Part 7 (1/2)

Ysa nodded.

”But... are you sure you want this, my love? To be with a monster such as I have become?”

Her fingers lightly traced the ma.s.sive muscles of his chest. ”You are not a monster, Vitale.” The corners of her lips drooped slightly. ”I only wish...” She shook her head.

”What?”

”It is nothing. Really.” She flashed a winsome smile, but Vitale wasn't fooled.

”It is something. Tell me.”

Ysa sighed. ”It is just... tonight has been magnificent, truly, but... I wish that I could hear your heart beating. Have flesh, warm and soft, next to mine. Feel your --” Her cheeks flushed, and her breathing quickened. ”Your seed, warm and wet inside me.”

Vitale captured her hand in his. ”It can be, Ysa.”

Her eyes opened wide. ”How?”

”I need only a gift to become flesh again. But it is... it is too much to ask.”

Ysa sat up, leaning over him eagerly, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s gleaming in the moonlight. ”What, Vitale?”

”It is barbaric.” The thought of drinking her blood turned his stomach, and yet it was the only way for them to be together in flesh again. And it would bind them, bind them forever. He could hardly contain his eagerness, and yet he did not want to influence her. It must be her choice.

”Vitale.” Ysa brushed a hand over his brow. ”I want to be able to run my fingers through your hair.” She reached down and stroked the prominence trapped between them, giggling. ”And while it is quite exciting to see you so ready all the time, I want to be able to hold you in my hand. To feel you lengthen and swell.” She leaned close, her lips a hairsbreadth from his. ”To take you in my mouth and --”

Vitale stared into her eyes, dreading what she might think of his request. ”Then I must drink your blood.”

She jerked slightly. ”My blood?”

Vitale sighed. ”Yes. To be flesh again, I must drink blood. And it must be done every night, from that moment on, because if we are ever separated for more than a day and a night, we both die. The blood will bind us.” He hoped he had not overstepped his bounds. The G.o.ddess never said he could not tell Ysa what was required, only that she could not know the binding would keep her young and beautiful and virtually immortal.

He expected her to be horrified, to scramble away and demand to be taken back to Pan. Instead, she ran her fingers down his arm and clasped his hand. Drawing it up, she kissed the knuckles, then grasped one of his fingers. Before he could react, she had drawn the tip of his claw across her left breast.

They gasped together, Vitale out of shock, but Ysa's eyes glittered with antic.i.p.ation. ”Drink me.” She lifted his hand, and blood welled. ”Drink me, my love.”

Quicker than thought, his tongue darted out. He gasped when he saw its length, its forked end. A tongue like a demon! He drew it back urgently. He had not consciously thought about it when they were kissing. Hadn't realized it was different. Abominable.

”Vitale?”

”It is... it is a demon's tongue!” He couldn't keep the self-loathing from his voice.

Ysa shook her head. ”No, it is a Guardian's tongue.” She leaned over him, licking her lips. ”Long.” She clasped her breast, squeezing gently near the wound, causing blood to well and trickle down, landing on the corner of his mouth. ”Interesting.” She put her finger in the blood, then drew it along his bottom lip. ”I like it.”

Groaning, Vitale clasped her shoulders. His tongue darted out, lapping at the dark liquid. Warmth shuddered through him. He pulled her closer, covering the wound with his mouth.

His tongue flicked across the tender slit, gently at first, then more and more roughly as a desperate heat filled him. He drank her lifeblood, thick and sweet as nectar, full of the promise of green and growing things. Ysa writhed and trembled, her eyes glazing with desire. ”Yes, Vitale. Yes.”

His body tingled from the surface of each hair shaft to the tips of the talons at his feet, and yet he knew it was not enough. He sucked desperately, working his mouth, and felt the tip of one pointed tooth slip inside the shallow depression.

Without a moment's hesitation, he jerked his head slightly. The skin parted further, and blood poured into his mouth.

”Oh yes. Yes!” Ysa swung her leg over him, grinding against his side, painting him with her thick juices. Her hand found his c.o.c.k -- clutching, stroking. Tendrils of fire swirled and undulated in his belly, then exploded outward. Vitale arched and roared. Ysa straddled him, forcing his c.o.c.k deep inside her as he continued screaming voicelessly, consumed by pain and fire.

”Vitale!” She jerked convulsively, her p.u.s.s.y squeezing tight.

And then, he could feel again. His flesh soft against hers. His c.o.c.k pulsing, hot and ready, inside her. His hair tickling his brow, caught by an errant gust of wind. Her fingers digging into hisflesh where she clutched him. Her p.u.s.s.y, warm and wet.

They looked at each other and laughed in delight, then Ysa's gaze darkened, and she rose up on her knees. She rocked her hips, driving him deeper and deeper, never looking away. He drowned in the rich mola.s.ses of her eyes, the warm honey of her body. He shuddered, and she smiled knowingly, moving faster, letting just the tips of her swollen nipples brush across his chest.

”Oh, G.o.ddess.” Both their eyes widened as his c.o.c.k throbbed inside her. ”Oh, G.o.ddess!”

His b.u.t.tocks clenched. He roared, pouring his seed into the warm, wet folds that milked him. Ysa laughed and cried at the same time, her eyes closed as she arched in ecstasy, whispering, ”Yes, yes, my love.”

It seemed like an eternity before he could lie beside her, her head cradled in his arm, staring up at the stars. ”Oh, Vitale,” she sighed. ”Why did you make us wait?”

A moment's sadness clutched at him, but then it was washed away by the reality of having her in his arms, of knowing she loved him and they would be together now, forever. He chuckled and hugged her tight. ”I don't know.” He turned and looked at her, letting desire flood him, knowing she would see it in his eyes. ”But I'll make it up to you. I promise.”

Ysa pulled him to her, kissing him long and hard. Then she pushed away and sighed again. ”Oh, I don't want to go.”

Vitale ran his fingers through her silken hair. ”I know, but you must.”

”I understand that. I just don't like it.” She reached up, brus.h.i.+ng a wayward lock of dark hair from his eyes. ”I waited so long for you, it's... it's like a dream. I'm afraid I'm going to wake up, and none of this will be real.” She didn't say it, but Vitale could see it in her eyes -- that sense of foreboding that she'd mentioned so long ago, that day in the barn.

”It's all right, my love. We will be together. Soon.”

He kissed her softly, then slipped his arm from beneath her shoulders and stood. ”But I must take you back now.”

She nodded. He helped her stand and watched as she straightened her skirts and blouse. They shared a startled glance when they saw that the wound had drawn together, closing itself, leaving only a pink, puckered line across her breast. Still, she drew the string at her neck into a tight bow so that her bodice hid the mark. ”I'm ready.”

Vitale swept her into his arms and kissed her again. ”I love you.”

She nestled against him. ”I love you, too.”

The Guardian launched himself into the sky.

Chapter 15: Becoming a Master.

Pan stumbled and flung out a hand to catch himself on a rough wooden wall. His head reeled. He put a hand to his forehead and moaned. He shouldn't have guzzled so much ale.

A pebble tumbled and he whirled, then leaned back against damp wood again as the world spun around him. ”Whosh that?” he mumbled.

”Tsk, tsk.” Diamante moved toward him in a swirl of sapphire blue skirts. ”How primitive, Pan.” She shook her head, her gaze raking him up and down. ”Not what I expected of you.”

Pan gestured angrily. ”What do you know? You've never had your heart ripped out and stomped on, never --” His eyes widened as Diamante pressed against him.