Dare To Be Loved

by Stacy Lee

  “You’re thinking awfully loud there, sweetheart.” The term of endearment makes my heart flutter rapidly. His deep chuckle does nothing to calm my nerves though. “How are you feeling?” I take a mental inventory and find that I actually felt much better today than I have in the past four. Probably because he was much more comfortable than the forest floor.

  “Fine.” I croak out. Bad brain, bad thought! Good thing he couldn’t read my mind. Wait…. “Can you read my mind?” I ask on a squeak. His bark of laughter isn’t what I expected.

  “No, I can’t. Why, something you don’t want me to know?” I shake my head vehemently. “It’s ten thirty, let’s get something to eat then we can talk. How’s that?” I lift myself up on my elbow to stare at him. I already asked him one embarrassing question, let’s go for two.

  “You mean food, right?” Another bark of laughter escapes him, transforming his entire presence. His eyes are soft and gentle, the previously stern lines in his face loosen up to look more like laugh lines, his lush lips curve into a jovial smile that has me relaxing, genuinely relaxing with him for the first time. He wasn’t as cold as I thought he was.

  “Yes, I mean food. We only use our fangs during three different occasions. When we are wounded, for fighting and during sex.” My eyes grow to the size of saucers.

  “Sex?” I squeak pulling my lip in to chew on it in nervousness. He nods with an impish smile.

  “I’ve heard it can be earthshattering.” He grins. The words confuse me. He didn’t strike me as a man who would go without; he certainly has had sex before, hadn’t he?

  “You haven’t…. I mean, you had to have had… um…” I could feel the deep blush creeping up my skin. His grin grows wider.

  “Have I had sex?” He raises his brow, a mischievous light entering his bright green eyes. “Marnie, I am five hundred and two years old. Yes, I have had sex.” I cough on the admission.

  “Five hundred and two?” I breathe out in awe. “You look good for an old man.” I smirk at him, his eyes narrow on me. The humor flees and the cold hard man is back.

  “Old man? If I’m an old man then you’re a baby. You can’t be what? Eighteen, nineteen years old?” His lips turn down with a frown. “You are at least eighteen, right?” It’s my turn to laugh.

  “Yes, I’m twenty actually. Twenty one next month.” His frown disappears but the coldness in his eyes doesn’t retreat.

  “Good. I’m not a cradle robber then.” He flashes a huge grin that finally pushes a little warmth back into those eyes.

  “If you have had...um … you know…. Then what do you mean you’ve ‘heard’ it can be earthshattering? Wouldn’t you know?” I stutter out my question, the hand in my hair slipping through to the nape of my neck distracting me. His flesh against mine is almost too much to handle, the sparks intensify with every touch.

  “Nope. We only share blood with our mates during sex. We only have one mate. You are mine.” I gulp.

  Sex with Dare? Oh, boy.

  Sex with Dare drinking my blood? Oh, hell!

  My traitorous body ignites in flames at that mental picture. I roll from the bed needing to escape. As I sprint from the room his deep chuckle follows me.

  “You can run but you can’t hide, Marnie.” He hollers out right before the bathroom door snicks closed behind me. Out of habit I lock it before taking care of business. As I stand up the door handle jiggles, a low growl comes from the other side. A split second later the door opens.

  “Why do you keep locking me out?” The cold eyes and rigid posture have returned. Unconsciously I step back, he steps forward.

  “It’s habit. I don’t do it on purpose; I don’t even realize I do it.” I plead with him. He seems to consider my words then nods.

  “Learn to break the habit. I don’t like locks between us.” He turns and leaves the room shutting the door behind him.

  Break the habit? Seriously? A habit I’ve had for fifteen years, one that has kept me safe more than once and warned me hundreds of other times, he just wants me to up and stop doing it?

  The man truly was insane.

  ****

  After a silent breakfast of omelets I lead her back to the bedroom. I could have done this in the front room but I wanted her off kilter a little. This was going to be a lot to take in and I really should have been more understanding but she seemed to be more honest and emotional when she felt threatened. Whatever I had to do to get her to talk to me when I finished explaining, I would do it, because one way or another, this was going to happen before midnight tonight no matter what her answer was. I wouldn’t let her die even if she asked me to.

  I lift her by the waist and sit her in the middle of the still messed up bed then pull the desk chair up beside it. I sit straddling it and lean my arms on the high wooden back.

  “Where would you like me to start?” I ask seriously. I would tell her what I needed to enable me to get to The Claiming as quickly as possible. The idea something could happen to her before it was done wasn’t sitting well with me. I hadn’t wanted a mate but now that I found her, I wasn’t giving her up.

  “Um, the beginning?” She shrugs, I growl, she jumps. “I don’t know anything, Dare. I can’t tell you where to start. This is your show. Tell me what you think I need to know then I’ll ask you questions.” I nod sharply. Good enough.

  “Then let’s start with Patronus. The word is Latin for protector or guardian. It is what we are. We protect the humans from the other races that exist. We keep the existence of those races a secret from the humans. We keep the peace between all races. If someone harms a human, we deal with them, if they let their existence be known, we deal with it, if there is fighting between two races we hold authority to stop it and so on.” I stop when I see the question leap to her eyes. I know what it is but I let her ask it.

  “Other races? Like the Stroli?” The name is practically a whimper. They really did scare her but obviously not as much as I did, which was proven by her dream. The reminder softens my tone.

  “Yes. The Stroli are one race. Vampires, Shifters, Fairies, Witches, Elves, Brownies, Sirens, Succubus, and most others you have heard of but didn’t think were real. They are very real. Plus there are others you have never heard mention of like the Stroli, Babbles, Thanus, and more. Some of your myths aren’t completely true. Vampires can go out in the sun, Witches aren’t just women who practice Wicca, Shifters aren’t fazed by silver, things like that.”

  “So the Patronus are what? The good guys of the bad races?” I snort at her assumption humans are the only ‘good’ race. She’d be surprised what a knowledgeable human could do.

  “Not all the races are bad. Fairies are mischievous but most are good people. You probably know a few.” I shrug at her open mouth expression. “They can blend in well with magic. They have wings but not in this realm, only in the fairy realm called Avalon are their true selves revealed. Anyway the point is the Patronus race basically governs the rest. My brothers and I more so because we are the last of the Royal line, but we’ll get into the significance of that in a minute. So, as I said last night, I am not a Vampire. I am a Patronus.”

  “And Patronus have fangs, like a Vampire?” She asks skeptically.

  “Yes. We can also shift like the Shifters and use magic like the Fairies, but I try to keep that to a minimum. I don’t care for it all that much, it makes you feel funny.” I shiver at the remembrance of the last time I was forced to fight against a Fairy. Not a fun or fair fight. “Basically we can do whatever our enemy can. The only thing that physically stays with us all the time is the fangs and the ability to shift into any known Shifter race. Also small amounts of magic can be used, like unlocking doors.” I lift my brow to her and watch her blush.

  “Large amounts only come to us if we are fighting someone with the ability. My brothers and I each have a power that is our own, not something normal Patronus have. Each Royal child is blessed by the Fairy Queen and given a gift at birth. Mine is the ability to control the ea
rth. I don’t care for it much and rarely use it, but I can in sticky situations if I need to.” I had knocked one to many trees over on myself to enjoy the powers Queen Tia bestowed upon me at birth. I have never relied on the gift therefore it was weaker than my brothers gifts were. We rarely fought apart anyway and I could rely on them when I needed to. I didn’t need to tear up the ground or uproot a tree with them at my back.

  “Vampires, Stroli, Thanus, Babbles and some Shifter breeds are usually our biggest enemies. The others pretty much keep to themselves not needing much intervention. I guess what I mean to say is we adapt to who we face. If I have to fight a Witch I can use her powers, if I fight a Succubus I can draw off her energy, Elves and Fairies give us magic and so on. Do you understand?” She nods slowly.

  “But you don’t feed off humans like Vampires? They do that, right?” By the fates, she was cute.

  “Yes, they feed on humans if we aren’t there to stop them. No, we don’t. As I said earlier there are only three reasons we use the fangs. When we fight. Beheading or fire kills a Vamp just fine for any other race. Wooden stakes are only in your legends and don’t work, they only piss them off. For us our bite is deadly to them, as theirs is to us. They produce a venom they secret through a hole in the tip of the fangs when they bite. Enough venom and it’s lights out for the Patronus. Patronus, on the other hand, our venom is in our saliva. One small bite will make them sick, but a good muscle ripping tear will subject them to enough venom to kill them.” Her body shutters with the description.

  “Then there is healing. We genuinely heal on our own fairly quickly. For example your bruises would have been gone within twenty minutes. However if the injuries sustained are extreme, like a punctured lung, broken bones or ruptured kidney, I can bleed another Patronus to speed the healing up tenfold. Anyone will do but my brothers blood is stronger than a normal Patronus and heals me faster than anyone else could. Bleeding one of my brothers has saved my life more than once. Just as I’ve bled for them.” Her nod says she is following along.

  “Then there is sex.” I grin as her pretty blush returns. “For normal Patronus when they find their mate among other Patronus they simply have sex, a bite is exchanged, both drawing on the blood of the other. The scars of the bite will stay for the rest of their lives marking them as mates. Simple enough, right?” Her nose squinches up at the thought.

  “Do I have to bite you? Is that what you’re saying?” I notice immediately she was thinking along the terms this was happening, not ‘if’ she did it. I see the moment she realizes it herself. “I mean…. No, that’s not what I meant… I um…” Knowing what else I had to tell her I give her mercy.

  “I know what you meant. And the answer is, not exactly.” Her head cocks in confusion. “Remember I said I was of Royal Blood?” She nods. “That is the ritual for other Patronus, not us. My brothers and I will not find a mate among the Patronus. Our mates are destined to be human females. Human’s with a star birthmark, the mark of our lineage.” I wait for realization to hit her. Her mouth pops open when it does.

  “Is that why you asked about my birthmark before we entered the camp?” I nod knowing she had more questions in there. “And because I said yes, that’s why you drugged me with the food?” There it is. Two down, one to go.

  “Yes. “ And the last one, the doozy I didn’t want to answer…

  “How did you know about the mark to begin with? I mean, can you all sense them or something?” Yep, that was the one.

  “I knew because you are my mate.” Again her eyes widen. “If I hadn’t been distracted by the Stroli trying to kill me I would have realized it long before I did. I honestly should have noticed it immediately. As it is I feel pretty dumb that it took me twenty minutes into the run before it dawned on me why the only thing I could think about was grabbing you and running the other way before we ever got near my brothers. My brain didn’t want to give you a chance to pick another. That is why I kept silent while we ran. I didn’t want to influence your choice. Or give myself hope.” Her head is shaking but I don’t know why.

  “So if I hadn’t have chosen you, then what? You don’t strike me as a man who would let anyone, even one of your brothers, have your mate without a fight.” I can’t keep the small smile from forming. She was beginning to understand me.

  “You’re right. If you would have chosen any of the other five I would have had the chance to challenge them for you. We would have fought till one was unable to get up or gave up. The winner would have gotten you. I was very pleased I didn’t have to hurt one of my brothers but I would have, Marnie. I wouldn’t have left the tent that night without you by my side. Up until you peeked out behind that tree nothing would have made me say I cared for someone more than my brothers. Now I would run away from one of them in trouble to rescue you.” Her lip disappears between her teeth again.

  “And how is the…um… sex different?” Her whisper is inaudible to human ears, to mine it was loud and clear.

  “Well, that’s where things get tricky. The vision you had when you chose is called The Choosing. Next comes what is called The Claiming. Basically I claim you as mine.” Her brow lifts in question.

  “That doesn’t sound tricky, Dare. What are you leaving out? What does The Claiming involve?” Even though she tries to hide it, I hear the slight tremor to her voice. I was scaring her again.

  “You are human. I am immortal. I can only die by a Vampire bite or beheading. You can die any number of ways. To change that, I will change you. During The Choosing after you made your choice and I accepted, your birthmark with an ‘N’ inside it showed up on my inner right thigh tying us together.” She gasps.

  “How do you know where my birthmark is?”

  “I just told you. I now have one identical to yours. Would you like me to show you?” She shakes her head rapidly her hand sliding between her legs to rub her own mark, a mark very close to her core. I snap my eyes back up to her. I needed to get through this, fast. My brain knew it was after eleven, my body was screaming for relief, my zipper was permanently indenting itself on my hard member. I can count the number of minutes he’s been soft since I met her on one hand.

  “That was the first step. What my brothers and I didn’t know is when the woman’s voice announced your choice she also surprised us with the fact The Claiming has to be completed within forty-eight hours or the tie binding us breaks and the mate dies.” I stop to let this sink in. This is what would cause the most reaction from her. It was also my ace in the hole that she couldn’t run from this, from me. It was cruel but it was true. Mate me or die.

  “So you’re telling me if I don’t go through with whatever this ‘Claiming’ is, I will die?” Her voice is bland, unemotional. I didn’t like it when she did this. I preferred the temper I saw in her last night, the sarcasm she has used a few times when she forgot I was male.

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. We have till 12:05 tonight to finish this.” Her face becomes blank to match her emotionless eyes.

  “And if I refuse, I have till 12:05 tonight to live.” I did not like that statement.

  “You would rather die than mate with me?” I ask carefully trying not to accuse her of anything.

  “I don’t know. Finish telling me what The Claiming is. I’m assuming it involves blood and sex, but what else? I will let you know my choice when you are done.” Aggravation and anger zip through me so fast I have to shut my eyes to reel it in. I remind myself she is terrified of men and an innocent. Maybe telling her everything isn’t a good idea, but then again I told her last night I wouldn’t lie to her. I take a deep breath and give her what she wants. The truth. Well, most of it.

  “Yes, sex and blood are involved but it’s the manner in which they are involved that might not please you. Again, this was supposed to take place immediately after The Choosing, which of course, being attacked and my stupidity in giving you the Morp caused that not to happen. I didn’t know about the forty-eight hour time limit but I did know what T
he Claiming involved. I never dreamed we would only have twelve hours left to complete it. So where in the centuries past this happened over two days, ours will be rushed and uncomfortable for you.” I rub my hand over my face.

  “Dare, your stalling. Just spit it out.” Even emotionless she managed to make that sarcastic.

  “Fine. We will have sex five times. Again, remember none of us have a mate so this is new for me too, the last Royal Claiming was our parents. Archer is nine hundred years old, Marnie and my parents had been together for a hundred years before he was born. Do you understand why I am not sure exactly how it works?” She nods.

  “Alright, as long as you understand I am almost as lost on this as you are. At some point during the sex, I’m guessing I will know when, I will drink from you. At the same time I will cut my wrist and you will willingly drink from me. This will happen four times. Each time you willingly take my blood you will change a little more. The fifth time your fangs will drop and you will drink from my neck as I do from yours. Before this can happen you have to completely surrender yourself to me, your mate. Only with your surrender will The Change happen.” I watch her face carefully as I speak. It stays blank up until the words ‘completely surrender yourself to me’ leave my mouth. I figured the drinking blood would have gotten a reaction first but obviously I was wrong.

  “Whoa, wait. Surrender completely to you? And how exactly do you plan on making me surrender completely to you?” Her voice was strong, all pretenses of staying emotion free gone. She was pissed. And scared. Her choice of words ‘make me surrender’ instead of ‘how do I surrender’ proves that.

  “Marnie, I already told you I would not hurt you. Don’t make me say it again.” I give her a hard look she shrinks away from before continuing. “I’m not sure exactly how it all works but I’m sure we can figure it out together.” Actually, I had an idea of how this was going to play out but just this once I think it is better left unsaid. I knew the stories mother had told me. I also knew the words of The Claiming could be construed into different meanings. I wasn’t sure which meaning to believe so I think it might be better not to say any of them rather than confuse her more.