A Marked Man

by Kira Stone

  “Teake, to you I offer the right to choose my new name.”

  The witch’s green eyes widened with surprise… and something else Sebastian couldn’t quite put his finger to. “That honor belongs to your teacher.”

  “Davina conceded that right to a person of my choosing. I choose you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Why me?”

  Sheesh! He hadn’t expected it to be this hard to get Teake’s consent. The man was going to spend the rest of his life hearing and saying Sebastian’s new name. Why wouldn’t he want to choose that name for himself? “Because no one has taught me as much about what it means to be human, or a witch, as you have.”

  That strange look crossed his face again, and Seb longed to delve into his thoughts. But in doing so he’d be open to Teake’s mental probing as well, and it wasn’t time to share everything just yet.

  A little warning before you spring these kinds of questions on me would be nice, Teake broadcasted to him.

  There are reasons I had to do it this way.

  I would be very interested to hear them.

  Just a little while longer. Have patience with me.

  “I accept,” Teake finally answered after another long pause. “For your prickly nature, and your ability to defend yourself against most forms of attack. For your willingness to stand between a more vulnerable being and danger. For your sharp wit and penchant for drawing blood, I would call you Thorne.”

  Thorne. It was a name he could live with. One his soulmate had picked for him. Life didn’t get much better.

  “Thank you.” He returned to the altar to close the ritual.

  Herbs cut with Forest’s athame burned in the small brazier, causing a heady smoke to rise. He symbolically cut the smoke by smothering it with his hand, then let the fire burn again with renewed life. Though he’d been warned to expect a change in the air at this point in the ceremony, he was ill prepared for the surge of bright, positive energy that suffused his being. Given such a strong reaction, there was no longer any doubt in his mind this was meant to be.

  “Sebastian is no more. From this day forward, I shall be known as Thorne.”

  Chapter 4 -- The Mark

  The usual celebration after a Naming ceremony took place in a newly constructed barn outside Lord Allen’s farmhouse. All of Seb’s old friends, with the exception of Kassian who seemed to think such a gathering was beneath him, attended. A few even went through the trouble of questioning the few local witches to bring appropriate gifts. Still, like everything else about Sebastian -- no, he was Thorne now -- it pushed the edges of tradition.

  Vampires at a Naming. By Gaia’s knees, times were definitely changing.

  Teake’s own gift for Thorne -- one to celebrate their love, not Thorne’s new life -- remained in his pocket. Now certainly wasn’t the time to give it to him. The Naming was one of the most significant rituals in a witch’s life. Teake didn’t want to do anything that might detract from that special occasion.

  But if not tonight, then when? He wanted to celebrate the love he shared with Thorne. Valentine’s Day seemed like the perfect opportunity. But Thorne had made other plans, plans he’d hidden from him until the last possible moment. Plans he’d apparently felt comfortable sharing with his friends, but not with the person closest to him. Becoming a full vampire again wasn’t what Thorne had in mind as he’d once thought, but Teake couldn’t fool himself into believing his lover had no other purpose for completing the naming ceremony than simply dedicating his life to Gaia.

  He clung to the shadowy edges of the crowd throughout the party, observing his lover who was now dressed in a splendid sapphire blue tunic with darker linen pants and wondering what other surprises the former vampire had in mind.

  He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know the answer.

  As the guests danced well on toward midnight, Thorne drew him aside. “Are you mad?”

  Since he’d made little effort to hide the emotions swirling through him since the end of the ceremony, there was no point in being evasive. “Hurt, confused.” He reached out and stroked the downy hair growing along his lover’s cheek because he just couldn’t resist the urge to touch him any longer. “Proud.”

  Thorne’s sensuous lips stretched into a slow grin. “Think we can bail?”

  Teake shrugged. “It’s your party. What did you have in mind?”

  “I have another surprise for you.”

  Oh, boy. What could it be? Teake decided he no longer cared to guess. The Naming was a way of putting one’s former life completely behind him and taking on a new identity as a witch. Teake was part of Sebastian’s former life. Their shared soul would require at least occasional contact, but Teake feared he was about to lose Sebastian for good.

  Thorne slid his hand into Teake’s, interlocking their fingers. “Come back to our room with me.”

  It was only when he looked deep into Thorne’s eyes that he saw the nervousness he was trying so hard to hide. Whatever it was he had to say, it was important to him. Teake put a lid on his simmering hurt and drummed up a smile. “Sure.”

  Forest opened the back door to the farmhouse for them. Teake was growing accustomed to the gentle brush of his former partner’s consciousness over his psychic skin, though it still made him uncomfortable. He didn’t like to be reminded of his failures, particularly not his romantic ones and certainly not tonight when he was already feeling uneasy.

  What is this about? he asked Forest, knowing that, as the protective spirit of the house, Thorne’s plans had to be approved by him.

  Nothing you can’t handle. Amusement trickling down the mental link.

  Teake wasn’t big on surprises. Life happened much more smoothly when he could anticipate problems and head them off before they started. Even the best of surprises usually came with strings.

  With great effort, for Forest’s sake, he leashed his apprehension. He sensed what was about to happen was fated, so he might as well face it like a man. Besides, he should have known sharing his life with this hybrid man-vampire would mean letting go of his safety net.

  He just prayed it didn’t mean letting go of Thorne too.

  Thorne led him into the guest room and closed the door behind them, then sealed it with a short, magical command. Teake raised his eyebrows. Forest made sure nothing would interrupt them here, or would at least give them adequate warning about it. The extra precaution was unnecessary.

  Thorne brushed aside the unasked question. “You’ll understand everything soon, I promise.”

  He approached a small table that had been placed underneath the large window overlooking the rolling countryside. Teake hadn’t noticed it before. It seemed to be an altar to Gaia, with all the ritual elements laid out upon it. Since when had Thorne learned ritual spellcasting? And why was he using Forest’s possessions to do it -- items he thought long gone, destroyed in the Blood Oath that had elevated Rainer Allen to Vampire Lord and cost a bright young witch his life?

  From his position by the bed, he asked, “What do you need of me?”

  Thorne cast a long glance over his bare shoulder. “Everything.”

  It was the kind of look that caused Teake’s toes to curl, his heart to beat at double the pace. His cock began to fill with hot, pulsing blood. Unfortunately his temper was also rising. Hadn’t he been jerked around long enough with all these non-answers and secrets?

  “Answers, Thorne. I need real answers and I need them now.” The questions spun through his mind faster than he could give them voice. Why would you have the Naming here instead of at Green Mountain, your new home? How did you get Forest’s belongings? Why did you hide your plans from me? Are you going to leave me?

  He hadn’t planned on allowing the last one to slip through with the others. But it was the one that mattered most to him. The one he couldn’t stand not having an answer to.

  Thorne’s face paled a fraction with each question. When he got to the last, he shook his
head in emphatic denial. “No, never.”

  “Then why…” Teake gestured vaguely at their surroundings. “Why here? Why the secrecy?”

  Wordlessly he held out a slim piece of wood. Teake reached for it and read the runes carved into its surface. His heart squeezed painfully inside his chest. “This is a flesh scribe, spelled for a Marking.”

  “That’s right.”

  More permanent than any civil or religious union, it marked one living creature as irrevocably belonging to another, mind, body and soul. Primarily used between couples who specialized in sex magic, it signified the highest level of commitment possible between two witches. The person who marked him would have totally unguarded access into Thorne’s mind. Every time someone touched his body, that person would know. It was even more intimate than their current bond. Thorne, who so valued his independence, probably didn’t understand what he’d be giving up if he went through with this ritual.

  “You want to be Marked?”

  “Yeah.”

  “By who?”

  “By you.” Thorne lowered all his mental barriers. His feelings rushed over Teake in a tidal wave of thought. He could barely keep up as Thorne continued. “I always wanted to be a witch. I knew that’s what I was born to be. Kassian took that life away from me.” Thorne stepped closer, took Teake’s free hand and placed it over the heart that beat in time with his own. “You gave it back. Seems only fair to put your Mark on me, make it official, no?”

  “That’s gratitude, not unconditional love,” Teake protested.

  Thorne shook his head, his blond hair shimmering in the romantic glow that literally poured off him. “It’s more than that, but I suck at words. I’d rather let action speak for me.”

  Teake wanted to believe what Thorne was saying was true. He really did. But he couldn’t quite shake all his doubt. This wild, funny, headstrong, creative, frustrating beautiful creature wanted to belong to him for eternity? To wear his Mark for all to see? He’d done nothing to deserve that honor.

  “You know the Mark will only work if Gaia believes this is what I truly want. Why not let her decide if I know what’s best for me?”

  Because he didn’t want to try and fail. Thorne meant too much to him. He didn’t want him to be hurt if Gaia decided his lingering vampire DNA made such a bonding impossible. Thorne had been put through enough in his life. He’d do anything to spare his lover more pain.

  He slid his hand into the pocket of his linen pants and extracted the gift he’d kept there. He turned Thorne’s palm up and placed the velvet bag in it. “Will this do instead?”

  Thorne extracted the smooth disc and ran his fingers over it. The stylized tree -- Teake’s magical symbol -- had been etched into the surface of his namesake wood, then garnet fragments, the color of fresh blood, had been set into the grooves. All the work had been done by hand, his hand. Even as Thorne studied it, Teake could feel the telltale tickle at the back of his neck that told him someone was touching his magic.

  “I haven’t seen one of these before. It looks like your symbol, the one carved into your witch’s armoire.”

  “It is. It’s a key, a magical one, to everything I own. You can open the door to my home, my armoire, my spell book. With this, there is nothing in my life I can withhold from you.”

  “Damn you,” Thorne said softly, not even willing to look at him. “Damn you.”

  Chapter 5 -- The Claiming

  It was a poor reaction, but Thorne -- already the name fit him like a well tailored jacket, one he slipped on easily -- couldn’t get past the feeling of being trumped again.

  Teake stared at him blankly. “Huh?”

  “Your gift. It’s perfect. It’s exactly what I wanted to give you on Valentine’s Day. My life. My name. My body. Everything I had. What you offer is so much more. There’s no way I can match it.”

  When Thorne would have turned away, Teake held him with a restraining hand on his arm. “I don’t understand. I thought being able to share my magical items would make you happy.”

  “It does. It’s just…” The energy buzz he’d been carrying around since the Naming now sizzled. He was raking in raw energy with every frustrated breath. He thought he might explode if he didn’t discharge some of it soon. “You were a witch before you met me. If I hadn’t come along, you’d still be a witch, a whole person.”

  “But you did come along,” Teake reminded him gently. “And I wouldn’t change that for the world.”

  “Nor would I. That’s just my point. I’ve taken half of everything you have and given you nothing in return. I wanted to make up for that by giving my body to you. It’s the only thing I own, the only thing I can give you. Now, that seems rather… inadequate.” How could his body -- part human, part witch, part vamp -- compare to the magical wonders Teake had just given him access to? It couldn’t, plain and simple.

  “Thorne?”

  “Yeah?”

  His head came up to see Teake standing in the middle of the rug at the end of the bed. His body glowed with the same raw power flowing through him. In his hands, he still clenched the wooden rod capable of leaving a permanent Mark on Thorne’s skin. He looked so beautiful, his long, oaken hair sexily disarranged, wearing a green tunic that set off his bronze skin and reflected the pure moss color of his eyes. Thorne wanted desperately to throw himself at the man and fuck him into forgetting about this whole crazy idea, so they could start over with a loving Valentine’s celebration and not this bickering.

  “If being Marked is what you’re after, why did we have to come here? Why go through the Naming?”

  “Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”

  “Thorne? Come here.”

  There was a hardness in the tone Thorne rarely heard from Teake. He was either pissed or very determined, or both.

  Reluctantly, he crossed the room to stand before his lover. “What?”

  “The Naming. Why’d you do it?”

  “Sequoia… I told you about my lessons with her right?”

  “Some, but apparently not all, yes.”

  Thorne tried to hold back his blush at being caught lying by omission. “She taught me the Marking ritual, but she wasn’t sure it would stick to my vampire skin. I couldn’t go back and undo the changes Kassian triggered in me, but I thought if I gave up my vampire past, maybe it would make me human enough for the ritual.”

  “Then you know? You know it might fail and yet you want to go through with it anyway?”

  “If Gaia cares more about what’s in my heart than my DNA, it’ll work,” Thorne replied fiercely. It had to. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life trying to make up for his deficiencies. If he were Marked by Teake, he’d feel like he was contributing to their relationship. He would be giving something back. Surely Gaia knew how important that was to him?

  “Then let’s do it.”

  Thorne found his sudden capitulation suspicious. “Don’t do this just to humor me.”

  “Are you kidding?” Teake actually laughed. “I thought I was going to lose you. I thought you were saying goodbye to your old life, to me, so you could spend your future with someone else.”

  Thorne was stunned. “You think that’s really possible?”

  “Sure. You’re becoming more and more human every day. We’ll always share a special connection, but you’re gaining more independence from me all the time.”

  “No, I meant you think I’d actually choose someone else as a lover, a life mate?”

  A wry grin quirked Teake’s lips. “There’s nothing special about me. I’m just another witch at Green Mountain.”

  There was a sensation of falling and then a palpable thud as he landed in a soft, warm place, and Thorne knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he’d just fallen irrevocably in love. “Teake, even if I had the rest of the world to choose from, I’d still choose you. You mean everything to me. You are my world.”

  Teake jerked their bodies together in a bear hug so tight it was just shy of cracking his ribs. Thorne threade
d his fingers through Teake’s hair as the witch shuddered with strong emotion he couldn’t quite contain. Their auras blended together in a white blaze of light, and Thorne knew a sense of peace he’d never felt before.

  Let’s do this thing, Teake. Mark me, make me yours forever.

  Yes. Mine!

  Despite the agreement, it took several long seconds before Teake was willing to physically let him go. Thorne waited patiently, then gently eased the stick of wood from Teake’s grasp as he stepped back. “Get naked while I begin the ritual.”

  He turned toward the small altar, the flesh scribe in one hand and Teake’s gift in the other. Though it wasn’t part of the spell, Thorne knew somehow they belonged together, just as he and Teake did. He wrapped the leather cord around the end of the stick until there was barely enough slack for the spirit key to dangle down the shaft of the scribe.

  Fresh herbs -- ones he had shipped here for this purpose -- were in a box beside the altar. He extracted them and added them to the brazier. This burning mixture tickled his nose, and he had to fight back a sneeze. It wouldn’t do to spray the critical ashes all over the walls.

  Behind him, he could hear Teake undressing. It didn’t take more than that -- usually less -- to generate the craving low in his gut for the witch’s intimate touch.

  And then suddenly that touch was on his ass, palming his flesh. “Does this help?”

  Thorne wiggled against him. “No.”

  Teake slid his hands over the waistband and massaged his hips with his strong fingers. “How about this?”

  Thorne groaned with frustration. “No, dammit. Cut it out. I can’t concentrate when you do that and I don’t want to mess this up.”

  Lips skated over the exposed curve of his neck, sending shivers down his spine. “Sequoia didn’t teach you this?”

  “I didn’t really think I needed lessons in love-making.”

  “This is sex magic… very strong sex magic. Being aroused while performing the steps will increase the chances of success.”