by S. E. Smith
Ka’ya’s drew in a swift breath when she saw Alexandru’s torn flesh. Shaken, she reached for the leather knapsack lying on the top corner of the pallet. She pulled out a small pouch filled with herbal ointments she used for wounds.
“Ka’ya,” Alexandru said, reaching out and wrapping his hand around her wrist. “There is only one thing that will help me heal.”
A frown creased Ka’ya brow and she looked back at him with a worried expression. The cuts were much deeper than she’d thought at first. It was amazing that he was even talking, much less capable of finding her in the dark.
“What do you need?” she asked.
“Blood,” he replied, staring down at her with an intense gaze that sent a shiver through her.
“Blood? I… How?” she stammered.
“Will you trust me?” he asked.
Ka’ya swallowed. Her mind swirled with confusion. Nothing made sense to her any more. The memory of his teeth, sucking the blood from her thumb, the speed at which his forehead healed, and the way he moved up on the cliff were frightening – and yet, his determination that she escape so she could save her brother told her that no matter who or what he was – Alexandru was a good man.
“Yes, I trust you,” she whispered, not looking away from him.
A low groan escaped him and his hand moved up her arm to her neck. Another shiver ran through her when he wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck and leaned forward. From the corner of her eye, she saw his teeth lengthening again. The knowledge of what he was about to do hit her and she stiffened.
He paused, waiting to see if she would pull away. His warm breath fanned across her skin. Ka’ya’s eyelids fluttered and she tilted her head away to expose more of her neck.
Alexandru brushed her neck with his tongue. Ka’ya moaned and her hands rose to grasp his shoulders. Pleasure washed through her when he sank his teeth into her neck. She had expected pain, not a sense of overwhelming warmth and driving need.
“Alexandru!”
Ka’ya’s guttural cry mixed with the wind and sound of the river. Her hands kneaded the material of his leather jacket while her eyes closed at the sensual feel of his lips pressed against her throat. She didn’t know how long they stayed like that – it could have been a few seconds to several minutes. All she knew was she didn’t want the rush of feelings to end.
It took a moment for her realize that Alexandru was gently stroking his tongue over her skin again. She opened her eyes and blinked at him with a dazed expression as he pressed her back onto the pallet. A tender smile curved his lips as he gazed down at her.
“You taste delicious,” he said with a smile.
Ka’ya blinked up at him. She noticed that even in the dim light he didn’t look as pale or as tired as he had just minutes before. Her gaze moved to his chest. She watched in disbelief as his wounds healed before her eyes through the rip in his shirt.
“The purple lady was right, you must bounce even better than the other creature she said,” she replied in awe.
“Purple lady?” Alexandru repeated with a confused frown.
Ka’ya nodded and struggled to sit up. Her stomach growled when the scent of the dinner she was preparing floated toward her on a gentle breeze. She glanced at it, relieved the fire had died down to a bed of coals and the meat wasn’t burnt.
Alexandru saw her glance and stood up. He reached for the bird that looked a lot like a chicken back home and handed the spit to her. He settled back down next to her when she crossed her legs and pulled a piece off to hand it to him.
“Do you…?” she asked, holding a leg out to him.
“Yes, being half…,” he started to say before he shook his head and frowned.
“Being half what?” she asked, pulling the other leg off.
“I don’t know,” he said, staring at the dark brown meat. “It was on the tip of my tongue and vanished.”
“What are you, Alexandru? I’ve never seen anyone like you before. Back up on the mountain I saw your face and hands. The female Gonda….” Ka’ya swallowed and looked down at Alexandru’s hand. “She was afraid of you. Granted, I’ve only had limited contact with the creatures, but I’ve never seen them show fear before. I’ve also never known anyone who drinks the blood of others. It does something to you. The color of your face is normal again and your wounds…. What are you? Where did you come from?”
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, staring at the fire. “I see images, but they fade too quickly for me to understand.” He turned his head to gaze at her again. “You said something about a woman in purple. What did she say?”
Ka’ya shook her and gave a strained laugh. “She said her name was Topper and that someone called the Fates sent her to make sure you were alright. She said Tory was upset and that it wasn’t good for her in her condition. Oh, and something about a thing called a Belmont. She was wearing this beautiful lavender dress and white ankle boots. Her hat…. Alexandru, it was alive! A bird sat on the top and she was annoyed with it and it stood up and moved!” she said with a shake of her head. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”
“Topper,” Alexandru murmured.
Ka’ya nodded and took a bite of the meat she was holding. Wiping a hand across her mouth, she swallowed and gazed at his face. He had a thoughtful expression on it, like he might be remembering the woman.
“Do you know who she is?” Ka’ya asked curiously.
A slow smile curved his lips. “My great-aunt,” he said with a nod. “I don’t remember much else, but I know she is my great-aunt – and that she is different.”
“Like you,” Ka’ya said.
“And like you,” he teased, turning to smile down at her.
“I’m not…,” she started to argue before she gave him a rueful smile. “You’re right. I guess I am different from my people as well.”
Neither of them talked while they finished eating. Ka’ya reflected on everything that had happened since she’d first found Alexandru. It was hard to believe that she had known him for such a short time – yet, felt so connected to him. They still had a long journey ahead of them. It would take another three days before they reached Perth.
“I never thanked you,” she said, tossing the remains of her meal to the alpha.
“For what?” Alexandru asked.
“For saving my life,” she said, rising to her feet. “I need to clean up before I retire for the night.”
Ka’ya needed a few minutes alone. The alpha rose and stretched before trotting over to her side. She had only taken a few steps when she heard Alexandru quietly call her name. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw he had stood up as well.
“This is confusing for me as well, Ka’ya,” he admitted, gazing back at her with an intense expression.
She nodded and continued on toward the river. The chill of the breeze once she moved away from the fire did little to cool the heat burning in her body. She wanted to believe it was just a byproduct of her relief that Alexandru was alive.
Her hand rose to touch her neck. There was no mark on it, but she could still feel the imprint of his lips against the column of her neck. Stopping at the edge of the river, she gazed out across the rippling water. A small smile curved her lips.
“I think I have feelings for our captive, alpha. What kind of huntress am I?” she mused.
The wolfhound sneezed and sat down. A soft chuckle escaped Ka’ya. Yes, she was just as perplexed. Perhaps, she would see things differently tomorrow.
Stripping out of her clothes, she stepped into the shallow waters of the river and sank down. Until then, she would cool her body in the chilly waters. Or at least try to, she mused, when thoughts of Alexandru rose to her mind.
10
Early the next morning, Alexandru wiped the excess water from his face and ran his fingers through his short, dark hair. While he had bathed after Ka’ya returned last night, he felt he needed another one – this time to cool the fire growing inside him. Hell, at the r
ate it was building, he decided he was either going to self-combust or be given a gold medal for control.
After he’d returned to camp last night, he discovered that Ka’ya had made a pallet next to hers. Granted it was done to maximize protection against the elements and possible predators, but it was still next to hers. Another groan escaped him when he remembered how beautiful she looked in the glow of the fire when he first found her.
He had been on the verge of collapsing. The fight with the female Gonda had been brutal. When they both went over the cliff, he thought for sure his time had come to an end, but something shifted inside him. As they plummeted over the side of the cliff, he had ripped the arrow out of the female’s forearm. She had twisted away from him, but not before she lashed out with her claws and raked a path down his chest.
He had landed on her back. Once again, she struggled to throw him off. Soaring upward again, she cleared the edge of the cliff where the path was and rose higher. Once she was high enough, he rolled off her back. He knew she would turn and attack him and she had.
As she turned to dive for him, he threw the arrow in his hand with deadly accuracy. The sharp tip and long shaft drove through the red vein, piercing her heart, and burying itself all the way to the fletching. He rotated in midair and changed.
At first, he didn’t understand what had happened. He had been bracing for a hard landing one second and the next found himself soaring down along the cliff. His body was large with fiery red feathers. The few Gondas that tried to attack him found themselves engulfed in flames.
He had spiraled down to the valley floor and transformed less than five feet above the ground before he had collapsed and lost consciousness from blood loss. It was dark by the time he woke. The promise he had made to Ka’ya had given him the strength to push up off the ground and search for her. It had taken a little while, but eventually, the faint smell of burning wood carried on the breeze had led him to her.
He looked down at his clenched hands. The memory of the taste of her blood made his mouth water. The small amount he had taken had left him craving far more.
“Not now, damn it,” he growled.
The wolfhound that had accompanied him down to the river whined and looked at him with a puzzled expression. A wry smile curved Alexandru’s lips. He could sympathize with the wolfhound. He’d been cursing and muttering for the last ten minutes.
“Not you,” he replied ruefully. “It would appear my body has a mind of its own and is refusing to listen to my brain. I don’t suppose you ever have that issue do you?”
“I don’t think he understands,” Ka’ya chuckled, walking up behind them. “I was worried about you. Are you feeling unwell?”
Alexandru released the deep breath he had drawn in and turned to face Ka’ya. She had braided a section of the blue in her hair and pinned it back. Alexandru could feel his fingers twitch. He wanted to unbraid it and bury his fingers through her hair while he….
“Alexandru, are you alright? Your… Well, your eyes are glowing and you have an expression that looks very much like you are in pain on your face,” she commented.
“I’m fine,” he said in a slightly strangled voice before he cleared his throat. “I’m fine. I’m just hungry.”
“I have some of the cake my mother gave me,” she said, starting to turn away from him.
“Ka’ya,” Alexandru called, stopping her.
She turned back to him. “Yes.”
“It isn’t food I want. It’s you,” he quietly informed her.
Ka’ya’s eyes widened before a smile curved her lips. “Then that makes two of us,” she replied.
It took a second for Ka’ya’s words to sink in. A soft curse escaped him and he moved without thinking. One moment he was by the river, the next he had his arm wrapped around Ka’ya’s waist and was drawing her close.
“I want you,” he bluntly informed her.
“I can tell,” she chuckled before she sobered and gazed at his chest. She reached out and ran her hand down his bare chest. “I still cannot believe how quickly you can heal.”
Alexandru reached up and held her hand over his heart. “Does it frighten you?” he asked, curious.
She tilted her head back and studied him for several long seconds before she shook her head. Her fingers caressed his flesh and he swore each stroke fanned the flames inside him higher. She seemed to recognize the effect she was having on him because her touch became bolder.
“Not frighten. I would say more like intrigues me,” she murmured, sliding one hand up his chest while her other hand moved lower. “Just as your kiss last night did. I want you, Alexandru.”
Alexandru lowered his head and captured her lips with his. His tongue swept forward, pressing against hers and encouraging her to open for him. She did, parting her lips to him like the clouds unveiling the sun. The arm he had wrapped around her waist tightened and he crushed her against him. The hand between them teased the flesh along the edge of his jeans while his other hand slid down to cup her ass and press her against him.
There was no denying the evidence of his desire. The move ignited a fiery need in Ka’ya and she tangled her fingers in his hair, holding him as she deepened their kiss. Alexandru could feel the call of her blood to his. This was a primitive call to mate, to claim, and to brand her as his. He knew about the driving desire – he just couldn’t remember who’d told him about it. He slowly ended their frantic kiss, moving his lips along her jaw to her throat.
“I need you, Ka’ya,” Alexandru groaned.
“I left the pallet out,” she murmured near his ear.
Alexandru pulled back and gazed down at her before sliding his hand around and grasping hers. His fingers tightened around her hand when she gave him a shy smile. He didn’t miss the excitement, or the flash of uncertainty. Both expressions hit him hard. He suspected that Ka’ya was unaware of the information she had unconsciously shared with him – that she was innocent.
Grasping her hand, he guided her back to their small camp. He gazed down at her as his hands moved to the fastenings of her shirt. She had left off the leather vest that she normally wore. His fingers paused when the back of his hands brushed against the soft mounds of her breasts. It was obvious from the feel that she was not wearing a bra. The idea of her going without one made his body harden. If he had known before – and now that he did – Alexandru swallowed. It was going to be very difficult for him to walk next to her and not visualize her without a bra.
“You’re killing me!” he swore under his breath.
“This kills you?” she asked, puzzled.
“I want to bury my…. Damn it, if I had known you weren’t wearing a bra,” Alexandru breathed deeply through his nose. “Even your scent has me ready to come like a school boy.”
Ka’ya released a delighted laugh. “I take it all of these things are a good thing,” she reflected with a shy, pleased grin.
“Yes, very good,” he replied in a strained voice.
“Then, let me help make it easier,” she replied with a seductive glance.
Before Alexandru could undo the next button, Ka’ya reached down and gripped the bottom of her shirt and pulled it up over her head. She tossed it onto a nearby rock and reached for the fastenings of her trousers. She toed off her boots and set them aside.
Alexandru’s hand reached out and he cupped one bare breast in his palm. The move drew a soft groan from Ka’ya. He kneaded her breast before pinching her nipple. Ka’ya straightened and gazed back at him with eyes filled with desire.
“You like that,” he asked.
“Yes… Yes…,” she replied, pushing her trousers down and kicking them aside.
Alexandru drew in a deep breath. This woman standing proudly in front of him took his breath away and made his blood burn. He felt his teeth start to lengthen. Reaching out, he ran his hands down her body, enjoying each tantalizing touch.
He cupped both of her breasts in his hands before he bent and nipped first one, then her oth
er nipple. Her hands shot out to grasp his forearms. Alexandru teased her right nipple with his tongue, feeling it grow under his masterful touch. He brushed his teeth against her breast and felt his mouth water. He wanted to bury his cock in her as far as he could go while he buried his teeth in her and drank from her sweet, healing blood.
Already he could picture how he would take her. He didn’t realize that the visual was so intense that he actually pierced the flesh of her breast until he tasted the sweet iron of her blood. His arm swept around her to keep her from collapsing. He slid his other hand down between her legs. The slick moisture between her legs told him that she was not immune to the gentle sucking on her breast.
Concerned with her comfort when they came together, Alexandru slipped a finger along her sensitive channel. Encouraged by the movement of her hips, he pulled out far enough to slide two fingers deep inside her. He paused when he felt the thin membrane that proved he had been right in his assessment of her innocence.
Alexandru reluctantly released her breast and ran his tongue over the twin puncture wounds. They would heal without a mark within minutes. Ka’ya’s cry of distress told him that she missed the attention he gave her taut nipple. She wanted more. He planned to give her what she was begging for – and so much more.
Stepping back, Alexandru rid his body of his clothing. His fists clenched when Ka’ya ran her hands over him. He bowed his head, turning it to the side to keep her in his peripheral vision when she slowly walked around him. Her hands sliding across his chest, arm, and upper back before it moved lower.
His cock pulsed with need, pre-cum dampening the head, when she dragged her nails across the cheeks of his ass. His head twisted to the other side when she continued her exploration. Alexandru gritted his teeth when she teased the crack of his ass.
Her fingers were soft, sometimes hesitant, and curious. He could tell she was as fascinated by his body as he was of hers. Her hand brushed along his hip before she returned to stand in front of him.
Alexandru released the breath he had drawn in a long hissing release when she lifted her hands and rested them on his shoulders for a moment before sliding them down his muscular chest to his flat stomach and finally to his throbbing cock.
