EKOD snippet 4

[Jeaniene_Frost]

Hi all! I’m back from RT – thanks to everyone who stopped by to see me there! - but still swamped with writing, hence my lack of posting on the boards lately. As a mea culpa, here’s another scene snippet from ETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESS. This snippet actually precedes the scene in the first snippet (http://forums.frostfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=887) but it’s told through Mencheres’s point of view this time. Enjoy!

***

Mencheres felt Gorgon approach before his image appeared through the haze of water above him. He gave a mental sigh as he rose from his comfortable position at the bottom of the swimming pool. Being underwater was one of the few times he could enjoy relative quiet. The layers of water muted the sounds from the mortals in his house, and being enclosed in it had become a sort of meditation.

“Sire,” Gorgon said once Mencheres had surfaced. “Your human is requesting to speak with you.”

Mencheres’s gaze flicked behind Gorgon to Kira, whose expression said she didn’t care for the term “your human”. Once again, Mencheres probed at Kira’s mind, and once again, he came up against a thick wall. The barest hint of confusion threaded through her scent, but the bewildering, impressive barriers that prevented him from hearing Kira’s thoughts as easily as he heard her heartbeat were still there.

“Bring her forward,” Mencheres said, balancing his arms against the side of the pool.

“Tinted glass,” were Kira’s first words as Gorgon beckoned her forward. “I thought you said vampires had no aversion to sunlight?”

He glanced around the enclosed pool area with a slight shrug. “Sunlight does not harm us as legends claim, but prolonged exposure does sap our strength, and we tend to sunburn easily.”

Why am I explaining that to her? he wondered in the next moment. Every word he uttered to Kira would only be erased from her recall later. It was as senseless as speaking to the wind.

Kira sat a few feet from the pool’s edge, folding her legs underneath her as if she were at a picnic. “Why not have real walls around your pool? Concrete blocks a lot more sunlight than opaque glass.”

Mencheres gave a small, grim smile. “Because sometimes, I enjoy things regardless if they are beneficial to me or not.”

Speaking to Kira was another of those unbeneficial things he seemed to enjoy, because here he was, still answering her questions despite there being no sense in it.

Kira tilted her head, the muted sunlight highlighting the gold in her hair. She had on denim pants and a collared blouse that was a fraction too tight. Mencheres made a mental note to arrange for new clothes for Kira during her stay. She was wearing some of Selene’s now, but Selene’s breasts weren’t as generous as Kira’s were.

His gaze lingered on her chest until Kira crossed her arms over it with obvious annoyance. She gave him a pointed look as his gaze traveled upward to meet hers. He glanced away, almost chuckling at this unexpected absurdity from him. How many centuries had it been since he’d been caught ogling a woman’s breasts? A woman’s clothed breasts, no less. His co-ruler, Bones, would fracture a rib laughing if he knew.

“Some things must never change,” Kira muttered under her breath.

Mencheres found himself smiling. “It appears they do not.”

Kira brushed a hand through her hair, giving him another feminine, censuring look before her expression became serious.

“Why didn’t you stop those ghouls yesterday before I showed up? You –”

“Quiet,” Mencheres said instantly. Gorgon had walked away out of eyesight, but he could still hear her.

“I’ve thought it over, but it makes no sense,” Kira went on, completely ignoring his order to be quiet. For a stunned second, Mencheres didn’t know how to react. It had to be centuries at least since a human had dared to ignore his commands. “You didn’t even need to touch them to – whoa!”

He’d vaulted out of the pool to physically stop Kira from uttering more damning sentences by putting his finger to her mouth. Water dripped onto her clothes and her pale green eyes widened as he loomed over her.

“Never speak about that again,” Mencheres said, his voice soft but steely. He couldn’t mesmerize her into silence, but if need be, he would gag Kira so Gorgon didn’t find out about his thwarted plan with the ghouls yesterday.

Her heartbeat had accelerated the moment he leapt from the water, and it stayed elevated when she looked away from his face at the rest of his body. Then she gasped.

Her warm breath vibrated against the finger he still held to her lips. Kira gasped again as her gaze dragged from his shoulders to his feet and then became fixated at the point between his legs. Abruptly, Mencheres’s dark mood over her nearly spilling his secret changed to amusement when Kira didn’t seem to be able to tear her eyes away.

***

[wonttorit]

So he's proud of it is he? Again, I say, lucky bitch.

Sigh. Thanks, Jeaniene

[engarde]

All I can say is, WELCOME BACK JEANIENE!

[SoBella Creations]

Welcome Back Jeaniene!!!

Thanks for the snippet. I can not wait for EKOD. That is quite the picture those words have created in my mind.

[uapeople]

Luv It! But such a tease...I need MORE!!!!

[engarde]

Okay, also, who is Selene?

[wonttorit]

Eng: In Snippet #2, there was this from WM's thoughts:

"Selene, like all the others, didn’t only want him. She also wanted the power, security, and supernatural pleasure he could give, but somehow, that was no longer an acceptable trade. "

If he fed from her, she may have been one of the humans kept at his house for that purpose. And, the last part of that thought, IMO, indicates he has had at least an occasional exchange with her. hmmm.....what would that have been? Only Jeaniene can tell us if Selene volunteered to help keep those flickering powers in working order.

Okay, also, who is Selene?

[Lady Karma]

OMG thank you Jeaniene!!! Who is Gorgon and what was his plan? Does he want to kill M? I bet Wont won't like that in fact I can see that she is already bringing out her VP (vampire posessiveness) and is ready to defend M from anyone, even Kira. My mind is exploding with theories about what is going to happen.

[wonttorit]

LK, of course we won't find out until EKOD is in our sweaty little hands, but, I thought Gorgon (mentioned this on another thread) might be that mystery vamp who helped WM rescue Cat from Gregor. As he was the only vampire WM trusted to bring to that house, he must be reliable. I am being SO good.

OMG thank you Jeaniene!!! Who is Gorgon and what was his plan? Does he want to kill M? I bet Wont won't like that in fact I can see that she is already bringing out her VP (vampire posessiveness) and is ready to defend M from anyone, even Kira. My mind is exploding with theories about what is going to happen.

[wildchild1954]

Oh man, oh man, oh man . . . is that time machine ready yet Lady K?