La Vie Boheme

Chapter One, finished!

I finished chapter one, managing about another two thousand words. I'm incredibly hyper, what a fun, FUN section to write! My hero finally made his first appearance. But what an appearance it is! Forgive the extra long excerpt, but I'm pleased with this scene. Almost posted the whole thing. :)

Her first impression was that the horses were nearly twice the size of poor Alais. Her next was that none of the horses wore the slightest sign of harness or saddle, save light blankets that lay between horse and rider. As for the riders themselves, for several moments Catriona felt that she could not see them at all, blinded by the brilliance that flared, streaming from the figures on the enormous horses' backs, illuminating the immediate area and seeming to cast the surrounding forest in even darker shadow. While she and her men were blinded, a voice spoke from the light. The voice reminded her of a time she'd stolen a sip of her father's whiskey. It had a harsh bite to it, but left her feeling warm deep in the core of her being, a burning that made her feel lightheaded. "Well now. A gift for us? She's almost too fine. We've little of equal value to exchange in return."

As he spoke, Catriona eyes adjusted so that she could see him. He was bare-chested despite the early spring chill in the air, and he had easily the broadest shoulders she'd ever seen. What drew her eyes though, and kept them focused on the man's chest and arms until she felt her cheeks flaming, were the endlessly swirling dark blue lines that wound around his powerful arms and across his chest. For a mad moment she wondered what it would be like to trace those lines with her fingertips, wondered if the browned skin was as weather-beaten as it looked, or if it would be smooth to touch. That last thought was enough to snap her back to the present. Still flushing, she raised her eyes to the man's. The upper half of his face was covered over with a bone mask, but from beneath it blazed eyes like green fire, eyes that promised they knew her deepest secrets, and had every intention of using them against her. From beneath the mask flowed hair the russet color of autumn leaves, a deep auburn mass that fell past the man's shoulders. Finally, from the top of the mask there rose a proud set of antlers, so large Catriona realized they would be too heavy for an ordinary man to bear standing or sitting upright. Thomas, she realized, had been absolutely right. Whatever this man was, he surely wasn't human. He smiled at her then as if he'd heard her thoughts, with even white teeth that looked just a touch too sharp, too predatory. For a moment, Catriona's body went so weak she feared she would tumble from Alais's saddle.