Chapter 15

Chapter 15

There I was, once again, on the back of a horse with a vampire. I couldn’t stop him once he had his mind set on this mission. I think Altyr felt bad for turning me into a hollow and this was his attempt at trying to smooth it over. We were riding through the forest in a sprint. Everything was moving by much quicker on the back of a horse. We weren’t being chased by anything and I knew to keep my mouth shut this time to not attract any hollows.

Altyr’s chest was pressed into my back, holding me firmly in the saddle. He had adjusted it to sit further back so we both could fit without hurting the creature. He was much larger than me and my slight frame nestled perfectly in front of him. His hips were cradling my body. That pulsating connection, the deep pounding heat that washed over me regularly was making it hard to focus. His legs holding me in place, his hips pressed against me, were causing my cheeks to flush in heat. Both his arms were around my sides, holding on to the reins as our steed ran beneath us.

The sprinting of the horse only happened briefly at different intervals. He explained we couldn’t run the beast too often, our combined weight made it more difficult for the creature. We were able to make it quite far on the horse compared to our walking we did the first time. A comfortable silence hung in the air between us. I didn’t want to say anything to attract hollows, but I also didn’t know what to say.

He went from telling me I was a horrible human, to carrying me off to that cursed grove for the Night Flower. The venerability he had shown me that evening about his former lover, about his coven, it wasn’t something I had expected. When he said he could understand my hatred for the Lightbringers, I didn’t realize he had more of a reason to hate them than I had. At least it was only my mother they took, not my entire city, leaving me as the sole survivor.

I couldn’t imagine the pain he put himself through and for how long. He never elaborated on how long of time had passed since the incident, but from the state of the castle, it had to have been quite a long time. Had Orrin been coming to rescue him from his loneliness for decades? How long had it been since he had told anyone about what had happened?

So many questions were running through my mind. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to lose everyone I knew in one fell swoop, all because I went out without them. Who knew what prompted the Lightbringers to attack then or how they knew he wasn’t there, but they had and they had destroyed his entire life in an instant.

The horse slowed down, and I felt his hand drop to my side, his fingers putting pressure on my hips. Caressing it slowly, he caused the heat inside me to blossom once more and I could feel a new tension rise. This was my fault, I had teased him in the bed and now he felt comfortable enough to do it to me so directly. There was something about his chest being pressed into me, holding me there with his arms keeping me in place, that was making my insides crawl in a desire I hadn’t known I would have for him.

His fingers danced up and down my hip, rubbing down the edge of my thigh. My breath came more rapidly as my senses got more and more aroused. The connection we had was hot and burning fiercely in my chest. The hollowed feeling was almost nonexistent. I knew that he knew what he was doing to me. He had to know. If I could see his face, I’m sure he’d have that ridiculous smirk coloring his expression. His hand stopped mid-motion and held me in place.

Unsure of his next move, my breath caught as I focused on that hand. I felt him lean over and say to me, “We have arrived, my lady.”

The breath I had been holding escaped my lips as I finally noticed my surroundings. We were indeed there; we were in the grove. This meant we weren’t too terribly far from my city. So close to Bazak and yet so far. Right under his nose and he had no idea.

He jumped off and held his hand out for me to take as I slid down the mare myself. My legs were stiff and tired from being wrapped around the width of the horse, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. I tried my best to take wide steps and stretch my legs in as least awkward of a way as I could. Enticing, I needed to be enticing. I was confusing myself with the want to be enticing to this man and the want to hate him for everything he had done. We were even in the very place he had stolen my future from me and yet the pulsing heat in my chest was winning the battle tonight.

I looked around to see if I could find the Night Flower. There in the center of the glade was the patch of rare flowers, the same flowers that saved me from death. I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell him about the incident. As far as he knew, I just woke up, alive, because of the moon. Telling him about the magical property of the flower wasn’t ideal when I didn’t even understand anything about the flower myself.

Trusting him was difficult for me. Trusting anyone was difficult for me. I wanted to believe him, believe he would seek vengeance for me, but a deep part of me still felt like this secret needed to be kept. He was a vampire who worshiped and used darkness, telling him of a plant that has a glowing light magic might not be the best idea. I need to examine and learn more about it before I showed him the one thing that gave me access to any type of magic.

Pointing the batch out, he nodded and took my hand, leading me through the brush and wildflowers. My cheeks were flushed red as his hand delicately wrapped around mine. He was being a perfect gentleman, helping a lady through difficult terrain to get to a beautiful flower. He had promised we could take a specimen back with us for the garden.

His hand held onto mine firmly as he led me through the undergrowth. As we neared the Night Flower, his grip dropped, and he bent down to give the flowers a good look. Its insides were the color of fresh blood, I knew that now. The white that leaked out of the petals wasn’t just color, but also a magical light itself. Altyr wouldn’t know that, know that he was staring at life magic in physical form, but I did. I knew the power the simple, delicate flower truly had.

“I guess I never noticed it before,” he said as his hands brushed the blooming flower petals. “We come through here regularly when we hunt. I never bothered to stop and look at the flowers.”

The floral scent permeated through the grove, strong and intoxicating. It was a saccharine perfume. The moon was only half there that evening and there was no blood red coloring to decorate the petals. The lower light made the red interior of the flower hide in the darkness.

I took a few soft steps to move in toward Altyr, leaning down next to him to examine the flower. “There are stories of other flowers blooming in the evening, but none in the middle of the night. Not in our region anyway. It’s a rare beauty to find in these woods.”

In one quick motion, Altyr stood up, pulling me up with him. I let out a surprised whimper as he took hold of my body. I was in the arms of a vampire once again. The eyes that stared back at me were silver and glowing with a light of lust. His strong jaw, his chiseled cheekbones, and his sparkling eyes were all I could focus on. This beauty of a man was looking at me as if he wanted to devour me once again. Only this time it wasn’t my blood he was after.

He gave me that smirk again, and his sharpened fang showed. “A rare beauty indeed…”

His hand held mine once again, his other cradling my hip. This time we did do a small dance. He spun me around and I let out a surprised gasp. I felt him pull his hips closer to mine as he twirled me. Swinging me down, dipping me over, he was holding me outstretched, the air the only thing below me.

The look he gave me was that same intense hunger. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to eat me or… eat me. “Our first dance came to an unfortunate end. This time I will only bite you if you ask me.”

I let out a small giggle. “Our first dance was unfortunate because of your actions, not mine.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled myself up, closer to him. His arms instinctively pulled me in, bracing my body against his. He looked down his nose at me, his eyes lowering. Those silver eyes swirling with a darkness. That half smirk crawling across his face.

“Will you allow me to properly claim you as mine this time?”

“Claim me?”

He leaned in to my neck and I was prepared for him to sink his fangs in again, but instead, I felt his hot breath mere inches from skin.

Lightly dragging his nose up my neck, I could feel him nuzzle into me. He whispered, “do you consent to letting me claim you?”

Words were stuck in my throat. The only response I could muster was a soft whimper.

“I want to claim you here in this field. I want to claim you right here where I once discarded you. The need to rectify my mistake is eating me alive. I need you to grant me that wish. But what I truly need is for you to want me.”

My cheeks flushed hot, and I nodded.

“You need to say it.”

“I…” it was hard to admit that I wanted him. The man had tried to kill me. We hadn’t known each other long at all and he was asking me to let him claim me. The intense heat pulsating between us was roaring for me to commit to him. Everything in my head was screaming no, but my body couldn’t help but wiggle and writhe in his arms.

“I am yours to claim.” The moment I said it, a new wave of heat rippled across my body, filling me with an intoxicating sensation. It was bursting from that empty hole in my chest.

It ebbed just as his tongue flicked my ear, suckling on it, causing my body to shiver in pleasure instead. His hands roamed around trying to find something to grab onto, but the layered dress was in the way. I heard him grunt in frustration before the tear of fabric echoed across the quiet grove. The green velvet ripped, and he tossed pieces of it aside as he clawed his way to my body.

His fingers pressed into my thighs, pulling me toward him. He had a firm grasp on me as he lifted me up again, pulling my legs around his waist. He let my hips rest against his, putting me in the same compromising position he had in the alleyway to Luna Way so many nights ago. I had the urge to grind my hips into him, but his mouth found mine before my body could respond.

His lips devoured me, his tongue pressing in and finding mine. I let them perform their own dance. He was consuming me, eating every ounce of my lust and creating more. My skin was on fire from his touch, the connection was glowing between us. His hardness could be felt between our hips, teasing me. My hips took control, and I felt myself rolling them against him as he held me in the air.

I felt his smirk as he kissed me. He was awakening something in me I didn’t think existed. I let out a little gasp as he quickly set me on the ground, pressing me into the grass. His mouth explored my neck again, pausing against my artery that was pulsing away as my heart pounded in my chest. His fangs scratched the skin, but he moved on, away from the life pulsing under the surface.

Kissing slowly down my collarbone, he came across the still intact corset that was holding my chest in. Pulling himself up, he looked down at me sprawled beneath him. His hand brushed against my neck, down my chest, and directly on top of my breasts, his hands gripped the boned fabric. In a quick move, he ripped it off, my chest bouncing free.

That smile danced on his face as he looked down at my fully exposed body. I had an ounce of shame at the position he put me in, but that disappeared as his mouth fell upon my nipple, suckling at it as his hands massaged both breasts. He fondled them with care, mindful to not hurt me even though I knew he was capable of taking what he wanted.

Altyr was taking his time, making it just as enjoyable for me as it was for him. His mouth soon left my breast and moved down to my navel, kissing me as he went. He soon moved lower. Sparks of desire made my hips move in anticipation. That deep heated connection was welling below, begging for him to fully connect with me in the deepest way he could.

His lips grazed my skin, dancing their way across my body. Pulling my legs apart, exposing my heat to the cool evening air, he lowered himself to my slit, flicking and licking his way across me. He was a man possessed as he pulled my legs forward, letting my thighs wrap around his head and my calves drape over his broad shoulders. He was pulling me closer to his mouth as his tongue moved in circles, dancing around my clit.

That deep heat was rising, consuming me. Every motion he made, every movement of his tongue as he danced it across my skin made me let out soft moans of delight. He pushed his mouth into me, putting a firm, yet constant pressure against me. It was a rhythmic pulsing as he pushed my body higher than I thought it could go. I squirmed from the pleasure and was trying to pull away from the intensity of it, but his arms around my legs held me in place. His lips were wrapped around my clit as I felt the warmth pushing its way forward.

I closed my eyes as it overcame me. My hips pushed into him, pressing me further into his mouth. Flexing my legs, my toes, I couldn’t help but push myself into him. My body felt as if it was floating away, floating into him as pleasure rolled over my senses. I let out the breath I was holding as I fell back to the ground.

Altyr pulled his mouth away and kissed my inner thigh. I felt a sharp pain as he sank his teeth into it, giving me a small bite before pulling back. The nip of pain was brief, but a reminder of the beast I had released. My legs fell to the sides, exhausted at the intensity he just put me through.

He laughed as he pulled himself back up. That handsome smile dancing across his face again. “We’re not done yet, Sylvia. You still have more to give.”