Into the weighted silence, Elisha bellowed, “Heriolf has gone to his final death. His tyranny is done!”
At the roaring power of his voice, Heriolf’s two remaining guards threw down their silver-plated weapons. They cringed, crying “Mercy!” and “Surrender!” with no real hope.
One crawled to grovel at Elisha’s feet. “We only did Heriolf’s bidding for fear of our lives. Do not kill us!”
Elisha didn’t spare him a glance. Instead, he waded through the crowd to get to Naya’s side. Those who still lived parted before him, allowing him to reach her. Her heart pulsed painfully for her lover’s loss as he took a moment to look upon Sebastian’s fallen and slowly disintegrating body near her feet. For an instant grief suffused his features and she took his hand. He looked into her eyes and drew himself up with effort, turning to address the still cringing guards.
“I have Heriolf’s powers now. I can tell if you lie. You were afraid of him, but your greatest cowardice lies in not doing what you knew was right; to rise up against Heriolf and keep our people safe.”
The second guard who remained on the stairs knelt at Elisha’s feet. “I will serve you as I did him. Spare me, and I will be the most faithful servant to your kingdom.”
Elisha looked at Naya, and she saw his horror. “I will not be your king. I only wish to see the council restored, with the wisest of us keeping all vampires safe once more.”
A vampire at the bottom of the stairs, his slashed flesh slowly knitting together, spoke with a weary hopelessness. “How can that happen as long as the Font lives?”
Elisha sounded determined. “I will take no more of her blood and defend her against all who would.”
Another conspirator cried out, “You will not have the strength! Someone will eventually claim the power she offers.” The other vampires murmured their agreement.
Naya forced her exhausted body to stand tall before them. “Elisha will take my blood. As will every member of the council.”
Elisha turned to her in shock. Everyone waited in breathless silence for her to continue.
“A few drops each night donated from my veins to the seven members of the council, one of whom I believe you have elected to be Elisha?” At the murmurs of assent, she went on. “This will allow the entire council to know the truth about those who approach them. No one like Heriolf will be able to destroy them as the last council was. They will know those who would put the vampires in peril for their own selfish gain.”
Despite his many injuries, Elisha’s expression was one of pride. Of approval. The others were nodding amongst themselves.
Naya told them, “I will belong to only Elisha, but I will share with those you desire to lead you. No one will have too much power; no one will have too little.”
Elisha’s arm slipped about her waist. He called out, “What say you to this proposal?”
Someone called, “Yes. I say yes.”
A chorus of affirmatives joined in. His arm tightening around Naya, Elisha asked, “Do any oppose?”
The silence ran out, and Naya sagged a little in relief. She thought it might be all right.
Elisha said, “Will the surviving members of the council elected by those who opposed Heriolf join me?”
Four vampires in various states of injury came up the steps to stand with Elisha and Naya. He addressed them. “You have heard the will of the vampires of southeast Georgia. We will reconvene to vote on this when replacements for Mariel and Sebastian—” Elisha’s voice wavered momentarily as he spoke his longtime friend’s name. He swallowed and continued. “Until we have voted as a full council, will you temporarily accept this proposal of sharing the Font’s blood for the good of all?”
The four chorused ayes. They smiled benevolently at Naya as if they hadn’t been trying to kill her only moments before.
“I too vote the affirmative. Now I ask you, is there acceptance that I make the Font immortal with my blood so that the council remains strong in perpetuity?”
Once again, the room rang with ‘ayes’. “Opposed?” Elisha asked.
As silence descended over all, Naya finally allowed herself to breathe normally. She had a hard time not sinking to the ground in exhausted relief.
Elisha smiled down at her. “So be it. The reign of Heriolf is done. Let no single vampire hold us hostage again.”
Cheers erupted. Right in front of everyone, Elisha bent to kiss Naya. She pressed herself against him, joy buoying her despite feeling she might collapse at any moment. She was safe. Even better, she would spend forever with the man who owned her heart.
Echoing her thoughts, Elisha whispered, “Forever, my love.”
“Forever,” she agreed. There had never been a more beautiful word. The next kiss Elisha devoured her with sealed their bond.
Chapter 13
Leaving the other vampires to settle things for the night, Elisha picked Naya up and carried her to her room. She snuggled against his chest, scarcely believing that they had not only destroyed the threat from Heriolf, but that they were free to be together.
As soon as he closed her bedroom door and she thought they might be able to speak without being heard, Naya asked Elisha, “Will it work? Will they let me live?”
He smiled reassuringly. “The minds I looked into were accepting for now. You will stay with me always, my love?”
Her arms circled his neck. “Only with you does eternity have any appeal.”
Elisha laid her down on the bed. Naya had a bad moment when she thought of Heriolf pinning her down to the mattress, threatening rape and death. It passed quickly as Elisha sat next to her, gently brushing her untamed tresses away from her face.
With concern he noted, “You are weakened.”
She ran her hands over his shoulders, his chest, and his abdomen. Forever. With Heriolf, it would have been a sentence of unceasing torture. With Elisha, it was heavenly reward. “Heriolf fed until I thought he might kill me. I wanted to die rather than be at his side.”
“That threat is done.” Elisha’s gaze caught her, and she felt all the horror and fear of the last few moments seep away. His voice was as embracing as his arms when he said, “Rest for a few minutes. I will return momentarily.”
Naya’s eyes closed and she knew no more until his voice pierced the darkness that held her. “Wake, my love.”
She returned to consciousness to find Elisha seemingly not having moved. “What did you do?” she asked.
“I searched for and found one of Heriolf’s servants. I gave him his freedom in exchange for blood. I needed to feed before I could be with you.”
Naya smiled at him. “You would never hurt me.”
“That was my intent.”
Elisha bit into his own wrist, making blood well from the wound. He offered it to Naya, whispering, “Eternity together.”
Naya didn’t hesitate for even an instant. She opened her mouth, letting Elisha’s essence flow against her tongue. The blood of the vampire was sweet with a slight undertone of bitterness. After two swallows, strength began to return to her limbs. She was aware of heightened sensation, of the slightest crease in her gown against her skin, of the low mutters of the vampires downstairs, of the scent of pine trees outside, of every pore in the rapt face of the man hovering over her. Lastly, she felt the trickle of Elisha’s thoughts and knew he loved her as much as she loved him.
He grinned. “I hear your thoughts too, lovely Naya. What wonderful thoughts they are.”
The wound she drew from was closing, the flow of blood ceasing. Elisha removed his wrist from her mouth and replaced it with his lips.
Kissing Elisha, feeling not only her own body’s reaction but his as well, made Naya arch against him. He answered her rush of lust with his own. She was excited to discover in his mind an almost animal need to possess her, to protect her, to claim her in every way as his own.
“Yes,” she moaned as the kiss ended.
“Yes,” he echoed and helped her to her knees. He pulled her dress of
f over her head, leaving her naked before him.
His hands explored. He thought how close he’d come to losing her sweet perfection, and the heat of his touch went to her very soul. Naya moaned as his calloused fingers went everywhere, reassuring himself that she was indeed before him, in one piece.
Your mouth on me, his thoughts whispered, and she caught a vision of herself at his feet, her eyes rolled up to look at him as she gave him that pleasure. It made her tremble to feel how he ached for the act.
Naya slid to the floor, kneeling before Elisha. His lips parted in anticipation as she freed his cock from his pants. It was heavy in her palm, iron sheathed in silk. Her lower parts clenched at the heated way he gazed at her, at the eager need he felt.
She started by licking his scrotum, then sucking the softer parts of him into her mouth. He groaned at the heady warmth, the surge of purest pleasure making his loins feel weighted. Naya felt it with him and was amazed to know how it was for a man when the woman he loved serviced him thus.
She released him from the prison of her mouth, cupping his balls with her palm as she ran her tongue along the underside of his cock. Elisha’s head fell back with reaction, and her pussy clenched as she received the echo of his delight. She kissed the purplish head, his foreskin drawing back from the smooth surface as he swelled with excitement. Naya parted her lips, taking the heated appendage in her mouth in a carnal kiss.
Warmth grew in their bellies, and Naya felt Elisha’s groan coming before he uttered it. She’d never orally pleasured a man before, but the vampire’s mind told her what he liked best. She gladly gave it to him.
She gripped the base of his cock with one hand, continuing to gently rub his scrotum with the other. Opening wide, she took as much of him in her mouth as she could. Elisha moaned again, his hands diving into her hair as she slowly drew back. Her tongue rolled over the thick staff as she moved, sending jolts of delight through him. She felt all of it with him, and her sex gushed warm juices to dampen her thighs.
Releasing until only the tip of him remained in her mouth, Naya tasted sweet saltiness. Detecting how Elisha missed the wet warmth of containment, she didn’t pause long to enjoy his flavor. She slid his length back in, rubbing her tongue all over for his pleasure.
Over and over she accepted the steel of his need, the kaleidoscope of sensations and emotions Elisha experienced buffeting her, making her eager to pleasure him all the more. She heard how he warred with himself; the urge to spill his seed in her sweet, suckling mouth battled with the knowledge of how good it felt to pierce her womanhood. And he was curious to share her sensations as she had his.
Without him telling her to, Naya left off the oral pleasuring. She pushed his pants all the way down, pulling his boots off to make him naked. Then she rose to stand before him, her gaze meeting his. His hands curved around her head to bring her close for his kiss. As their tongues twined together, his grip slid down to grasp her shoulders. He lowered her onto the bed.
“You know what I want,” he whispered against her lips, and with a shiver Naya bent her legs up and out, capturing her knees to open herself to him.
Before accepting her offering Elisha bit into her breast, suckling blood as a babe might its mother’s milk. He didn’t take much, just enough to make Naya squirm with the erotic thrill of him feeding on her. Then he did the same with her other breast, and she moaned. He moaned back and smiled at her, his silken tongue working to catch the scarlet trails seeping from the punctures.
“So that’s what it feels like,” he said. He’d never been bitten by a lover before and had no idea how erotically thrilling it could be. Their linked minds were teaching them both so much.
His attentions moved down, and Elisha’s fingertips brushed her nether lips. Naya shuddered all over as heat suffused her body.
“Hold very still for me, my love,” he commanded her. “I wish to know how it feels for you, where you are most sensitive.”
“Yes, Elisha,” she whimpered, though she ached to somehow overpower him, to throw him back on the bed and claim his eager manhood with her body.
He chuckled, his natural dominance surging as she acknowledged her inability to make him do as she wished. “Poor Naya. Is it so terrible to be subject to my whims?”
Knowing just what his whims were and how he would wield his gentle tyranny made Naya laugh back. “No, it’s not. But it would be nice for you to get a taste of your own medicine!”
“But I will. I will feel every second of your sweet anguish as I torment you. I will suffer as you do.”
Naya sighed and closed her eyes in surrender. “Do as you will, then.”
For the next half hour, perhaps longer – it felt like it went on for an eternity – Elisha tortured her with fingers, mouth, and tongue. Her softest flesh was awash in juices as she made herself perfectly motionless for his minute explorations. And he left nothing untouched, learning from her open mind how the rim of her outer lips trembled when his fingers traced their outline, how his tongue on her inner lips made her gush with more honey, how his tongue stabbing into her opening made everything inside clench tight. Even her anus was gently evaluated, and both gasped with the shock of sensation his exploration prompted.
“We will keep this in mind for the future,” Elisha told her, and Naya’s heart quickened at the dark promise in his eyes.
He spent a great deal of time on her clitoris. Using his fingertips first, he spread her wetness all around the nubbin, teasing until it emerged throbbing from its hood. Next he licked slow circles all about, making her swollen and red. Then his lips closed on it, capturing it between their softness. His tongue flicked across the tip, making Naya tense all over. He sunk one finger, then a second inside her as he licked the eager flesh once more. She whimpered. It took all Naya had to keep herself open for the torment, especially when Elisha began to work in and out with a firm rhythm, searching for the sweet spot within her sheath as he lashed her clit back and forth. The dual attacks on her most nerve-clustered flesh had her rushing towards crescendo in short order, and Naya readied herself for cataclysm.
Elisha felt it too, and she discerned his intent. “Please,” she moaned, even as his fingers inside her stilled and he took the joy of his mouth away.
“Quiet,” he said, and she knew he would torment her until he could no longer stand it. Her agony, her desperation for fulfillment, meant nothing to him except that he could enforce his dominion over her. Her only solace was that he would feel every agonizing moment with her.
When her need had calmed to a degree, Elisha resumed playing with her, his fingers finding that stomach-curling spot inside her sheath almost immediately and his tongue visiting silken abuse to her clit. Naya quaked all over as he made her take it, sobbed unselfconsciously as he drove her quickly to the brink once more, knowing he would deny her again and there was nothing she could do about it.
“You are mine, Naya,” he told her. “When you give yourself over completely, I will grant your release.”
She didn’t know if she could. She wanted to surrender herself to him entirely, mind as well as body, but her need for control fought him with everything it had.
“We shall try again.”
She felt how he ached for her, that he wanted to bury his flesh within her and gain his own relief. But Elisha was too determined to master her, and he would endure his own misery until she submitted.
Please, please, let me yield.
Yes, my lovely Naya. Show me you trust me with all your heart. Give up everything to me.
She looked down her body, her gaze meeting Elisha’s. His expression was so many things: confident, adoring, demanding, imploring.
You must trust me with all you are, or we will not make eternity.
Naya bit her lip and nodded. “I’ll try.”
His face lowered to her sex once more and she readied herself for another round of torment.
Elisha wasn’t kind. His fingers set up a quick, brutal tempo, and his mouth latched onto he
r clit, trapping it so his tongue could lave it with vigor. Tears streamed from the corners of Naya’s eyes as she fought her own will that shouted she had to seize power, she had to insist he let her come. Once more she was closing in on that starburst of mind-stealing delight, and her body strained, reaching … reaching…
Elisha backed off once more. Naya groaned. She’d been so close, and he’d taken her to the brink. She knew he’d do it again and again and again until she was insane from need. And she’d let him too, because she wanted to give him everything. Even her hard won control.
Good girl. Now show me, his thoughts whispered in her head.
Something inside Naya relaxed at that moment. As Elisha drove his fingers within once more and his mouth did the terrible, lovely things that made her want to scream, Naya lay trembling, but she no longer struggled to control herself. As tentacles of violent pleasure curled around her insides, she whimpered in reaction. But the part of her that wanted to seize power was quiet, subsumed by love. She would give Elisha everything, including control if that was what he wanted.
Only in this. Only to provide you the greatest pleasure, my sweet Naya. You are your own woman, and I would never take your power otherwise.
He stopped the luscious torture. Elisha crawled to crouch over her. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you for giving me your trust.”
“Always,” Naya answered, releasing her legs so she could wrap them and her arms around him and pull him down so that their bodies melded together. “Now end our agony and make love to me.”
With pleasure.
She was so swollen that he had to work to enter despite the copious juices flowing from her. Naya nearly swooned to feel the doubled pleasure: him slowly piercing her womanhood, filling her delightfully, plus the sensation of how tight he found her, clenching forcefully on his eager flesh. Elisha’s mouth opened wide and his head reared back.
“Naya!” he groaned, overcome by their shared ecstasy.
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