Кристин Фихан - Dark Song

Ferro opened his arms to her and Elisabeta floated from the earth, clean and refreshed, all on her own. He closed his arms, cradling her to him, rubbed his jaw along the curve of her breast, her pulse calling to him as he took her to their favorite place deep in their forest. Neither would ever be entirely comfortable in a house. He supposed someday, when they had children, they would have to be used to a roof over their heads, but they preferred the canopy of trees.

Elisabeta slid her arms around his neck, offering herself to him. “I love the way you smell, Ferro. Wild and elusive like the forest itself. I would know you anywhere.”

He would know her by scent alone as well. She came into his mind slowly, drifting in like a soothing breeze, her fragrance so subtle but distinct, rare camellias, Italian bergamot, that hint of orange and lime, sandalwood and vetiver, the mixture almost elusive and yet lingering. Her skin held that same faint scent. Even her taste had hints of those flavors.

“When you would merge with others to rid them of the infection and I would be with you in their minds, I could feel you cleanse them with that soothing serenity, that peace and compassion that is so much a part of you, but also there was always your fragrance. Your scent clings to your skin. It is in your mind, Elisabeta, so deep in you that when you are in my mind or in another’s I can catch your scent. I think that is a good part of the way you soothe the ancients.”

He rubbed his chin over the top of her head, not wanting her to look into his eyes and see that he might not like sharing that part of her with anyone. In ancient times, many Carpathians didn’t allow others near their lifemates because it could be dangerous if those warriors turned vampire. He understood that concept. He would have been one of those men. Now, he wanted to carry her off somewhere they would be alone without interruption from all the demands the Carpathian world seemed to put on them.

“I prefer always to be with just you, Ferro,” she admitted.

The notes of truth in her voice slipped into his mind and lodged there, reassuring him. When she had first awoken, he had worked to be her light in the darkness; now she was his bright star. He tipped her face up to his and kissed her. The moment he did, he tasted passion. Love. A mixture of both.

The burn came slow, easy, a decadent lazy heat that swept through his veins, sped through hers, picking up speed as kisses grew passionate and hotter. Until the fire became a storm of emotion.

Ferro took his time worshipping her. Showing her how much she meant to him. Elisabeta was meticulous in answering him back, her hands and mouth moving over his body with equal loving. Whispers and laughter, the sound of bodies coming together and soft cries of passion rose long into the night.

With Elisabeta snuggled in his arms, looking up at the stars through the gently swaying canopy of trees, Ferro reminded her that there was a big celebration going on and it was expected that they make an appearance. It didn’t have to be a long one, but they should go.

“You have gotten so good at flying and clothing yourself, I thought you could fly to the compound from here and dress yourself in that beautiful green gown you know I love. I put it in your mind a couple of times.” Deliberately, he enticed her with flying. She was feeling very sated and loving, her hands sliding over his chest and hip very possessively.

“The scandalous one?” She tilted her head to look up at him, a hint of laughter in her dark eyes.

He couldn’t help his answering grin. The dress could be scandalous if they were alone. Only if they were alone and his fingers were busy on the corset, pulling the laces free so her breasts spilled into his hands. “Yes, that is the one I think would be perfect for a celebration. The material is soft and drapes well on your body. You will look beautiful.”

She laughed, rolled over and nipped at his chin with her teeth. “You will be thinking about those laces the entire time we are at this celebration.”

That might be true, but he hoped she would be distracted enough to get her through when she saw the number of Carpathians concentrated in a small area. Already she was shifting, a little screech owl, wings outspread, flying into the night. He was after her, the male owl smaller, lighter and much faster. He kept pace, alert for any danger to her as they covered the distance to the compound.

The two owls circled above the party below them before slowly beginning a spiraling descent into the shadows of the garden just beside the healing grounds. When Elisabeta emerged in her true form, wearing the long forest-green dress with the tight corset of crisscross cords over her breasts, she turned and gave him a look of pure reprimand.

“You knew what this would be like.”

He couldn’t deny it. He took her hand and walked her to the very edge of the garden and then wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his body to shelter her. “We had our time this rising together, and I knew I could not be so selfish as to keep you from seeing the celebration the others are having.”

The music was beautiful, rising to the night sky, the band playing instruments and couples dancing. Others talked and laughed together while children ran around, sometimes dancing and other times pretending to fight an enemy. The little girls somehow had gotten hold of sparkles and glitter and were generously dousing the ground, flowers, people and everything in sight.

Josef came into view, several older children following him, each armed with buckets of glitter on their belts and some kind of weapon they had tied to their backs in easy reach. It wasn’t hard to see that he was the instigator.

I do love to see the children playing like this, Ferro, but sooner or later, someone will insist I talk to them, and I just can’t do it yet . She spoke on their much more intimate pathway. When so many are around I feel too exposed .

Ferro kept his arms around Elisabeta’s waist, holding her tight. “You are doing just fine, minan piŋe sarnanak . As you can see, most of the Carpathians are coming together either for the first time or getting reacquainted. No one is going to notice or be upset if I do the talking for us. I do wonder what Josef is up to with all this colored glitter. It looks as if these children are up to something.” Now the children were all gathered around the stone dragons in the middle of the courtyard.

He was just a little too pleased that she still preferred him to talk for her in a crowd. He wasn’t certain he liked that trait in himself, the one that wanted her a little reliant on him.

I will always like to have you close to me, Ferro. It is my nature. That does not make me less empowered .

Her voice brushed gently through his mind, her soothing fragrance surrounding him, there in the midst of so many other scents. He heard the sound of children laughing and watched as Tariq’s oldest boy, Danny, bent to lift Darius and Tempest’s son, Andor, in front of him onto his brown stone dragon’s back. The boy slipped up behind him and waited while Amelia put Andor’s twin sister, Aniko, on her orange dragon. The two teenagers whispered to the twins and then to their dragons.

“I want you to continue to grow in confidence, Elisabeta,” Ferro said. “Do you see Danny and Amelia? The way they are with those children? Darius and Tempest are part of the Dark Troubadours. Whenever I watch the children in any village, they are like these, ready to teach, to entertain, to always share what they have with the little ones. They help with their confidence and self-esteem. They give them knowledge, even in play.”

The way you share your knowledge with Josef to help him feel as if he can become a great hunter of the vampire when his time comes .