Revenant

by Janet Jones

  Was this what they'd come through time for, living and loving together, on and on? Was this the way their endless journey would end, with both of them bound to his darkness?

  He had to give her one last chance. “It's not too late to reconsider what you're about to do. If the Alchemist succeeds in reviving Freya, I know she'll help us. We can keep on the run until she's strong again and—"

  "All I have to do is prevent him from reaching his shelter before sunrise, and he'll die, and all of this will be over."

  "But at what cost to you?” Ellory's rage erupted in a bitter laugh. “From consort to criminal in one night. Very well done, madam. You're throwing away the very best place in my existence I have to offer you, just to make yourself my slave. Isn't that what you've been afraid of all along? That your need for me would deprive you of your free will? You think it's hard to get through the day apart from me now? As my revenant, you will look to me for your next breath—literally. Is that what you want?"

  Her green eyes gleamed with raw indignation, fear, and pain. “If that's what it takes to keep you safe."

  No. If she loved him, she wouldn't betray him like this. This was just her way of getting revenge for what he'd taken from her. She'd doubtless resented him all along and was waiting for her chance. His heart broke. He felt the weakness of defeat eat away at all but his anger.

  She renewed her hold on the dagger. Their gazes locked.

  He laughed again, aching inside. “Say something magical."

  The tears dribbled from her eyes and fell on his bared forearm. “I love you."

  He closed his eyes. The cut of the dagger may as well have been a stake through his heart. He groaned against the pain and sucked in his breath while his blood spilled, spotting the sheets. When he opened his eyes to look at Talisen, she was staring at the crimson fountain. She looked faint and sick.

  Good. Exploit any sign of weakness. Honor be damned. She was his—soon to be more so than she imagined possible. His bond with her would do well enough as a chain. One yank in the right direction, and she'd topple.

  "Talisen, if you won't change your mind about this, at least let me hold you."

  She shook her head. “You'll try to stop me."

  She bent and pressed her mouth to his wrist. The feel of her tongue and lips on him ... his Talisen, feeding....

  Ellory's anger was all but swept away by the exquisite pleasure of it, only to return, hotter than ever, fanned by his desire for her, as he sensed her hold on him weakening.

  The forces that bound a revenant to a vampire were already asserting themselves. He waited for Talisen to drift into the euphoric in-between state, letting the potency of his blood do the work for him. No way to reverse what she'd gotten them into. He gritted his teeth. The only way to go now was forward.

  She moaned and sank onto the bed, lapping and suckling. “You taste like chocolate. I never knew ... it could feel like this ... ohhhh...."

  Ellory made his voice sound raspy and weak, scarcely more than a whisper. “I ... I really need ... to hold you...."

  He felt her pause, and she lifted her head and kissed his mouth. The taste of his blood on her tongue drove him insane. He longed to wrap her in his arms and show her what this moment could really be for them.

  He caught back a growl. To be sure, he would show her. And she would never, ever betray him again.

  All her sweet humanity ... gone ... wasted....

  A half-groan escaped him, and she lifted her mouth from his to look at him. Concern knotted her flushed face, and though her eyes were already heavy, he could feel her anxiety through their shared bond.

  Ellory allowed himself a wan smile, when he felt like howling with laughter and roaring with triumph. Another moment, and she'd play right into his hands. “If you would just let me rest a moment...."

  She ran a hand over his brow. “I guess that would be all right.” She focused her gaze on his wrist. “Stop bleeding."

  It worked. His blood congealed on his wrist. The Alchemist must have coached her a little. The beast inside of Ellory clawed to free itself of the compulsion that bound him, but outwardly, he smiled at Talisen and blinked and shuddered as though he were on the verge of passing out. “You're so beautiful, my love, and it feels so good to feed you. It's the ultimate intimacy for vampires, you know, to feed our mates."

  She smiled tenderly at him. “Please don't be angry at me."

  "No, I ... I'm quite contrite, I swear. Just let me hold you.” He batted his eyes and moaned.

  She gasped in alarm. “Okay, but I won't let you stop me."

  Perfect. He fixed his gaze on hers and tried to dull the edge to his voice. “I will let you drink as much as you want."

  He watched her eyes narrow and went into a pretend fainting spell to dispel her suspicion. She clutched at his collar and pulled at him. “Ellory?"

  Now to rub it in. He opened his eyes with another moan. “I'm sorry. It's just that ... it's a lot to lose, and you'll need much more...."

  When he peeked at her out of the corner of his eye, she looked like she was beside herself with indecision. And what could she do? She'd committed them both to this abomination. Let her stew in her own juice over it. He didn't hide the bitterness in his voice this time. “Best get on with it. The Alchemist won't approve of our dawdling."

  She frowned and pushed her hair behind her ears. “You can't blame him for this. It was my idea."

  That only made it worse. His anger flared. The beast snapped its sharp-fanged jaws. A few more swallows, and she would be utterly defenseless.

  "Keep going,” Ellory murmured. “You must drink more."

  She turned to his wrist again with the lantern light gleaming in the rich red and gold of her hair. A ruthless angel. A hungry angel.

  She murmured over his wrist, bade his blood to rush, and fed again. He sighed and grappled for his control, while his jeans became deliciously tighter.

  He could tell by the rhythm of Talisen's mouth, by the soft mewing sounds she made, by the way her hands clung to his arm and burrowed in his shirt, that she was passing into euphoria.

  She'd be feeling the force of his blood any moment now, all her stolen booty in a heady mixture of death and power, and that was when he'd make his move.

  Either she would resist him, and they'd die, or he'd take her, and they'd live. He hardened his heart to the necessity of deceiving her. One betrayal deserved another.

  When she nestled closer to him, eased her leg over his bulging crotch and moved against him, he knew she was nearly there. He blew softly on her temple and whispered, low and dulcet, “You're craving a closeness with me. Don't you feel it? Say the word, and I'll give you what you need."

  Her voice came out in a breathless rush between gulps. “No ... you'll stop me...."

  "You have only to tell me what to do. I must obey you."

  She nuzzled harder, squirmed against him and moaned. Lifting her mouth from his wrist, she panted, drenched in perspiration, and looked around through half-closed eyes. “The colors ... they're so beautiful. But I'm so ... hot all over ... I can't get cool."

  The changes were beginning. Already her hold on him was loosening, and as it did, the ward in the room would crumble.

  "Talisen, you're not finished. You must drink more."

  She turned her gaze on him, bleary-eyed, drunk on his blood. “Yes, I want more.” Her gaze wandered over his face and down his torso. “I want all of you."

  He smiled slowly, showing his canines so she'd know how eager he was to please her. That was no pretense. “Say it. Give me leave to hold you. Only, you'd better slow down a bit, or I won't last you."

  She looked at his wrist and murmured, “Bleed more slowly."

  This time his body was sluggish to respond to her command, but she didn't notice. His control was returning to him. He concentrated on slowing his blood-flow. The longer she thought she was in control, the better.

  She bent to drink, releasing him from the paralysis that had h
eld him in check. “Hold me close, Ellory. Hold me. Please."

  He flexed his hands and arms and legs, then wrapped her in his embrace and rolled her onto his chest, so that she lay with her back to him with his wrist in her mouth. She was moving again, whimpering the way she did when they made love. If he could see her eyes, he knew by now they'd be dilated. Lust put his teeth on edge, but he lay still beneath her and waited for her frustration to get the best of her.

  She turned her head away from his wrist. “Need you...."

  He whispered in her ear, “Let me make love to you."

  "He said not to let you."

  "Then just tell me what you want me to do."

  She sounded like she could hardly get the words out. “Just t-touch me. That's all."

  "That's all,” he echoed. He eased down her zipper, reached into her pants and stroked her. She was so aroused, so wet. “Oh, my love, let me sate this need of yours the way I should."

  She followed the rhythm of his hand while she fed, but shook her head.

  Ellory tested her power over him and found it all but gone. The ward in the room was waning fast, and she didn't even realize it. He moved his hand more deliberately while he focused on her body. Inside, her organs were beginning to change. Her mind was in a turmoil of pleasure, and her will left unguarded.

  He struck hard and fast, seizing her soul between one heartbeat and the next, camouflaging his coup behind the orgasm he gave her. She shuddered in his grasp, physically and mentally, and yielded without knowing what had happened.

  The feel of her bottom squirming in his lap made him harden until he hissed. But he could be patient. What he'd given her wouldn't be nearly enough.

  "M-more...” Talisen breathed. “Give me more."

  Ellory ran his tongue over her damp shoulder, and she moaned. “I said you can drink all you want."

  "Not blood. I mean, yes, more of that, but...."

  He waited. He felt every tremor of hunger that wracked her body, felt it more sensually than ever before. The revenant-vampire bond was weaving them together, forging a new oneness between them that strengthened the first.

  "I want you to make love to me,” she whispered.

  "I thought you'd never ask."

  He rolled over so Talisen lay beneath him on her stomach and banished their clothing with a thought. His sudden strength caught her by surprise. He felt her groping inside of herself for her lost control over him, felt her straining against his power even as it closed around her. He abolished her will with a gentle kiss on the nape of her neck.

  She gasped and arched beneath him. “No! D-don't stop me."

  "Stop you? No. We're going to finish what you started.” He offered her his wrist. She hesitated. He moved against her, pinning her beneath him, making promises with his body that she needed him to make. “It's all right, Talisen. You must have more. You want it. You know you do. Drink."

  She began feeding again.

  "Allow me to outline the rules of the game you've been playing with me tonight.” He reached down and touched her from behind. Her hips rose up beneath him, and she gasped hard. “Rule Number One—you are my creation. You will not deny, defy, or deceive me again. Rule Number Two—you will never, ever put yourself in harm's way like this again. Rule Number Three—what you take from me, you will give back."

  He eased her legs apart with his knee and entered her slowly. Her mouth moved frantically at the slit in his wrist. Measuring his thrusts in time to her suckling, Ellory fastened his fangs on the side of her throat and drank deeply. His anger cooled, bathed by the desire and tenderness of the moment. Her sheath tightened on him, and they groaned together. There were no more barriers between them, nor would there ever be. She could hide nothing from him now. All her feelings lay before him. What he found took his breath away.

  She was ashamed for deceiving him, for siding with his enemy, for not being able to protect Shelby. She felt useless to him. Even with the traumatic changes taking place in her body, her only fear was that after tonight he would see her as a second-class citizen who couldn't be trusted.

  Wave after wave of her love broke upon the dark shore of Ellory's soul, all he had ever hungered for from her. She loved him so much that she counted the loss of his trust as a harsher cost of her gamble than the loss of her very life.

  How could he have ever questioned her? After all he'd taken from her, after what she'd willingly given up for his sake tonight, he'd repaid her sacrifice with anger. No apology would ever be good enough. The best thing he could do was never, ever abuse the power she had entrusted to him.

  Closing his eyes, Ellory moved more slowly and deeply, trying to answer her love with his own.

  She lifted her mouth from his wrist and rested her forehead on his arm. A soft, breathy exclamation of wonder escaped her. “You're so much closer to me now."

  The feel of her hot, quick breaths on his skin drove him mad. He kissed her back and shoulders. “Don't worry about Dylan. We'll face him together."

  She gasped. “But the sun—"

  "I'll take shelter when I have to and pour my strength into you, so you can hold him bound to you. Now—tell me again that you love me. Don't stop. Please, never stop, Talisen."

  "I love you. I love you."

  He plunged himself into her over and over again, until she cried out those three words endlessly and he poured himself into her, blood, soul and seed.

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  Chapter Eighteen

  Talisen knew the first thing Ellory would want to do was reassure himself that the children were safe, but when they got to the door of the sleeping chamber downstairs, she felt her stomach do flip-flops over facing them. What would she see in their eyes? The same cold disdain they'd shown Suvee?

  Ellory smiled, took her hand and drew her inside with him.

  Meical was the only one who wasn't there. Talisen felt Ellory's disappointment, his urgency to reconcile with his friend and thank him for his sacrifice.

  Of course, the fledglings sensed the difference in Talisen the moment she entered the room. They smelled the difference. Sean and Shelby embraced her right away, but the rest of them circled her like foxes. Her heart pounded hard. She wouldn't be treated like an outcast. Regardless of the source of her life energy, wasn't she the same person?

  Christophe's angelic face paled. “Merde, Ellory, what have you done to her?"

  Talisen beat Ellory to the answer. “Nothing I didn't want him to do. It was my choice."

  Ellory's words filled her with comfort and strength. “She has made this sacrifice for us, children. You owe her your respect and affection. Henceforth, there will be no discrimination against revenants in this household. We will amend our misconception for Talisen's sake. All of us will do so, beginning with me."

  Georgina shrugged. “It might be rather useful having our own revenant."

  They clasped hands with one another, and their whispers winged like birds into the shadows. “One vein...."

  "Damn. I've missed another group hug, have I?"

  They turned to call Meical into their circle, but his smile faded, and he shook his head. His gaze lit on Ellory.

  They eyed one another for a moment, and then Ellory went to him and held his hand out to him. Meical took it slowly in his, but Ellory drew him into his embrace.

  The big blond vampire smiled at Talisen over Ellory's shoulder, then drew back, flush-faced. He cleared his throat and smoothed down his shirtfront. “Neshi has sounded the challenge to Dylan for you. You are to meet him on the beach, about a mile east of here. But wait until you've only an hour before dawn, or he'll wear you down before Talisen can do her part."

  Meinrad pushed his way forward. “What about the rest of us? We can fight, too."

  Ellory shook his head. “You will all remain here. The Alchemist will protect you."

  His edict met with snarls and hisses, until he snarled back at them. Talisen grinned. Family disagreements were going to be very interesting.r />
  "You will all remain here,” he repeated. “No one leaves this room until we return."

  Meical reached for Meinrad's arm. “Except for Meinrad. Neshi says he's to go to the lab at once."

  Meinrad turned to Meical with a startled gaze. “The lab?"

  Meical nodded, eyes crinkling with amusement. “It seems there are some rather peculiar developments going on down there, and as Neshi must replenish himself, he can't tend to them himself. He asked if you would see to it yourself. I am to add, my lad, that you aren't to be disturbed. But that didn't come from Neshi. That came from the mouth of another."

  He raised an eyebrow at Meinrad, who blushed furiously, blurted out a laugh and bolted for the door. He paused on the threshold and turned to look at Ellory.

  Ellory smiled and waved him on his way. “Never keep your queen waiting."

  * * * *

  Talisen strode from the cover of the woods into the open. Ellory followed. She was amazed how silent they were. The night was so beautiful. The piney smell was intoxicating when mixed with the briny scent of the sea.

  Moonlight turned the beach a vibrant purple. Bright. Too bright for her sensitive eyes. She blinked and put a hand over them. I need some help here, please.

  She felt Ellory's amusement, the caress of his will moving within her, and her pupils contracted and refocused. Better?

  She took her hand away from her eyes and peered around. Much. I'm sorry there's so much I can't do for myself, yet.

  You'll adjust.

  She cast a look around her and moved further into the open. Her heart drummed. Was this their last night together? They didn't really know how strong Dylan was.

  Ellory swathed her with reassurance, forcing her heartbeat to slow until it matched his. I hate to make you feel like a puppet on strings, but it's imperative that you show no fear. He can smell it on you, and he'll use it against you.

  She grinned. Just don't call me Pinocchio. Where is he, by the way? Did he chicken out?

  No. He's here. Focus. We must both feel him.