Into the Darkness Read online

  Shaking off her fascination, Natalie lifted her chin, refusing to follow her to the sofas. “I do. For starters, why were we brought here?”

  Inanna’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “It was a bit dramatic, non? But it was for your protection. It seems you’ve had a bit of excitement in your life lately. We wanted to make sure we spirited you out of the city without anybody getting wise to your existence. A quick surgical extraction. Nicolas’s idea. Were you frightened?”

  As she glared back, Natalie found herself unwilling to express her fear. “Of course not. I slept through the whole thing.”

  Inanna’s smile held approval. “Are you comfortable in your room?”

  “I might be more so if the lock was on the inside of the door.”

  “You are blunt. As I said, we only want to keep you and your…friend safe.”

  “We’d like to leave.”

  Inanna’s smile seemed more genuine this time. “I know you would. But it’s out of the question for now. It’s not safe for you outside of these walls. There are those who would kill you for the promise you hold in your body.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your child.”

  “What?” A chill spread through her.

  “You may have been a virgin yesterday, but you may already have conceived. You are in your season. In a very short span of time you’ve managed to mate frequently. We’ve been monitoring your progress.”

  “The cameras.”

  Inanna’s eyelids lowered slowly then rose again. “Your Rene is very clever,” she murmured, then her gaze drifted beyond Natalie’s shoulder toward the door and she relaxed deeper into the cushions. “Our meals have arrived. Do have a seat, damu.”

  Natalie looked behind her and stiffened. Two young men entered. Surely, she didn’t mean…

  “Simon, you may leave us now,” Inanna said, her gaze hardening.

  Simon’s back stiffened, and then he bowed his head and departed the room.

  But not before giving Natalie one last warning glance.

  “Pasqual, please help Natalie to her seat,” Inanna said, waving her hand toward the younger of the pair. He was swarthy skinned, his eyebrows dark slashes above his hooded eyes.

  Pasqual gave Natalie an easy smile and extended his hand.

  Again reluctant to touch, this time for a very different reason, Natalie lay her hand in his and let him guide her to the sofa. He sat next to her, his thigh sliding snug against hers.

  Natalie didn’t glance his way, holding herself rigid.

  “Come here, darling Sergio,” Inanna said to the light-haired man. “Sit beside me.” The smile she flashed at Sergio had his cheeks heating. “This is small, intimate,” she said, never lifting her gaze from Sergio. “I thought the setting might help in introducing you to our customs.”

  “Introducing whom,” Natalie broke in. “Sergio?”

  Inanna’s gaze swung her way at last, and she laughed. “It was rude of me not to look at you. But he is beautiful, don’t you think?”

  Natalie was quickly becoming irritated. The warmth along her thigh, and the lovely cologne emanating from the man beside her, had her salivating. “What’s the point of my being here? In this room?”

  Inanna’s eyes widened in mock innocence. “We are becoming acquainted, and you must begin your training. Your hunger should be a private thing. Since I am your grandmother, I thought I’d provide the lesson myself.”

  “Lesson? I’ve already had enough education today,” she said, thinking about Gerard.

  “Our hungers ought to be mastered—and they shouldn’t be a public thing. And despite your attachment to your policeman, you really must look farther afield to feed yourself, or you will deplete him. I take it you have already discovered how to find a vein?”

  That only served to ratchet up her awareness of her grumbling stomach. Natalie licked her lips with her tongue, aware the man next to her stared at her every movement. “Um, I can feel a pulse beat beneath my tongue.” Her breasts beaded beneath her thin robe.

  “Very good. You can also listen for the beat or feel for the greatest warmth beneath the skin. Be very careful about how you bite—if you intend no harm. You mustn’t bite too deeply as you did with Gerard. His blood flowed too quickly for you to track his progress. You need to be supremely aware of every heartbeat so you know when he’s given all he can.”

  Pasqual shifted on the seat beside her and his breaths grew more shallow. Was he aware of her growing arousal? Could he smell it as distinctly as she did? Desperation had her blurting, “A question? Do you just keep meals like this about the place?”

  Inanna’s smile widened, tilting her eyes upward at the corners like a cat’s. “These men aren’t human, damu. They’re vampires, Revenants.”

  “That word again,” Natalie said, feeling breathless.

  “They are a form of vampire. It will all be explained. Right now, the important thing to learn is that once vampires have fed from a human host, you can in turn feed from them. You can continue the cycle without fear of doing harm. With humans, you can’t continue to go back to the well, or you will drain them to the point of death.”

  “Pasqual and Sergio are both vampires?” she asked, feeling herself lose intellect as each second passed. Knowing the men were here to drink from loosened the leash on her hunger.

  “Did I not just say so? For this lesson,” Inanna said, her eyes glittering, “you will not have to worry about going too far.”

  Inanna reached for Sergio’s hand and brought his wrist to her mouth, giving it a delicate lick.

  “May I touch you, Mistress?” he asked in a reverent tone.

  “Of course you may,” she crooned to him as she held Natalie’s stare. “Put your head to my breast.”

  He knelt on the floor in front of her and opened her robe, nuzzling her breast with his lips while she bit into his wrist.

  His groan stretched, and his back grew taut.

  Shock had Natalie gasping at their public intimacy. She’d wanted to find family—but this wasn’t what she’d had in mind. Despite her revulsion, liquid seeped from inside to wet her sex. She gave Pasqual a nervous glance.

  His answer was a player’s smile, one corner of his mouth quirking upward.

  Natalie didn’t know quite how she felt—equal measures of revulsion and sensual excitement making her hot and cold all at once.

  Watching Sergio as he suckled Inanna’s breast, had her own nipples ruching, drawing painfully hard beneath her robe.

  Inanna’s gaze held hers, glittering fiercely, triumphantly as Sergio’s hand crept beneath the hem of her robe and his hips pumped against the sofa. Inanna’s robe rustled softly as she parted her legs allowing him greater access.

  All the while, she drank, her eyes glazing, her murmurs against his skin quickening in cadence.

  When she’d had her fill, Inanna licked his wrist to close his wounds and drew him close for a moist, noisy kiss. “Thank you for the gift.”

  Then she glanced beyond his shoulder at Natalie and smiled. “You need not feel disloyal to your policeman. Your Revenant will spend himself in his trousers. Just from the taste and feel of you. You can take your fill and provide him pleasure, without betraying your lover. Pleasure is the price of the transaction.”

  Pasqual’s hand had crept to her thigh and Natalie pressed her legs together to shut him out. Still, her body trembled with pent-up lust. She needed to get out of here, needed to find Rene before she succumbed to Inanna’s planned seduction.

  For this was a seduction.

  “When you take a human host,” Inanna crooned in her melodic voice, “it will be the same. They can be brought to orgasm, just from your bite.”

  Inanna nodded at Pasqual and patted the seat beside her for Sergio to join her. Sergio collapsed beside her, a damp spot on the front of his trousers.

  Natalie started when Pasqual knelt before her. Her wild gaze returned to Inanna who gave her a nod and a calm smile. “You must take the ed
ge off your hungers, for Rene’s sake.”

  The soothing tone of her voice settled Natalie’s nerves, and she watched Pasqual as though she stood outside herself while he unfastened the silk frogs at the front of her robe and bared her breasts to the room’s occupants.

  “Lovely,” he murmured and leaned toward her.

  She knew she’d been watched before—by cameras when she’d made love with Rene. Still, it was a little alarming and a lot arousing, knowing the couple seated on the opposite sofa watched Pasqual fondle and suckle her breasts.

  “Go on and pet him, darling,” Inanna crooned. “If he’s willing to submit to your bite, shouldn’t he be rewarded? Meals should be lingered over. Appreciated. They should be pleasurable and sensual.”

  “You make it sound like we’re having sex,” Natalie complained, even as she gasped at the pleasure heating her body.

  Inanna lifted both eyebrows, her expression amused. “If you desire it, you may. That’s entirely up to you and your appetites.”

  Natalie drew a deep breath, trying to draw back from the edge. She reached out to push Pasqual’s head away from her breast, but he clamped his lips around her nipple and drew so hard her toes curled into the carpet.

  Instead of repelling his advances, she thrust her fingers into his hair and held him hostage.

  The part of her that remained an observer was shocked by her behavior, dismayed by the pleasure she took from a stranger and the eroticism of allowing others to watch.

  That niggling voice whispered in her ear, telling her she could take one quick bite, assuage her hunger—and stop.

  She licked her lips and drew a deep breath. “I think I’d prefer your neck, Pasqual.”

  He laughed against her breast and gave her spiked nipple one last flicker of his tongue.

  “Just…” she gasped, “…just lean forward. I don’t need you to touch me.”

  Pasqual grinned and grabbed the hem of her robe, sliding it upward with his palms. His smile dared her to object. “I think you like it like this, don’t you?” he whispered as hands closed around her hips and pulled her off the sofa to straddle his hips.

  “You watched the damn tape,” she growled, leaning toward him to slide her cheek against his, “when I killed Gerard.” But he was right, she did like it just like this.

  Her teeth slid from her gums, and she sank into his neck, drawing hard against his skin to bring his blood into her mouth.

  “Look at me,” Inanna said.

  Natalie opened her eyes and found Inanna poised on the edge of the sofa. “You will not lose yourself.”

  Easier said than done, bitch.

  Pasqual’s broad hands palmed her buttocks and dragged her forward and back over his clothed erection.

  The heat between her legs and flowing down her throat was too much. She rubbed her naked breasts against his shirt and ground her hips down, seeking release, seeking satiation.

  Inanna’s laughter, light and musical, rang in her ears.

  Natalie knew she was letting the moment get away from her. This is betrayal. If I care so much for Rene, how can I do this with another man?

  As though she read her mind, Inanna said, “We don’t live by the same rules as humans. Our definition of fidelity isn’t as narrow. You’ll learn to accept this in time.”

  Pasqual moaned and his body shuddered, his hips lifting to center his erection between her labia. He jerked against her, fucking her through his clothes.

  Just when the familiar blackness swept over her, she opened her jaws and withdrew her teeth, mewling as she came hard.

  Her body shivered and twitched, and Pasqual rubbed his hands down her back to her bottom and back up.

  “Thank him for the gift, damu,” Inanna said.

  Natalie pressed her face into the corner of his shoulder, stifling a sob. “Thank you for the gift,” she repeated, understanding the significance of the blessing.

  “You see? He’s taken the edge off your hunger. Your skin is glowing and pink. You don’t feel as desperately hungry now, do you?”

  Natalie’s arms snaked around Pasqual’s waist, needing to hold onto something solid. “How often? How often will I have to do this?” she asked, hiding her face against his broad chest.

  “Right now, in your season,” Inanna said, “you will have to feed often. At least once a day.”

  Natalie straightened away from Pasqual, who gave her a soft smile. His pleasure appeared to have dulled his wolfish smile.

  I should feel guiltier than I do. But Natalie acknowledged that her stomach was full, and she could go back to Rene and perhaps make love without worrying about overindulging.

  Would he know what she’d done? Should she tell him?

  A soft, embarrassed giggle sounded from the doorway.

  Natalie jerked away, rising and pushing down the hem of her robe.

  The blonde woman who’d brought her food before smothered another soft laugh. “I’m sorry. I should have made a noise or something.”

  Natalie’s cheeks flamed. “I should get back to Rene,” she said, shame making her voice husky.

  “But you must stay,” Inanna said. “I insist. Your mother has been very anxious to make your acquaintance.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Chessa sat on the edge of the bed when Rene came out of the bathroom. Which was too damn bad so far as he was concerned.

  The soft training trousers she’d brought for him to wear did little to hide the erection no amount of masturbation seemed to relieve. He placed his hands on his hips and dared her to drop her glance.

  He should have known Chessa wasn’t the least bit shy about checking him out. Her glance slid south in a slow, sexy crawl that caused his cock to pulse.

  He cast a quick glance around the room for Natalie.

  “She’s not here. She won’t be back for a while.”

  Rene didn’t like the fact his disappointment stung. He didn’t want to care. And he didn’t like the husky quality of Chessa’s voice.

  His hands fisted at his hips.

  She sighed. “Partner, you’re all ate up.”

  “Unless you have the key to get me out of here—now—fuck off!” Restless, he prowled the room.

  “No need to bite my head off. I’m just the messenger.”

  “Just the messenger, huh?” Rene gave her a nasty scowl. “Been enjoyin’ the show?”

  Chessa eyed him warily. “I can understand how you’d be pissed at me.”

  “Oh? I don’t know. What the hell do I have to be mad about? I’m living any guy’s fantasy. First, you leave me holed up in my house with a virgin vampire. Then you shoot me full of shit to kidnap me. You top it all off by chaining me to a goddamn bed in a room full of hidden cameras. If I wasn’t so flattered by your interest in my love life, I’d probably tear your head off.”

  “Grumpy,” she muttered.

  That capped it. Rene sprang on her, forcing her back to the mattress. “Not grumpy, you fuckin’ bitch—I’m going out of my mind!”

  Chessa had the strength to fling him halfway across the parish if she wanted. Instead, her lips curved in a feral smile. “Horny, too.”

  There was no denying that fact, when his cock rode her cunt. Rene growled, but didn’t pull back. Not when his cock craved the warmth of her pussy.

  He ground himself helplessly against her. All fight draining out of him. “Chessa, get me out of here,” he said against her hair, his voice hoarse.

  Her arms closed around him. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “Tomorrow. I’ll take you out before dawn. Be ready.”

  “Everything’s changing,” he said, rocking slowly into the cradle of her thighs.

  “Doesn’t have to be that way,” she said, her lips next to his ear. “We can go right back to the way things were. If you want.”

  “I don’t know if I can—if I can forget.”

  “Does she mean that much to you?”

  “I don’t want her to.” Rene’s buttocks flexed and relaxed, continuing the rocki
ng motion that gave him some relief. “Make me stop, Cheech.”

  “Why?” Her lips slid along his cheek. “Your little virgin is downstairs getting it on with her next meal.”

  Rage, red-hot, flowed through him. “Doesn’t matter,” he ground out, his cock pointing through his trousers, finding the outline of her cunt lips through her clothing. Christ, release was right there!

  “Sure it matters,” she said softly, lifting her hips and circling, helping him find her center. “She won’t be able to stop herself, anymore than you can right now. Don’t you get it?”

  “Fuck!” He got it all right. He’d screw a knothole right now, just to relieve the ache. “Stop me, Cheech. You can make me.”

  “I don’t want to. I can help.”

  “Won’t change how I feel.” And he felt like a beast, his muscles tensing, bulking out, every part of his body straining into her.

  “Let me be your friend,” she whispered.

  Only their friendship was getting too damn “friendly” by the second. How would he ever be able to pretend nothing had ever happened when he got back to the real world? “Fuck buddy, you mean?”

  “No. I’m not that much of a masochist.” Her body tensed beneath him.

  It was all the warning he got. She rolled him, trapping his body between her steely thighs.

  “Cheech?”

  She gripped the top of his pants and pulled them down his hips, uncovering his cock, which sprang straight up. Then she reached for his balls and shoved the elastic beneath them. “I’ll give you release. No fucking to it.”

  “Using the presidential definition?” he said, trying to make it light, but hurting too bad to make it work. His cock was heavy, filled to bursting.

  “Yeah, I’m gonna blow you, buddy.” Her hands closed around his cock.

  He squeezed his eyes shut, too far gone to think of any lie to make this not his choice. “Damn!”

  “Pretend, if you have to.”

  Pretend it was Natalie? He couldn’t. Not when Chessa’s hands were so much stronger, her body lighter and her scent—not Natalie’s.

  Her breath brushed his lips a moment before her mouth opened over his, her tongue thrusting inside.