Dawn Rising

Lucien leaned on the doorjamb as he watched Alex twirling and laughing. He wished he could see her without the dulling tint of sunglasses. But, the daylight was blinding. Hesitantly, he lifted the lenses grinding his teeth against the waves of color and light boring holes through his retinas. With a curse, he slammed the glasses down across the bridge of his nose. He padded silently on the rough, dusty, earth. Deftly gathering his bride up in his arms. His wife he thought proudly, grinning as she gasped.

"You're naked," Alex said, shocked. She snuggled into the crook of his neck, enjoying the smooth coolness of his skin against her cheek.

"So," he laughed as he held her tighter. The warm pressure of her body against him stirred his manhood. "You're not."

Alex felt the firmness of him poking against the thin fabric of her nightgown. She scoffed lightly, " It's the middle of the morning. All respectable people are up and dressed."

"I'm not respectable."

Alex nibbled at his bottom lip, wiggling her arms free from the fabric that separated their flesh. "I'm not either." She felt the warmth of the breeze caress her bare skin, covering it with goose flesh. Slowly, she freed one arm and then the other tossing the nightgown on the dirt behind her. She loved the hiss of breath between Lucien's lips as pressed her bare breasts against his chest. Reveling in the needy growl that escaped his throat. She clung to his broad shoulders, laughing while he carried her through a thicket of sapling trees and brush and into a small clearing. Gently, he laid her down the softness of the spring grasses as if she were a precious treasure.

Lucien felt the warmth of the sun on his back and the heat of Alex's stare piercing his heart. He claimed her lips, pressing his tongue deep inside her mouth, probing its depths and claiming every last crevice for himself, relishing the taste of her. He took his time and ran his hands along her soft peaches and cream skin. A thoaty moan of desire escaped her lips at the direction of his fingers, tracing lightly along her auburn curls.

He kissed a trail up her calf and along her inner thigh, stopping to nip and suckle her most tender of spots. The little nub of pleasure hardened beneath the assault of his tongue. He vowed to learn each and every pleasure point on her body and to mark them to memory. Savoring the honey taste of her, like the sweetest manna from heaven, he laved her cleft. Her hips wriggled in urgent circular motions. Pride gripped his heart as she came apart in a series of gasps and pants beneath him.

Alex closed her eyes lost in a world of pleasure and desire. It no longer mattered that someone enjoying a warm spring day in the woods might happen across them. Lucien and the sensations he created deep within her core was all that mattered. She gasped at the wonderful sensations his tongue sliding along her folds created. So good. When he slid his fingers within her heat, stretching her to the brink, she cried out.

She felt herself being propelled along the waves of desire until she drifted in a sea of fulfillment. "Lucien," she whispered breathlessly, clawing at his back in desperation. She ached for him. She needed him. NOW!

Lucien resisted Alex's gentle urging, taking his time with this particular excursion along the sloping planes of her abdomen. He lapped at her stomach and nipped at her belly button. He suckled slowly and deeply at her nipples, first one and then the other, teasing them to firm hard buds. His ego was thoroughly stroked with the bucking of her hips and the soft, gentle, sounds of her eager moans. His name breathed in a sigh from her lips had him past the breaking point. He needed to be inside of this woman...his woman...his wife...now. Unable to withstand the pressure of the ticking time bomb building inside of him, he claimed her, plunging into her as deeply as he could.

Alex cried out in delight as Lucien rode her, at first slowly and deliberately with agonizing strokes of his body along side hers, teasing and tormenting in its pleasure. She lifted her hips up against his coaxing him faster. She was only human. And there was only so much she could take. Raking her nails down his back to drive home her message, spurring him on.

When his instincts took over Alex shuttered with the fullness of Lucien's passion as he filled her, driving deeper inside of her than she ever thought was possible. Together they climbed higher and higher. She felt his fangs as they barred against her throat. She tilted her head to the side to accommodate him. "Yes," she whispered eager to meet each and every one of her husband's needs.

Alex felt the sharp sting as his fangs pierced her skin. The sting was quickly followed by a surge of ecstasy as her blood left her body and entered his, giving him life. She felt Lucien's release surge into her, pushing her over the edge and into the depths of her own pleasure. Sweaty and utterly fulfilled, she sighed with contentment.

A gentle spring breeze tickled over her bare skin with its fingers. A bee lazily buzzed in the fragile first flowers of the season. She felt the warmth of the sun on her cheeks and the softness of the grass, cushioning her back from the hardness of the ground beneath her. Beside her, Lucien folded his body along the lines of her curves. If this was the best that life ever got. It was pretty freaking amazing.

Alex leaned up on her elbow, watching Lucien doze lazily in the sun. She smiled as she tickled his bare chest with a blade of grass. She trailed the blade down past his stomach and traced it along his member, which also appeared to be dozing happily. "You really won't burn in the sun?"

"That only happens to Transylvanian vampires," Lucien answered, chuckling under his breath. As long as he evaded it's light he was fine. He could withstand the sun's rays, if he didn't look into them. He'd strategically placed them in the shadows of a tall shade tree for a reason.

"Really?" Alex traced the blade of grass across a patch of sunlight shining on his flat stomach. "So you're not like Dracula's long lost, twice removed cousin?

Lucien loved Alex's sense of humor. He rolled his head to the side and looked at her. She was sitting with her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around her calves. Idly tracing a blade of grass along his chest. Gently, he ran a finger along the tattoo that wound its way up her right leg. He slid in closer, kissing every inch of scar as following the rough, uneven, puckered skin up to her knee. "I'd take them all away if I could."

Alex smiled at Lucien, marveling at the way the sunlight wound patterns of deep vermilion through the raven strands of his hair. "You did. My leg hasn't bothered me since...," She paused to think of how to say it without bringing up the reasons why she'd needed his blood. They were having a good day and she did not want to spoil it with talk of the Rogues. They were both too well aware of the dangers breathing down their necks. This was her honeymoon. "Well, since you gave me your blood the first time. Odd eh?" she said, shrugging.

Lucien smiled up at Alex. His heart swelled with joy, watched the leaves dance shady patterns of light and dark across her skin. "Our blood has been known to heal people before. I wish I had done it sooner. You suffered for too long." Regret hung heavily in his voice.

Alex cringed, so much for not spoiling the mood. Lucien hated what had happened to make him what he was. He hated that he'd been forced to leave her behind. None of that mattered, now. They were together again. "Did it hurt when you changed?"

Lucien took a deep breath and blew it out. "Yes." He squeezed his eyes tightly pushing the memory out of his mind. "I'm glad you didn't have to go through it. As much as I'd give to keep you with me forever. I'd never wish that kind of a punishment on anyone."

"I'm not glad about it," Alex said with a sigh. "Eventually, I will grow old and I'll die. I don't want to leave you behind. When the time comes." Alex toyed with a blade of grass, rolling it between her fingers. Evading Lucien's gaze.

Lucien sat up. Gently, he cupped Alex's chin in his palm, forcing her to meet his gaze. "I'm not immortal, Alex. Death will come for me too, someday. No body gets a free pass, Alex. Not you. Not me. Nobody."

Alex closed her eyes in thought, licking her lips. Her head should be filled with all the things she had not the ones she didn't. This was her honeymoon. She should be thinking about the beginning of their lives together, not the end of them. "It will come for me a lot sooner though." An hour by Lucien's side was not enough. A day was too little. A year, a decade, five of them, ten of them, all of them, no amount of time would be long enough to spend with this man.

Lucien landed a soft peck on Alex's lips. "Shh, lets not worry about things we can not change. None of us know when our time will come. This is how normal people live, Alex. They're born, they live, they fall in love, and they die. They take chances on an uncertain future that can change in a heartbeat."

"I wish it never had to end. And we could stay like this forever."

"We will, Alex." Lucien took her hand in his and wound his fingers through hers. Gently, he pressed their intertwined hands to his heart. "Forever doesn't have a time limit. As long as we have this...love...we have forever. No matter what," he whispered, guiding their hands to his lips. With a trail of feathery kisses over her knuckles and a smile on his mouth, he looked up into her eyes. In them, he saw forever. No matter how long it was.

Alex locked her eyes with Lucien. The smile on his lips reached past his gaze and straight into her heart. He gave her hope when all she could feel was the rapid hands of the clock spinning out of control. He made her believe that no matter what happened; they truly did have forever. There was more to being alive than a physical body. There was more than the burden of time on their shoulders. Something that was bigger than the both of them. And in that place, they'd have their forever. "I love you, Lucien."

He would never grow tired of hearing those words from her lips. He'd never take them for granted. They were too precious. And he'd hold them near his heart. Forever.

Lucien wrapped his arms around Alex and pulled her in close for a kiss. When their lips broke apart, he basked in he basked in her love. "And I you." He pressed his forehead to hers and stared into her eyes, grinning like a fool. He had this day to remember. To see him through all the hard times that would come. They both knew those times would. The world was too dangerous a place to exempt them from its troubles forever. This was a respite. A well deserved one. Before the storm struck and pulled them under once again.

A deep growl emerged from Alex's stomach. She giggled, embarrassed. Lucien chuckled at Alex's chagrin. "The human is hungry. Lets get you fed."

Alex pulled from his embrace and retrieved her nightgown. She shook the loose bits of grass and debris from it and pulled the gossamer fabric over her head. Blushing intensely crimson, she felt Lucien's eyes travel over her body. She wondered if she would ever get used to having him look at her the way he did. As if she were the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. "Will you quit that," she stammered.

"What?" he asked.

"Staring at me."

"I like staring at you." Before Alex could say anything more he swept her up and darted through the woods back to the wigwa.

Alex sighed contentedly as she mopped her plate with the last bit of her bread. Although Lucien detested handling food, he was a terrific cook. He sat perched on the cooler, watching her as she finished the last bite. "I need to go to the city and clean out my apartment and turn in my resignation."

Lucien grunted. He was reluctant to have her leave the safety of their lands. Patrick and a few of the others were patrolling through the city, watching for signs of rogue activity. From their reports, the city had been blessedly quiet for the last few days. Kore and her brother Kiros were shook up. But, they'd be back. "You must be anxious to get moved in to our home." He said, careful not to reveal his concerns.

"Well yeah, as much as I love the wigwa, I'd really love a hot shower and indoor plumbing. I guess I'm a bit more civilized than some of us in the room." She crumpled up the paper plate, and aimed, cursing lightly as it fell onto the floor, completely missing the makeshift trash can.

Lucien tsked at Alex as he picked the paper plate up and threw it into the garbage. "Women and their creature comforts," he teased.

"Smart ass." She retorted, giggling.

Lucien stretched out on the mat and motioned for her to join him. Once she fell asleep, he would contact the others. He didn't want to frighten her with talk of the rogues. She crawled in beside him and curled up into the crook of his arm, resting her cheek on his chest. "Sleep ni ulethi equi'wa, sleep."

Alex yawned as a wave of drowsiness overcame her. She was full, warm, and so comfortable lying in Lucien's arms. A little late evening nap would be so nice. A realization struck her just before she gave into her fatigue, Lucien must be pushing his will into her mind. "Damn you Lucien," she muttered. She just couldn't seem to find the energy to stay awake. "I'll kick your ass later. Right after my nap."

Lucien chuckled as he stroked the fine, crimson, waves of her hair. He knew he'd be in trouble once she awoke. But, he needed her safe while he let his mind free to contact the others. When she was in his arms. She was safe. He was the only one he trusted completely with the charge of her safety. He sensed that she was succumbing to his suggestion, drifting away. "I love you."

"Love you too, jackass," Alex replied as she fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 48

Lucien focused his mind on Patrick. His breathing slowed, body relaxed. He felt his mind being pulled from his body, flying out over the treetops and newly plowed fields. Faster it traveled now. The city sprung up around him, staggering canyons of concrete and steel, towering mountains of man's ingenuity. His astral body floated over rooftops. Eyes that could not see stared down at the endless flow of people.

Lucien pushed his way into Patrick's consciousness, probing along its borders. "Patrick," his mind called. He was surrounded by darkness. All he could sense was confinement and suffering from his link with Patrick's mind. What the hell was going on? And why hadn't anyone bothered to tell him?

"Lucien," Patrick gasped. They were on him before he knew what hit him. He'd been reckless and stupid. His instincts should have told him the trail was too easy. Guess he'd forgotten to check in with them. Once he had a scent, he was pretty hard to throw off the trail. He'd tracked that fucker half way across the city and straight into a trap. He was smarter than this! But, apparently, not smart enough to keep his dick out of the wringer.

The best he could do now was to block his mind and keep his brothers out of harm's way. If his brothers found out he'd been captured. They'd swarm the city until they found him.

He wasn't the only tracker in the Sons, probably the best, but not the only one. He hoped his trail would go cold before his brothers found out he was missing. He couldn't lead them here straight into a trap. His brothers would die. And he would not have their deaths on his shoulders.

Patrick was scared shitless. Not out of fear for himself. He always figured he'd meet his maker in the heat of battle. And he was ready to die. Anytime soon...would be great, as a matter of fact. He was terrified for humanity and the Sons as a whole. In all of his years, he'd never seen so many rogues in one place. Usually, they ripped each other limb from limb before they gathered into a group of any size. Whatever in the hell they were planning. It was big. And it was going to be ugly. "Stay away, I've been captured Fucking Rogue, led me right into a trap," he said the words aloud. But, through their link Lucien would hear them. And hopefully take the hint to keep the hell out of Dodge.

Lucien winced, sensing his brother's pain and the agony of hunger on the rise. "Where are you? We will come for you."

"No! Too dangerous, too many rogues." Patrick's body quivered as he raised his head from the floor of the steel plated box in which the rogues held him captive. Bastards. He couldn't rip his way through steel. He was a vampire for God's sake, not a superhero. He'd run though every scenario. Evaluated every possible option for escape. He'd been trapped for the better part of a day.

Bitterly, Patrick chuckled aloud at his predicament. He could not think his way out of a box. Something his uncle had accused him of many, many times. Maybe it was his hunger that made him a little loopy. Most of the time, he didn't find his own jokes particularly funny. But, he was laughing like a goddamned Patrick in the Box now. "Fuckers. I hope they rot in hell."

"Tell me where you are and we'll make sure they get a one way ticket." Lucien had to do something to get Patrick to tell where he was. His brother was blocking most of his thoughts. Occasional images snuck through. But, they were not enough for Lucien to hone in on a location. The city was sixty-plus miles in circumference. It'd be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It'd take way too much time to track him down the old-fashioned way. Time Patrick didn't have.

Outside of his cell, what he affectionately had named "the box", Patrick heard the scuffle of feet and the snick of a thick, steel bar being slid free of its hasp. Couldn't be that the Rogues had a change of heart and were letting him go. Nah. Not when he was all dressed up and ready to die. What would be the fun in that? And he was sure the son of bitches weren't done playing with him, yet. He sniffed the air, inhaling.

Oh. Hell. No. He was prepared for pain. He was prepared for torture. In fact, he'd thought up some good ways to do it, now that he had all this spare time on his hands. Not that he intended to share his creativity with his captors. But, this? This was low, even by Rogue standards. He lifted his nose to test the air. Yup. They were definitely hitting below the belt. The Rogues thought of everything. Pretty good hosts, all things considered. Looked like they were bringing him dinner.

He'd been stuck in this box without so much as a rat unfortunate enough to cross his path. They'd beaten him mercilessly. Cut him up good to weaken him to the point where even a two-year-old could best him. Patrick thought it was to prep him for the Big Event, his death. His battered body had long since used up its reserves and needed more. Much more. He snarled at the guards as they tossed the girl into his cell. Maybe he should have enlightened them on all of the fun ways they could kill him. Anything would have been better than this. A human. And she was bleeding. "Oh God!"

Lucien hissed in revulsion at what he saw through Patrick's eyes. Lucien could see nothing but black, without being there in a true physical body, he had no sense of smell, and his only connection to the place were the glimpses he stole from Patrick's link. The utter roll of panic that surged through Patrick's mind was enough to shed light on what his brother was going through.

"Bastards." Lucien clenched his fists in frustration. The Sons were trained to withstand any level of physical abuse and mental torture. They were put through rigorous exercises meant to tax their bodies and their minds without breaking. But, there was one thing, no matter how hard a Son trained. No matter how hard a Son tried. That no Son could withstand indefinitely. His nature.