackled her to the bed and caught her lips in a deep kiss. She thought for a moment about resisting him, just to show him who was really in control, but truthfully she didn’t want to, so she melted against him and lost herself to his kisses. She could feel the solid length of him, pressing her into the bed, and she wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him closer. Her skin flushed as she thought about where they were headed, and anticipation swept through her. He was right, this was better.
“I’m glad to hear it,” he commented silently, and she could feel him smile against her mouth. A horrific idea swept through as she realized he could hear her every thought – during this!
He moved his lips to her neck and murmured against her skin, “Yes, it’s almost like experiencing it twice, isn’t it?” He paused to nibble her throat, then went on. “Relax, little one, I have far more interesting things to think about just now than your chaotic mental landscape.”
His words did little to reassure her, but he unclasped the button on her jeans, and she was suddenly more concerned with wriggling out of them.
Jorick tossed the garments aside, and teasingly ran his hand over her hip, and then down to her inner thigh. “That’s why I prefer skirts, so much easier.”
“Yes,” she agreed breathlessly, her hips urging his fingers to a more pleasurable place. “And I’m sure you’d look lovely in one.”
He chuckled lightly, then slipped his hand between her thighs. She moaned with both fulfillment and longing as he stroked her hot, moist flesh, giving her what she craved and making her want more. She wadded his shirt in her frenzied hands, tugging until she thought the material might tear. He temporarily ceased his efforts and jerked it over his head, then threw the shirt to the floor. He started to come back to her, but she stopped him with a hand to his muscular chest and looked meaningfully at his jeans. The visible bulge made them look uncomfortable, and she decided it was time he was freed of the problem.
His only reply was a wolfish grin as he unfastened them and slid them off. She stared at the length of his perfect, pale nakedness, but he was quickly back, his arms around her, and his legs tangled with hers. She pressed herself against him, as if she could crawl inside him, and he kissed her hard. Her lips parted and his hot, pulsing tongue entered her mouth; tangy and coppery like his breath.
A soft moaned escaped around his kisses, and he took it as encouragement and kissed her harder. She caught her tongue against one of his fangs. There was a burst of salty flavor, but she barely noticed, and if he did, he made no comment.
He rolled her over so that they lay on their sides, and slipped his hands up her shirt. His palms skimmed her naked back. She shifted and pulled at the garment with an absent hand, but he took it from her and shoved it up around her shoulders in a wad of cloth. His fingers trailed from the shirt, over the curve of her breast, and around again to her back, and then down to her rounded backside. She squealed as he squeezed it possessively, and she felt his amusement waver through her mind, drown out quickly by thick lust.
As if by mutual agreement, they rolled as one, so that she was beneath his hard, lean body. She opened her thighs, and he slid into position, but refused to succumb to the desires coursing through them.
Katelina made a soft sound of annoyance and he paused to jerk her shirt free and throw it to the side. Then, he hovered over her and stared into her eyes, as if seeking something here. She didn’t know what he wanted, so she blinked back and nudged him with impatient hips. “Come on!”
“You’re very demanding,” came the silent answer, but he interrupted her scowl with a fiery kiss that made her forget to be annoyed.
The pressure increased between her thighs until it was an almost maddening need, and only then did he surrender and drove himself into her. She groaned and thrust her hips into his, meeting him again and again. She clung to him tightly, their bodies entwined. His emotions crashed around her mind and mingled with her own, until she couldn’t tell who felt what anymore.
He licked her neck, his tongue hot as it traced the lumpy scar where her mark used to be. She could feel a need throbbing inside her, tinged with uncertainty. It continued to build until it became a near frenzy, and she desperately bit into his shoulder, though she couldn’t say why.
His flesh ground between her teeth, and he suddenly clamped down on her, his fangs cutting through the scar tissue. She bit harder as she cried out, and then the world exploded into too bright colors and too loud noises. Scenes flashed behind her eyelids; people, places she didn’t know, and feelings she couldn’t place. There was too much, too many sensations crammed together at once and overshadowed by the overwhelming pleasure.
And then, what might have been an eternity later, it was over, and Jorick lay next to her on the bed, panting. Her eyelids fluttered open and she swallowed, suddenly thirsty. She turned her head to find Jorick gazing at her, a mixture of emotions on his face.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Just…. Nothing.” Before she could press him, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Wasn’t that better than talking?”
She nodded and thought of last night, though she floated on too many endorphins to add the sarcasm she wanted. “Or brooding?”
“Brooding?” But he suddenly understood the meaning from her thoughts. “Last night? I wasn’t brooding. I was debating.”
“About what?”
“About whether or not to give you what you wanted and take you with me to the battle. Whether it was worth putting you in danger for something you think you want. But-” he added, before she could interrupt him. “I decided that you were right. Maybe I am… unrelenting sometimes. I don’t mean to be. I just… I don’t know what I’d do if something… happened.” His voice got thick, and then disappeared altogether.
“But it won’t, not if you’re there.” Despite the brave words, she wasn’t so sure they’d really live through it.
The lumpy scar above her collar bone hurt, just a little, and she rubbed at it absently. She didn’t like to think about what made it hurt. The word bite was one that brought back memories of Claudius and the basement of his emergency den. It came tinted with pain and fear and agony.
Jorick interrupted her thoughts and nuzzled the side of her face. “A vampire’s bite is so much more than that. Just like a human’s mouth can do more than eat. Yes, we use it to feed but, when a vampire bites another living thing, there’s a connection, and it’s up to the vampire what kind of connection that is. It can be hateful and horrible, or it can be something pleasurable and beautiful.”
She nodded mutely, well aware that Jorick created those intensely overwhelming sensations by drinking her blood. It was something she preferred not to think about. Despite that, she suddenly wondered how she tasted.
“Do you want to know?”
She grimaced at the invasion. “Would you please stop that?”
“I’m sorry. Your thoughts are louder when you’re excited. Sometimes, I’m not sure if you’re thinking or speaking. You know, this is an inconvenience for me too.”
Really? How’s that?�
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He gave a soft chuckle. “I happen to like silence, and I haven’t had a moment of it. You’re always thinking, always chattering away inside, restlessly switching from one subject to another until I can’t even follow you. And putting distance between us does no good. Though,” he added soberly. “I admit I haven’t strayed very far from you, except to follow Senya. But, even then I could hear you, chattering away.”
“Do you think I enjoy all your tingling annoyance? Do you have any other emotion?”
“I’m fairly amused at the moment,” he pointed out, a toothy grin on his face.
“Well, I’m so sorry you’re forced to sacrifice your peace and quiet. Maybe we can go through that list again of all the considerations you’re forced to take for me?”
“If you really think it’s necessary,” he said mildly. “Would you like it alphabetized? Or how about in reverse alphabetization? I could start with sex-“
She sat up suddenly, offended. “Hey! What do you mean about sex? You seemed to be enjoying it just a minute ago!”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t enjoyable,” he explained gently. “But, I’m afraid I don’t derive as much satisfaction as you do from the physical aspects of it. For a vampire, it’s all about the blood.”
Her cheeks flamed pink, torn between insult and embarrassment. “So you’re saying you’d be just as happy sucking my neck in the back of a bus as having sex?”
“Oh,” he said slowly. “I suppose not. You’d probably feel unfulfilled. Of course, I’m all for testing it.” He smiled teasingly.
She found the whole idea startling. “You’re serious? You mean you don’t… you know… uh, finish….” she trailed off.
“No,” he replied mildly. “There’s nothing there.”
“But you… it…” she stammered and turned red. “I mean it works.”
He seemed to enjoy her discomfort. “Of course it does. That’s all blood, after all, and that I have. I’m not saying it isn’t pleasurable, of course, but I’m afraid the sensation pales in comparison, in case you haven’t noticed.” He raised his eyebrows meaningfully.
“I suppose.” She let him tug her back to lie next to him, and snuggled up against his chest. “What about girls?”
“What about them?”
“Well, I mean, there’s… you know.” She felt infinitely childish. “There’s a lot of moisture...”
He threw back his head and laughed heartily. Katelina growled at him, and he managed to rein his hilarity down to snickers. “I hear you can buy it in a tube now.”
“You’re disgusting! Do you know that?”
“You asked,” he reminded her mischievously.
She grumbled under her breath, but then asked, “So vampire couples don’t… ever? I mean they just slurp on each other?”
“Slurp?” Jorick cried, offended. “Now who’s disgusting?”
She rolled her eyes. “Sorry, do you have a better word for it?”
“Yes, I do, actually,” he retorted. “‘Sharing blood’ is much nicer, or even ‘exchanging blood’. Of course there’s always ‘coupling’ or the far more picturesque ‘making love’, which I happen to prefer.” He sniffed. “Slurp, indeed!”
“Fine, they just ‘share blood’?”
“How would I know? I’m not in the habit of asking everyone what they do in their intimate lives. Really! You humans have gotten nosey.”
“It’s a perfectly legitimate question.”
He started to object, but then conceded. “I suppose. Honestly, I don’t know what everyone does. One can assume that the newer vampires would prefer a more human method, simply because it’s what they’re used to. I’ve heard of it being mixed and matched in various ways, though I have to admit some of the methods didn’t interest me.”
She wasn’t sure what to say, but curiosity overcame her uncomfortable feelings quickly. “Like what?”
“You’re very determined on this subject, aren’t you?” he teased. “Who knew you found the mating habits of the supernatural so intriguing. Perhaps we should find out if werewolves exist and see what they like to do in the bedroom? It could be a whole new field of study.”
“Very funny.” A moment later she asked, “Do they?”
“Do they what? For heaven’s sake. I don’t know whether werewolves have sex or not.”
“No! Do they exist?”
“Oh.” He grinned sheepishly. “I have no idea. I’ve never gone looking for any.”
She tilted her head thoughtfully. “What about Mummies?”
“Yes,” he said slowly. “Mummies are real. They used to make them in ancient Egypt, if I recall.”
She made a noise of disapproval in her throat. “You know what I meant. I mean the ones that run around in tombs, like on TV.”
“You watch too much of that. Only if they’re vampires do they ‘run around’. Otherwise, they’re quite dead.”
“Zombies?” she fired off before he could stop her.
“I’ve never seen one.”
“Cat people? Aliens? Witches? Sorcerers? Yeti? Shape shifters? Mermaids? Bat Boy-”
He interrupted her flow of questions. “Good Lord, I don’t know. What do I look like? An encyclopedia of the supernatural?”
“I thought you knew everything,” she taunted with a silly grin.
“Everything important,” he shot back. “For the love of all things holy, aren’t Vampires enough for you? Why do you want to go looking for more monsters?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t say I wanted to find them, I just thought you might know.” A final thought occurred and she added, “What about ghosts?”
“Ah,” Jorick said softly, and his whole demeanor changed. “Now those are very real. Everyone has their own personal ghosts that haunt them.”
She looked away, suddenly uncomfortable in a completely different way. The vision of a blonde man swam through her mind, his eyeliner smudged and his breath tingling with alcohol. “Yeah, I guess they do,” she agreed.
Jorick absently rubbed her back. “But they don’t have to rule your life,” he said quietly. “You don’t have to wallow in the misery left behind. The legacy of ghosts is nothing but sorrow and suffering.”
“Are you sure? If it weren’t for ghosts would I be here?”
She could feel his surprise. “I don’t know,” he agreed slowly. “I know only that I let them control me for far too long, carrying a burden I should have abandoned.” He gazed past Katelina into a space that only existed for him. She cleared her throat and he snapped out of it, to focus on her again. “Or maybe not. Who can say? Perhaps I did exactly as destiny wanted me to.”
She traced lazy circles on his chest. “You believe in destiny?”
“Perhaps,” he acknowledged. “Who can say what strange thing controls our fate?”
“I think we make our own destiny.”
He made a thoughtful noise. “And what of your God. Doesn’t He intervene?”
“First the supernatural and now religion?” she teased, then turned serious. “Yes, I think He does, but I think He lets us make our own choices too, and if we end up in a place He didn’t want us, we can either ask for His help or we can just stay stuck. If you don’t accomplish the task He gave you, He can always give it to someone else. Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you need them.”
“How do you know?” he asked quietly. “Isn’t loving them reason enough to need them?”
“Not always.” Her throat caught as she looked into his eyes, not sure whose emotions she felt anymore.
He wrapped his arm around her and laid his head against her shoulder. Then, he kissed her ear and murmured softly, “I hope you’re wrong.”
**********
Chapter Nineteen
Katelina stared at the window where light leaked around the dressers. Despite the precautions, the room was far from dark, and whether because of the light or her nerves, she couldn’t find sleep.
Jorick stirred beside her and murmure
d, “You should rest, little one.”
“I know, but I can’t.” She stopped short of mentioning why; the panic, the worry, the hovering thoughts of certain death. He’d know them all, anyway.
A sudden wave of relaxation crashed over her, and she could hear him soothing her, “Sleep. Everything is fine. Everything will be fine. Sleep-”
“No.” Despite the good intentions, she didn’t want him to use his mind tricks on her. “You know I don’t like that.”
He sighed resignedly. “Yes, I know. But, I thought rest was a higher priority, this time. You’ll need your strength tomorrow, and it seems a waste for you to ignore the resources available.”
“I hardly call you ‘enchanting’ me to sleep a resource.”
“Why?” He rolled her over to face him and met her eyes with a challenge. “If you were tired and had sleeping pills, you’d take them, wouldn’t you?”
“Maybe.” He narrowed his eyes, as if reading the truth from her, and she relented. “All right, if I was tired enough, then yes, I would. But,” she added quickly. “I’m not that tired.”
“If you say so.” His shoulders moved in an almost imperceptible shrug and he rolled onto his back. “But, I did offer.”
“I know.”
They fell into silence and she stared at the shadowed ceiling. Maybe she should take him up on it. After all, they’d have a fight tomorrow and-
And why didn’t he just use that mind control to win? “He could just take them over and-”
“I thought you just said I shouldn’t use it?”
She flinched at his mind reading. “I meant on me. I’m not trying to kill you.”
“No, but they are, and that’s the problem. Influencing someone requires a certain level of concentration, and it’s rather difficult to concentrate while you’re fighting.”
“You could stand off to the edge, couldn’t you? And do it that way? Or do you need eye contact or something?”
“That helps, yes. But, it’s faster to just kill them.”
His cavalier attitude struck her as wrong. “What about someone strong. Someone you can’t beat easily?” Like Kateesha.
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