by Kira Stone
“The restrictions in the pact between vampires and witches are suspended for those involved in a Blood Oath. As for not being physically possible, what have you got to lose by making the attempt? You will feel nothing, and I will be gone.”
Desperately, Sebastian clung to that hope. Just the short time he’d spent in the witch’s company had changed him. He prayed the side effects of being bound to Teake -- this need to be tender instead of fierce, the desire to feel his heart race whenever Teake let his gaze linger on him too long -- were only temporary. He’d never be able to convince Kassian to take him back if he couldn’t shed his human ways.
With a big sweep of his arm, Sebastian said, “Lead on.”
Chapter 6
Shifting Priorities
“We will leave as soon as I collect my supplies.” Teake blanked out his thoughts as he retrieved his satchel from the cellar. At this point, it wouldn’t do any good to speculate about what would happen when they reached the quarry. The future rested in Gaia’s hands.
“Hey! Bring out my stuff too, would you?”
Teake winced as he recalled the very real fear that had jerked him out of his morning meditation and brought him running back to the vampire’s side. Fear of being trapped, enclosed, buried alive.
Only to hear through their link that Sebastian’s top priority was to return to his lover’s good graces.
Bah!
Teake found a few scraps of clothing, not his own. Didn’t look like it would do the blond vampire much good, but Teake carried them out to him anyway.
“Damn,” Sebastian said as he put his hand through one of the large holes in his pants.
“Something wrong?”
Sebastian balled up the ruined attire and threw it back in the cellar. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m naked.”
Teake had noticed. So had his cock. But sex wasn’t going to solve the problem this time. “There is nothing wrong with that. It is the way you were born.”
“I’m not a baby any more. And if I have to go tramping around in the woods, I damn well want clothes on when I do it.”
“You want top or bottom then?” Teake inwardly winced at his word choice. Sebastian snickered, but quickly covered it up. “I meant, do you want my shirt or pants? These are the only clean clothes I have left.”
“Your pants will never fit me, and a shirt isn’t going to cover what I’m worried about.”
Teake should have realized that. He was a bit shorter than the vampire, but his body was wider, stockier. There was no way his pants would stay on Sebastian’s lean hips unless they were tied on. His shirt made of tanned animal hide wouldn’t hang low enough to offer protection.
Teake ducked back inside for his cloak.
“Yo, witch! See if you can find my dog tags, would you?”
“Dog tags?”
“Silver discs on a chain. They were in my vest pocket. Since my vest no longer has pockets, the chain’s got to be down there.”
Teake looked but didn’t see anything to match that description. He did find his cloak though. It had fared the vampire’s wrath better than Sebastian’s clothing. He brought it out and handed it over to the naked blond. The gorgeous, sexy, naked blond.
“I did not see the tags,” Teake told the vampire. “Are they important?”
Sebastian quickly settled the material around his shoulders. “Only if I turn to dust. They’re stamped with info about who should be informed of my demise.”
“In that unlikely event, I will notify the proper authorities.”
“Even if that’s Rani?” Sebastian shook his head. “Never mind. Let’s just get this over with.”
Thankfully Sebastian’s boots had survived intact. Protected from the elements as well as he could be, the blond vampire looked ridiculous. And utterly adorable.
“This way,” Teake said as he headed into the woods.
In just over an hour, they arrived at the place where Teake had started this adventure. Again, he felt the tranquility he noticed the first time he’d visited the rocky pond. It wasn’t sacred ground as with the land Sebastian had claimed for his maze, but it was unmarred by strife and the passage of careless visitors.
“How did you find this place?” Sebastian asked him as he approached the water’s edge. “I’ve never heard anyone talk about it.”
“I was drawn here.”
“What’s it like?” Sebastian asked suddenly. Embarrassment clouded their link but he didn’t withdraw the question.
“What’s what like?”
The blond vampire shrugged. “Being a witch.”
Sensing that his Guardian wanted a real answer, Teake tried to explain. “I do not remember a time when I was without an awareness of the energy of every living thing.”
“But what does it feel like to touch it, use it? Or can’t you tell me?”
“It would be illegal for me to teach you our ways under normal circumstances, yes. But as I said before, most of the laws that govern interaction between witches and vampires do not apply as long as we are bonded.”
“Well then?”
Teake approached the vampire, standing beside him without touching. “It would be far easier for me to show you. Will you let me do that?”
“That’s why we’re here, right? Only it’ll change nothing, because I’ll never really know.”
He sounded wistful, sad. He harbored a deep desire to experience the intimate connection between man and Mother Earth. Teake found he really wanted to be the one to open that door for him.
Damn, this was getting complicated. What had happened to his resolve to keep all vampires at a distance? Why was this one different? Special? Teake didn’t know, but he had an uneasy feeling that it was critical for him to find out.
“Never is a long time, Sebastian. Let us see what we can accomplish right now.”
“What did you have in mind?”
Teake slid the bag off his shoulder and started rummaging through it. He drew out a stoppered glass vial filled with white crystals and a bar of soap that smelled like dead grass. “A purification ritual.”
“You want me to take a bath?” Sebastian laughed. “We didn’t have to hike out here for that.”
“It is more than a bath, and there is no better place to do it than in one of Mother Nature’s tubs.” He also fished out a small, natural sponge before he set the bag in the crook of a rocky outcropping. “Time for you to get naked again.”
“You seem to be developing an obsession about that.”
Teake was pretty sure Sebastian didn’t know how close he’d come to the truth. “Hard to wash with clothes on.”
Sebastian made short work of the chore, not having much to divest. “Happy now?”
Quite. In fact, Teake allowed himself a good long look. He knew what the vampire felt like moving under him, begging for his cock. He wanted that experience again, but only after this issue was settled. And only for as long as their bond lasted. He lived as a solitary witch and had no desire to change his ways.
“Done gawking yet? I’d like to get this over with.”
Teake snapped out of his musings, tossing the bar and sponge to Sebastian. “Wash, head to toe.”
“How does that make me a witch?”
“As you strip away the physical dirt from your body, imagine that you are also washing away the dirt from your soul.”
Teake climbed a high outcropping to reach a flat area that still held some of the sun’s warmth. It was also a damn fine position to watch the vampire as he stepped into the pond.
“Fucking cold,” Sebastian grated out through chattering teeth. “What did you do, fill this up with ice cubes?”
He’d forgotten how susceptible the vampire’s body would be to the chilly water. That was a small matter to rectify. “Try near the middle.”
By the time the vampire made his way to the position Teake had indicated, a current of water warmed by Teake’s silent request was waiting for him. Sebastian sighed as he basked in it. “Now t
his I can handle.”
Sebastian commenced his ablutions. Teake strongly suspected his mind was less on the purification ritual than on driving him crazy with lust. The vampire seemed to prefer lying on top of the water to lather up his body, a task he labored over. Extensively.
Perhaps worse were the long minutes he floated on his belly, his rounded ass peeking out of the water. Teake’s desire to further explore that piece of rugged vampire terrain caused his cock to harden. But he was determined to control his needs. This was about teaching a lesson, not taking advantage of the situation.
No matter how much he longed to do otherwise.
“Enough,” he called out when Sebastian had finished rising the suds from his body for the fourth time. “Time for the next step.”
“Do you have any idea what’s down there?” Sebastian called back. “It’s amazing.”
“I have something else to show you.” Teake climbed down from his perch and undressed. The simple cleansing ceremony could be done many ways, but Teake wasn’t a total saint. He’d take a path that would allow him to put his hands on the vampire, if only briefly.
“I admit your cock is impressive, for a human, but I’ve already seen it, remember?”
Mental images fluttered across their link. They’d have to get through this quickly or Teake would find their combined lust a serious test of his resolve. “Do not look then if it bores you.”
Teake dove under the water and came up for air a few feet away, the vial of crystals clutched in his hand.
Sebastian eyed it suspiciously. “What’s that?”
“Nothing harmful.” Teake balanced on the edge of a submerged rock and beckoned Sebastian over to join him. It was a tight fit, but he didn’t want to have to worry about either of them drowning during this next bit.
“I can’t, you know,” Sebastian reminded him.
“Can’t what?”
“Drown.”
Though the mind link hovered at the edge of his consciousness, a constant reminder of the task ahead, Teake hadn’t expected the vampire to acknowledge its presence. At least not until this test was over. Maybe not even then. It was a far more intimate connection than any other two people could share. That’s why so few witches were trained to conduct the oath. Not many could tolerate having someone piggy-backing on their every thought.
“Sometimes I forget you are not human,” Teake admitted.
“You’d do well to remember, witch. To me, you’re nothing but lunch with legs.”
Teake looked past the vampire exterior to the person within. Far from being soulless, there was a hungry spirit inside. Not to mention the hunger of his body. Teake had refueled by eating berries and nuts while Sebastian slept, but he had nothing to offer the vampire in return. Except his own blood…
“Forget it, witch. Just finish this.”
The words came out harsh, and Teake knew Sebastian had sensed his fear at opening a vein for a blood drinker. Unsure of how to deal with that -- he wasn’t even sure how he felt about it himself -- Teake fell back on what he knew best, witchcraft.
“Salt,” he said, pouring a small amount of crystals into his wet palm.
Sebastian plucked a piece from his hand, then stuck it in his mouth. He quickly spat it back out. “Yuck! That’s not salt.”
“Natural, unprocessed rock salt, not meant for the dinner table.” Teake swirled a bit of water through his cupped hands, then poured the mixture over Sebastian’s head, murmuring the call to the powers in the east.
“What are you --”
“Sssh,” Teake replied as he dissolved another pinch of the crystals in his hand. “Close your eyes. As the saltwater flows over you, picture it flowing through you, purifying you.”
Though dubious, Sebastian did close his eyes. Teake continued with his part, calling out to each of the directions for their blessing. By the time he went through the motions for the fourth time, Sebastian was chanting with him. Teake didn’t think the vampire even realized he was doing it.
Teake paused to appreciate the beautiful sight in front of him. Whether Sebastian chose to acknowledge it or not, he was, at that moment, doing magic. The white light of Mother Earth’s pure love shone through his pale skin, giving him more radiance than any sunlight could produce. All vampires went through this cleansing process as part of the Blood Oath, but Teake had never seen one take to it so naturally or bask in the light for so long.
Then, to his deep surprise, he noticed one more thing. Sebastian’s heart was starting to beat.
Chapter 7
Nature of the Beast
Sebastian felt the feather light touch of Teake’s hand upon his chest. His whole body pulsed with the echo of Mother Nature’s heartbeat. So this is what it feels like, Sebastian murmured across the mind link. This is what it feels like to be a witch.
No, Sebastian, it’s far more than that. This is what it feels like to be alive.
Alive? Impossible!
Teake guided Sebastian’s hand to his own throat and pressed the pad of his fingers to his pulse. The evidence was irrefutable. Somehow, Teake had restored his humanity!
I would not be so quick to assume the condition is permanent, Teake cautioned him.
“Alive!” Sebastian shouted as he somersaulted in the pond. Water clogged his throat, causing him to choke. He sputtered and coughed, but he still grinned because it meant his lungs were fighting for more air.
Teake thumped him on the back as he guided Sebastian to the edge of the pond. “Easy.”
“No, no! I want to --” A sudden lurch in the area around his heart stole the words from his mouth. The pain that followed was intense. Intangible, razor-like claws sliced through every tender point in his body. Only once before had he felt this kind of agony. Only in the moment when Kassian robbed him of his mortality.
“Don’t… let it happen… again,” he begged the man who still held him tightly. “Kill me. End it. Please.”
There were tears in his voice as Teake replied, “I cannot.”
Coward!
In desperation, Sebastian ripped himself from Teake’s grasp, prepared to sink to the bottom of the lake and join the other bits of discarded humanity he’d seen in its dark depths. But it was no use. Even as a pair of strong hands brought him back to the surface, the pain ebbed from his limbs.
The transformation was complete. He was a vampire again.
But now he knew there was a chance the process could be reversed. As their heads broke the water, he gripped Teake’s shoulders, making the witch meet his gaze. “Do it again. Get it right this time.”
“How can I when I do not understand how it happened at all?”
Sebastian shook the human hard, causing Teake’s head to rap against the stone. He felt an echo of that pain in his own head, and he growled with fury. “You tricked me, witch. You offered a glimpse of magic, but instead you’ve only shown me another layer of hell.”
Blood welled up from the cut on Teake’s head. The coppery scent fueled his blood lust. He gave no consideration to controlling his cravings. Feed, fuck and fight. That’s all vampires cared about. If he was to remain one of them, then he might as well behave like one. “You showed me your true nature, witch. Now it’s my turn.”
Through pain-dazed eyes, Teake offered an apology. Sebastian roughly pushed his head aside. He had no use for human weakness, for things like love or forgiveness. He was a vampire, answered to no one.
“Struggle,” he murmured in Teake’s ear. “Fight me. Your blood will be sweeter if it carries the stench of fear.”
Fight these urges, Sebastian. This is not the real you.
You know nothing about what I am! You understand nothing!
Sebastian flipped Teake onto his belly. Air rushed out of the human’s lungs as his chest hit the granite surface they’d been clinging to. A sharp pain, the cracking of a bone, echoed through his own body. Sebastian eased up enough for the witch to draw in a tortured breath. It wouldn’t do for his dinner to die too quickly.
“I’m going to fuck you, Teake. I’m going to stuff you with my cock while I feed from your veins.” Sebastian waited for the echo of fear to lash out over their shared connection. It was there but well padded by calm acceptance.
Not enough. Not nearly enough fear to slake his need. Sebastian sucked fresh blood from a strand of Teake’s damp hair, then forced the witch to accept his bloody, brutal kiss. If you’re lucky, I’ll leave you to die after I’ve had my fill.
Gaia will collect me to her bosom at a time of her choosing. I will meet her gladly when that time comes.
Rage at the witch’s unshakable faith in the Mother Earth figure who had shunned Sebastian time and time again further fueled his desire to cause him pain. Fear. Humiliation. “Since you won’t fight me, maybe I’ll fuck you raw instead. You were all for that not so long ago, weren’t you?”
Seb jerked his hips up, rubbing his hard cock between the cleft in Teake’s ass, shoving the witch’s chest against the sandpaperish surface of the stone. More blood trickled into the water. Sharp pain, human pain, echoed over their connection, but it was blunted. It seemed the witch had found a place of refuge inside his brain and the pain could no longer touch him.
“Cocktease,” he growled into Teake’s ear. “I would have let you fuck me black and blue for another chance at life. I would have been your goddamn slave. But instead you chose to make a fool out of me.”
I am sorry, Teake’s mental voice came to him weakly.
Sebastian tasted bile at the back of his throat, a bitter memory. Or perhaps another glimpse of human frailty through his bond to the witch. A bond that would trouble neither of them much longer. Save your apologies for someone who gives a damn.
Sebastian opened his mouth wide and sank his needle sharp fangs into the large vein pulsing on the side of Teake’s neck. He hadn’t been careful, and for the first time the witch struggled in his grasp. But it was too late. Sebastian was far stronger than this pathetic mortal. He sucked in a mouthful of blood and greedily gulped it down.
What about your loving Earth Mother, witch? Why isn’t she here to rescue you?
