41. Closer

Try as he might, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her face. He had a powerful urge to touch it, to see if she was as soft as she looked. It was a dangerous thought. He was food to her and sticking his hand near her mouth was just an idiotic move. So he balled his hands up at his sides to keep the compulsion down.

“I don’t understand why.”

She turned her emerald eyes to him again, sparkling in the cave's firelight. It had been early dusk when she had first helped him and now the sun had set and it left them alone in a velvet embrace of night. The ring of light and warmth that the fire provided wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep him from perishing in the night.

“You have a lot of ‘why’ questions floating around in that head of yours.” She said as she looked at him, almost like she was staring into his soul. “Why did I help you? Why did I bring you here? Why am I cleaning your wounds? Why haven’t I killed you yet?” She listed off the questions as though they were nothing.

She reached down and took his hand and before he could pull it back; she opened it up and put his palm to her face. She was still slightly warm, but nowhere near what a human would be. The tension that rocketed through his battered body was visible in the way his muscles stood out and the wariness in his eyes. He let her move his hand, though. He let her bring it right to her, right to where she could bite into his skin and suck him dry. But she didn’t, and he hesitated before flexing his fingers to fan them out, softly stroking the warmth of her cheek over the bone there and back to her ear.

“And there you have at least one answer to one of your questions.”

“How long will that last, vampire? How long before you have to feed again? If you wait here with me, you’ll have to kill me. The snow will close us in. If you leave me, then I’ll die anyway. I suppose you’ve considered both options,” Marcus whispered; his thumb grazing along the curve of her lower lip. “What will you do with me until I die?”

She closed her eyes for a moment as his fingers moved over her soft skin. Though she didn’t need to breathe, she inhaled slowly. She let the breathing back out just as slowly, her lips parting a bit and his thumb moving over that rose-colored petal of flesh. She slowly opened her eyes to look at him as she answered his questions.

“A day, maybe two, three before I give in and become no better than an animal… human,” she said, giving him the same level of familiarity she had given her.

Kinn looked at the cave entrance. Yes, there was still raging wind and snow. Perhaps he was right. But she wasn’t one to give up. She could survive here for a few days, but without food, he would perish. Would it be worth braving the storm with him, only to have him freeze to death in her arms?

“I won’t leave you here to die.” She said with a hint of finality. “I will take you to Abenwae.”

She moved as though she was going to pull away from him. It was better that they didn’t become too friendly, not if she had to feed off of him, if only a little. She would never see him again once she returned him to the city, of that she was certain.

Panic blossomed in his dark eyes. When she tried to move away, his hand moved quickly to grip at the back of her neck and pull her back. He pulled her down and slipped his arms around her as soon as he could reach. The speed at which he grabbed her surprised even her. The urgency and desperation in his voice touched a part of her she thought long gone. She propped herself up with one arm as she looked into his eyes. Her gaze softened a bit as she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.

“Stay here. Stay with me,” he urged. He didn’t care that her clothes were wet with snow, too. She was still warm. When she mentioned Abenwae, his mission popped back into his pain-dulled brain. The city’s fate lay scattered on the roadway.

“What happened to the supplies? The caravan? I have to get it to the city.”

“I am warm now,” she said, her voice sounding like velvet to his ears. “But come dawn, I will be colder.”

She tried to reason with him. He was injured, wet, and did not need to be sleeping next to her. He could get ill and she couldn’t have that.

“The longer I go without feeding, the colder I will become. You will not want that next to you.”

There was something else in her voice, self-contempt, perhaps.

She shook her head when he asked about the caravan and the supplies it carried. “The storm has claimed all. Perhaps when it has passed, something may be scavenged. But not now, and not soon. I will get you to the city.” She promised him. His arms were still around her, but she didn’t move away again.

“You may be older than I am, woman, but I am not a child. I’m aware of how you function. Just stay here a while,” he whispered a bit harshly. Even though his words were hard, he shifted closer to her, pressing his face against the side of her neck, into her hair to breathe in her scent.

To him, it didn’t matter that she said she would take him to Abenwae. He didn’t believe her. He was probably going to die here. His mission had failed. If this was his end, he was going to damn well enjoy what he could.

“I’ve seen no one so beautiful before. So... perfect. I would like to see more. You take my mind off the pain.”

It was the truth. As long as she was there, the agony in his leg seemed unimportant. Though he barely noticed, as he inhaled her scent and greedily absorbed her heat, he swelled more.

Why was this man, who was nothing to her but a memory of her humanity long gone, affecting her so? She didn’t know why she was drawn to him or why she was even considering his foolish request. Even as he moved against her neck, she could hear his disbelief of her words. She could hear his heartbeat. Her eyes rolled back in her head. This would not end well at all, but she couldn’t find it in her to deny him what he asked for.

She moved his arms away from her and stood up. The firelight danced off her curves, shadows licked at her form. Marcus almost clung to her when she withdrew. A childish, compulsive reaction that he immediately tramped down. As she slid from him, he let his hand drift down her thigh, caressing the inside of her leg all the way to her ankle as she stood.

Kinn took one boot off, and then the other. She unbuckled the belt at her waist, keeping her tunic cinched to her. She unlaced the neck of the garment, then lifted it over her head. Her breasts were firm, as were the muscles that played across her shoulders and her upper arms. Her waist narrowed a bit, though the outline of muscles could be seen underneath. Next, the pants she wore were skin-tight leather with lacing on both sides. The right was untied, and then the left. She bent over to push the material down and let it pool at her feel before stepping out. She stood back up, naked before him, as he asked. He watched her with a mixture of fascination, awe, and lust. Each layer she stripped away, he found something else to admire. To worship with his heated gaze.

Her breasts were beautiful. So young, firm, pink rose petals tipping each one. The subtle curve of her smooth hips and the soft crown of bronze curls above her sex. His mouth pooled with saliva when he saw those pale lips glowing softly in the firelight.

When she came back to him, he reached for her, greedy once more, and slid his roughly calloused palms along her smooth sides. Kinn looked into his eyes as her hand slipped back up and her fingers moved through his hair, nails lightly scraping against his scalp. She stayed silent like she had when they first came into the cave.

Marcus tried to roll, to cover her body with his, but one slight motion against his leg sent pain shooting straight to his brain. A grunt of agony spilled past his lips as his face twisted into a grimace of frustration. His eyes searched her face, softly stroking her hip and around to her bottom, silently urging her closer to him.

“I can’t move... but I want to taste you."