The Blood inside you is the Blood inside me

The Blood inside you is the Blood inside me Part 25

Charlotte was in the outdoor garden, a small rectangular basket lying at her feet. Today, the guards would be returning from their vacation, hopefully with some interesting stories to tell. Charlotte was missing her friends, and wanted to get started on her physical training again. With a pair of scissors, she cut one flower, then another flower off one of the line of bushes planted in neat rows along the rock wall. She had decided to bring some of the beauty from outside to her sister, Dora, and maybe coerce her to join her on a trek to the village sometime in the near future. It was unacceptable that such a beautiful woman was confined to the tower rooms, when she would be most welcome to join the rest of them on the floors below. She didn't seem to take much interest in the goings on at the compound, but at least added some pleasant humour to the company when she was with them.

She carefully chose a mixture of flowers, based on their intermingling scents and colouring, then snipped them from the bushes, placing them carefully in the basket. She was about to reach up to pull down another bloom when she felt arms snake around her waist from behind. Lips kissed the sensitive skin of her neck just below her ear. She laughed low while closing her eyes. Charlotte had been so involved in the flower cutting, anyone would have been able to easily sneak up on her. "This had better be Aro," she said, moving her head to expose more of her neck.

"And whom else would you be expecting, il mio cuore."

"One of my other lovers, I suppose." Her arms covered those around her while she leaned back into her mate.

"Don't even jest, cara, l would have to rend the flesh of any man who would dare touch you in this fashion. Li ucciderei tutti."

"No, you won't have to kill anyone, Aro, since there is no one else and never will be." She smiled and made soft noises while he sucked at the tender flesh of her throat.

His mouth moved to nip at her earlobe with bated teeth, the sounds of pleasure coming from her parted lips music to his ears. As much as Aro would have loved to ravish his mate right here in the garden, he had another reason for wanting to speak with her. He moved to face her, giving her a deep kiss. "You look charming in your gardener's apron."

"I didn't want to get my clothes dirty, love. Or I'm just used to wearing one as I did the few times I worked in my own garden. Being in advertising didn't leave me a lot of time to garden, and I love flowers. I cheated most of the time by buying them at the local florist. Now I have free time. So, besides tempting me to do anything you would demand of me, why are you here?" Her eyes bore into his, defying him NOT to take her here and now.

The look in his darkening eyes matched hers in need, his voice holding a low rumble of desire. He blinked out of necessity to break the spell his mate managed to weave around him, and led her to the closest bench, waiting for her to sit first, then he sat beside her.

"What do you think of our petitioners, my dear? I would like to know your opinion." His hand held hers, their fingers entwined.

Charlotte was surprised Aro was asking her about the new arrivals. Surely Caius' or Marcus' opinions meant more, but she would happily give her mate her honest assessment.

"Galina's gift would be a wonderful defensive power if not offensive. You will need to speak with her, Aro, to find out what she can do with the power. If she could create duplicates to appear to enlarge our army and intimidate any attackers, that would be helpful. If it seemed any of us could be visible in one place, when we were actually sneaking around and behind the enemy, that could be useful," she said, detailing her ideas.

Aro nodded on hearing Charlotte's thoughts. "What about Eleanor?"

"Alright. One thing we need to know is, can she expand the bubble, enlarge it to protect more guards. Can she spilt it to protect multiple areas at once. Now Adam's power could be useful to move attacking forces away from us. Or even disrupt any weaponry they may have by sending it out of their reach. Noah's power is very interesting to me. Metal transmutation would be handy to strengthen an offense or defense."