Darkness Burning Read online

Her eyes filled with tears she once again quickly blinked away. “You promise you’re not a revenuer?”

  “Revenant. And yes, I swear it. Let me help?”

  “I hate this,” she said, her voice thickening as her distress grew. “I don’t ever act this way. I don’t lust!”

  “No boyfriends?”

  “None. I keep to myself. Nose to the grindstone. That’s me.”

  “Sounds a little dull.”

  Her eyebrows lowered. “My life’s full. Not everyone needs to fuck like bunny rabbits to have a good time.”

  “Fucking has its joys.”

  “You’re a guy. Of course you’d say that.” She groaned and bent forward, arms folded over her stomach.

  He laid a hand on her back. “Gonna be sick?”

  “I’m trying not to jump your bones.” She raised her head to glare at him. “Did I mention I think you’re really good looking?”

  “Getting more so by the minute?” he quipped.

  “Uh…if we do this…if I let you…”

  “Fuck you?”

  Her lips twisted. “God, I hate that word.”

  “You used it first,” he pointed out.

  “Are you always such a smart-ass?”

  Alex scooted closer to her on the bench and put his arm around her shoulders, bending to look closely into her eyes. “Sarah, I can help you. Why don’t you just sit on my lap for a little bit. We don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. I’ll go slow.”

  Her eyebrows drew together in a ferocious scowl. “You’re not into anything kinky, are you?”

  He couldn’t help but smile. If she only knew. “Nothing extraordinary,” he lied. “Just plain vanilla fucking.”

  She groaned and shook her head. “God, that word again.”

  “You said it fir—”

  “I know, but when you say it, I get—”

  “Hotter?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Sit on my lap, love. I promise not to bite.”

  Sarah straightened, gave him a stricken look, and half rose up.

  Alex opened his arms, helped her climb onto his lap sideways, and pressed her head to his shoulder. “It’ll be all right,” he said, surprised at the twinge of tenderness that swept through him. It hadn’t required pretending.

  “Touch me, please,” she whispered.

  “Show me where,” he said, lifting his hand and holding it for her to take and guide.

  “Sarah” was quick to grab it, slip it under the lapel of her jacket, and press it hard against her warm breast.

  He didn’t make her ask for more. He shaped her gently in his palm, scraping his thumb across her clothed nipple. He massaged her, knowing his slow, tender movements would build an unbearable fire inside her.

  Silently, he cursed Inanna and her minions. There were plenty of willing hosts. The aphrodisiac had been overkill and unusually cruel to someone as confused and inexperienced as this girl.

  Still, he couldn’t help but be fiercely glad he was here now. To help, of course.

  “That’s nice, but I’m really hurting now,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest.

  Alex slid his hand downward, thumbed open her jeans, and slowly drew the zipper down. Then he flattened his hand to slip it inside, gliding down until his fingers met her short curls. He reached lower to slide into delicious, wet heat.

  She gasped and pressed her hot face harder into his shirt to muffle a moan.

  “Sweetheart, you’re going to have to open your legs a bit.”

  “God, I don’t know why I’m so embarrassed. I let both of those neck-biters do much worse without being the least red-cheeked.”

  “You were under the influence of their allure. Nic’s probably knocked you sideways.”

  “How’d you know it was him? Did you see us in the library?”

  Kicking himself mentally for the slip, he murmured his assent.

  “You know him?”

  “I’ve met him a time or two.” And fucked his woman with him sitting right beside us.

  She shifted her legs slightly apart. “Is that enough room?”

  He toggled his finger on her engorged clit. “You tell me.”

  “Almost,” she said, sounding disgruntled. “Damn.”

  “How much of that bottle did you drink?”

  “All of it.” Her thighs tightened, then opened again around his hand. “I was pretty thirsty. Should have known better. The seal was broken. I thought they were being overly helpful.”

  “Sarah,” he said, hugging her body closer to his chest. “It’s going to take a while before the effects fade.”

  “I ache, Alexander,” she groaned. “Help me.”

  He rubbed her clit again, softly scraping the pad of his finger on her tender flesh.

  Her hips moved restlessly, scooping upward. “Would you kiss me like you mean it?” she said in a small voice.

  Feeling a bit like the wolf teasing Little Red Riding Hood, he nuzzled her cheek until she turned her face upwards. The kiss he pressed against her lips was soft, tentative. She tasted just as sweet as before. Uncomplicated.

  She kept her eyes open, staring into his while he ate at her soft lips, as though kissing had been something she’d only newly discovered, or as though she wanted to remember the moment.

  He wondered how she’d come to be in that alley. How someone so ill-equipped to maneuver in this world had even found entrance.

  His fingers slid deeper, continuing to graze her clit, but seeking her moist center. He slid inside her, keeping his eyes open too, and he watched while her vision became clouded and her lush mouth rounded beneath his.

  “Alexander?” she said, leaning back to break the kiss.

  “Yes, Sarah?”

  “I can’t take any more of this. Make love to me.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Miki wished she’d met Alexander under other circumstances. She might have been attracted to him without any special “help” whatsoever. His handsome face and strong body, so wonderfully complimented by a sense of humor and honor, made him just about perfect.

  As it was, she sincerely hoped she never saw him again.

  Tonight was an anomaly in her quiet, straightforward little life. She’d been used; her body had been ravished twice already. Before she’d entered the garden she’d shakily roused herself from the end of the sofa to pull her clothing over sticky skin. Standing all alone in the library after being abandoned by a man whose name she would never have known if another hadn’t called out to him—she’d been forgotten by him in a moment—had somehow made her feel…less.

  Less herself, less in control, less prideful of all she’d accomplished in such a short time since her “awakening.”

  And she’d bargained for it all. Sacrificed her blood and her shallow store of memories to fill them with selfish, momentary pleasure and information she didn’t think explained away the violent dreams that plagued her.

  Yet something about Alexander’s playful teasing and surprisingly gentle touch soothed her bruised inner self. For that, she would be forever grateful.

  With the drug she’d ingested climbing up her spine, she knew she was still operating under another sort of spell—maybe not the powerful “allure” Alex had described, but something else that compromised her values and her natural caution.

  She ignored the warnings of her conscience to trust he meant no harm. To trust he might provide her not only relief but also memories to supplant the darker passions she’d experienced this evening.

  “Are you sure?” Alexander asked as he held her close. “We can simply wait out each wave and handle it discreetly, just like this.”

  He made it sound so ordinary, so practical, that she felt slightly less embarrassed that he was talking about her arousal while his fingers swirled inside her. “Why would you do that for me? You don’t know me.”

  “Maybe I like being your knight in shining armor.”

  She bit her lip when a firm rub shot a jagged bolt of
electricity through her, nearly bringing her to orgasm. Miki pressed her face into the crook of his neck and panted. “You don’t strike me as the chivalrous sort…although you’re being very…”

  “Kind?” he said, amusement and concern intermingled in his tone.

  “Helpful,” she bit out. Her body tightened on another, stronger wave of heat that plucked her nipples into tight, aching beads. “Alexander.”

  “Easy there,” he said, giving her shallow thrusts of his fingers, the depth of his reach impeded by her clothing.

  Frustrated, humiliated…but yearning for so much more, she leaned back and cupped his cheek with one palm. “I don’t need you to be polite right now. I just need you.”

  Alexander sighed as though she’d asked him a great, inconvenient favor, but the hint of laughter in his eyes told her he only teased. “How do you want this, Sarah?”

  Miki liked the easy way he gave her power—as though they’d been lovers for a very long time and this was part of their own ritual. “I want us both naked,” she said without hesitation. “Your skin on mine.”

  “Sounds rather ordinary.”

  “I want ordinary. Please? Plain vanilla.”

  “I’ll tell you a secret.” He nuzzled her cheek. “Vanilla’s my favorite flavor.”

  “Quickly?”

  “Vanilla to go, then.” He rose from the bench, carrying her in his arms. “I know just the place,” he said and headed deeper into the garden, toward a gazebo.

  Moonlight brightened as clouds thinned momentarily, illuminating the whitewashed, latticed structure. He climbed the steps, set her on her feet in the center of the planked floor, then pulled the cushions from the benches lining the outer walls to fashion a makeshift bed.

  Miki wrapped her arms around her belly, shivering as she waited. When he’d arranged everything to his satisfaction, he finally looked back at her.

  A frisson of alarm quickened her pulse. Gone was the teasing man. Now she noted just how large he was, how his height loomed over her, casting a long shadow. The breadth of his shoulders stretched the white buttoned shirt he wore, which couldn’t disguise the thick muscles of his arms. Below, his legs, spread and braced on the wooden floor, were encased in dark trousers that hugged thickly hewn thighs.

  She wondered who he really was. His hair was a little too long to be a businessman’s. His body was too well built, too honed for a desk job. The dark intensity of his gaze had her guessing he had a more dangerous profession. Bodyguard, professional wrestler, fireman, cop.

  She wondered why she was wasting time guessing. Running would be the smart thing to do right about now. Right before he stepped in front of her, framed her face with his large hands, and bent to kiss her.

  Miki moaned against his mouth, giving up on any thoughts of a rational course of action—surrendering to the pressure of his firm lips.

  His arms moved slowly around her, as though he didn’t want to spook her, or perhaps to give her one last chance to change her mind.

  But Miki couldn’t break the delicious kiss. Alexander rubbed his lips on hers in drugging circles, coaxing her to part them with soft thrusts of his tongue against the seam of her closed lips. She smiled for a moment and felt his mouth tighten with an answering grin, then she opened to let him inside.

  As his tongue stroked inward, he shifted on his feet, widening his legs. He gripped her hips and pulled her closer, close enough for her to feel the column of flesh rising against his belly. His mouth trailed from her lips to her ear. “See what you do to me?”

  She shivered at the tight, growling quality of his voice. “I impress myself,” she teased, almost feeling sorry for him. His cock was a thick, long ridge straining against the fly of his trousers. Her pussy tightened, ready to grasp it, ready to swallow him whole. She undulated against him, rocking to cup his length against her belly.

  Then because she thought he might take his own sweet time, trying to go slowly for her sake, she tucked her hand between their bodies and reached down to touch him—first his balls, giving them a gentle, but firm, squeeze. Then she traced his length with her fingers, rubbing up and down the thick column through his pants until he rutted into her hand.

  Lord help her, she wanted to feel his cock rutting inside her, churning in the cream seeping from her depths.

  Miki wrestled out of her jacket—a chore since his arms still held her close. She leaned away and let her fingers fly down the row of buttons at the front of her shirt. It too landed somewhere behind her on the floor. The bra nearly defeated her, because by now her hands shook too hard.

  Alexander pushed her fingers away, slipped his thumb under the band, and opened it with a deft twist.

  When warm, humid air licked at her nipples, Miki’s eyes fluttered closed. The relief, the teasing softness filled her with urgent despair.

  Her lover released her and knelt on one knee in front of her, going for the gaping waist of her jeans.

  Fearing she might crumple to the ground, she clasped his shoulders to steady herself as he slid her pants down her legs until they bunched around her ankles.

  “Should have thought about the boots first,” he grumbled.

  “Please hurry,” she said, scissoring her thighs shallowly to ease the ache flaring between them.

  “Let me do something for you. Afterwards, I’ll give you vanilla, baby.” He didn’t wait for her assent, just pressed on her thighs until she made a space, and he put his face between her legs.

  Without preamble, his mouth latched onto her swollen clitoris.

  Relief was immediate, exploding through her, wrenching a cry from her as she trembled against him. He continued to suckle long after the tremors subsided, then he lapped softly at her, soothing her.

  “That happened absurdly fast,” she gasped.

  “Glad I could be of service. Now, let’s get the rest of your clothes off before it starts again.” He struggled with her boots, then tugged her narrow jeans down the rest of the way until she stepped out of them and was completely nude.

  “No fair,” she said shakily.

  “I won’t ask you to help me. Just lie down and get comfortable.”

  His clothes hit the ground so quickly that she almost smiled, but already the ache was building, slamming through her fast. She spread her legs and eased her fingers into her pussy, trying to assuage the burning tension.

  Naked at last, Alexander knelt at her feet, and she opened wider, waiting impatiently as he settled between her splayed thighs, stretching his body slowly over hers, giving her time to adjust to the feel of his warm skin and weight against her. When he stopped moving, his body, so broad-shouldered and heavy, pushed her deep into the soft cushions.

  Breathless and trembling with uncertainty and anticipation, Miki closed her eyes briefly, then brought up her knees on either side of his hips, inviting him without words to slide inside her.

  His face, partially lit by a stripe of moonlight, betrayed his inner tension. His lower jaw ground upward, his nostrils flared. However, he didn’t move his hips, didn’t attempt to take her, although she’d issued a clear invitation. Instead, one hand smoothed over her hair, then cupped her chin, his thumb curving to rub her bottom lip as he stared.

  “You don’t have to go slow,” she said, feeling painfully taut. “You don’t have to be careful with me. I promise I want this. I won’t change my mind.”

  His gaze swept over her face, settling on her mouth. Then he aligned his nose with hers and kissed her softly, quickly. “You’re sure about this?”

  “Absolutely,” she gasped with more certainty than she actually felt. All she knew for absolute-fucking sure was that her body was on fire. He was here, cocked and ready to go, and she couldn’t wait a second longer for him to stroke the itch rippling up her cunt.

  When he lifted his head, he planted both hands on either side of her shoulders and raised his chest from hers. He flexed his hips, prodding her opening with the blunt tip of his cock.

  Almost there. Almost in
side me. Miki measured the moments by the number of heartbeats it took for him to find her opening.

  When at last he started pushing inside, his eyes squeezed shut and a look of rapture crossed his strong face. “You’re so damn wet…so fucking hot…”

  Then he halted, abruptly pulling away and expelling a deep breath. “Shit. Wait, almost forgot.” He reached for his pants, slipped his wallet from a pocket with one hand, and extricated a foil packet.

  Miki smiled with relief. Not a sterile, disease-free vampire—Alexander was what he’d claimed to be. An ordinary Joe. Just a man with a massive hard-on.

  After he rolled the latex down his cock and resumed his position, pushing between her labia, Miki circled her hips, helping him find her entrance again. When he did, they both held their breath.

  He adjusted his weight on his arms, spread his feet wider on the ground, then stared down at her, letting her know she was still in charge.

  Miki smoothed her hands down his lean, slick back, glided over the curve of his firm buttocks, then clasped them, urging him closer. She raised her hips and tensed her pussy around the head of his cock to emphasize her terrific need.

  Slowly, he stroked in and out, delivering strong but shallow thrusts that coaxed moisture from inside her to coat him and ease him deeper inside.

  Miki’s inner walls already felt hot, sensitive from previous rough usage. His gentle strokes grazed the swollen flesh but didn’t abrade; he took his time, easing deeper only after her channel filled with creamy welcome and her body began to undulate helplessly beneath him.

  Miki couldn’t help staring down the space between their bodies, watching the long, dark column of his sex sink between her legs, watching the way his chest and belly flexed and shuddered as he thrust.

  She couldn’t resist reaching between them, once again sliding her hand down to ring a man’s cock. She found Alexander every bit as imposing as Alex, and she was relieved a man didn’t have to be a vampire to be so well endowed.

  A man could be ordinary, funny, kind—and still fuck like a god.

  Alexander seemed to know exactly what she wanted, exactly how much and how fast she could take it. He stroked smoothly into her overheated pussy and gently prodded side to side, then circled, seeking that special spot.