The Vampire & Her Witch

Nyrielle didn’t need to feed the moment she woke. It had been quite some time since she pushed herself so close to her limits the way she had when Ashlynn first became her Seneschal, and her hunger was rarely insistent enough to need attention as soon as she woke.

When she drank from Ashlynn’s wrist, Nyrielle took little more than a single mouthful of Ashlynn’s blood before stopping. Just that much, with the richness and power of life that suffused her lover’s entire body, and she could easily go another five or more days without needing to feed again, so long as she wasn’t exerting herself.

If not for the need to create a Blood Vitality Crystal once a week for Ritchel, and the Blood Potency Crystals she’d created for the sword Erkembalt was building for Ashlynn, Nyrielle wouldn’t have fed on anyone other than Ashlynn since they’d returned to the Vale of Mists.

Her lover’s blood was more than simply intoxicating, the way a fine wine would leave a person light-headed and parched for another sip. Her blood was rich and almost fruity in its flavor as Nyrielle could taste the pure love and deep devotion that beat within Ashlynn’s heart every time she fed.

It was that very love that pulsed through her own veins along with the potent energy of a witch’s power, transforming Nyrielle in subtle ways that she was still coming to understand. She had a feeling that the gift she’d been able to bestow on her progeny, the Reawakening of the Heart, was only the beginning of what she and Ashlynn could achieve together, but where their true limits lay, even she didn’t know.

Once, the notion of acquiring that power, and with it, the ability to lay waste to the enemies who had plagued her people for over a century, would have been intoxicating in its own right. Now, however, the joy she found in drinking the blood of a witch lay entirely in the way her heart beat in sync with Ashlynn’s and the feeling of warmth and love that flowed into her heart with every swallow she took.

”I love you,” Nyrielle whispered when she finally pulled back from their kiss. Anything she said beyond that would only strain the moment of quiet tenderness they shared, and so, despite all the words that welled up within her chest, she kept her lips closed, choosing instead to gently cup Ashlynn’s cheek with her hand and resting her forehead against Ashlynn’s.

”And I love you,” Ashlynn replied, closing her eyes and leaning into her lover’s touch while the aftermath of Nyrielle’s feeding quivered through her body. Her knees felt like jelly, and her toes curled up in her woolen socks while her bosom heaved as she worked to regain her breath after the intensity of Nyrielle’s kiss.

”Always,” she whispered, turning her head just enough to kiss Nyrielle’s palm. ”And forever.”

For a few long, slow heartbeats, they sat there, unmoving, basking in each other’s touch until finally, Ashlynn felt steady enough to pull back from Nyrielle’s support.

”I’ve prepared a bath for us,” Ashlynn said softly. ”Will you join me?”

”Do you need to be carried there?” Nyrielle teased, taking in Ashlynn’s flushed face and her slightly unsteady breathing. ”You gave me such a delicious treat to wake up to, it’s the least I can do...”

”You just like whisking me off my feet,” Ashlynn said as she playfully threw her arms around Nyrielle’s neck. ”But I won’t refuse. I brought things to make dinner too, so we can cook together afterwards.”

”Since I’ve already had my treat,” Nyrielle said, smiling brightly at the young witch as she scooped her up and slid out of the bed, easily lifting Ashlynn in a princess carry. ”I won’t keep you waiting.”

By the time the two women reached the marble bathing chamber, the water was warm and steaming, and the entire room smelled faintly of woodsmoke and floral perfumes. Nyrielle set Ashlynn down almost reluctantly before quickly slipping out of her soft, silk nightdress, standing before her lover like a vision of sculpted alabaster perfection in motion.

No matter how many times she saw Nyrielle, the sight of her never ceased to take her breath away, whether it was her long, dark tresses, her deep, midnight blue eyes, or the slender curve of her waist and the slight swell of her narrow hips, there wasn’t the slightest bit of her that Ashlynn would call ’imperfect.’

She, by contrast, felt awkwardly mortal and ordinary as she skipped out of her warm, winter skirts and her heavy woolen tunic. There was still a bit of dirt on her nails and clinging to the back of her knuckles from rooting around in the kitchen gardens with Georg, and even now, in the depths of winter, she could still see the faint lines on her body where her skin darkened slightly at her wrists and neckline from days spent working in the wilderness.

She might have been sheltered as a noblewoman in Blackwell, but she’d thought of herself as a woman who understood what it was like for the common folk to labor in the fields after tending to her gardens in Blackwell manor. It wasn’t until she spent the summer in the heat of the Briar, cooking for every meal, tending to the gardens, and foraging in the wilderness of the swamp between lessons that she understood how sheltered she had been.

Much like Nyrielle was changing ever so slightly the longer she fed on her witch-lover, Ashlynn realized her body was changing as well. She wouldn’t say that she was approaching Nyrielle’s sculpted perfection, but she found that her body was leaner and firmer than it had been before, possessing a new strength that went beyond what she’d received from Nyrielle as part of their bond.

”Come,” Nyrielle said lightly, reaching out to take Ashlynn’s hand and startling Ashlynn out of her thoughts. ”The water is perfect,” she said as she pulled slightly, leading Ashlynn toward the marble steps that led into the warm, steaming water. ”And so is the company,” she added with a bright smile as she looked directly into Ashlynn’s emerald eyes.

”Tease,” Ashlynn said with a light laugh as she stepped into the warm water with a small splash. ”We know that you’re the perfect one between the two of us,” she said, wading into the water until she stood chest deep in the marble pool, where she paused, wrapping her arms around Nyrielle’s lithe figure.

”But I’m catching up,” she added with a wink. ”And then I’ll match you perfectly.”

”You already do, my darling,” Nyrielle said, brushing Ashlynn’s pale blonde hair to the side and kissing her lightly on the forehead. ”You already do...”