Hi everyone!
I wanted to give you all a great big Thank You! to start off. Your comments and votes have meant the world to me, and I wanted to make sure that each and every reader knows I appreciate it. Thank you!
As always, don't forget to vote and enjoy the next chapter!
================
Lucienne gently disengaged from Michael's mind and opened her eyes after giving him a mental hug. He needed a few minutes to sort through the memories, just as she had, and her presence would only distract him at this point.
I'm sure he'll be a hell of a lot faster than I was, she thought to herself. Not only is he way more experienced with all this mental ability stuff, he only has to sort through a few decades, rather than four plus centuries of memories. It's probably going to be child's play to him, relatively speaking, she thought to herself, admiration welling up in her for her Ruach.
She smiled, realizing that was the first time the term had come naturally in her thoughts, and she liked it. She moved slightly and put her hand on Michael's bare chest, feeling the slow beat of his heart. He was so surprised when he found out that vampires weren't the undead as he'd always believed, she thought to herself, his memory floating to the surface of her mind. Gilbert had calmly explained what was fact and what was fiction regarding vampires, and then given him a number of books to read.
One of the benefits of all this is that I won't have to spend so much time reading, researching and learning about all this. I already did it as Michael. Seems like he doesn't get as much as I do out of the bargain, though, she thought with a frown, which suddenly turned into a soft smile when she realized that Michael wouldn't see it that way at all. No, my sweet vampire will probably feel like he has the easier task not having to assimilate so much, and will try to help me as much as he can to make up for it.
Her smile grew, and she mentally sent thanks to whatever deity or spirits had brought her and Michael together. She felt beyond blessed to have him. There was no doubt he was fully capable of being a cold and implacable enemy, but when he loved, he loved fully, deeply and reverently. She only hoped she would always be worthy of his love.
Her thoughts drifted to the upcoming completion of the bonding and she felt anticipation rise up in her. The process wasn't just a simple blood exchange along with sex. Oh no, it was much more than that. The bonding required them both to completely open their minds to one another, no holding back, neither of them hiding one moment of their thoughts, feelings or experiences during the entire process. She was a little relieved the memory exchange had happened before all of that since it helped her not only understand what was to come, but also had built trust between both of them.
It hadn't been easy watching Michael experience her life. I mean seriously, most of us avoid talking about certain things, much less sharing the entire experience. I can only imagine what he must have been feeling when I was living his life. She shook her head in wonder over the man.
She was surprised that she actually was feeling excited at the idea of being so open, now. The prospect that Michael would feel all her emotions for himself had her wondering if just maybe it would put the final nail in the coffin of his uncertainty about her. Not that she blamed him in the slightest for his doubts and fears. After living his life, she'd gained a lot more understanding of his moments of hesitation with her.
It wasn't nearly as simple as the straightforward romantic rejection she'd thought was at the root. While he had more than his share of that, much worse had been when a number of his Pledged, people that he'd cared for, had turned away in fear, horror and revulsion when he couldn't heal to perfection and ended up scarred.
It seems a lot of vampires are quite vain. I mean those very same Pledged didn't blink an eye at any kind of bloodshed, but threaten their beauty and it's a whole other kettle of fish, she mentally snorted in derision. Weak, spineless parasites, she mentally cursed them, anger rising in her.
They were so terrified that Louis or Diana might scar them like Michael had been, that they turned their backs on him, revoking their Pledged status and leaving his territory. Some of them even went so far as to join Michael's enemies, a betrayal that had hit him very hard, and which he did eventually punish.
Upon discovering their defection, some of the other Lords then dissolved their alliances and treaties with Michael, fearing his position was now weakened, and not wanting the supposed vulnerability of association with him. The circling sharks read this as blood in the water and tried to seize what they thought was an opportunity to kill Michael and take over his territory. Needless to say they were wrong. In the end, Michael emerged triumphant, claiming the largest territory in the U.S. His reputation had also become quite formidable not only through his ruthless defense, but also what he'd done when he finally caught up with Louis and Diana. Once her fate, the fate of his very first Made became known, very few were willing to cross him.
Even so, the betrayal of those Pledged, people he'd worked so hard to protect and care for over the years, had cut him almost as deep as Diana's had. His other Made had been the one saving grace through all of this, standing by him unflinchingly, even in the face of massive opposition. Elijah and the others had proved to be more than worth the cost to turn them.
He certainly knows how to pick quality, she thought with a smile.
"Yes I do," Michael's amused mental voice startled her out of her thoughts, and her gaze snapped to his face, meeting the liquid gold of his eyes. "That same level of quality more than applies to you as well, My Heart," he continued, his warm voice surrounding her with its beauty like an embrace, while she melted at the endearment he'd just used.
Her mind went blank, and words completely escaped her. All she could do was stare into his metallic eyes and drift on his silver voice. He smiled at her, clearly aware of the effect he was having and enjoying her reaction.
"My Heart," his mental voice once again sounded in her head. "Would you do me the very great honor of completing our bond?" he asked, while offering her the mental equivalent of an extended hand.
"Yes, Michael. Yours and mine, always," she accepted, letting her own mind reach out to him. Their minds joined together smoothly and remarkably easily, and once again she was beyond grateful for having been given the memories that guided her through this. She felt his rush of love and joy and her own heart responded in kind, both of them reveling in the feelings of the other.
"Yours and mine, Lucienne. Always and forever," he replied and leaned in to capture her lips in a kiss that promised her everything he was and ever would be, till the end of time.
They lost track of how long the kiss went on, both swept up experiencing each other's feelings. Eventually Michael broke away, the desire for even more riding him hard, and making her arch against him in pure want.
He worked his way down, keeping his pace slow so neither of them would miss a single moment. "I want every detail of our joining etched indelibly into your memory as well as mine," his mental voice whispered like a caress even as his lips softly stroked her skin.
"Yes," she replied, finding it easier to let her mind do the speaking rather than attempt to speak. "I couldn't ever forget a single moment of bonding to the sweetest, most beautiful man I've ever met," she told him half in words and half in feelings and impressions.
She felt a brief flicker of uncertainty in him, and she ran her hands over both sides of his chest, letting him see for himself in their linked state that the only effect his scars had on her was to increase her need for him. Surprise flashed in him, and she rose up, gently pushing him, silently asking him to roll to the side.
He complied with her unspoken request, and soon she hovered over him, kissing his lips before slowly tracing her way down the patterns of his scars. Gradually she worked her way across the lines and shapes of his raised skin with her mouth, proving to him with every touch that she felt not even the slightest hint of revulsion or fear, only desire for him.
Bit by bit she covered every inch of the scarred half of his torso. With every lick and suck not only did she feel her own pleasure and satisfaction, but his as well. She'd never before so thoroughly enjoyed worshipping another's body like this, but with Michael, she couldn't get enough. Eventually she reached the waistband of his underwear, and she looked at him with a slow smile. She felt the flames rise higher in him, his hands clutching at the bed so he wouldn't accidentally hurt her.
Her own fire rose up in response, especially when she realized just how careful he was being with his enhanced strength. "I think that's something we should plan to remedy as soon as we have time," she whispered across their linked minds, referring to him siring her.
His gold eyes flashed and his fangs descended as she was suddenly swept up in his images of how her turning would be different from the ones she'd witnessed in his memories. Diana had been the only one of his Made with whom he was intimate, but being his first, he'd been cautious and stuck with the traditional methods. With her though, he planned to make things considerably more intimate, and her core clenched down hard in desire. She moaned softly not just with knowledge of what he wanted to do to her, but also with the realization that turning someone that way would be a first for him as well.
The heat in her grew intense, her body burning with need from her toes to the top of her head. "Michael," she half whimpered, suddenly unable to say or do anything else.
Fortunately with their link she didn't need to say a word. Michael's own desire rose to match hers, and in seconds he'd flipped them over and divested them both of the last scrap of material covering their bodies. "Yesss," she hissed across their linked minds, and he plunged into her in one quick motion before stilling, savoring not just the feel of her around him, but also reveling in the way she felt being filled by him.
"My Heart," he managed to say, barely restraining himself. Lucienne felt all the meaning behind the endearment this time. There was more there than words could begin to express, even if either of them were functional enough to try. He was telling her that she was his love and quite literally his everything. Removing the heart was one of the few ways a vampire could be killed. Just like his physical heart, if she were gone, it would destroy him.
Lucienne was so overcome with emotion she almost cried. She focused instead on opening her heart to Michael as wide as it would go, desperate to show him that she felt just as strongly. "My Ruach," she replied, finally finding the only term that would even begin to describe her feelings.
His gold eyes flashed again and he claimed her lips, slowly moving inside her, each thrust becoming a declaration of their love and devotion to each other. Like lava inexorably rising to the surface, their bodies worked higher and higher, both of them lost in the incredible dual sensations of feeling everything from two perspectives.
Finally Lucienne could take it no longer, and her body arched as she came, biting down hard on Michael's shoulder till the coppery taste of his blood hit her tongue. He followed her moments later, moaning with pleasure at her bite, even as he sank his own fangs into her flesh.
"No venom," Lucienne managed to communicate, though she was lost in the tidal wave pleasure and the immense satisfaction of the almost physical snapping into place of their bond.
Michael complied when he saw that she wanted to experience their joining in its pure form, unaltered and untouched by anything except the two of them. Her thoughts pulled another rush of pleasure from him, and he was taken off guard when he crashed over the edge a second time.
Lucienne was surprised, but his pleasure only fed hers and she soon followed, her body clamping down harder than ever before on him. Completion, joy, pleasure and love all whirled together in a maelstrom of feeling, temporarily whiting out her vision, even as she clung to Michael and he held fast to her. For that moment nothing else existed but the two of them joined together in every possible way.
"Mine and yours," they both pledged simultaneously, before they collapsed, their bodies, hearts and minds still entwined.
"My Ruach," Lucienne whispered across his mind, feeling absolutely complete in a way she'd never even imagined could exist.
"For now and always," he replied, echoing her feelings before they both slipped into away into dreams.