The Brethren Of Tavish [Vampire Coven Book 1] (9 page)

When his fangs sunk into her throat she
stiffened then quieted. She had told him he could. Her throat was impaled and
she couldn’t move. Her body was curled under him and her hips pulled high so he
could take her as he sucked from her. Mercy could again feel him in her
thoughts, fighting to control her, this time she let him in. He was, after all,
already inside her. She could hear words in her mind as he drank from her.
Sweet sounds filled her. Loving words with action was a gift. No more tender caresses
with just eyes. Mercy wanted it all. She wanted to feel everything that had
been denied for far too long.

Glimpses of her life flashed before her as he
drew them from her and she knew he was watching her memories. The beating she
had undergone for touching herself, that she was ashamed of, was met with his
rage, she could feel the power of his anger and surprisingly she knew if her
father had still lived, Tavish would kill him. He was angry she was beaten, not
appalled she had touched herself. She felt his fury towards her father. Mercy
wanted him to see the love as well. She wanted him to know not everything was
bad. She made him see her father talking to her after, his tears.
His love.
She knew Tavish did see it, she felt his surprise.
Now that he knew, he didn’t seem to feel as superior, just sweet confusion. She
sensed it, being so connected to him and she relaxed.

Tavish allowed her to see a few of his
memories. She knew he was careful what he showed her.
His
childhood, him laughing, him happy.
She watched him grow from a boy to
man. His life had been so different from hers in some ways. His coven had loved
him, hugged him. In a way he was like her, the youngest and most coddled. The
only difference was in touching. Very rarely had Mercy been touched, even as a
child. Tavish’s mother, his beautiful mother had kissed his cheeks if he fell
and was hurt. His father had hugged him often in pride. She envied him that.
But she could do the same with a child of her own.

It was beautiful what they shared together.
Mercy didn’t want it to ever end. She gave herself to him, willing him to show
her more, begging him to continue. She never wanted him to stop. Every inch of
her was fused to him like the points they made for hunting.
Two
separate entities in union to create something even more perfect than when
separate.

Her eyes fluttered as she grew tired. She knew
him now.
His love, his laughter.
He was no monster. A
wave of emotion washed over her with the slapping of his thighs. Joining, he
was joining with her. What a wonderful way this would be to make a baby. If
only it would be Tavish’s. Mercy was spent. She closed her eyes and whispered
she must rest now. The last thing she remembered was Tavish lifting her into
his arms and the feeling of floating over air. She felt safe cradled to his
chest, filled with his memories of wonder. Mercy blacked out.

* * * *

“Here, little cub, drink this.” Tavish lifted
the glass to her lips. He was still shaking.

Mercy was pale and lying before him on a bed,
unmoving. Tavish had been filled with her—her thoughts, her begging him to stay
joined with her. Never had he tasted sweeter virgin blood. She had the most
intriguing memories. She had let him in. She showed him she had been loved, he
had been astounded. He had wanted to share his own memories of what loving
could really be like. Her entire young life invaded him and he couldn’t get
enough of her innocence.
Mercy laughing, Mercy happy.
She had loved being loved. She was so open and giving and kind.

Tavish hadn’t wanted it to end. He had almost
taken so much blood he would have had to kill her or turn her. Neither scenario
was acceptable. Now she lay limp in his arms while he willed her to live. Mercy
took small sips from the glass he held while Tavish wanted to down the entire
amount past her lips.

“Drink, damn it,” Tavish growled under his
breath.

“Drink, Mercy, it will help you,” the man to
Tavish’s left said, his words were calm and coaxing.

“Caine, she needs to take more,” Tavish said;
he was trying not to panic.

“Tavish, it was her first time; you took a bit
more than you should have, though, that surprises me.”

Tavish looked at Caine. He was a vampire but
doctor to his humans. The man was five thousand years old and brilliant; he was
the type who inhaled knowledge. The drink Tavish was trying to pour down
Mercy’s throat had been invented by Caine who abhorred any suffering. Tavish
had turned him when Caine discovered what he was. He had begged him to be
allowed to continue to learn. Since he had in actuality been begging to save
the lives of others, Tavish was moved to assist him. Human or vampire, the man
was an astounding doctor. Tavish never regretted his decision.

One glass of Caine’s concoction and human
bodies were restored to normal. All the humans needed to do
was
drink, which was easy since they normally woke parched. On the whole the
concoction was guzzled. But Mercy was swallowing in a small exaggerated motion,
it was maddening. She was refusing to give up the mind joining.

Damn resisters, the
stubborn little female.

After what seemed like decades, Tavish got the
entire drink into her; he continued to sit beside her. She lay unmoving. Periodically,
he sent terror-filled, evil, panicked, fretful glances to the doctor. Caine
just remained seated, filling out paperwork on Mercy. All of Tavish’s humans
had records. Who they bred with, their weight, height, freckles, identifying
marks. Caine was beyond meticulous. He cared for each human in a loving and
professional manner.

“You really found a prize this time,” Caine
said. “She’s young and healthy. She will be ovulating soon if you want to
prepare her to pick out two men. She shouldn’t need more. And I’ve been experimenting
with a drug that may produce two viable egg releases. Soon we should have all
the women here giving birth to twins. Maybe even triplets.”

“Is that dangerous?” Tavish rose to his feet
and began pacing while wringing his hands. He noted the doctor’s raised eyes.
“I like the birth of twins as well as the next vampire, but not if it will harm
the woman. A baby won’t have a baby for years. You know I prefer to breed the
females after they’re done with their teen years. It’s safer and healthier for
both mother and child. A full-grown, ovulating female is better to have than
two motherless children.”

Caine sighed. “True. We can use it on only
mothers who have proved fertile and watch them closely. With each birth there’s
a better chance of a multiple birth occurring. There would be no shortage of
blood supply then. We could also wait three years instead of two giving the
females more recovery time. More blood is always a good thing.”

“It could prove to be not unlike the synthetic
blood you made,” Tavish said sarcastically.

Caine had the decency to look sheepish, he
shrugged. “It serves its purpose. It won’t kill you. I didn’t say it was
palatable.”

“Hmm, also not unlike the cough medicine you
made for the humans who complain of it.”

Mercy began to stir. Tavish went and sat beside
her. Caine approached as well. Tavish scowled and Caine bullied his way past
him.

“My patient,” he declared wide-eyed and
cheekily.

Mercy blinked. She looked up at Caine without
fear. It never ceased to amaze Tavish that humans just seemed to know Caine was
there to help them. It was the way he looked.
The clean cut,
dark-haired, blue-eyed Adonis.
Since Caine loved both males and females
equally he was a natural at putting both sexes at ease.

“Mercy, my name is Caine. If you are ever
injured or feel pain just call my name out loud and I will come to you. Never
fear me. I only want to help. I’m called a doctor, a healer who helps the injured.
Do you understand, sweetheart?” She nodded dutifully and continued to gaze up
at him while he smiled at her.

Caine placed a hand on her forehead then cocked
his head and Tavish knew he was listening to her heartbeat. It was steady and
growing stronger. Caine studied her eyes, then the elasticity of her skin for
hydration. Finally he smiled, and Tavish breathed a sigh of relief. Tavish
fluffed the pillows behind her head and with a direct look sent Caine from the
room. Mercy’s eyes followed Caine as he left. Tavish didn’t know whether to be
annoyed or amused. She looked like she had been run over by a truck and enjoyed
it.

“How are you feeling?” Tavish asked anxiously.

Mercy stretched like a cat and sat up.
“Wonderful,” she purred. “My body has never had so many feelings. Touching, tasting,
wanting, and giving.
Is that loving
?”

Relieved, Tavish smiled. “Yes, that was loving,
little cub.”

“Will we do it again soon?”

“Not yet. You need to rest and eat. The other
humans are anxious to get a peek at you.
Especially the men.”

“Will you really share me?”

“I won’t share you at all. I will breed you,
but not now,” he replied and was surprised her words frustrated him.

“What’s the difference?”

Her wide curious stare was so innocent Tavish
was tempted to lay her back and show her. “You are mine. The men may breed with
you, but they can’t have you.”

Mercy’s eyes widened and Tavish saw she didn’t
see the difference at all. She would learn. Tavish was leader here. The human
males respected him, feared him. Most were in awe of him. He had watched each
one be born, imprinted with each one seconds after they breathed life. Each
child born to him knew his eyes, his commanding stare, even before their
mothers held them. It was law.

Tavish made a point of watching each male child
as he grew. He knew which ones would be chosen for breeding and which ones
would be chosen for other areas. Only the men chosen for breeding had any
chance at being turned, they were the best physically and mentally. Even then,
the chance was slim. It was a difficult time to think of turning more for his
coven until the human supply grew. That would take some time. Supplying forty
vampires with enough human blood had chosen to be difficult in the beginning.
As leader and sire, it was up to Tavish to keep his coven safe. Many vampires
had been killed by other covens, many by Tavish and his coven.
Survival of the fittest.
It was a bloodthirsty war for
power. With that thought in mind, Tavish knew it was time to put an end to
Remo’s coven.

In the beginning stage of the ice age, Tavish
and his men battled like the humans battled to survive the changing world. So
many humans had perished. Each time Tavish had found a body it hurt him. Humans
were starving to death. The elements were killing them. They were killing each
other. It was anarchy. They were so incredibly vulnerable—humans and vampires
alike. Only the small piece of paradise he created had given the vampires hope.

The beginning years on his utopia were
dangerous. The humans were angry, vicious, terrified and a threat to his coven
and each other.
But necessary.
Laws were explained,
humans were basically left to their own devices. They couldn’t hurt his vamps;
that was most important. More often than not, the females were hurt by the
human males when they were bred. The men thought it their right if they were
refused because breeding was law. They were smug about it. Rape was rampant.
Females committed suicide. It was infuriating. It had to stop. He couldn’t have
the women horrified. The law was flawed. Humans couldn’t be left to their own
devices.

Tavish had given each female a vampire to call
their own for protection. Then the human men were injured when a vampire
covetous of his female grew enraged. The females were angry at the men and
wanted to get back at them. If the human males looked at them sideways the
woman smugly howled rape. He couldn’t blame them, their anger was justified,
but his law was turned into a joke. It was maddening. Tavish had to change his
tactics again. He realized there was more to his utopia than just expecting
everyone to do as they were told. If the women were too afraid to breed, it
would never work.

They were watched and guarded closely when
bred. But they complained they felt like animals. Again things had to change.
Times had been so different. It had taken years to breed out the fight and
suspicion. Many humans had opposed his ways. But like anything worthwhile, you
needed to work with it, change, grow. Adapt. With the new crop of humans, it
grew a little easier. The older humans were censored, some basically muzzled or
disposed of. They were kept away from the young and the children were taught by
the vampires. Younger males were taught how to please a female. The chosen
males were taught never to harm a female, it was law. It was a good law.
Females were taught breeding was a rite of passage and they were far more
important when they became of age.

The new generation of humans was happy.
Tavish’s law was the only thing they knew. There was no rape, there was no brutality.
They were encouraged to love, to touch, to care for one another. His vampires
were happy. Outsiders were introduced once the laws were explained. Failure to
comply was met with harsh disciplinary action. It seemed the humans were
changing in the outside world as well. Global annihilation was easier to
control if they too left their children innocent. When Tavish got them, all he
needed was to show them a better, warmer life. Many ached to be held. It hadn’t
been difficult.