Chapter 8
Corazon looked right into Scarlet’s wide eyes as she opened and shut her mouth a few times. No sound came out, but he could see what she wanted to say.
He snapped his fingers again and a tiny blue flame appeared.
“You have seen the markings, and I am certain you have wondered what they were for. Now you know,” he said and put more wood onto the small fire. The smoke drifted up and then curled around in the breeze, which swept it out along the tunnel.
Moving over to her, he got down on his knees and carefully removed her hand from her stomach. There was blood coating her palm and he could smell it was hers. He would never forget that sweet enticing scent. He resisted the temptation to lick his lips and frowned instead as he parted the cut in her top to reveal the wound. It wasn’t deep, but it was long and bleeding enough to worry him.
She sucked in a sharp pained breath when he ran his fingers lightly along both sides of the cut.
His hand drifted to her shoulder and he motioned for her to turn and lean forwards so he could get a better look at the wound there.
Corazon removed her cape, careful not to hurt her, and placed it close to the fire so it would dry out. The snow had soaked into her clothes and they were freezing to the touch. He wondered just what she would do if he ordered her out of them. He didn’t think that she would obey that one, not even if he threatened to discharge her if she didn’t do it.
His frown grew heavy when he saw the wound on her back. It was over her right shoulder blade and needed attending to the same as her stomach. She couldn’t seal it herself, so he would have to do it for her.
He didn’t have a problem with that.
He only had a problem with whether he would manage to keep control and restrain himself.
“These need to be sealed,” he said and her eyes darted away from his to fix on a spot on the floor.
He could see how awkward those five words and the prospect of him touching her had made her. Didn’t she want him to touch her? He had sensed the pleasure she’d felt when he’d bitten her wrist. She had to want this too.
“Come,” Corazon said and offered his hand.
Amazingly, she slipped hers into it and stood with his help. He kept hold of her hand, feeling it shaking in his. Was she simply cold, or was she shaking because of him?
And if it was because of him, was it from fear or excitement?
He hadn’t missed the fear in her eyes when they had been in the forest. It twisted in his gut like a knife, writhing there like a deadly viper that whispered words to his heart that he couldn’t ignore. They pained him, hurt him more than she could ever fathom, and he had to do all in his power to reassure her and show her that he would never hurt her—not ever, not even when he lost control.
If healing her wounds and sharing a moment more intimate than any they’d had so far would help her see that, then he was willing to let go and ignore his better judgement.
“Corporal Scarlet?” he said in a hushed voice.
Scarlet looked at him with a different kind of fear in her eyes and he realised something. She was more innocent than she appeared. The pressure the knowledge of her lack of experience with men put on him was tremendous but it released the base urge he had always had with her—he wanted to protect her.
He held back, not letting himself hold her as he wanted to, or speak soft words of tender reassurance.
He would be gentle so her first touch from a man wasn’t an experience to ruin all future ones, but he couldn’t break his restraint and allow himself to be intimate with her in the way she might want. His place in her life was as her superior, no matter how much his heart cried out to be her lover.
Taking hold of her hands, he thought about bringing them up and placing them on her top to encourage her to undress but instead dropped them again. He raised his own hands as she stood mute before him, her own dangling limp at her sides as she stared at him.
He slowly unbuttoned her black tunic and opened it with caution. His stomach flipped and his chest burned with fierce passion when he saw the curve of her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a shirt. He glanced at her to see she had her eyes closed now. Her breath trembled and quickened.
Swallowing hard, he reined in his feelings of desire, and focused on his task. She was a soldier. He was her captain. It was his duty to ensure that she healed and survived to fight another day. That was what this was. That was all this could be.
He removed his cape and felt it. It was dry. He placed it around her shoulders and brought her hands up to it. She held it as he opened her top but he noticed that she made no effort to cover her breasts at first. He ached at the sight of them and fought to contain the stirring in his trousers. They were beautiful soft mounds, perfectly pale and round. Her nipples were dusky and taut, standing out like small pebbles. He glanced at her face to see she still had her eyes closed and then licked his lips. He would die to feel the satiny skin of her breasts beneath his fingers.
Snapping himself out of it, he lowered her top down her arms and cursed the fact he had to lean towards her to remove it. He stared at her breasts, his own breath coming quicker now as he struggled to tear his eyes away from them and maintain control.
He turned away and put her jacket with her cape, hoping it would be drier by the time he had finished healing her. The thought of her sitting with him half naked was too much to bear and he knew that he would lose the fight against his feelings if it happened. He had to get her back into as much of her clothing as he could, for the sake of his sanity.
Turning back to her, he saw that she had made a little effort to cover herself now. He wondered why she had waited so long. Had she wanted him to see? He burned at the idea of that and the visions it inspired in his head—images of touching her, tasting her, and showing her how gentle he could be for only her.
He clenched his fists and went back to her. She looked up at him through her eyelashes, a glance that hit him hard in the chest and made him ache. There was such innocence in her look, but such blatant want and seduction too.
Pulling the cape across her breasts, he shut them away. He would never be able to focus if he allowed her to stand there with the delicious curve of her bosoms showing.
“This may hurt,” he said and she nodded, drawing in a sharp breath as he kneeled before her.
He stared at her stomach, studying the flat plane of it and the hollow of her navel. She would be wondering what he was waiting for. Focusing on the wound that dashed across her abdomen, he leaned towards her and slid into his vampire guise.
She gasped at the first touch of his tongue against her flesh and desire shot straight to his groin. It overruled his sense, shutting it away and claiming a victory over him as it began to control his actions. He closed his eyes and breathed her in as he ran his tongue along the length of the wound. He kept his hands locked at his sides, not willing to surrender completely to his desire to caress her, hold her. This was enough. It didn’t have to go any further.
He lapped at the wound, the sweet taste of her bringing back how good it had felt to bite her. His teeth itched with the idea of doing it again, of standing right now and biting her neck and taking her for his own. He frowned and clenched his jaw, stopping healing her. It would be a foolish move to bite her. It would confirm his feelings for her and show them to her, and it would turn her against him. She would never forgive him if he took advantage of her. She had always looked to him for guidance and he had always set the example. He couldn’t fail her now.
Opening his eyes, he looked at the subtle curves of her body as his tongue caressed her with soft gentle sweeps. She tensed beneath him, causing more blood to spill, and he cleaned it away, swallowing it down and savouring it. The fire crackled and snapped, filling the silence as clearly as her staccato breathing had been. He loved the sound of it, the reaction she had to him. He grazed her with his lips as he licked, almost a kiss but not close enough that she would realise what he was doing.
He was almost thankful that she had been hurt.
To have her like this, trembling because of his touch, aroused and hungry for him, was something out of his fantasies.
Realising that she would grow suspicious if he continued much longer, he stopped and immediately stood.
He was doubly thankful that his tunic was long enough to cover his crotch. The aching erection pressing hard against his trousers would be more of a giveaway of his feelings than anything else he might have done.
“Turn,” he said, not trusting himself to move without making a fool of himself.
Scarlet did and he stepped up behind her. He ghosted his hands down her arms, swallowed the dry lump in his throat, and stared at the back of her neck. His teeth itched again, begged him to sink them into her flesh and drink his fill of her nectar.
Raising his hands, he was stunned to see that they were shaking. It grounded him when he saw that she was trembling too. He couldn’t bring himself to take advantage of her. She would never be his if he did that.
He swept her long black hair from her neck and placed it over her other shoulder. Taking hold of the cape wrapped around her, he lowered it. She let it slip down her arm and he could see the curve of her breast again as the material barely clung to it.
She had to know what she was doing, what a temptation she was right now.
Corazon pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled slowly to claw back a little control. When he felt more stable, he lowered his mouth to her back and licked the wound there. It tasted stale. He frowned and closed his lips around the cut. She made a strangled squeaking noise when he sucked on it, drawing fresh blood to the surface. The strangled squeak became a moan that sent liquid fire into his veins.
He sucked again, wanting to hear that heavenly sound fall from her lips once more.
She moaned and leaned into him a little, enough to jolt him to his senses.
He licked the wound, not allowing himself any more freedom with her, and made sure that he was finished quickly. When he was done, he pulled the cape up and covered her again.
“There. All done,” he said to break the silence.
Scarlet turned slowly to face him, her pupils wide and eyes dark. She was aroused. He could smell it on her, could sense it as it spoke to him, enticing him. He went to move away, but she placed her hand against his chest, freezing him to the spot.
She didn’t utter a word. She simply held his gaze, trapping him in her eyes, as she undid his top. His breathing quickened as she opened it, revealing his chest, and her eyes raked appreciatively over his body. He tried to move again, but she grabbed the two sides of his top and held him fast.
He breathed deep, dragging air into his lungs as he waged an internal war over her actions. A part of him said to stop her. The greater part said to surrender. He would never win this fight, not if she did what he thought she was going to.
She pulled his top back to reveal the bloodstained wound on his shoulder.
Her eyes closed.
Her lips lowered.
Her hair tickled his chest like ribbons of silk.
Her breath trembled against his flesh.
His teeth sunk into his lip.
She traced her tongue over the wound in mesmerising patterns that held him with their spell. He couldn’t move, not even to hold her mouth against him. He could only stand and surrender as his heart rejoiced over this small victory.
Her fingers slid into his top, holding his sides, and he looked down when he felt them against him. The cape began to slip. He caught it and placed it back around her shoulders, burning at the thought of her bare breasts touching his chest but not willing to allow it to happen. It would be one push too far and he would never be able to resist her.
His jaw tensed and he frowned when she licked the wound with tiny flicks of her tongue. He focused on that spot of his body, intent on memorising exactly how it felt to have her this close and feel her touching him.
He steeled himself when her left hand cleared his top away and held his upper arm. She was still trembling. Or was that him?
How did she do this to him, bring him to his knees so easily, with barely more than a look and a touch?
The relief he had thought would come when she finally finished sealing his wound was in fact regret. He watched her step backwards, stared at her as cold stole away the warmth she had inspired. His desire to kiss her, to take hold of her and show her without words just how she made him feel was overwhelming, but soon drifted away when he turned his back. He prodded the fire and put more wood onto it. It would keep the chill of morning away from them and would warm Scarlet up, and gave him a moment to recover the scattered pieces of his control.
He touched her top and realised that it had dried sufficiently for her to wear it again.
Picking it up, he turned to face her, holding it out to her. She was staring at him, her eyes full of muddled feelings that he knew were there because of him and what he had done.
The memory of them filled with fear flickered in front of his eyes and he clenched his fists until they shook. He reined his feelings in, not wanting to surrender to them in case something terrible happened to make her always fear him. He didn’t want to lose her.
The top disappeared from his hands and he watched her when she turned her back on him. She let the cape drop to the floor, revealing the delicate curves of her back to him for the briefest of moments as she slipped her top back on.
He couldn’t lose her.
He stared at his hands, seeing the blood on them just as he had done that night. Tears formed but he dashed them away before Scarlet could see them.
“Captain Corazon?” Her voice grounded him, brought him back to reality with a harsh bump that jolted him enough to make sense win over his feelings.
He was her captain.
It was only natural to want to protect her. A dead soldier was no good to him and there was no time to train new recruits. Besides, she was a good soldier. She worked hard and was skilled with a bow. Not many in his company were like that.
His heart called him a liar but he ignored it.
He picked up the cape and wrapped it back around Scarlet’s shoulders as she finished buttoning her top. Her cape was still wet and she needed the warmth more than he did.
“What is it, Corporal Scarlet?” he said, sitting down and sighing as he leaned back against the rocks.
He stared at the fire, using it to keep his eyes occupied so he didn’t look at her.
“Thank you,” she whispered, still standing before him holding his cape around her shoulders.
He intimated for her to sit and she did. It took her a lot of effort and he wondered how stiff her limbs were and how much pain she was in. Neither wound was deep, but he knew how frightening it could be to be injured in an attack. Loss of blood was a slow and painful way for them to die. The humans had learnt that quickly and now used it to their advantage when they captured vampires.
She rubbed her arms, drawing his attention to her.
“Come closer.” He crooked a finger at her. “If we remain close, we’ll keep from freezing.”
She shuffled towards him and he half closed his eyes when her side pressed against his. He made sure that his cape was covering her, keeping her warm, and then brought his eyes back to the fire.
“Do you think Lieutenant Troy and Lieutenant Stanislav are alright?” Her voice was quiet and he was surprised to hear such concern in it.
He knew that she and Troy had never been on good terms, not since that day in the woods when the humans had shot her. Troy believed that she wasn’t cut out to be a soldier. Corazon had made sure that his first lieutenant changed his mind about that, reminding him that it wasn’t his place to decide whether Scarlet was a part of the seventh company or not.
“They will be back at the fort. Come night fall, they will be searching for us.”
Scarlet sighed and Corazon glanced at her to see she was staring at the fire. The silence stretched on, punctuated only by the twigs in the fire snapping under the intense heat. He focused on Scarlet, trying to sense her feelings now. She had stopped shaking. Her breathing was steady. She seemed relaxed.
But she hadn’t been earlier.
She’d been so frightened of him.
And he knew that somewhere, at the back of her mind, she was thinking about what he had done and the way he had acted.
“Scarlet,” he said, keeping his voice calm and quiet so it didn’t alarm her. “Earlier... I would never have hurt you.”
She looked up into his eyes. They held no fear. Only understanding shone in their dark depths.
“I know,” she said, two words that lifted his heart and reassured him beyond measure.
“But you were scared.”
She hesitated and then nodded very slowly as though she was ashamed to admit it. “You were different. Your strength... the way you fought... the things you said.”
He could hear the slight quaver in her voice that betrayed her returning nerves.
“The things I said?” He frowned at her.
She looked away, her eyes fixing on the fire. “You told me not to go away, and that I was bleeding. I don’t think you knew it was me.”
His gaze fell to the floor as he thought about what she’d said. He didn’t remember what had happened. He didn’t remember speaking. He only remembered seeing her hurt, and seeing that man about to remove her head. After that, he knew nothing. It was a tangled blur in his mind, hazy and too distant to take hold of and bring into focus.
“What else?” he said, voice empty and emotionless.
What had become of him? What had he done to make her look so frightened?
“You saw the bodies, I know you did,” she said and looked at him. He was glad to see that there was still no fear in her eyes.
“But I don’t recall it happening.”
Had he gone crazy? How could he have killed those men and not remember it? He was always in control. Always.
“How?” She frowned. “You punched a hole in that man. You screamed my name and tore them to pieces. What trauma were you reliving in that moment?”
Corazon stared at her. Trauma. It sent a chill through him to remember that night and he looked away from her, stared into the dark of the cave.
He had known that it had affected him, but he had never imagined that it had been to this degree. Nothing like this had happened to him in the past.
“Captain Corazon?” Scarlet whispered and her hand came to rest lightly on his shoulder.
“I was young back then and I had my ideals. I wanted nothing more than to be a captain, a general, and be the best that I could. I worked hard and fought hard so I would be noticed and taken into the army.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at Scarlet as he uttered his next words. “That was when I met her.”
Her fingers tensed for a split second against him but then relaxed. It was as though her whole body had flinched at the knowledge that he had once loved another.
“We both joined the army. The war had just started and I was to lead an attack on one of the villages near the second garrison. I was so headstrong that I thought it would be easy and there would be no danger.” He sighed and leaned back into the wall behind him, bringing one knee up and resting his arm on it. “We were ambushed as soon as we entered the village. It was a bloody battle, but I stayed as close as I could to my men, and to her. When the tides turned, and our victory looked certain, relief filled me like I’ve never felt before.”
Corazon felt Scarlet move closer, sensed her watching him. He could almost feel the compassion radiating through her hand and into his shoulder where it touched him.
He hadn’t told anyone of this.
After what had happened, she had a right to know.
He drew a long breath and held it a moment to steady himself.
“We were split up. I remained near her, but I was not quick enough to stop the man that claimed her life. I killed him, no... I butchered him. I was so blind with anger that I didn’t hear her calling me. I had not realised that she had been injured so badly that she was bleeding to death.”
“Corazon,” Scarlet whispered but it wasn’t her voice he heard. He heard his lost love.
“She died in my arms. She bled to death before I could save her. If I had been more... if I had—”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Scarlet said and he wished he could believe those words and embrace the relief they would bring.
“It was. I loved her and I should’ve been able to protect her.”
The cave fell silent, the atmosphere thick with unspoken feelings. He couldn’t look at Scarlet. He feared the emotions he would see in her eyes as much as he feared his own.
“After that, I realised that I wasn’t strong enough to protect those that I needed to. I had lost her and I swore I would do all in my power to never lose anyone again. I sought out a witch that I had heard lived over the mountains near where my family were. She gave me the markings on my arm. They give me power, but it’s nothing like true magic. I can do simple things like create fire and they boost my strength in that arm. It has saved my life many times, and others’ lives even more than that.” He paused and looked at his arm. “Seeing that man attack you... I have not witnessed such a similar open attack on a female vampire since that night she died. It is the only thing I can think of that would send me back there.”
He knew that wasn’t wholly true. It was his feelings for her that had triggered his episode. It was his desire to protect her and keep her safe from harm.
Corazon risked a glance at Scarlet out of the corner of his eye. She wasn’t looking at him. She was staring over the fire and into the distance. Would she piece together his feelings for her, or would she accept his words as the truth?
She slowly turned her head and looked at him. The firelight caught the tears in her eyes and made them shimmer and sparkle. He closed his fingers into fists to stop himself from brushing away those tears that he knew were for him and his loss.
“I won’t tell anyone,” she said in a surprisingly calm and steady voice. “And I won’t be scared if it happens again. Thank you for protecting me, Captain.”
He closed his eyes and his jaw ticked to hear her call him captain when his heart had wanted to hear his name. Captain sounded so cold and distant. There was no reassurance in her words, and no shred of love. She still feared him, and until she could move past it and trust him, she was going to keep her distance. He wasn’t blind. He could see it in her eyes. She looked as though he had broken her heart by telling her what he had.
But then, if she had been the one to tell him that she had loved another, he would have died a little inside too.
“Come,” he said and gestured for her to join him again. “Sleep until sunset. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She looked at him, her eyes clear and reflecting feelings that gave him the reassurance that he had sought in her words. She had read the meaning behind his last sentence and knew that he wasn’t just referring to right now. He would never let anything happen to her.
He kept still as she shuffled close to him and busied herself with wrapping his heavy cloak around her. She snuggled down into it and closed her eyes. Before more than a handful of minutes had passed, she was asleep. He waited a few moments longer and then moved even closer to her and placed his arm around her shoulders. Her head tilted and came to rest against his chest. She gave a contented sigh and was still again.
Watching the fire, he kept half of his senses locked on the world so he could detect any danger, and kept the rest focused on her.
The time passed slowly, but he was glad of it. He held her, watching her sleep and wondering what the future held for them now. This mission had muddled her feelings for him and it was going to take her time to piece them back together and decide whether she could trust him and whether she still loved him. Tonight had had the opposite effect on him. It had made him realise the extent of his feelings for her.
He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.
He felt the sun setting. His time alone with her was coming to an end. They had to return to the fort and to their duties.
Closing his eyes, he pressed his lips to the top of her head, stealing a kiss, and breathed her in.
She stirred the moment he released her and he placed a little distance between them.
Her eyes were dull and full of sleep when she looked at him.
“It is time to leave.”
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