Blood Bonds Pt. 06

It's been a while. New house (with big gardens to plan). New Mac. New promotion. Nuff said. One of my favorite authors is gone from the site, and I miss her work and her contribution to all of us who struggle to open our imaginations to the great readers out there. You don't know me, but good luck out there, kitten.

Note to anyone diving into this melodrama for the first time: I'm not so much for exposition, so you'll need to invest at least a couple of hours to read the first five chapters (under 'Novels and Novellas') if you want to know what's going on. As always, thanks to everyone for reading. Vote if you like; feedback is better. I don't promise to write back, but I sincerely appreciate it anyway. Thanks to all who have been waiting patiently. More to come when I get the time to actually sit down for more than ten minutes without falling asleep. Love, pphair

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She had barely pushed them out of the shadows of her realm, the caressing winds, whispers, still pulling at his long blue hair, softly pulsing lights still reflected off his pale skin, when she let her head drop back, exposing her long white neck to him. Allowing a tiny bit of her carefully constructed walls to drop, she released a burst of energy, heaving a sigh of pleasure and relief.

A shockwave of impenetrable darkness exploded silently out in every direction, whipping the drapes, the bed linens, slashing through the palms outside. A mental shout went up in the distance as the force swept past Andrenin, followed a second later by a hurled curse.

Chuckling he nuzzled the side of her neck, kissing where shoulder met throat, eliciting a low moan from her. She shuddered in his arms as he licked the skin above her carotid, murmuring something in a language even he didn't recognize. Another burst of power thrummed out of her as he sank his fangs into the pulsing artery below the smooth skin, and he had to hold her up as her knees gave out, head dropping to the side, hair swaying heavily against the back of her long legs. Her skin was hot against his lips, her arms coming p to clutch his waist, the back of his head, stroking his hair, tracing the contour of the top of one ear with a gentle finger.

The darkness surged into him, stronger than any other time before, overwhelming his senses, leaving him dizzy, power pounding in every cell, the abyss wrapping around him like a cool, soft blanket.

It was everywhere.

Calm.

Intimate.

Infinite.

At once mysterious and familiar, redolent of everything in her that drew him. He could feel the slow pulse of his heart, feel it matched in the ebb and flow of power around him, the darkness alive and breathing, embracing and inviting. The world outside faded away, leaving only her in his arms, her chest rising and falling against his.

Opening his eyes, he let out a gasp, nearly releasing her but for her hand clasping the back of his head, holding his mouth tightly to her pulse.

-Just look- she said into the wash of low sound around them, voice full of love, anguish, loneliness. She seemed to fade from his grasp, though a faint sense told him he still held her tightly.

She was at his side, holding his hand, eyes fixed on him as he looked around. It was as if he stood in the eye of a slow-motion hurricane, but one made of every color, sound, smell, taste, sensation and energy. In the dark center of a churning storm, nebulous bursts of... what?... surrounding him, but from a distance. Stretching into eternity, slowly floating closer, nearing, then receding into infinity once more, lost behind another wash of color or sensation.

He focused downwards and to his left on a spot of pure white light, sensing enormous energy, hearing a surge of pure harmony in A minor. The light seemed to grow brighter, the cloud of it expanding. He almost reached out to it. His heart thudded in his chest, hurting.

She squeezed his hand, bringing him back to their singular point of darkness in the maelstrom. Turning, he looked up, clenching her fingers as he glanced at a swirl that was simply a conflagration of sound, void of color, expanding towards him until she pulled him back once more.

Holding her hand as a lifeline, he let his attention wander from one cloud to the next. Wondering that he'd never seen the color blue in a raw state. Never heard the song of distilled life until that immeasurable moment. Like a slap, the realization of exactly where he was left him breathless.

-This is... nowhere- he murmured, looking down into her black eyes. --This is the void. Outside of time, space, life...I never really understood before.-

-I didn't know how to tell you... show you...-

-How would you even begin to?- he sighed, squeezing her hand as he looked around quickly, gaze sweeping over the glowing, pulsing, vibrant paradox surrounding them. --That's...This is...-

-Everything-

Her smile was gentle, but full of humor, amused by his awe.

-It's not funny- he breathed.

-Not funny, no-

Sweeping her own gaze across the expanse, her eyes seeing deeper than his ever could, she quirked her mouth to the side.

-It used to be all I had. Moving through it. In it. But never of it. Always happy to be back here, outside of it. We always knew where to find each other... we never fought...never got lost in it...secure in the knowledge that we were gods-

Watching the emotions pass through her eyes, he knew the "we" didn't refer to him. She'd never said much about her People. There were others like her. Beyond that, she'd offered little more, and he'd never pushed her into talking about her existence before she'd come to the girl.

-But you weren't gods- he said slowly. --Just Watchers. Like the Vampyr. Life passing all around you. Currents running around the rock in the stream. So deeply anchored that even if you step into the water, you may get wet, but it washes past you even faster. Older, more powerful, but no more the wiser or the better for standing impervious to the ebb and flow-

She just nodded, closing her eyes.

-Where are they now? Do you know?-

Sighing, she reached out with one hand, without opening her eyes, and pointed towards six points, the swirl of each existence expanding around her extended finger like a fog before she moved to another. They hung, separate from the other swirls for a long moment.

When she opened her eyes, they faded back into the background, becoming just another series of dazzling points. Indistinguishable from the rest.

-Do they know where you are? Are they lost?-

-We're all lost-

With that, she smiled up at him, and the darkness engulfed him once more, blanking out the maelstrom. Her skin against his lips was rapidly cooling, her heart fluttering. Then nothing. Truly nothing...

"Hey, come back to me," she was murmuring in his ear, breath cool on his suddenly burning skin.

Opening his eyes for a breath, he realized she'd let them sink to the carpet on their knees. It was several minutes before he trusted himself to speak, eyes clamped tightly shut on the cobalt fires he knew were burning in their sockets. She didn't speak, just leaned into him, pressing the softest of kisses on his chin, down his neck, back up to his face. Softest touch of her lips gracing his earlobes, eyelids, tickling his eyelashes, her breath tickling the tiny hairs on his cheeks, her own hair washing over his shoulders, his chest.

"Don't go easy on me just because you love me, okay?" he said when he found his voice, sarcasm dripping from his words, glaring at her. "I wouldn't want you to restrain yourself out of any concern for my sanity."

"I'll see what I can do," she said, giving him her best doe-eyed pout.

"How long were we gone?" he asked suddenly as he caught a glimpse of the sky through the billowing drapes.

She shrugged, face registering no concern. The need to simply connect with her on the most basic of levels made him shiver with its intensity, and he fought to control it.

With a shriek, followed by a whoop of laughter, she let him hoist her off her knees, sending them both down onto the soft rug with a muted thump. Even crushed under his weight, she let out what qualified as a giggle when he caught her wrists in his hands, bringing them swiftly above her head and holding them there as he blew a trail of cold air up the side of her neck, the sensitive skin dimpling under the onslaught.

"Submit," he commanded, repeated the cool air torture.

"Okay, okay," she gasped, wriggling beneath him, though she did nothing to free herself. "I give up, stop freezing me."

Rolling over, he pulled her above him, sliding her forward until she rested on his chest, knees pressed against his underarms, her sex, covered by the thin shield of fabric, already scented by her encounters with the Succubus and the Wolf, inches from his mouth. Sliding his hands over her calves, up the backs of her legs, around her wide hips, he caught the waistband of her pants in each hand. Flashing a fanged grin, he easily popped the waistband, ripping out the seam that disappeared between her legs in one swift pull, yanking the linen off of her body so that his prize was left vulnerable.

Her hiss echoed from unseen depths as he pulled her soft body closer, his tongue darting out, tasting her. As always, she tasted as good as she smelled, like good wine, exotic spice, pomegranates, moonswept winds. Her skin was aflame against his lips, wet already, inviting and forbidden at the same time. As his tongue thrust into her, she writhed, trying to press more of her burning folds into his reach, while at the same time wanting to rise up, seeking more of him than just his mouth.

"This is now. This is real," he whispered.

In a move he doubted even she anticipated, he pulled his mouth away from her molten core and opening wide, sank his unsheathed canines into the artery pumping so hard beneath the skin of her right thigh. With a cry, she convulsed above him, hair flooding around his head in scented deluge of black silk as she fell forward. The distinct sound of ten fully extended metal claws slicing into the soft pile and wooden planking on either side of his head didn't distract him as he pulled hard on her pulse.

She gasped, breasts heaving over him as the darkness flooded him once more. Only this time, he was ready. Silently offering up a spell of his own, he surrounded himself, refusing to let her strength overpower him.

The giant wings unfurled above them, tail curling around his ankles, caressing his leg as it slid under the leg of his pants, ripping the thin fabric as it continued upwards, but he would not be distracted.

Only when her thundering young heart started to flutter again, becoming less certain of its beat, and the beast that lay behind her seductive outer shell threatened to show itself, did he release her. Catching the streams of blood that pumped out as soon as the wounds were emptied, he let a pinprick of his own blood mingle on his tongue, lathing it across the bite, healing it instantly.

She slid back on his chest, leaving a damp trail across his smooth skin, until she could lay down with her head nestled into his collarbone, wings falling over them so that a heavy suede blanket held in the heat between them.

He caressed her hair, kissing the top of her head, the light in his eyes fierce and protective.

"Whatever you want, I'll do it," he growled after a few minutes. "Just tell—"

She raised her head, silencing him with a heated kiss that took what little breath passed through his chest.

"I want you," she growled back, eyes every bit as aggressive as his own.

"I can't offer you everything."

"I don't need it."

"You may lose it."

"I don't care. I'm tired of it."

"Once it's done, there's no going back."

"I know that."

"You'll be stuck. Here. In this form— at the very least anchored to it. You and the girl. No more separation between the two."

"There's not much as it is."

"It's still there. It wasn't Taylor, the girl, that attacked your little Wolf tonight. Was it?"

"That was... he provoked me at a bad time..." she sighed, rising up on her elbows, peering down into his eyes with a sheepish smile. He blinked away the cobalt flames when she closed off the abyss in hers.

"As old as you are, you still let a kid like that get under your skin," he teased.

"Yeah, well the whole damned human race does that," she muttered, shaking her head, hair swaying.

"And you want to be tethered to it for the rest of time?"

"I've gotten used to them over the past few years," she said defensively. "Mostly."

"Usually. Somewhat."

"Shut up."

"I'm just saying, I know we've discussed this before, in less... enticing situations... but my argument is still the same. Not that I want any less to bring you closer to me, but... you could die. Really die. Are you willing to give up eternity?"

"I watched the birth of this little universe," she said, deadpan. "I think I've got eternity taken care of."

"Smartass. It's not the same and you know it. You'll have a stake in it."

"I've had a stake in it for a while now," she said softly, her green eyes melting with affection and something on the verge of sadness as she peered down at him.

Taking in a long breath, he pulled her to him, kissing her deeply. She moaned as he rolled her over, pressing the heavy leather of her wings to one side as he rose up over her, unlacing his pants with a burst of vampiric speed and plunging into her before he lost all control of the lust raging through his powerful body.

Unleashing the Incubus, he let his spell wash over her, testing the limits of her control as passion and need fogged her brain, overcame her body. She ran her long nails over just the right spots on his back, forcing his wings to burst into view, his scent flooding the room, several cobalt feathers fluttering down into her hair.

A low moan escaped her lips, quickly building to a thundering wave that shook the ground beneath them. She arched beneath him, raising her hips to meet his thrusts, legs wrapping around his waist tightly then sliding down the back of his legs, hair flying as she twisted her head, gasping, clutching at his shoulders, eyes filling with darkness once more before she clenched them closed.

When she tilted her head back, baring her fangs, he lost it, spilling into her with a grunt unbecoming a Born Incubus. She shuddered, pulling him down onto her tightly as her release burst inside her. Murmuring to himself and to her, he strengthened the spell, surrounding her, holding her under his power, relishing the trust she had in him. It would take little for her to break free, both of him and his power.

"But I never will," she murmured in a voice that would have been inaudible to a mortal lover.

He drew back enough that he could meet her gaze, kissing her tenderly. Relishing in the warm, soft crush of her boy beneath his, the satin slide of her legs against his, the burning, slightly stinging trails her fingers and nails left over his back, he sighed, pushing some of the energy she'd given to him back into her lungs.

"Seems like that would hurt," a voice, tone thoughtful, said from the doorway. "Your wings smashed to one side like that. He's heavy too, so breathing can't be easy."

"Ugh, no one can ruin a moment like you, Andrenin," Ash said, rolling off of Talera, nestling in beside her, pulling her close.

"It's a talent," the golden-haired immortal replied, grinning, leaning casually against the doorframe. "I was born with it."

"From the shallow end of the gene pool, no doubt," Talera taunted half-heartedly through a contented yawn. She closed her eyes and nuzzled her face into Ash's chest.

"At least I came from one, oh She of the Cosmic Dust," he retorted, earning himself a sharp snort in response and a lazily displayed middle finger. "That's befitting a creature of your standing."

She mumbled something about him not wanting to meet her gene pool that he didn't quite catch, then fell silent, snuggling in closer, sighing deeply.

"You just about drained her this time, didn't you?" he asked Ash, amazement on his features. "You're on fire. Are you all right?"

Ash just offered a drunken smirk, kissing the top of her head. Andrenin rolled his eyes.

"Well, wake up," he said with a clap of his hands. "You two were out for a long time. We're supposed to get started in a few minutes."

Ash took a shuddering breath, stomach twisting in some emotion so strong that "anticipation" just didn't cover it. Talera laughed deeply against his chest, stretching slowly. Andrenin's eyes focused for a moment on her breasts as she thrust them outwards. Sighing, he shook his head slowly, then clapping his hands once more, whisked out of the room in a flash.

***

Sarah turned at the knock on the frame of the hut, smiling when she saw Ana standing there. The other had, however she did it, hidden the succubus, her skin and hair losing their outright purple tint, though her eyes remained a rather distinctive deep violet and her hair had a similar sheen. She'd changed into some decent clothes, a white tank and long skirt that floated around her newly curvy body.

"You ready? We only have like ten minutes," Sarah noted, rifling through the choice of outfits before her, annoyed with her inability to decide. It seemed everyone was wearing white, though whether that was a command from some memo she hadn't gotten, or just by impulse, she wasn't sure.

"Yeah. I guess so," the Asian said with uncharacteristic reserve, sitting on the side of Sarah's bed and facing her, eyes serious.

"What's the matter?" Sarah asked, shaking her head in irritation and just snatching a set of clothes. She tossed them down across the pillows and turned to face her friend.

"Sarah..." the other began, grinding to a halt before she got any actual sentence out, then starting again. "Sarah, sit down, please. There's something I need to tell you. I've been thinking about it for the past couple hours, since it's had time to sink in..."

The dark girl sank to the bed a foot away, dread burning in her chest for no reason that she could pinpoint.

"I—I don't know if you should go tonight."

"What?! Why?"

"Because I don't know if you'll be— I mean, no one's going to hurt you but..."

"But what?"

"She thinks you'll be fine without knowing ahead of time, but I think there's only so much someone can take in a day before it's too much."

"Ana. Make. Sense."

"Do you know what I saw in her mind?"

"Obviously not."

"When Ash's blood hits her system, she's going to show her real form. She won't be able to hide it—"

"I've seen her real form already!" Sarah cut in, starting to get offended.

"No. You didn't. That was just... a compromise."

"What do you mean? I know she's a demon. Does that mean she's—"

"She's not a demon."

"Yeah, she is. She said—"

"She's not a demon," the succubus repeated, more forcefully this time, eyes pleading with the girl, wanting so badly to show her what she'd seen, but unable to communicate it.

"Look, I've seen her! We all did just a little while ago. Why are you acting like this? She said—"

"She's never actually said exactly what she is! Just that she's not really one thing or another that we ask her about. Think about it. Have you ever asked her outright to tell you what she is? Without giving a suggestion or leading the question with an assumption?"

Sarah's face went distant, searching every conversation she'd ever had with the mercurial young woman. After a moment, she looked back up at the girl in front of her, shaking her head slowly.

"Then what...? You know what? Don't even tell me! I can handle anything any of you want to throw at me! I took it fine when we first met her. Then Kev. Then you. Nothing has freaked me out yet. Why should it now?"