14. ARA

The more I witness of Nash's power, the more I believed him to be part of the prophecy. He was a powerful witch, I don't think he knew his true strength at all. I'd tasted it, an addiction on the lips. I craved just another drop of his blood at all times, but I was old enough to have a single shred of self-control.

All of my staff knew to watch out for him and inform him of areas of the house if he asked. I'd stood in the doorway and watched him and Dana get close to the edge of the grass. Dana swiftly informed him about the boundary, it was a relief, I didn't want to rush out and baby him by telling him he had to stay here. He could go wherever he wanted, as long as he could protect himself.

"Master," Toril, the driver approached me. "Is there anything else you need picked up from town? I brought the groceries you requested."

"No, that's all, wait. Actually, a light source, preferably a lamp of sorts," I said. "Portable. I don't think there are any outlets downstairs."

He nodded. "I'll get on that."

"Thank you." I continued to watch Nash and Dana for another couple of minutes from the doorway. She went off into the forest and brought him back a large stick. He fascinated me. I wanted to be inside his brain to get a taste of what he was thinking.

Once Toril came back to me with a lantern, he demonstrated the functionality of the flickable switch on the underside. "These are from the emergency power kit. In case the lights go out."

It never ceased to surprise me with the lengths my staff went to in an effort to be prepared for any eventuality.

The archive room was a lot brighter with the lantern. I went through several books before Nash came down for me. I didn't discover anything, only self-loathing through my own words, and the floral way I used to write, it made me want to throw up. It reminded me I was far too self-involved and only caring about pleasures of the skin to concern myself with the world at large around me.

"The grass is all gone!" he said, raising his hands in a gesture. His fingers were covered in mud and he carried a musky smell. "We found a mower and it was hella rusted, but we managed to use it and now we're making a path and—"

"I see you're settling in well."

"As an aether witch, I was never allowed to play in the dirt," he said. "Next, I wanna play with fire or water, maybe even try some air magic." The was a giddy nervous laugh in the back of his throat. "It's fun not having negative people around you telling you not to do something."

"But is it safe?"

He shrugged. "It's just magic. It's all about intention and will. And I have it by the bucket." He tried to touch me and I grabbed him by the wrist.

"Not with those hands," I said.

"I tried to clean them," he said, turning them over to see his palms. "Oh. I've got a cut."

"Let's head back up. I want to see all this work you've done."

It was the middle of the afternoon. I didn't recall how long I'd been pouring myself over the books or speed reading through them, careful not to tear the thin pages. He had everyone out in the garden, hoeing up dirt and placing slabs of stone to create pathways.

"Everyone wanted to help," he said.

"Of course, they did. I told them to do what you asked," I said, turning back to see his smile turn to puzzled concern.

"That makes."

In the light, I could see the cut on his palm a little better. "Nash," I snapped. "You've got to be safe." Taking him by the wrist, I pulled him to the kitchen sink. "You're surrounded by vampires. You're lucky the smell of this dirt covered the smell of you." I washed his hands for him. "I know they're not blood lust thirsty, but you've got to be safe."

He looked at me with a pout. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'm just—I have you," I said, still keeping both his hands under the water as I added soap. "You're mine. We're bonded. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do with myself. I'm probably level this house with everyone in it."

He smiled again. "Have you drank today?" he asked. "Water. You've down downstairs all day. I don't want you going all stir crazy because you're breathing in old paper and dust particles."

I finished washing his hand and finally saw the extent of the cut. It wasn't as deep as I'd thought. It ran across his palm in one clean scratch. "I can take care of my needs," I told him. "The better question is, have you been drinking water?" Placing his palm to my lips, I gently kissed along the cut and once more, applying the tip of my tongue to it, like I was suturing it. All that remained when I pulled it away was a shiny silver line.

"Of course," he whispered. "Did you find anything interesting while you were downstairs?"

"Nothing, except how I could stretch a moment of my time into a thousand word essay," I grumbled. "It's really nothing interesting. Anyway, have you had any more issues? Nobody came down and said you fainted, so I assume you were ok."

Nash was a ball of sunshine and smiles. "Practicing what little I know of different elements had helped, almost like they're trying to find me through aether magic, but I'm not even there anymore."

I caressed his chin and cheek. "You should get your hat from the car. You're catching the sun."

"It's not even hot out."

"That doesn't mean the sun isn't there." I gave him a kiss. "So, what do you plan on growing out in this magical herb garden of yours?"

"Potion stuff," he said. "Which reminds me, I'm going to need a whole thing of glassware."

"And what do you intend on brewing?"

"Potions, duh." He laughed.

In my mind, I had an image of Nash around a comically large cauldron and getting his steps for the day by walking around it and stirring up whatever he was concocting. "I'll send someone out for it," I told him. "But I'd love to know what exactly you're going to make."

"Does it make you nervous?"

"No, I'm curious." And a slight bit nervous. Magic wasn't new to me. I'd known witches. The nerves came from the unknown about magic and witchcraft, anything was possible with it. I didn't like anything.

Nash went back out into the garden and told me all his plans. In a way, it felt like I'd rescued him. He thought twice about coming with me, but he didn't need to think more than that before deciding on coming with me.

"We're going to grow in rows," he said. "All the way across here, following the path."

"Exciting stuff!"

"And I've been drawing symbols in the dirt for fertility and growth," he said. "And they're staying in the dirt. Don't get any ideas."

"No ideas here," I called back to him. "And I told you to put your hat on."

The staff helping him didn't stop clearing to even appear like they were listening, but I saw them slightly smile as we exchanged words.

I went back through the house to the car parked out front. Not only did Nash look adorable in his black hat, but it also covered him up from getting burned. I placed it on my head, testing it out. I needed to cut my hair a little. I'd never really had longer hair before, it was a bit of a pain to manage, getting all curly and clumping together.

"Don't stretch my hat," he shouted at me from outside.

The complete peace of being with Nash was unmatched. I watched for a while as he tended the garden. It was quickly finished into a state he called an absolute dream. Dana was his chosen helper, probably because they were a similar age.

Kristoff was back in the kitchen, making toad in the hole with the sausages from that day. I still didn't have much hunger, I'd been getting my fill from the source. I could've eaten, but it would've been a choice of glutton rather than necessity.

If I'd had to file the day under any specific feeling, I'd say it was perfect. Except for the blip where Nash fainted, but we'd learned why that was. I suppose perfect was too high, since tomorrow was bound to be better.

Nash stayed outside for as long as possible. He was absolutely pitted in dirt. I nearly took a hose to him. It was in his hair, on all of his clothes, and yet he was smiling so big.

"Bath," I told him.

"I got a bit carried away."

"You're right about that. I will carry you away," I said. "Upstairs."

He held his arms up and I swooped in and grabbed him. I got dirty in the process, but it beat having him walk mud through the house, even if it would've been quickly taken care of.Once we were upstairs in the bathroom, I sat him in the empty tub.

"Need help undressing?"

"Earth magic is so renewing," he said, rubbing the dry dirt between his fingers.

"I think we might need the shower attachment," I said, knowing the water would become filth if he was made to sit in a bath. "I trust you to undress, put your clothes over the side of the tub, and I'll have someone clean them."

He laughed, laying back in the tub. "You should've joined me."

"There's no way I was getting in that mess," I told him. "Stay here."

The house was so old there wasn't any showers, but I could recall a certain plastic attachment that went over the faucet. It didn't take me long to uncover it inside a box in one of the other bathrooms. And when I return, Nash was sat in the tub, completely naked. The contrast of the dirt on his skin and where the clothes had been were funny. I stared, cocking my head to the side.

"Are you getting undressed too?"

"I don't want you to get distracted." I plugged the tube of the shower over the faucet and turned it on. It was a mixed tap where both hot and cold came out at the same time. The worst invention. "Besides, if I got in with you, I'd only get you dirtier."

He pawed the side of the tub, knocking his dirty clothes over it. "Mhm, I might like the sound of that, actually."

Water spat out of the showerhead, putting a quick end to that train of thought. It took a moment to get the temperature right, blasting him with both hot and cold water. But when it was just right, he embraced it, he rolled around like a pig on a stick, rotating for me to get all the dirt. My favorite function was the pressure nozzle. I targeted his ass and cock, both places he tried to hide from me.

"I didn't get any dirt there," he laughed. "Oh my god. I'm gonna get you back."

It took half-an-hour until he was fully cleaned. His temperament had changed too. More relaxed. As he got dried, I bagged his dirty clothes up to be cleaned. The ground had been slightly damp from rain, it must've been for it to cling to him like that.

"Feeling hungry?" I called out to him as I prepared the bed with extra pillows I'd taken from the unused bedrooms. If there was one thing I knew about sleep, it was the importance of pillows.

"I am, actually." He walked into the bedroom, a towel around his waist and another across his shoulders that he was drying his hair with. "I think I'm coming out of heat. Thank god." His hand dipped to the silver chain around his neck. "It shouldn't have happened at all."

I patted the bed for him to sit. "I didn't know what would happen when I took it off you," I said, helping him get dried and just searching for another reason to have my hands all over his body. "I've never bonded with anyone, so I also didn't know it would happen like that."

He grabbed my hand, stopping me. "It's different for everyone. Some omegas and Alphas can bond without being in heat or—rutting, but most of us need to."

My hand dipped to his chin, my finger at his bottom lip, pulling on it slightly. "You wanted me to take it," I said. "I knew you wanted another reason to see me as much as I wanted a reason to see you."

"You think fate pushed us together to tear us apart?"

"I think fate pushed us together and people are trying to deny it," I said. "Once, I heard someone tell me that we're given chances and opportunities that our souls crave. It's why—" I gulped hard as my mouth turned dry.

He gently bit the finger I pulled his lip down with. "Go on," he said. "What were you going to say?"

"It's why I needed you to kiss me when we met," I said. "I—I don't really think I had any other thought but a desire to kiss you. It was after the champagne, but—" The acidic bubble taste of champagne emerged in my throat as I recalled it. "You performed a little trick in my glass."

"Fireworks," he said. "People love them."

"I think—"

"Oh my god. Come on, finish a sentence, please."

"I think your magic told me to kiss you," I said, carefully recombing the moment. Before the drink, I had desires on him, but it wasn't until after drinking it that I was compelled almost. And I was not someone who was easily compelled to do anything. "Are you sure your power doesn't come from one of the five families?"

He shook his head. "Why would you even say that?"

I sat on the bed and looked him in directly in his eyes. "Because you're stronger than I thought."

"Well, I'm not," he said. "I'm not the powerful witch from the prophecy. We're just a vampire and a witch, who are bound to love each other. It happens all the time, nobody cares. Well, people care about it because of who you are, but if I was to find a vampire out there on the street—not saying, I will, but nobody would care."

My teeth ground together. "Let's not suggest that again."

"But I'm not all powerful. I'm just connected to the magic of the world," he said.

I took his hand and placed it on my face, his wrist by my lips. "I need one bite, just to be certain. That's it. That's all. I'd like to be sure."

"You've bitten me a bunch, why is now different?"

"Because I'd be doing it with the purpose of searching you for markers and lineage," I said, kissing the spot on his wrist I intended to open up. "And then you can eat. I need to know. I fear I've been looking in all the wrong places."

He nodded. "You have full control," he said. "Take what you need, as long as I can take from you."

"And how do you intend on doing that?"

Palming a hand between my legs, he grabbed my cock. "Come to think about it, I'm not that hungry for food. I'll take this instead."

I bit into his wrist as he squeezed my cock. A direct correlation to the time I spent with my lips and tongue prodding at the wound I made and the strength of his grip on my cock, still inside my shorts.

Intentions were key to the process. Finding fragmented images of his family. His birth. The first breath. His scared tender beating heart, so strong, and already full of magic.

Of course, it all made sense. He'd said it already. He had twice the power. A twin who stole the others power in utero.

Coming out of the hazy vision, I saw Nash going to town on my cock with his hand. Whether he'd got it out with a single hand, or magic, I was impressed by his tenacity. I licked his wrist clean to heal itself and fell back on the bed, giving him free range to me.

I was still processing the new information.

Nash wasted no time in putting his mouth to my cock, and with the pleasures of his tongue, I received more semi-visual images in the peripherals of my eyes. Nash was a powerful witch, the very one from the prophecy. And one of our bloodlines was going to end because of it.