13. The Warrior

How beautiful my mate is when she’s angry. Her ire burns within her very core, and for a moment, I think she will hit me as I smile at my little joke.

The sun doesn’t kill us.

It didn’t technically lie, I merely didn’t correct her assumption. I need her to realize that she wants to live. Maybe kissing her helped her remember that a little, along with using the bond we share, so she could experience all the positive things I feel instead of just her pain. I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, waiting for what I know is coming. I won’t be the first to break the silence.

SMACK!

She slapped me.

She actually slapped me.

I sputter then rub my jaw where she hit me. Okay, I deserved that.

“You’re an asshole,” snarls my one true love, looking dangerous with her face, throat, and clothes still covered in blood.

“I am,” I agree. That seems to take her by surprise.

“You let me think we would die.” The tone of her voice makes me worry I’ll get slapped again. I keep a close eye on her hands.

“I never said the sun would kill us, Wren. You did. I just didn’t say otherwise.”

“Lie of omission.” The amount of venom in her words could rival a black widow. She turns her back on me.

My joke was a little mean.

I place my hands on her shoulders and feel her relax. I kiss the top of her head and rest my cheek there. “You wanted to die so badly for something you had no control over. My want for you to live wasn’t going to be enough. You had to want to live.” I play with her hair, running my fingers through it, admiring how the copper shines in the sun. “For what it’s worth, I want forever with you, little bird.”

She turns back to me, letting me hold her. The pressure of her hands running up my chest is delightful. No more keeping my distance. Never again. I can tell her sorrow is still great. If I could take this pain from her, I would. I would take it a thousand times to make her happy again.

“He was awful to me in the end.” She mumbles. “Why do I feel so bad?”

Ah, the age-old conundrum we vampires face when we take life from a human without giving immortality in return. “Because you are still a good person. Wren, when we leave our humanity behind, we only leave the part that makes up our frail bodies, our inevitable deaths. Everything else, our goodness, our passions, we carry them with us to our new life. Your soul is still yours.”

I pull back from her, tilting her head so she looks me in the eyes. “Do you believe me?” I ask. It is the truth, but none of it matters unless she believes it for herself. Spencer’s death had been accidental. I don’t think Wren meant to do it on any level, even as awful as he had been. If she had been merged with herself and had her memories before she found him, he would still be alive.

“Yes.” Her voice is firm. I pull her into a kiss, tasting her. She kisses me back with ferocity and fire.

There she is.

I grip the back of her neck, holding her to me—my other hand rests on her hip. I open my mind and let my emotions pour through the bond. With time, she can learn to control it herself and block me if she wants to. It is challenging but not impossible. I’m surprised I didn’t slip up more and get caught with the secret.

It helps that the bond is useful too. When she was consumed with fear at the lake, I could sense it before she rose from the depths and I was able to be there to meet her. When she was angry with me in the cave while wanting me at the same time, I could feel her frustration with me. Now, I can feel the love she has in her heart. She accepts the idea of being my mate without much question, having felt the same pull I do.

To cement the bond, I expose every part of myself to her. Nothing is held back. Every longing feeling I’ve had, every dark thought, my self-doubt. The way I crave to be near her. Each time I almost let slip that I heard something from her not meant for me. How I relish every touch, and how it pains me to stop. Every intimate moment between us that I worship in my memory.

Wren pours herself right back into me.

Her unrelenting joy with her family, and the pride she takes in her work. The terror she felt with Spencer, the sense of safety she feels with me. Her mind is naked before me. Insecurities, sadness, joy, and passion. She gives me the times she touched herself, imagining it was me. She gives me her darkest fantasies. I devour them all. Every single piece of her being is mine.

After all this waiting, I want to rip her clothes off and take her here in the woods.

Grinding my hips against her, I let her feel what she does to me. She gasps, releasing my lips, and I attack her throat the way she likes. Rewarded with a pleasure-filled moan, I send my hands searching her body. Igniting it, awakening her desire as only I can. And I feel it flood from her. Heat and wanting, she’d have surrendered to me ages ago if I had let it get this far. But no, I made her wait.

She once thought I was stupid for denying her my touch.

I have to agree.

I tear her shirt from her, shredding the fabric to expose her chest. Her perky little breasts are just enough to grab, so nothing goes to waste. I want to be on top of her, consume her, and utterly lose myself and my sanity in her. Roughly I push her down to the forest floor, trusting that her vampire skin will protect her from any discomfort. Taking a pink bud in my mouth, I suckle her, sending her back arching as she writhes under my touch. Her hands clutch me like I’m not close enough.

Yes, embrace yourself.

Embrace me.

I release her nipple with a pop and pull my shirt over my head. My lips are back on her, kissing her rib cage, and her abdomen. Lower and lower toward my goal. Jeans block me, but it doesn”t matter. I pull them from her and toss them to join the growing pile of clothing. Grasping her by the ankle, I plant soft kisses back up her body. Her ankle, her knee, her thigh.

I let my breath caress her, earning a whimper of desire. She is almost glistening with how much she wants me. When I look at her face, her eyes are practically begging me. I lower my mouth to give her what she wants. I lick in a broad stroke from the bottom of her opening to her clit. Oh, how she moans with anticipation. I use my tongue to penetrate her, lapping her up. I can feel her body respond, her muscles tense. She is mine, all mine. I return to the tiny little bud, capable of so much pleasure. Coaxing it out, drawing circles around it, luring it like a snake charmer to the most delectable cobra.

Her hands hold my head, keeping me here, her hips sway into me. I grasp her waist and force her to remain still. I am in control right now, and she will have to lie there and bear it. I tease her with my tongue, sucking on her intermittently. Her breaths are growing labored and desperate. My lips seal around her, massaging her clit as she cries out to the heavens. I gently nip at it before soothing it with my tongue. Wide strokes undulating against her.

“Oh, Oz,” she sighs, her legs shaking.

I swirl my tongue around her again, flicking her clit and then pulling it into my mouth. This time, she breaks for me. A guttural cry sounds as she comes against my face. Her sweet cunt twitches and pulses. Now is the time to make her scream.

Kicking my pants off, I stroke my length against her wet slit, coating myself in her juices. I press against her, making her shudder and her legs twitch. I smile at my beautiful angel beneath me, waiting for me, and I want nothing more than to be inside her. Positioning myself at her entrance, I press forward, slowly, gently, moaning into her neck as her warmth envelopes me.

“Wren,” I whisper to her, her name a prayer to the fates. “I will keep you forever.” I pull back and then press into her. “I will never let the world separate us.” She wraps her legs around my hips as I make my vow. Reaching deeper with my next stroke, my mind is swimming. The bond is locking us together, we are so close, one more step. “I would tear down entire cities to get to you.” Another thrust, the entirety of my length now inside her. “Because I love you.”

She clutches me to her, crying out, unable to speak. She doesn’t need to. Her mind is wide open to me. I feel her love and her devotion to me. She feels safe and cared for. That is all I’ve ever wanted for her. I can sense what brings her pleasure, which movements are just right. I sink my teeth into her neck, pulling her blood into me even as I fill her with myself. Almost simultaneously, I feel her do the same to my shoulder.

God, it feels good.

Wren’s entire soul meets mine. I am everywhere inside of her. Her mind, her body, and her spirit. I can feel her within me, meeting me with passion and trust. She takes me into her, tasting me, enjoying me while I fill her thirst and cunt with my essence.

I slide in and out easily, allowing me to go as deep as I can within her. Filling her as the tip of my cock teases her womb. I stretch her, her muscles tightening on me as she takes in my entire length. Her cries are growing. She is nearing her peak again. I increase my pace, being sure to thrust just as deep and far, and she releases my shoulder. I pull back to look at her. My blood coats her lips, and she is beautiful. Harder now, oh yes, much harder. I can feel her tensing around me, and her hips rock back against mine. Closer…closer.

Her orgasm breaks over her, causing her muscles to pulse around me. The sensation is too much to bear. With a twitch and a final groaning thrust, I release myself inside her. Hot ropes of cum shoot deep inside Wren at her core. Feeling her tight walls pulling, tugging at my release to make it all her own.

I rest my head on her chest, leaving gentle kisses on her sternum as we bask in the afterglow. Neither one of us says anything. Neither of us has to. I have to practically force myself to leave her warmth. I lay on the ground beside her, holding her, kissing her, whispering my love for her. I let myself use our bond to get a better look into her feelings, searching everywhere I can for even a hint of sorrow, and I find none.

Bond acknowledged by us both, followed by our consummation. We have sealed it. Wren has accepted me, and I have long since taken her as mine. Only the unlikely event of our deaths can separate us now.

Morning moves on, and we laze in the sunshine, exhausted, but there’s nowhere I’d rather be than beside her. Wren is lying on her stomach, enjoying her shadow and periodically smiling at the sky. I realize I don’t know much about my beloved, since she hadn’t known much about herself. Something I intend to rectify as soon as possible, though I am following her lead.

How jarring it must be to have nothing but the here and now in your head and suddenly be gifted back years of memories. Even more so to prepare for death, only to find out the one thing you thought could steal your life is something you could enjoy. Something you miss from your human life. I am mesmerized by her grace. The way her body curves, the way her mind works. The depths of her emotions are boundless.

For now, I settle myself with tracing her freckles, finding matches to the constellations, imagery, the odd letter or two. I want to kiss each and every one from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. Now there’s an idea.

“What other preconceived, mainstream media bullshit about vampires is wrong?” Her question reminds me there is much about her new life that she doesn’t know or understand. I have been so enamored with her that I never thought to offer. And she has been so focused on getting her memories back that she never asked.

I chuckle and run a finger down her back, enjoying how it makes her shiver. “Most of it is wrong. You already know about reflections and the sun. You just learned that we don’t need an invitation to enter homes. Oh, crosses and holy symbols are just decoration.” She frowns as she ponders this information over in her head.

“Garlic?”

“Is delicious.”

“So we can eat?”

“In a manner of speaking. It doesn’t digest, so you need to make it come back up if you do. Great for fitting in, not so great as a regular practice.” She grimaces at the thought, and I laugh softly.

“What about drinking?”

“Liquids are fine. They process through like blood, but it takes a lot more alcohol to get a vampire drunk.” Is she trying to stump me? Or find something to cling to that the stories got right.

“Traveling over moving water?”

“Many of us enjoy boating.” Wren nods, taking a moment to think of her next one. Rolling over onto her back, she let the sun kiss the skin of her perfect breasts. I join the light in this venture. I love the way her skin pebbles as my lips whisper against her.

“Wooden stake to the heart?”

“Is like shooting a rhino with a pistol. It just pisses us off.” I growl and playfully nip at her stomach. Laughter fills the air. She likes that one. I let my head stay there, enjoying the feel of her fingers against my scalp as she runs them through my hair. She seems to be far away. I don’t want to pry. The bond isn’t supposed to be used to spy. It is just meant to give us a better understanding of our partners. We lay in silence for a few minutes.

“Can we die?”

I stare at her features. They seem serene, uncaring, like this is just an average question, like I hadn’t found her on the brink of self-destruction a mere hour before. “Yes.” My voice is flat, volunteering no further information.

She looks down at me and takes in my expression. “It’s genuine curiosity, my love. I promise you, I don’t want to cut eternity short.” Sighing, she strokes the planes of my face, running her fingers along my brow and my cheekbones. When she runs her fingers across my lips, I kiss them.

“I was panicking and not thinking straight about the whole thing.” Her voice is soft, like a whisper on the breeze. But I can hear her perfectly. “I’ve always been a rather emotional person, and I tend to go to one extreme or the other,” she confesses, her fingers tracing my jaw now where she had struck me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you.”

I am surprised she feels it necessary to apologize. It wasn’t like it physically hurt me. “I know that you had a lot drop on you at once. Your memory, the accident, discovering the mate bond, and then learning I had led you on about the sun being destructive. You are a new vampire, which sometimes makes your feelings a little harder to control. I forgive you wholeheartedly, and do not punish yourself for it.”

“Please don’t excuse what I did.”

“But-”

“But, nothing.” The irritation in her voice is impossible to miss. “People don’t hit their partners.”

“I don’t mind a little slapping around as foreplay,” I smirk at her. She can knock me around if she wants.

“I’m serious, Oz,” I love how her eyes roll at me. I want to irritate her for the rest of time.

“I know you are,” I reach out a hand and caress her face, turning serious now. “I also know it will not happen again. I forgive you.”

She seems to accept my willingness to give her a pass on the whole slapping thing. I’ll have to remember to bring up the spicier foreplay options another time. Being vampires and having the ability to heal, attempting to inflict pain can be pretty enjoyable. For now, though, I resign myself to answering her question in its entirety.

“Beheading and setting fire is the only way I’ve known one of our kind to be eliminated.” I shudder at the thought of her finding a way to remove her head and fall into a pit of flames. I push the image from my mind. If the sun was deadly, I’d have lost her. When I turned her on the lakeside, I vowed then that I would never lose her.

“Seems a little over dramatic to me,” her voice is filled with sarcasm. I watch her as she studies the sky. “I’m also sorry for scaring you.”

I reach out to her, placing a soft kiss on her shoulder. “I’m sorry I couldn’t prevent what happened to Spencer.” A dark cloud crosses her face, but it leaves quickly.

“It’s not your fault. He broke through the compulsion and caught me off guard. He started kissing me and touching me.” My jealousy flares and I am glad that Spencer is dead. “He seemed so happy to see me. And then… then he said something similar to what he said at the store.” An eyebrow arches, and I wait for more information. “He called you a townie.” I couldn’t suppress the smile. He’d been so intimidated by my proximity to Wren that he could only insult me by making me seem less cultured. So childish, so insecure.

“My memory came back with such force I felt like I was in the car again. I had been so upset, and he had been so angry with me. I don’t think anything could’ve stopped me.” My mouth forms a thin line. Am I going to get the insight I so crave? “I was with him for two years and thought we would get married. The bastard couldn’t even be brave enough to break up with me like a decent human. Then again, he was never much of a decent human being.”

My face must’ve given away my confusion.

“We were supposed to come here together to reconnect, though I don’t know why I wanted to so badly. I rented a cabin for the weekend as a last-ditch effort to save us. We’d been struggling for quite some time, and he took the first opportunity to call it quits on us. To bully me into taking the blame, so I would beg him to stay. He knew he was scaring me too, and it didn’t matter. I didn’t matter to him, and I hadn’t for a while.” The shadowy cloud of emotion returns and darkens her expression.

“What he was doing in the car, he wasn’t stupid. He did it intentionally to terrify me. For so long, it felt like I was always crying. He had a temper, and more than once, it got physical.” She reaches out and touches my face where she’d struck me. “I’ve never been the one to hit first, and I don’t like how it feels.”

Her voice is small and far away. I’ve already forgiven it, but now I understand why it is such a big deal to her. I took the hand against my face and gently nuzzle it with my cheek, planting soft kisses on her skin.

“I’m sorry he did that to you,” I am supremely glad he is dead. If I had found all this out before, I probably would’ve killed him. “While I am glad it brought you to me, I hate what happened after you left the store. At least it gave us this opportunity to be together.” What would”ve become of us if she had stayed with me, stayed within our chance encounter filled with such electricity and passion? Would I have taken Spencer’s place at the cabin, saving her from her abandonment? Would I have made love to her there? Would I have been able to turn her at her will instead of in a fit of desperation? Would her mind still be separated and broken?

“I’m happy that however it happened, I’m here. I feel more connected to you than I’ve ever felt with anyone.” She kisses me before sitting up. Raising her arms to the sky, she stretches and yawns.

“So what, does the sun just make us sleepy?”

I smile, sitting up with her. “That, and the longer we are out in it, the sun leeches our abilities until we become about as weak as humans. Some of us live full lives pretending to be human for a time. Though, most of us prefer the night and the benefits that come with it.”

Accepting my answers, Wren doesn’t have any more questions for me. “I’m ready to get some rest,” she sounds more like herself. I’m sure her conscience still scolds her for Spencer, but it appears she isn’t going to blame herself for what had been instinct.

Satisfied that we’ve worked through the necessary bits, I help her to her feet. “Then let’s go home.” I will give her anything she ever wants. Everything she ever asks for. She is mine to care for, and I intend on doing a damn good job.