Witch Wolf (Chaelisa)

Chapter 19-20

Roseanne was like some dark mysterious dream caught between the folds of erotic and horrifying. Her eyes rolled upward, reflecting the candlelight as I walked into the room. Why did I suddenly feel the urge to turn tail and go back the other way?

Her eyes were like a golden mist, deep, intense, and untouchable. The power I felt in the room was thick, making it hard to breathe, like an overpowering smell in a small area.

There was a woman in her lap. The woman's neck bent back at an awkward angle. I expected to see pain written across her features, but what I saw was the look that really good sex will give a person. Roseanne watched me while she fed.

Her onyx lashes fluttered, as if she found it pleasurable. The blood pounded in my ears. I tried to reason with my body. One foot in front of the other, that's the way to go, but my legs didn't seem to be working.

Roseanne stroked a hand down the woman's back, cradling her, comforting her. It was too gentle a gesture for what was happening. I tried to move, but my body felt too heavy, too solid. The hairs on my arms stood on end. I felt the magic riding in the air, coming for me a second before it hit. The pain that shot through the side of my neck was sharp and cramping.  

The magic spilled across my skin like something liquid, filling my blood like sweet poison. A hand stroked down up and down my back. Every muscle in my body relaxed while her mouth worked at the wound. Each flick of her tongue against the wound was long and sensuous. I felt weightless struggling against a pleasure my body wanted to accept.

My mind did not want to accept it. I felt the metaphysical bars of her power and screamed. Someone was drawing deep ragged breaths. I knelt on the floor as my vision blurred around the edges. The candlelit room slowly came into view as the spinning in my head seemed to slow down. I was the one who had sounded like she was about to hyperventilate. Closing my eyes I took meditative breaths, counting each. It helped to push some of the panic away.

I opened my eyes to find Roseanne kneeling in front of me. Blood painted her lips and the sight made my heart bang against my ribs. I tried to move out of reach, but she was too fast. Her lips caught mine. With her tongue she pushed the taste of blood into my mouth. The beast stirred at that promise. I touched her hair, twining a handful around my fingers.

I ate at her mouth as the hunger rode me, ate at her mouth like I was dying for it. The edge of her fangs brushed across my tongue and I hesitated, about to pull away when the beast howled through me. How could we refuse such a prize? How could we not honor such a gift? I pressed into the kiss, no longer worried that she might bleed me.

I cleaned the blood from her mouth, licked it from her lips. The metaphysical bonds that held the beast in place relaxed. We were one. "You smell of sex." Roseanne breathed against my mouth. "You smell like blood," I said. If we were going to point out the obvious, might as well start there. "So do you," she said and I looked at her. Her eyes were their usual cloudy honey, no longer misty with vampiric powers.

The robe she wore was silk, sleeves ending at the elbows in a spill of black lace. It draped open down the middle, revealing the low neckline of the nightgown underneath. The beginning of her sternum peeked through all of that black, making her skin look inhumanly white. A jolt of longing cut through me. I clutched the towel tightly to my chest.

"Was it worth it?" she asked, freeing the white streak in my hair. She twirled the wet strand around her finger, tugging lightly. "It wasn't my idea," I said. Roseanne stood in a swish of black silk. "You say that it was not your idea?" She looked at me. I nodded. "But did you enjoy it?" she asked, eyes intent. "Yes," I said, then thought about it. "No."

"Lisa, choose one. I want the truth from you, not a mixed message." I glared at her. When did it become her business? Better yet, why was everyone suddenly up in my business? First Sana, now Roseanne. "Yes," I said and watched as her face hardened in disgust.