Part 5 (2/2)

Without thinking, she s.h.i.+fted a little closer to him. His c.o.c.k brushed against her thigh and she held her breath for a second. He was so hard...

His thumb flicked over her nipple. She gasped at the sensation, then again when he did it a second time.

Pure heat was running through her, and again she tried to get closer to Elden. He slid his hand back to her thigh. Before she had time to miss it, his mouth descended on her breast and sucked lightly on her hardened nipple. She moaned. The feel of his lips and tongue was unlike anything she had ever imagined and she arched up into his touch. It couldn't get better than this, she thought. The next second, it did.

While she was lost in the caress of his mouth, now gently torturing her other nipple, his hand had moved to the apex of her legs and done ... something. Something that he did again, and again, stroking his thumb to that small, hardening nub above her slit. She closed her eyes. The heat burning her body only intensified until she was writhing under Elden's touch. His mouth left her and she opened her eyes again.

His face was above hers. He was watching her with such intensity ... She reached up to kiss him. His thumb pressed in a little harder. Mierna cried out against his lips, overwhelmed with pleasure, then went slack against him.

She was still breathing hard when he picked up her hand and guided it to his c.o.c.k. She left it there, immobile, for a few moments, then started running her fingertips against the length of it, as softly and delicately as Elden's fingers against her folds. He spread out the wetness he found there, coating his fingers and then sliding one past her nether lips. Surprised by the new feeling, Mierna stilled and tried to decide whether she liked it. A second finger felt a little uncomfortable, but as Elden caressed her, lightly stroking her inner walls, she got used to it and relaxed into the touch. It still felt strange, but it wasn't unpleasant at all.

”Ready?”

She answered Elden's tense question with a quiet hum. With a tender hand he pulled her legs apart and rolled into the s.p.a.ce between them, supporting his weight on his forearm. Weaving her arms around his neck, Mierna pulled him down for a kiss. She parted her lips and licked along the seam of his mouth. He responded by sliding the tip of his c.o.c.k against her folds. She pushed her tongue into his mouth, and at the same time, Elden slid inside her, slow and smooth. The width of his c.o.c.k stretched her beyond what his fingers had hinted at, but as he took shallow thrusts, she got used to the feeling. The pain, however, took her by surprise and she moaned against Elden's mouth.

He stilled completely inside her and soothed her with small kisses all over her face. His hand caressed her hair. After a few moments, the pain had faded to a dull throb. She gave a small nod, and Elden began moving again, gradually increasing the pace and depth of his thrusts.

It was exactly what Mierna's cousin had described, in hushed tones and amidst embarra.s.sed laughs, a few weeks after her wedding. At the same time, though, it was like nothing Mierna could have imagined, nothing she could ever describe to anyone. She felt as though she had found a piece of herself she had never known was lost until that instant.

She tightened her arms around Elden's back, pulling him down to her chest where she could feel all of his body along hers.

”I love you,” she murmured.

Elden jerked inside her as though he had lost control on himself. Mierna grinned and repeated the words, then again, until he covered her mouth with his and kissed her with the same desperation of his thrusting hips. Abruptly, he broke the kiss and groaned as he arched deep inside her. She caressed his back, feeling him shaking against her, and delighted in the pleasure she could just barely see on his face.

After a few moments, he slid off her body to rest by her side. ”I'm sorry.”

”Sorry?” she repeated, unsure what he meant. She turned toward him, but he now had his back to the candles and she couldn't make out his face in the near darkness of the room. ”Sorry for what?” He s.h.i.+fted a little against her. She could almost have thought he was fidgeting.

”I'm sorry I didn't make it any better for you. All I can say is that it had been a very long time since I had anyone in my bed.”

She wasn't certain she liked to hear him hinting at his past lovers, but she still didn't understand why he was apologizing.

”It gets ... better?” she asked, a little embarra.s.sed by her naivete. ”This was ... nice. Really.”

She was grateful now for the lack of light. Her face had to be as brightly red as the roses she had left on the tombs outside. To call 'nice' the warmth and pleasure still coursing through her felt grossly inadequate, but she didn't know how else to describe these new feelings.

”It can be better than nice,” Elden a.s.sured her. He leaned into her to press a kiss to her shoulder then added self-deprecatingly: ”When your lover has a little self-control, it can be.”

Very slowly, still feeling shy even after what they had shared and yet at the same time emboldened by his sheepishness, she slid her hand to rest over his c.o.c.k. It was soft beneath her fingers, but when she dared stroke it, oh so lightly, she could feel it begin to harden under her touch. He let out a quiet moan and pushed into her hand. Mierna smiled, delighted that she could have this effect on him.

”If you're not happy with what you did,” she murmured, ”maybe we could try again?”

Chapter 7.

Mierna was asleep. She knew she was asleep. She was dreaming. She knew that too.

It wasn't unusual for her to have vivid dreams that she would remember in the morning. Often, in the past months, her dreams had featured Elden in such a prominent way that she had blushed to herself upon waking up. This was different, though. Rather than the sharp, colorful images she was used to, she walked in a foggy landscape. There wasn't anything but wisps of translucent smoke dancing around her.

Even the ground felt immaterial beneath her bare feet.

”Strange dream,” she said aloud, breaking the silence. The words seemed to reverberate around her.

”Is it?”

She started at the amused question. There wasn't anyone there that she could see-and then there was.

Shapes just a shade darker than the fog slowly solidified a few feet in front of her, and soon there were seven figures facing her, four men and three women. Even though their faces remained blurry, Mierna was certain she had never met them before. And yet, even as the thought entered her mind, she knew who they were; Elden's Childer.

”Souls Night.”

The words had escaped her lips before she even knew she was speaking.

”Souls Night, yes.” It was the closest woman who had spoken. ”You placed flowers on our graves.” The woman walked a little closer still while the rest stayed back. Her features sharpened a little, as did her clothing, and the sword in its scabbard. She was about Mierna's height. Her hair, black as coal, fell in waves on her shoulders. Just like Mierna knew she was dreaming, just like she had known these were Elden's Childer and they had come to her because of Souls Night, she knew who the woman now standing right in front of her was.

”Elden gave me your sword,” she blurted out, and suddenly the sword wasn't hanging from the woman's-Deborah's-waist. Instead, it was in Mierna's hand.

”He gave you more than my sword,” Deborah said with a barely there smile. ”He hadn't willingly spoken to anyone since long before your parents had shared their first kiss. He gave you himself. You'll have to believe me when I say it means a lot more than an old sword.”

”Does it?”

Mierna looked at the sword in her hand. It slowly disappeared until she was holding nothing more than air. When she looked up again, Deborah had lost her smile.

”It does. If you show Elden.”

”If I ... what?”

Behind Deborah, the other shadowy figures were slowly fading out. Deborah herself looked less clear, suddenly.

”You asked him to make you a vampire. Why did you let him refuse?”

Mierna shook her head. ”He won't listen-”

”Of course he will,” Deborah cut in impatiently. ”Wasn't he listening when you told him you're in love with him?” If she noticed Mierna's blush, she didn't mention it. ”He distracted both of you by taking you to his bed, but he wants it as much as you do. He's been so lonely. Ready to give up. Why else do you think he allows himself to be hurt so often?”

Mierna blinked, unsure she understood. Surely, Deborah couldn't mean that Elden had courted death?

She didn't have the chance to ask for an explanation, however. Deborah was talking faster, now, as though she didn't have much time.

”The only reason he won't sire you is his fear you'd die like we did. So tell him this. Tell him this is a message from me. Tell him it won't happen again, and he won't lose you the same way he lost us.”

”He won't believe me,” Mierna said, her voice urgent as Deborah was becoming more and more translucent.

”He will. Remind him he was ready to take a new Childe when the Great Death came, and it's time he finally did. And tell him we miss him too.”

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