Being outside felt like summer, after having been cooped up in the dark castle for days. The directions Chelsea had given me were hardly necessary, as I could smell the trees from here. It was a different smell than the heavy, moist ferns and pine trees I was used to. Over here the air was dry and hot.
I wasn't particularly hungry, but it seemed like a good idea to feed when I could, seeing there would probably linger a smell of human blood when I got back. And, and here I faltered a bit in my step, I would probably need the energy it would give me. A giggle escaped me and I made to jump the next tree that came in sight.
All of a sudden, I was shoved against the bark and the sweet smell of honey hit me in the face a fraction of a second before lips crushed against mine. Immediately my arms wrapped around my attackers neck.
"Demetri", I breathed, as his lips moved from my face to the nape of my neck. His teeth scraped against my skin, causing me to tremble involuntarily.
"I missed you", he almost growled, as his hands roamed my back. I could tell.
Dinner would have to wait.
Like the first time, it astonished me how pliable our body's were even though they could break through a brick wall. His marble skin felt like velvet as I caressed his cheeks and pressed my fingers in his shoulders when his lips trailed from my mouth to the soft spot beneath my ear. I hadn't thought I could ever use the word soft to describe a part of me again.
We stopped before the sun came up and moved deeper into the forest. There we finally slowed down enough to talk.
Always touching at least in one place, we stood on a branch high in the air, enjoying the first rays of sunlight.
"Aah, I've missed this." I closed my eyes and lifted my chin, feeling the warmth on my face. Cold would never bother me again and neither would desert heat, but I remembered how to enjoy sunshine on my face. The myriad of crystalline facets threw rainbows on Demetri's gray coat, painting him in eight different colors.
He kissed me softly on my exposed throat. "Was it so bad, inside?"
"No", I moaned, as he gently bit the skin beneath my chin. "I've learned so much and even made a friend, I think."
"Who?" His hand covered mine as I stroked his jaw that would always be smooth.
"Chelsea. She led me out of the castle and pointed me in the right direction. She is nice."
He leaned back a bit and frowned. "As apposed to whom?"
"Jane", I fought back a shiver, thinking back to the hate in those perfect eyes.
At that, he chuckled softly. "Ah, yes, the witch twins are not very good with people."
"I thought it was forbidden to turn children?" Something I learned from Caius. He had enjoyed enlightening me about immortal children.
"It is", Demetri moved back to nibble at my ear, which made my mind go blank for a minute. "But they are tolerated because of their gifts."
"Pain", I breathed, remembering the knives in my head.
With a sharp move, Demetri pulled back and squeezed his eyes. "They used them on you?" His sudden anger was strangely satisfying.
"Jane did, for a few seconds, but then Aro told her off."
His anger diminished slightly, although he muttered: "I will speak to her. You belong to me, now. She is not to hurt you in any way."
His possessive statement brought forth a number of different emotions. Was I happy with the fact he called me his? I was grateful for him wanting to protect me, but I was not a possession.
"Demetri," I called his attention back to me, "Marcus spoke of a bond between us. Did you know?"
His eyebrows rose. That meant a no.
"He did?" He actually seemed happy about that. "That's pretty rare. Did it ... upset you?"
I shook my head and he smiled. "No, I guess I had already felt something like that."
He moved in to kiss me and whispered against my lips: "Than it is true that you are mine."
Before his lips touched mine, I pulled back an inch and said: "Just as much as you are mine?"
His eyebrows shot op and he chuckled. "Of course, wasn't that obvious? Look at what you've done to me. I could hardly concentrate on my task. My mind constantly wanted to take me back to Volterra, to you. From now on, you will be my biggest distraction. Perhaps you'd better come with me the next time."
After those words he bridged the last space between us and prevented me from answering for a long time.
Most of my brain was occupied with finding as many places as possible where I could touch him and elicit a moan or a growl, but a tiny portion also thought about his words. Did I want to come with him? If it was only tracking someone, I would do it, but what if he was to pass on a verdict, perform an execution? Did I want to see him kill someone? I would have to think about that.
For now I was content just to be near him.
---
He watched me, as I crouched low beneath a bush, creeping up on my prey. I could feel his eyes linger on my body, which made me self aware. The Lynx couldn't smell me, as it was downwind, and practice had made me soundless. Swift as a bullet I shot out of my hiding place and took the glorious animal by surprise. I quickly ended it's life, whispered: "Forgive me", and drank. A young bear was my next and last prey and carefully I wiped my mouth in the soft fur. It still troubled me to have to hurt them, but I had not been a vegetarian as a human, so killing animals for sustenance wasn't new. Buying meat from the grocery store was, however, quite different from this.
When I stood up tall, knowing my eyes were once again a bright honey color, Demetri came out of hiding and stood beside me, watching the dead animal. I looked as he knelt down and dipped his finger in the wound my teeth had made. He licked his finger, but grimaced.
"How can you stand this stuff?"
I shrugged. "It's not so bad, once you get used to it."
Would he try? For me? I doubted it. He had lived over a thousand years on the sole diet of human blood, how could he even get used to something else. He would not see the need and did I really want him to? It was enough for myself to keep my distance from human blood.
I smiled at him and saw a little tension leave his shoulders.
"Ready to go back?"
My smile faltered. "Do we have to?"
"I haven't been back yet, Aro will want to hear my report."
He came to me, first? I couldn't keep the goofy smile from spreading around my lips and a look of exasperation crossed his features.
"I told you, you have no idea what you're doing to me." He swooped in, lifted me in his arms and kissed me thoroughly.
A giggle escaped me and when I pictured Aro's knowing smirk, I laughed even louder.
"Care to enlighten me?"
"Nothing, really, just ... You know, I think Aro knew about us, even before we did. He sometimes has this little smile ... I think he likes me. At least ... he takes care of me." I looked up at Demetri, expecting him to smile, instead his eyebrows were bent downwards and his eyes a bit scrunched.
He set me on my feet very slowly and cupped my face in his palms. "Be very, very careful around Aro, erastís mou. He has but a few loves in his life and one of them is power. If he has taken a liking to you, that most likely means he wants something from you."
The carefree, lighthearted mood evaporated completely. As I stared in Demetri's red eyes, worry spreading through my body, the thought about something Aro had said made me wonder again. Something I didn't yet know myself. My mind worked to get the riddle solved, but there were still a few pieces missing. I couldn't figure it out. In the end I just nodded and Demetri eased up.
"Come, I'll race you."
A bubbly laugh rose up from my throat and as I began to run, Demetri just a little ahead of me, the worry left my body. Knowing Aro probably wanted something from me, meant that I would be as safe as I could be, for the time being. Because if the most powerful vampire in the world was on your side, what could happen, right?