“Don’t you recall this and regret the loss?” she asked Veris.
‘“This’?” he repeated.
“All this glorious rustic charm and peace,” she explained. “It’s wonderful.”
“Occasionally. Sometimes. The good stuff, yes,” he said. “But this peace and tranquility came at a price. The cost was mostly bloodshed, ignorance and sheer bloody horror. I mostly don’t mind the compromise we paid for modern living.” He glanced around, looking left and right. “Yes, over here,” he murmured and took a turning in the path that barely appeared to be a path at all.
Taylor gripped Veris’ hand more firmly as the footing grew more treacherous. Branches, cones, leaves and more showed that the path wasn’t as nearly well-trod as the one they had been on. “Are you sure about where you’re going?” she whispered.
“It’s only been sixteen hundred years,” he said. “My memory isn’t that bad.”
“Wonderful,” she muttered.
She heard him chuckle.
Ahead, running water softly sounded. It wasn’t the thunder of a waterfall but a gentle trickling. Then the path opened out as the trees thinned to reveal a tiny lake. It was more like a pond. A well-thrown stone could hit the other side and not get wet. Trees crowded the edges of the water, their roots curling into the moisture like toes dipping into coolness on a hot day. The moonlight silvered the surface of the still water, turning it into a mirror, all except the far side where a tiny stream slid over half-a-dozen boulders, feeding the pond with fresh water. It was the source of the trickle.
There was a pocket-sized area next to the pond, covered with grass and the remains of old fires. Veris and possibly others had been here before.
“Only a few others know of this place and they won’t come here tonight,” Veris told her. He dropped the bundle from his shoulder and untied it swiftly. She watched him work, pulling together wood for the fire and spreading the furs for their bed. He used flint with swift movements to get the fire going while Taylor curled up on the makeshift bed.
“I don’t think anything has really, truly impressed the fact that you were born in this time upon me so much as these last few moments,” she told him as he coaxed the fire to build.
Veris dropped more wood on the fire, then satisfied it would take care of itself for a while, he turned and unbuckled the sword from his waist. He pushed the sword itself into the ground, still within arm’s reach, dropped the scabbard to one side, then stretched himself out on the fur beside her with a sigh. He rolled onto one side and propped his head on one hand. His blue eyes in the moonlight almost glowed.
“I’ve fallen back into the old habits with surprising ease,” he confessed. “You’ve noticed that.”
She nodded.
“It’s like the human body remembers it.”
“Muscle memory,” she supplied.
“Perhaps.” He frowned. “They say you remember best what you learn first.”
“But that’s human memory. You and Brody keep telling me vampire memory is perfect. You remember everything, because your mind is completely unchanging. There’s virtually no memory loss at all.”
Veris nodded, but he was still frowning. “It’s a different quality though. I’ve only realized it now that I’ve come back here and had a chance to compare.
Everything
is a different quality. Of course, food and drink, for which we have no basis to compare. But I didn’t realize touch was different. Smell. Even pain. Sensations. Everything’s…more alive.”
Taylor stared at him. “More alive?” she repeated.
“Better,” he added.
“Better,” she repeated dumbly. This was the articulate, educated Veris, using “better” as an adjective.
He dropped his gaze and took a deep breath. “Jesus, Taylor. There’s no words for this. If all sensation was put on a scale of one to ten, then vampires feel sensations at level six. I thought humans did, too, but I found out today I was wrong. Humans feel at level eight, maybe nine. I’ve been walking around feeling the brush of your hair against my arm and almost jumping out of my skin. The smell of your shampoo makes me salivate! The shitty cloth they call material here feels wonderful under my fingers—I can feel every fiber and it’s
soft
. And don’t get me started on embroidery! I made the mistake of touching the top of a lamb’s head this afternoon. Do you know how soft lamb’s wool is?” He screwed his eyes shut. “It’s…overwhelming. Every time I think about how we’re going to get yanked out of here sometime soon, without warning, back to our world, back to feeling plain old dull level six sensations…”
He rolled onto his stomach and rested his forehead on his arm. “That’s a compromise I don’t like,” he said, his voice muffled.
Taylor rested her hand on his shoulder. “Veris, didn’t you stop to think that all this overwhelming sensation is simply normal for humans? You’re just not used to it anymore. We hardly notice all that massive input on a second by second basis. We just focus in on the important signals. You’re trying to process
everything
and getting bowled over by the traffic jam.”
He was silent for longer than she liked. Finally, he rolled over onto his back, looking up into the night sky. “It’s still far stronger than anything I’ve felt as a vampire, with or without the traffic jam.”
“Only you can judge that,” she said as calmly as possible. “Perhaps that’s the price you have to pay for immortality. There had to be a downside somewhere.”
He turned his head to look at her. “You think watching those you love age and die isn’t a high enough price?” His words were calm, but she heard old wounds, never healed, behind them. She knew then that she could not let Veris wait much longer for her to be turned as their queen had demanded. It would be cruel to leave Brody and Veris dangling, suspended and afraid that she might be snatched from them by some quirk of human fate. Soon, very soon, Taylor would ask them to turn her.
She touched Veris’ lips. “I’m sorry. I’ve made you sad.”
“Agh.” He sat up with a flex of muscle and sinew and turned to her. “Screw sad,” he said roughly. “I want to taste every inch of you while my taste buds are still working as they should.” He pulled her across the fur until she was on her knees before him. “That’s better.” He unhooked her cloak and tossed it away. “I just wish Brody was here.”
“To taste me?”
“To taste you, for me to taste, to tell me what I taste like here. He’d have found the perfect simile for what your mouth tastes like. It’s just not the same as at home. And he’d have waxed lyrical over the food.”
Taylor fought not to giggle as Veris’ tongue slid down her throat, because the image he painted was exactly right. Brody would have
so
enjoyed the food. He would have been in raptures over it.
But the image faded and her delight with it, as Veris’ hands unbuttoned and unfastened her dress and underdress with swift, sure movements. Her shoes and garments were stripped from her in a few quick movements.
I’ve fallen back into the old habits with surprising ease.
It didn’t surprise her that Veris knew his way around a lady’s undergarments.
She was left, kneeling again, naked on the furs and trembling with anticipation. Her breasts were swollen and the nipples hard-peaked. Her hair brushed the small of her back. Veris thrust his hands into it. “I love your hair like this,” he growled and brought her mouth to his.
Their kiss was explosively hot and frantic. Veris’ tongue speared into her mouth as he held her head steady, exploring deeply. The kiss was different. Arousing, but different from any other kiss Veris had ever given her.
Abruptly, he broke the kiss and gently pulled her head away from his.
“My God…” he breathed. “I have been missing out.” His chest was heaving. “If that was just a simple kiss, heaven help me by the time we are done.”
Then she realized. “No fangs,” she whispered. “You don’t have fangs,” she said more loudly. “It’s not you, not really.”
Veris drew back a little more. “Of course it is.”
She shook her head. “You’re you inside. But you’re not complete. You’re not really, completely Veris that I love if you don’t have the canines, if you don’t have to be careful about hurting me when you kiss me.”
Veris’ gaze dropped from hers.
“I’m sorry,” Taylor added. “I know you adore the level eight sensations and being human, but I want the real you back. I want the old Veris back.”
He lifted his head again. Astonishingly, he was smiling. “I love you, Maggie Taylor Yates.” He kissed her gently on the mouth, like he might if he was being careful with his canines, or just kissing her goodnight. “You have too much wisdom for a human as young as you. You make me feel like a fool and at the same time incredibly grateful I met you.”
He pushed her hair over her shoulder. “We’ll be back in our time soon enough. You’ll have your wish. In the meantime, I intend to finish what I started.” He lowered his head and brushed his lips over her carotid pulse. At any other time, it might have been arousing for Veris to feel the beat of her blood. Now it was only a caress of his lips against her flesh. She shivered.
His hands once more plunged into her hair, stroking it and controlling her head. He pulled her head back gently, extending her throat and giving him access to it. His mouth and tongue moved hotly across her flesh. Human heat. She shivered again, realizing that the heat of his body was keeping her warm despite the chill of the air moving softly across the pond. It was a luxury to feel heat from Veris, but she still wanted the comfort of the familiar. This was alien and a novelty only.
His lips explored lower, sending shivers and ripples across her flesh. As he nibbled and licked across her upper breasts, his hands brought her head back, supporting it. She was lowered down onto the fur, a tight bow with her calves tucked under her and her breasts raised for Veris to feast upon.
He fastened his lips upon one with a growl. His teeth nipped and tugged on the hard and sensitive nipple, as he slid his hands under her back, slowly moving them down to her buttocks.
Taylor gasped, her body blazing with need. There was a wicked wantonness in being utterly naked and writhing on furs in the outdoors while a fully dressed man played with her body.
Veris’ fingers gripped her ass cheeks, separating them, as he moved his mouth to her other nipple. He sucked on it, drawing it into his mouth and flicking it with his tongue.
Taylor moaned as she was swamped with heady, ripe sensations of arousal. She could barely think beyond the need to have Veris’ cock inside her. To be fucked fast. To come as hard as she could.
Her clit was throbbing with need.
She tried to reach for Veris, but her arched position on the furs made it difficult. Veris pushed her arms back down.
His mouth left her breast. The nipple crinkled at the touch of the night wind on its wet tip, making it cold.
Veris pushed her knees as far apart as they could go. She was spread so that her pussy and anus were completely open for Veris to access as he may. Her pussy was weeping fluids.
Veris swept his tongue across her pussy and clit. Taylor cried out, her hips jerking upward.
“Ah…delicious,” he said with a groan and did it again.
Taylor moaned, her head rolling into the fur. She clutched at the fur desperately. “Veris!”
“Music,” he crooned. He sucked her clit into his mouth and at the same time pushed three fingers into her pussy.
Taylor tried to lift herself off the fur in delight, but Veris held her down. His tongue played with her as his fingers worked a different magic. Taylor could feel her orgasm rushing at her at express speed. “Veris, hurry. You… I want you.” She was panting.
But Veris continued his assault unabated. Then his thumb slid into her anus, moistened with her own lubricant and she was lost. Her climax tore through her like a silvered lightning bolt, making her shriek with delight. She could feel herself clenching about Veris’ fingers as she shuddered and came.
The aftereffects of the climax were still lingering when Veris lifted his tunics and undergarments aside, pulled out his cock and pushed it into her with a hard, single driving thrust that made him groan and pause. His hands splayed out next to her head to support him.
“Heat…” he muttered.
“You, too,” she whispered back.
“You’re like a velvet fist around me.” He swallowed. “In many ways, this feels like the first time.”
“In some ways, it is,” she murmured.
“It’s astounding.” He began to thrust again, taking his time. Then even slower.