The Brethren Of Tavish [Vampire Coven Book 1] (5 page)

“You are far from alone, little cub.”

“Why do you call me that—little cub?” Mercy
cast her gaze up. Each step brought him closer.

“When I found you, you were curled in a fur
ball and looked like a little hybrid cub.”

Mercy thought for a second. “I was trapped; an
ice wall surrounded me. I fell straight down. There was no way out. How did you
get in?
Ropes?”

Tavish smiled at her. “I flew. The ice is no
match for my strength.”

Mercy felt the blood drain from her face.
A vampire.
Was
this the vampire who the escaped man had talked about? The one who had no
compassion, his men cutthroat murderers? “You’re a vampire, a beast.
A killer.”

“I’m not the one who would have killed you,” he
replied.

He was right. Her father had been going to kill
her. “My father said your kind torments humans, you hate us and yet you are the
hybrids. Father told me of a man who had escaped before my birth to tell
everyone of the vampire’s cruelty to humans.”

Tavish was only a foot away from her. “What
else did dear old daddy say? Was he the one who murdered your mother?”

“Would
you
have?” she countered.

“She was close to no longer of childbearing
years. Yet, there might have been hope. Women pose little threat to my kind.
They pose little threat to your kind, except they give birth. There was no need
to massacre your mother. No, I wouldn’t have killed her. Your father thinks
himself a martyr when, in fact, he is an executioner. A woman in your dwelling
was also murdered by a human hand.
A double handful of years
older than you, darker hair, tiny.
A pretty little
thing; what a waste.
I do not hate humans; I wouldn’t have slaughtered
her either.”

Mercy closed her eyes tight. It must have been
Chelsea. Chelsea’s father must have killed her.
Her poor
sweet cousin.
She must have been so afraid. Mercy remembered Jarrod in
the air, legs flailing, being held by a vampire. He had looked so scared. Was
he killed too? Her family was gone. Mercy felt so alone she could have cried.
It had been a long time since she had wept.

Tavish moved to sit beside her on the bed.
Mercy scooted back, her legs pulled up tight against her chest. The blanket was
in her fingers, clutched in a death grip. Tavish cocked his head to the side
studying her. He looked bigger when he was closer. Mercy was consumed with
guilt. A man wasn’t supposed to be this close, especially if she was nude, it
was considered an act of treason. Didn’t he know this?

“I hear your heart pounding,” Tavish said and
gave her a cheeky smile.

“Full nudity is considered treason. A
punishable offence,” Mercy whispered. “Are you going to beat me?”

“Since I’m the one who rendered you to the
state you’re in that’s doubtful.”

He has seen me nude.

Mercy was ashamed. She had seen her reflection
in a sheer sheet of ice, but vanity was considered treason. Besides, all covered
in fur it was impossible to feel beautiful. Mercy hadn’t seen herself nude
in—she didn’t remember the last time she had been nude. Had she ever been? When
washing in an ice filled cave you tended to get the job done quickly and leave
as little bare for as little long as possible. She remembered the one time she
had squeezed the soft flesh of her breasts and stroked lower, under her
clothing. It had felt nice, until her father had caught her and slammed his
open palm against her face over and over until her blood flowed. Had Tavish
touched as well in the forbidden areas? The idea made her face burn; she could
feel the heat slide up her throat.

“You shouldn’t be so close,” Mercy whispered.

“I plan on getting a lot closer, little cub.”

“It isn’t right.”

“Sins of the flesh?”
Tavish started to
chuckle. Tavish cupped the side of her face. He leaned closer and whispered in
her ear. “Have you ever been kissed?”

“It’s forbidden,” she started to say when Tavish
pressed his lips to hers.

Mercy felt the kiss right down to her belly.
Her eyes widened in surprise. His lips were gentle and moist. She jumped when
his tongue invaded her mouth past her teeth. Mercy could feel her nipples
tingle. She knew some things about sex. Men and women were made different
somehow below, and men grew no breasts. Her mother hadn’t explained much. Mercy
knew if his hard maleness, her mother hinted at, grew he would want to put it
up inside her. He would put it in her forbidden area and somehow they would
make a baby. The baby was an act of treason. Both she and her child would be
put to death. Mercy shoved Tavish away.

“Sex is punishable by death,” she said through
her clacking teeth and quivering chin.

“Those were your father’s rules,” Tavish said
lightly. “You’re
mine
now and will obey
my
rules.”

Mercy was afraid to ask but she did so
hesitantly. “What are your rules?”

“Complete submission.
Absolute
fealty to me.
All females of childbearing years must be bred.”

Mercy gasped. She had to have sex? She had to
have a baby? “Will you eat my baby?” The thought was horrifying.

“A child is not bled until they mature. There
are forty vampires in my coven and two hundred humans ranging in age from babe
to just beyond middle age. All listen to me. Your father led you to believe we
are all cruel. Like humans, some are, some aren’t. The vampire the escaped man
talked of was more than likely Remo. Remo was banished to the ice and snow.
There is no escaping my coven. No one ever has. No one ever will. Obey my laws
and there are great rewards. Disobey and the punishment is harsh.”

“Will you kill me?”

“A human female of your age is very coveted.
You’ll have my protection from the other covens regardless of whether you obey
or not. There are twenty virile men to choose from to create your offspring
here. You may wander free and happy and select your own or you can ask me to
choose. If you don’t choose and try to escape or evade my law, the alternative
isn’t as pleasant.”

Mercy could feel her thoughts racing through
her mind. She knew she was being told one way or the other she would be forced
to have a child. Her child would be forced to have a child. When she gazed back
at Tavish, she could see he was giving her time to digest his information.

“We give humans a life here,” Tavish began
again. “You are fed and clothed, watched over…”

“Treated like animals. I have read of dogs and
cats. But humans don’t eat their pets. We are less than pets to you.”

“When the ice age is past, this type of
arrangement will no longer be a necessity. We keep you alive, you keep us
alive. We all win in this situation.”

“I won’t live to see the end of an ice age.
Father said it could last thousands of years and why continue on? I’ll be a
captive my entire life, so will my child and my child’s child.”

Tavish gave her a somewhat evil grin.
“Children, little cub.
I expect many healthy children from
someone as young and strong as you. And you have really only given up an ice
prison for one that is much more desirable and less physically restrictive. You
may even enjoy being bred.”

Mercy felt sick. “What if I can’t get
pregnant?” she asked.

“You’re very beautiful.” Tavish once more
kissed her. Mercy was shaking too hard to push him away. When he leaned back
his nose was inches from hers.

“You would have sex with your food? I would
never lay with a seal or a fish or a walrus.”

That made him roar with laughter and he pulled
back farther as not to laugh in her face. “I once came across a human man having
sex with a cow.”

“A what?”

“Ah yes. You’re a child of the ice. You’ve
never been treated to steak, or chicken. Tell me little cub, have you ever
tried a glass of fresh milk?”

Mercy shook her head. Mother’s gave children
their breast; she knew that because her father told her that was the only purpose
a woman’s breasts served. Her father had said when a baby was
born,
a mother’s breasts would fill with milk. There was
nothing remotely sexual about them. That was why it was so wrong to touch them
in an indecent fashion. Mercy had felt further chastened. She was confused. Did
these vampires milk a woman? What an odd notion. She was too curious not to
question.

“You milk your women?”

Tavish dropped his head. Mercy felt a moment’s
concern until he lifted his head back up to gaze at her; his eyes were full of
laughter.

“A woman’s breasts have far more delights to
them.” His laughing eyes grew intense. “I plan on teaching you all of the delights
of the flesh.”

Chapter 3

“It’s forbidden,” Mercy whispered.

“My coven, my rules.”

Tavish moved closer. Mercy squeezed closed her
eyes and waited for him to pounce on her, positive she was about to be devoured.
She waited for him to do the sex thing; though she didn’t know what it
entailed, she was led to believe it was awful. They were already in bed
together. Mercy was horrified. Had they already had sex together since they lay
together? Or did they need to be lying down for the sex thing to happen? They
had kissed. Was she already breeding? Had they made a baby?

The covers were tugged from her hands and Mercy
felt herself blush as her breasts were now exposed to his gaze. One of her
hands was picked up and she could feel a finger trace its way down her palm. It
wasn’t unpleasant. She didn’t pull away. She jumped when the hand he held was
kissed. In round circles his tongue licked across her palm up to her wrist.

Mercy opened her eyes. Once more his eyes were
filled with laughter when he looked at her. “Did you think I would eat you little
cub?”

“I don’t know what you will do,” she whispered.
She wasn’t certain of anything. She was too confused. His smile and his beautiful
eyes made her heart do funny things within her breast.

“I will do everything.”

“Are you going to hurt me?”

“No.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

Tavish moved closer. Mercy swallowed hard.
Having a man this close to her nude body was overwhelming. Her thoughts warred.
He was evil; sex was evil. Strangely, his touch didn’t feel evil at all. And if
this was sex, how could it be so bad if they had already made a baby? No, there
was more; her mother hinted at it. Something had to be inside her to make a
baby. Somehow he would put the baby in there. That thought only led to more
confusion.

“I hear your heart hammering like a drum,”
Tavish said. He lifted his hand and stroked her arm. She was soon covered in
goose bumps. “Men and women were made to join.”

Join?

Was he a man? He was a vampire. He looked like
a man. He sounded like a man. His hands were gentle. Mercy liked the way his
skin felt on hers as he trailed his fingers across her collarbone. There were
times she ached to be touched. She had been told she was loved, but she had
wanted to be shown. Mercy had watched with intrigue when couples kissed, it was
done quickly, a fast peck. At one time, she had pressed her lips to the back of
her hand. It felt better when the warmth of her mouth had lingered. She knew
she shouldn’t have. But she couldn’t help but feel humans needed action to
emotion. In an odd way, her father had shown her that, when he had struck her
in anger.
And then again when he had hugged her in
forgiveness.

Tavish was giving her a rare glimpse into what
humans could experience. Perhaps men and women were made to join, somehow.
Perhaps that was why her father’s rules were so strict. Her father would be
furious with her.

Traitor.

Mercy recoiled as the word slammed into her
mind. She jerked her hand from his. She yanked the covers back up to hide her
nudity from him. Her breath came out in heaving pants. She placed an open palm
against her wildly beating heart. She expected him to be angry but he was still
smiling at her.

“I have all the time in the world, little cub.”

She supposed he did. “Where am I? The air is
warm. This isn’t an ice dwelling.”

“My coven is a far cry from the ice and snow
you’re used to.”

A knock sounded and Tavish rose. Mercy watched
intrigued as a flat, wooden, box-like structure attached to the wall opened.
Behind it stood a woman.
She was older, perhaps Mercy’s
mother’s age. She was tall, beautiful. Her dark hair hung well past her
shoulders. She held a tray and handed it to Tavish. Tavish kissed her forehead.
The woman peeked around Tavish and smiled at her. The woman hadn’t looked at
her with disgust or fury. Mercy couldn’t help but smile back.