Part 4 (1/2)
”I came because the Fighters need you.”
His lips formed the words 'the Fighters', but he didn't interrupt her.
”After I beat Gorden,” she explained, ”he wanted to learn to fight like I do. And so did a few of the others. I tried teaching them, but I'm not very good at it.” She gave him a tight grin. ”I don't have your patience.”
Rather than returning her grin as she had hoped, he shook his head.
”I'm not welcome in your village. Your Eldest-”
”He agreed,” she said quickly. ”We pet.i.tioned him, and he agreed. It has been done in the past, a vampire came to Riverside and stayed for a few months to teach the men to fight. Anyway, you can come to the barn as you used to. We can start the bargain again.”
She had tried to say that last part on the same tone as the rest, but her voice wavered slightly. Elden's eyebrows twitched.
”Why do I have a feeling the Eldest didn't agree to that?”
Heat spread through Mierna's cheeks and she dropped her gaze to the stone floors at Elden's feet. She felt embarra.s.sed, both at having been caught in her not quite lie and at the words that were burning her lips. It had been four weeks since she had become a Fighter-four weeks since she had seen Elden. Not a day had pa.s.sed that she hadn't thought of him. Every time she had picked up her sword, it had been like taking his hand for a second; only a second. She forced herself to look up again. The last thing she wanted was to make a fool of herself, but she needed to know if she was the only one whose life had changed on Souls Night.
”I've missed you,” she said, the words starting as a whisper but picking up intensity as she pushed on.”I've missed talking to you, and training with you, and even ... even the bite.”
Her blush only redoubled at that admission, but she refused to look away again. Keeping her eyes on Elden's, she waited for a reaction. He seemed shocked at first. When the tiniest smile pulled at the corners of his lips, she allowed herself to breathe again.
”I've missed you too.”
”So you'll come? You'll teach us?”
He sighed. ”I will.”
”And you'll take my blood?”
His small smile became apologetic. ”I don't think your friends would like that.”
Mierna shook her head. He hadn't refused. That had to mean he wanted it-wanted her. ”Then take it now,” she insisted. ”You look like you were hurt. Wouldn't it help?”
He seemed torn, the hunger lighting his eyes with a slow fire even as he clung to the only half-open door.
”It would, but...”
Without waiting for him to find an excuse, Mierna gently pushed in past him and closed the door. He stared at her but he didn't stop her. She strode over to the common room and approached the fireplace.
Ashes almost completely covered dark red embers, but it had to be enough to restart the fire. She knelt by the hearth, uncovered the embers with metal p.r.o.ngs, blew on them until they were a bright red, then threw in some straw. Her hand was shaking a little as she did, both from nervousness and excitement.
She stood again to pick up wood on the side of the fireplace, and almost b.u.mped into Elden. She hadn't heard him approach. Fl.u.s.tered, she moved aside to let him throw in kindling. When he turned back to her, the fire was starting to crackle, long flames rising in the air.
They sat together on the low bench, as they had done what seemed like an eternity ago, except that this time Elden was straddling the bench. It all seemed so familiar ... the way they had lit the fire together, sat next to each other, even his hand gently taking hers ... More than familiar, it felt intimate. His eyes were heavy as they scrutinized Mierna and she couldn't help s.h.i.+fting restlessly.
”Are you sure you want this?” he murmured.
”I do.”
”Then what preoccupies you so much?”
”Nothing, I...” She met his eyes, and words surged out of a corner of her mind she rarely acknowledged.
”Do you ever think about renewing the Pact? About having another Childe?”
The question had haunted her ever since their talk the night she had become a Fighter. She had never thought about it before, but his words had raised an idea that she just couldn't push away.
For a brief moment, his fingers tightened over hers and she winced. His voice when he answered was cold as ice, and full of pain. ”I won't kill anyone else.”
”What if they wanted it?” she pushed, unable to voice her true question-”What if I wanted it?”
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the fingers he had just bruised. ”Shush, child.”
A flash of exasperation covered everything else, from her nervousness about the coming bite to the thread of hope that she might not have to say goodbye anymore, one day.
”I'm not a child. You know that.”
Rather than answering, he trailed his lips from her fingers to her wrist and bit down. She couldn't stop a small cry from pa.s.sing her lips. Usually, he was much gentler than this. Had she upset him so much he had lost control, or was he too hungry to take things slow? He sucked onto her blood harder than ever, and despite the initial pain, Mierna soon had to bite the inside of her cheek so as not to let out a moan. It would have been too clear that she wasn't moaning in pain. She squeezed her thighs together and closed her eyes, wis.h.i.+ng all at once that the sensation would never stop and that it would change so that she could find relief.
When he finally let go, Mierna was breathing heavily. She felt hot, and it had nothing to do with the fire behind her. She opened her eyes and blinked several times, unable to see anything in front of her. A touch on her cheek guided her face toward Elden. Her vision cleared and she looked at him with both surprise and desire.Why did you stop , she wanted to ask, but the tender hand still cradling her face and the fire in Elden's eyes robbed her of her ability to speak.
”I do know you're not a child. It would be easier to send you away if you were.”
Very slowly, Elden leaned forward. Mierna's heart started thundering in her chest. She had a feeling he was giving her a chance to move away and stop what was happening, but stopping him was the very last thing she wanted. She wished she could have told him she had dreamed of this moment for months, but all she could do was look at him, at these brilliant blue eyes she knew so well, at their color made deeper, it seemed, by the dark bruises on Elden's handsome face. In her mind, his eyes were the color of strength; of love. He looked back at her so intently that she couldn't help wondering what he saw in her eyes.
His lips touched hers like the caress of the wind-they were as soft, as cool, as changing against her.
She let her eyes flutter close and pressed in, barely, to let him know she wanted this gentle touch he was offering her. His lips parted against hers, just enough for his tongue to peek through and sensuously slide along her bottom lip. The sensation, so delicate, so unexpected-so exciting-made her gasp lightly.
Elden took this opportunity to push his tongue into her mouth for such a brief moment she thought she had imagined it. But when she didn't close her lips, he did it again, this time more slowly. Tentatively, her tongue met his, slipping against it gently. The taste of her own blood was there, but she barely noticed it, lost as she was in the feel of him. A wave of scalding heat rushed through her body.
Without realizing what she was doing, she moved closer to him, wanting to feel more of his body than his mouth and the fingers stroking her cheek. She rested her hands on his chest-and Elden started back, wrenching their mouths apart. Mierna opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion; too late, she remembered the bruises she had glimpsed on his chest.
”I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-” He laid a finger over her lips to shush her. ”I'm fine. But you should go home, now.” His voice was shaking. ”I'll see you and your friends tomorrow night.”
She didn't want to go, not so soon, but she realized what would probably happen if she stayed. A kiss-this kiss-was the most she had ever shared with a man, but she was not an innocent. She knew what happened between men and women when they married. It had been a long time since her little girl's dreams of marriage, but at that moment, even if she knew it could never happen, she wished for nothing more than to call Elden her husband and follow him to bed.
Elden stood and offered her his hand to help her up. Her knees were shaking, and she held on to him until they had reached the door. Letting go was one of the most difficult things she had ever done.
”Tomorrow night,” she said, both to a.s.sure herself that she would see him soon and to remind him.
”Tomorrow night,” he repeated, and it was easier to leave.
Chapter 6.
Mierna's steps as she followed the trail were confident. The noises around her, wind in the branches or hooting owls did not slow her down as they had a year earlier. She had gotten used to them, in the past months, and to all the strange sounds of the night while patrolling as a Fighter. It all felt a little different, though. It might have been because of the goal of her visit on this night, so different from her other visits.