Free Chosen: Book 1 in the Ancients of Light series by Heather Fleener Page A

tighter into the cradle of his chest. She finally
had her wits enough that she understood she would need to make her
case with him before he destroyed her. Tucking her head against his
shoulder, her free arm slid around his waist to his back, clinging
to him rather than pushing free. Had her actions not already given
him pause, her words did. Though weak, they reached his ears
easily, “Myrrdyn… sent me…to you…”
    Kaitriana wanted to sleep for another five
hundred years for this night had been not worth awakening. She felt
she might never return from this exhaustion, much less the torture
at the hands of her supposed protector. However, she felt magic
sparking within her and she needed his help to gain control of
herself before she lost control of the power. It was important,
urgent even.
    Myrrdyn…one did not invoke the name of the
Sorcerer of Light in jest or deceit if one valued living. Would
Myrrdyn have sent him this newly born vampire female? To what
purpose? The men in his guard had been long forgotten, but
remembered now as Lorcan heard them stirring behind him at the
mention of the old witch’s name. He released his grip on her arm,
demanding simply, “Why?”
    Threading his fingers through her hair he
pulled her head back, easier this time. As he gazed down at her
Lorcan wondered if she would give him trickery in her answer. Her
eyes were edged with pain and fatigue. Weakly, the fingertips of
her left hand began kneading the front of his armor and she
attempted to tuck her head under his chin despite his hold on her.
She issued the response wearily, “To…protect.”
    There was a scoff of disbelief behind them,
her words had been overheard. Trickery indeed, the mighty Sorcerer
knew better than to send protection for the Warrior of Light. Anger
rekindled in his eyes. Kaitriana felt it in the tightening of his
grip around her; she was at her limit and could take no more.
Instinct drove her and she nuzzled her face into the crook of his
neck. Upon hearing his indrawn breath, she pleaded as he had
demanded earlier, but for different purpose, “Please Lorcan, I
cannot continue with this….Please… you …are
to protect… me …”
    Lorcan stroked her cheek lightly to encourage
her, eager to hear what falsehood her lying tongue would deliver to
him next. He realized with extreme disappointment that she had been
much easier to break than he had anticipated. She was already
weaving tales to save herself from further torture. Unfortunately
for her, he had much more that he intended to deliver. Soon he
would be rewarded with her words pleading for her own death.
    He pressed his lips against her skin,
delivering a number of pleasurable nips first up the creamy path of
her throat. Lorcan enjoyed feeling her uncontrolled shudder in
response; his bite could easily deliver as much pleasure as pain.
He ended the trek by driving his fangs deep and twisting, rending a
deep gash in her skin just below her jaw line.
    Kaitriana arched her back high off his leg as
an anguished scream tore from her and tears began anew, coursing
freely down her cheeks. “Please Lorcan, please, please….” she was
hissing against the pain. Trying to keep her mind together so that
she might choose her words more carefully, she offered quickly,
“Tis no treachery here…I did not perish in the hands of the Dark at
the Festival.”
    Ignoring her claim, Lorcan deliberately eased
the pressure of the bite, moving his mouth and tongue over her skin
in a manner to evoke pleasure as he continued to take her blood. He
wanted her mindless with it before he inflicted more damage. The
rapid shift from the edge of pleasure to the depths of pain would
cause her sanity to shatter given her vulnerable, weakened
state.
    He heard the shuddering intake of her breath
just as her hand gripped his shoulder. Though her hand held fast,
the longer he continued the gentle pressure with his mouth the more
she visibly relaxed. Catching the little growl in her