For the second time tonight, Selene's legs give out from under her. But he does not move to help her this time, especially after she puts a hand up to warn him. Thankfully she lands on the edge of the bed.
Carpathians. Vampires. Lifemates.
This night is just getting better and better. And it doesn't help that Damian stands there looking so calm. Then again, maybe it is because he doesn't have his emotions.
"I've regained my emotions as well as my color vision upon encountering you atop that mountain."
Not looking at him she says, "Was that before or after the Vampire attacked Vicky?"
"Before."
She sucks her teeth, a habit she usually finds rude but in this case it suits her current mood. "And why is that exactly? Why did that Vampire come after us?"
"I suppose it thought you were easy enough prey. I had been cloaking myself in the form of a hawk at the time. He must have caught your scents. Vampires go after unclaimed women, delusional in thinking that stealing someone else's lifemate will turn them back. It won't."
Finally she looks up at him. "I don't get it, though. I'm human, a witch granted, but human. How can I be a—a lifemate?"
"Human women have been known to be lifemates to Carpathian in most recent years. It's believed that is so because our race was dying out and Carpathian women were so rarely being born. To compensate, our souls became compatible with those of human women. The women have to have psychic ability. Maybe it's because you're a witch that makes you psychic."
"All witches have some psychic ability. Although my telekinetic abilities have always been stronger than my telepathic. Is that why I could hear you speak in my mind?"
"Yes. And with training you can learn to do the same. The ability is there, you just need to use it."
Selene rubs her temples. "This is all just so much to take in right now. Not only do we have to worry about Vampires attacking us, but now I am a lifemate to a stranger." She hadn't meant to say it out loud but there was no point worrying about it, he would have read it in her thoughts anyway.
Damian crosses his arms. "You are not a lifetmate you are my lifemate. The only lifemate for me. And I do not intend for us to be strangers for much longer."
She stops rubbing her temples to look up at him. "And what exactly do you intend for us?" By the Great Goddess, he is handsome. Selene has always been tall for her age but the Carpathian must have several inches on her. She would try to size him up but she isn't too sure her wobbly legs could support her at the moment. She continues to look him up and down. His brown hair is short, shorter on the sides and fuller on the top, enough that she could run her fingers through. His shoulders are broad and despite his knit sweater she can tell he has a narrow waist. As her gaze travels up to his face once more she is horrified to see the smirk that has developed on his face. He is reading her mind, no doubt.
He takes a step closer to her, holding her gaze. "For one, I would like for you to tell me your name. I've held up my end, returning you and your friend here to safety and cooperating with your rather thorough inquisition. It's your turn. And once you've told me your name, well, we can go from there."
Selene admires his cocky attitude. Cocky indeed, but too cocky when dealing with a witch. She is half tempted to throw him across the room but just the thought makes her realize how tired she is. It doesn't help that her headache persists as she turns over the new information in her mind.
He takes another step towards her and reflexively she holds her hand up, holding him in place. "That's enough," she says. She will throw him across the room after all. Moving to stand she flicks her wrist, expecting her telekinesis to push him against the far wall, instead there is a piercing pain in her head. Crying out in pain, she lifts a hand to each side of her head.
Instinctively, he goes to her. Scooping her up into his arms and laying her down in the bed but she fights him, pushing him away.
"I need rest. I'll be fine." She's had headaches like these before, when she's tried to recall the traumas of her past. Her mind is resisting the memories because of a memory block spell she had her aunt cast when she was a child, a way to help her cope. But she hasn't tried to recall those memories in a long time, so why is the block responding to the knowledge Damian has given her? The pain is too much with him present.
"You're in pain."
"I think it's time you left."
"I can help you."
She says nothing, clutching at her head.
"I can give you blood, same as with your friend."
"Blood?"
He pushes his sleeve up to expose his forearm. "Let me do this for you, no strings attached."
She squeezes her eyes shut, the pain is blinding. She can barely think beyond the pain.
"Yes."
In an instant his forearm is in front of her mouth, the skin marred by two bloody pinpricks. "Go ahead. I offer it freely."
Selene eyes his bloody arm. She should be disgusted by it but for some reason she isn't. Without further thought, her lips press against his arm, blood seeping between her lips and into her mouth. It tastes delicious, sweet and tangy all at the same time. Her hands drop from her head and her fingers wrap around his arm, anchoring him to her. The relief is so sudden. The pain is gone almost instantaneously. She could think more clearly, causing her to wonder what precisely had brought this fit on. She hadn't been thinking about her past, not since the briefest moment when Vicky was attacked and she hadn't thought about it hard enough to trigger the block. Had her aunt put extra safeguards in her mind, a way for her to deal with stressful situations? She makes a mental note to speak to her aunt about this soon.
Damian strokes her hair with gentle fingers. "That's enough," he says as if he is the one in pain now.
She meets his gaze and lifts her head from his arm, her hands falling into her own lap. He has a hungry look in his eyes. It should scare her but it doesn't. He leans towards her. She can feel his breath on her face; he smells of the forest and of the mountain air. She should be alarmed by his closing proximity but she is transfixed by his gaze. His mouth gently presses against hers. Selene is too surprised to fight the kiss. His tongue pokes out from between his lips but he does not try to pry her lips apart. Instead, he licks the leftover blood from her lips and pulls back almost as suddenly.
Damian brings his bloodied forearm to his mouth, closing the wound and cleaning off the residual blood, holding her gaze all the while. Selene notices his incisors have lengthened.
Tearing his gaze from her, he looks at the balcony doors and then back at her. "The dawn will rise in a few hours. I rest during the day and so do Vampires. But that doesn't mean that nothing can get to you during that time. Be careful. You won't be able to reach me until the sun goes down."
"Reach you? Reach you how?"
"With your mind. Just think of me and I'll be able to hear you. By giving you my blood I have also opened a private means of communication for us."
"Will I become like you?"
He shakes his head. "It would take three blood exchanges to turn you into a Carpathian."
"Where will you go?"
His head tilts to the side. "Do you worry about me?" She says nothing. "I have a place where I will be safe. I should go." He turns to do just that.
"Wait."
He stops.
"My wards. I have to undo them." He waits.
The action doesn't require her to get up from the bed but she does so, if only so that she is side by side with him. A moment later she says, "It's done."
Without looking at her, Damian nods his thanks. With a wave of his hand, the door to the balcony opens. He takes a step toward the exit.
"My name is Selene. Selene Dauphin."
He stops to look over his shoulder at her. "I shall see you again soon, Selene." And with that he exits the room at the inn.
Selene watches as he changes shape in the blink of an eye, becoming a hawk. She stands there at the open balcony door until he is no longer in sight. With a wave of her hand the door closes once more and she places her wards back up. Only when she's drawn the curtains and turned back to the bed does she let her hand fly to her lips, recalling the feeling of his lips against hers and the taste of his blood.