Red Moon (7 page)

Tristan woke in the darkness.  Avery was stirring
against him and he stared anxiously at her. 

“Hi.”  She smiled faintly at him.

“Hi.  Do you feel better?”

She moved cautiously. “Yes.  How is Marshall?”

“He’ll live, thanks to you.”

She turned her head slowly, groaning a little, and he sat
up.  “Should I get Maya?”

“No.  Please - lie back down with me.  It helps.”

He relaxed back against the pillow and she curled up against
him, staring up at him.

He cupped her face, stroking her pale cheek with his thumb,
and then dipped his head and placed a gentle kiss on her mouth.

She returned the kiss, smiling a little, and he kissed her
again.  When she didn’t resist, he turned until he was facing her and
tugged gently on her braid until she tilted her head back.  He kissed her
neck, sucking and licking at the soft skin until she was moving restlessly
against him.

“Tristan.”  She sighed and he captured her mouth with
his, kissing her until her lips parted and he could push his tongue between
them.

“Tristan, what are you doing?”  She whispered when he
trailed a path of hot kisses across her jawline.

“Maya said this would help.”  He murmured into her ear
before tracing the curve of it with the tip of his tongue.

She moaned quietly and clutched at his shoulders.

“Is it?”  He asked.  He sucked lightly on her
earlobe, making her shiver.

“Aye.”

“Good.”  He kissed her again, and she opened her mouth
immediately and slipped her tongue into his mouth.  He sucked hard on it
until she was thrusting her hips against him, and then released her.

He cupped her breast, rubbing his thumb over her nipple and
pinching it lightly.  She arched her back as he bent his head and placed a
gentle kiss on her nipple before sucking it into his mouth.  He traced her
smooth hip, running his fingers along her leg before slipping them across the
top of her legs and tracing circles in the soft hair between her thighs.

“Tristan, wait…” She panted lightly.

He stopped.  “I want to make you feel better, Avery.
 Let me help you.”

“I know, but the others…” She trailed off, looking at him
miserably.

He kissed her cheeks and then the tip of her nose.

“Just for tonight, Avery.”  He whispered.  “Let me
touch you tonight.  Let me make you feel good, and I promise I won’t touch
you again after this.  No one needs to know about it.”

She stared doubtfully at him and he picked up her hand and
placed a gentle kiss in the palm of it.  She shivered lightly and cupped
his face.  “Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

She hesitated and then nodded. “Okay.”

He smiled and immediately slipped his hand back between her
legs, cupping her warm sex and parting her lips so he could rub her clit.

She gasped at the sudden intimacy, her hips jerking against
his hand as he rubbed and pressed her small pink nub.  It swelled and
hardened against his fingers, and she moaned in pleasure before sliding her
hand down his abdomen and wrapping her fingers around his cock.

He groaned, his own hips thrusting helplessly as she stroked
him firmly.  She kissed his neck and then ran her tongue along his
collarbone, tasting the saltiness of his skin as he inhaled sharply and slipped
his longest finger inside of her.  She stared sightlessly at the ceiling
above her as he rubbed her clit with his thumb and slowly slid his finger in
and out of her.

“Please, Tristan.”  She moaned, her hand squeezing
around his cock.

He pushed her gently on to her back and she parted her
thighs eagerly as he knelt between them.  She wrapped her legs around his
waist and urged his body down onto hers.  He reached between them and
positioned his cock at her warm, wet opening.  He pushed into her,
groaning at the feel of her smooth walls, and she cried out with
pleasure.  Immediately, warmth and power flooded through him and he
stopped as he remembered what Maya had said to him.

“Don’t stop.”  She pounded him lightly on the back and
arched her hips against his, taking him fully inside of her.

“Wait, girl.”  He gasped out.

“Why?”  She muttered.  “Tristan, I don’t want to
stop.”

“Are you – are you trying to heal me?”

“What?”  She groaned.  “For the gods sake,
Tristan!  No!”  She moaned in frustration and kissed him frantically,
thrusting her tongue into his mouth.

“There’s nothing to heal.  I swear it.”  She
whispered against his mouth.  “We’re so good together… can you not feel
it?”

He stared down at her.  Her face was flushed with
colour, and her light green eyes were shining with excitement and need. 
The dark circles under her eyes were completely gone and she was practically
glowing with pleasure.

She smiled up at him.  “Make me feel good, Tristan –
please.”

He groaned and plunged in and out of her, leaning down to
kiss her as he propped himself on his hands above her and began a steady
rhythm.  She made small sounds of excitement and pleasure, her hands
clenching and unclenching on his chest as she met him stroke for stroke.

As her smooth walls squeezed and released his cock
repeatedly, his groin tightened and he began to lose his smooth easy movement
within her.

“Avery…”  He groaned.  “I’m so close.”

“Me too.”  She panted.  “Don’t stop.”

He thrust harder and her moans grew steadily louder until
her body suddenly stiffened under him and she came with a loud, hard cry. 
Her muscles clenched tightly and as she climaxed around him, a powerful wave of
such intense pleasure surged through him that he came immediately.  He
shuddered and moaned above her, desperately trying to control the urge to
shift, until he collapsed weakly against her.

He breathed harshly, resting his head on her breast as she
stroked his long hair until he finally forced himself to roll off of her. 
She curled up against him like a small cat. 

“What in the name of the gods was that?”  He whispered,
staring at her with a combination of shock and awe.

She coloured slightly.  “What?”

He stared down at her, his chest heaving for air.
 “I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

She stared solemnly at him for a few seconds before her face
broke out in a huge grin.  “You’re welcome.”

They had been lying together quietly for over an hour, Avery
believed that Tristan had fallen asleep, when his voice drifted out of the
darkness.

“How many men have you been with?”

She hesitated and he squeezed her gently.  “Tell me.”

“Only one before you.  He worked for my father. 
We were together a few times.”

He stroked her bare back leisurely.  “Only a few
times?” 

He frowned at the ceiling and when he spoke again, it did
not seem to be directed at her.  “How in the gods did he resist?  How
it feels to be inside of you…I’ve never felt anything like it.”

She stiffened against him.  “This was a one-time thing,
my lord.  Do not forget that.”

“I remember.”  He spoke absently.  “Where is he
now?”

“He was at our country home that night.  He perished in
the fire as well.”

“I’m sorry.”  He said quietly.  “Were you in love
with him?”

She hesitated again.  “I was – I was very fond of
him.” 

She closed her eyes.  Being with Daniel had been very
nice.  He had been a kind and soft-spoken man, and he had been gentle with
her in bed.  She had enjoyed his touch but whether it was from her
nervousness, his own inexperience or a combination of both, he had not been able
to make her orgasm.

Being with Tristan, the way he touched her with his hands
and mouth, made her feel nearly crazy with desire.  Already, with just the
touch of his hands stroking her back, she could feel the heat returning in her
belly and pelvis.  She shivered a little, and he pulled her closer against
him.  She could not continue to sleep with him despite how good he made
her feel.  She knew that Tristan desired her, but she also knew that he
did not entirely trust she was not a witch.  She could see it in his eyes
when he looked at her.  Especially since he had seen how she had saved
Marshall.  She had a feeling that Mrs. Lanning would not rest until she
had convinced Tristan she was a witch and perhaps her sister as well. 
Maya was what mattered.  She was the only family she had left now, and she
would do whatever it took to keep her safe. 

She shifted her head on his chest and ran her fingers
through the coarse hair that covered it.  “Were you bit?”

He shook his head.  “No.  My family have been
Lycans for generations.”

“Was Sophia’s mother a Lycan?”

“Yes.”

“What about Nicholas’ father?”

He shrugged.  “I do not know.  Sophia could not
tell me.”

She licked her lips nervously.  “Earlier when the
faeries attacked, Sophia could not control the turning.”

“Our young have to be taught to control the shift.
 Sophia’s mother did not spend the time needed to teach Sophia what to
do.  She shifts when she is too tired, when she is excited or
frightened.  She did not mean to hurt your sister.”

Avery nodded.  “I know.”  She took a deep breath
and forced herself to ask the question she was dreading.  “She bit
Maya.  Will Maya become a Lycan?”

Tristan shook his head immediately.  “No.  A human
will only turn from a Lycan’s bite if it’s during the full moon.”

Avery released her breath in a harsh rush.

“I will begin to teach Sophia how to control the shift.
 She’s a bright girl.  It will not take her long to learn.  Your
sister will be safe.  In the meantime, on the night of the full moon I
will keep Sophia away from humans.”

“And yourself as well?”  Avery said pointedly.

“I can control the shift, even during the full moon.”
 Amusement was etched in his voice.

“Can you?”  She questioned.  “Whenever we are –
are together, your eyes turn green and your hair thickens.  I’m not
stupid.  I know what that means.”

A blush was rising on his face and Tristan was thankful for
the darkness of his bedroom.  It had been many years since he’d had
trouble controlling the shift during sex.  It was humiliating not just
that he was struggling now, but that a human knew it as well.

“I can control it.”  He said more harshly than he
intended.

“Is it because you’re with a human woman?”  She
wondered out loud.  “Perhaps it’s the novelty of it.”

“I have been with plenty of human women.”  He said
dryly.

“Did you have trouble controlling the shift with them?”
 She asked.

“No!  Avery, I can control the shift when I’m with you,
I swear.  Can we please drop this?”  He was starting to sweat a
little.  He didn’t want to admit to her that he didn’t know why he was
having trouble controlling the shift when he was fucking her.  He hoped it
had something to do with her powers.  He thought back to the way it had
felt when she had climaxed, how it had immediately made him come too, and just
the memory of that was making his cock stir against the sheets.

She was saying something to him and he forced himself to
concentrate.  “What?”

“I asked if it’s unusual for a Lycan to sleep with a human.”

“No.  Most Lycans sleep with humans at some
point.  The ancients used to forbid it.  Humans were widely regarded
as weak, and Lycans were encouraged to stay away from them.  Of course,
there were some that disobeyed and mated with them anyway.  Then the Great
War happened, and there were so few of us left afterwards that many Lycans
started mating with humans as a way to continue the bloodlines.”

“Really?”  She asked.

He nodded.  “Yes.  Half-breeds are better than no
Lycans at all.  In fact, many Lycans purchase human women from the slave
houses in order to mate with them.  They produce Lycan babies and – “

She sat up, the sheet falling to her waist and he couldn’t
help but take a quick look at her naked breasts.  She slapped him hard on
the chest.  “Are you kidding me?”

He shook his head.  “No.”

“So your kind buys human women and treats them like some
kind of breeding machine?  They’re only good for one thing to you? 
Why not just find Lycan women and convince them to have your babies?  Or
are they repulsed by your piggish behaviour as well?  Do they ask these
human women if they want to be popping out babies?  Do they give them a
choice in the matter at all or are they just expected to lie on their backs and
open their legs?”  She was shouting now, her pale skin flushed with colour
and her hands squeezed into tight fists.

He kept his voice low and calm.  “Avery, these women
are slaves.  They belong to their lords and it is their right to do what
they will with them.  I do not agree with the practice and I would never
do it myself but it’s the way of the world.”

She snorted loudly.  “This idea that one man can own
another and force him to bend to his will is ridiculous!  Only someone
ignorant believes that it’s the way it must be.  Did you know that the
ancients had abolished the practice of slavery?  Before the Great War, no
human could own another.  Everyone was free.  My father believed we
could have that again.”

“That’s rich, coming from a man who purchased and owned more
slaves than most people could even imagine.”  He said quietly.

She stared angrily at him and he raised his eyebrows.
 “Even an ignorant country Lycan like me hears the rumors and reads the
stories about the man who brought light back to the world.”

Her face had gone pale and she was staring at him like she
was trying to set him on fire.  “You’re right, my father did purchase
slaves.”  She spoke softly through gritted teeth.  “He brought them
home, fed them, clothed them, and gave them a soft bed for the night.  And
in the morning, after they had rested, he gave them a choice.  They could
work for him, earning a wage, or they could leave as free men.”