Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 7

"Not a chance. You haven't seen the last of me tonight, Alexa." He leaned close. His breath felt warm against my ear. The heady scent of him tempted me to change my mind. "With a hunger like yours burning, I plan to be around when it burns out of your control, when you need someone to quench it." With that, he gave me a wink and sauntered back to his table.

I stared after him for a minute. I was hard-pressed not to just drop my things and abandon self-control. I did hunger. I'd attributed it to the moon, combined with natural human and animal instincts. But, this was different. This was a similar need with a different outcome. I wanted to know what that outcome might be, as frightening as it was.

I found Kylarai. She sat at the bar and visited with Shaz. I was suddenly stricken with worry, afraid that Shaz had seen Arys kiss me.

I had no commitments, but I was wary of hurting anyone's feelings. The smile, which he beamed at me when I walked up, told me that he'd seen nothing. Despite having no commitments, I couldn't shake the guilty feeling.

The customers never relented, so I didn't get a chance to speak with him long. Kylarai and I spent the next couple of hours shooting pool and enjoying some of that savory steak that I'd been eagerly antic.i.p.ating.

In the back of my mind, I kept going back to Arys, to the wonderful way the power breathed over, around and through us. I couldn't stop thinking about it, which also led me to think about Shaz.

It was different with Shaz, different not only because we both shared the same supernatural power, but also because I feared an emotional attachment with him. I didn't feel that Arys would ever look at me that way. It was nothing more than a power trip for him, too, with nothing deep-rooted to destroy. I didn't want to take that chance with Shaz. He's family.

We'd decided to call it a night around one o'clock. I'd had more than my usual to drink. I got successfully tipsy. I didn't tell Arys that I was leaving. We'd just left the building and rounded the corner to watch for a taxi. I cursed about having to leave my car.

They came out of the dark. Three men moved to form a partial circle around us. One of them stepped forward to act as ring leader. The stranger stood before me and looked me up and down with a judgmental grimace under a greasy coif of hair. He looked almost forty, too old for stunts like this. He leered down at me and puffed on a cigarette.

"Tell me where to find Raoul Roberts." He ground his teeth together as he spoke. His eyes were extremely bloodshot, and he looked as if he hadn't slept in days.

"Who?" I blinked up at him with my best vacant-eyed expression.

"Don't f.u.c.k with me. Somebody told me that you would know where to find him. Raoul Roberts. Where is he?" His fists clenched and unclenched, and I fought the urge to head b.u.t.t him right in his insipid face.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know what you're talking about. Now if you'll excuse me-,"

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me where he lives. He killed my wife, and I'm not going to rest until I take him apart with my own hands. You don't want to be the only thing preventing that. I don't have a problem starting with you."

I said nothing and shouldered my way past him. What I should have done was drop him, right then and there. The slap came out of nowhere, and I tasted blood inside my mouth. I hadn't antic.i.p.ated the hit.

Kylarai was in his face before he could blink. I don't think he even knew it was her that hit him before he was wiping blood from his broken nose.

He stumbled back, but his friends never budged. If things got ugly, I was more than sure we could handle it, but I always preferred to walk away when it came to foolish humans.

The other two guys looked at Kylarai uncertainly. They were second-guessing their choice in confronting us. As I braced myself for a fight, I cursed Raoul inside my head.

Julie Price's husband stared at Ky dumbfounded before he launched into action. He came at her fast, and I watched his eyes go from enraged to stunned as she easily caught his fist. With an audible crack, she twisted his wrist until he cried out.

"Is there a problem here?" A low, velvety voice came from behind me. The vampire had found me after all.

Price's two buddies wasted no time in fleeing. I guess they didn't want to have their faces rearranged by a girl, much less Arys. Price howled his pain but backed away at Arys's approach.

They fled under the watchful gaze of the vampire. I was amused and annoyed at the same time. I wanted them to be running from me, not Arys.

"Well, I guess we'll just be getting a cab then," I said, turning towards the street. Arys grabbed my arm and spun me back to face him. His eyes were serious and seemed to dare me to argue as he touched a hand gently to my stinging cheek.

"Correction. We will walk Kylarai to a cab. You and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

"You know this perfect timing stuff - riding in to save the helpless damsel in distress - is really getting old."

"You know I don't think you're helpless."

"Then why the sudden appearance every time some a.s.shole with his d.i.c.k in a knot makes trouble for me?"

Silence. He just stared at me with those deep blue orbs.

"Ok, Alexa, I'm out of here," Kylarai called from twenty feet away where a cab was pulling to a stop near the curb. "You coming with?"

I wanted to say yes and leave with Ky whether Arys liked it or not, but that was only to spite him, not because I didn't want to stay.

"No. I'm not." I didn't take my eyes off of the vampire. A devilish grin slowly spread along his handsome features. "Leave a message on my cell when you get home so I know you made it ok."

"I'll see you at home, Alexa. Be careful." The teasing look in her eyes said she meant the vampire.

When she closed the cab door, I was alone with my whiskey-encouraged, moon-inspired decision and a power-hungry vampire.

Chapter Seven.

With Arys, I didn't have a sole intention in mind. I wasn't on the prowl for someone to relieve me of moon-related desires, and I wasn't lonely. What kept me walking beside him went deeper than either of those things: Power.

I declined his offer to get a cab. Instead, I insisted we walk the few blocks to his bachelor bungalow under the wide-open sky. I needed to feel the moon on my skin and the night in my veins.

We walked along a bike path and forced some aimless small talk. Energy shifted keenly between us as we ambled through the warm summer night. I could smell the common town jack rabbits in the empty playground across the street. The town was quiet.

I expected to feel awkward or uncertain as we drew closer to Arys's house. Instead, antic.i.p.ation thrilled me, and my inner beast waited eagerly. As a heady glow enveloped me, my senses heightened to a painfully delicious extent. The faint evening breeze encouraged my wolf and called me to run.

I longed to touch Arys, to open that strange door between us. I ached to know what we were playing with. I yearned for a taste of his superhuman power, but the driving force wasn't really me. This was something bigger than the sum of our power, greater than the two of us combined.

We'd barely locked his front door when he pressed me against the wall. His body felt warm and ready next to mine. I'd resisted the urge to give in so many times already, but now I just let go. I needed to know the outcome of submitting to Arys's pull instead of fighting.

He allowed me no time to take in my surroundings. At his aggressive touch, my wolf leapt to meet him and a wave of adrenaline crashed through me. As his lips touched mine, our powers collided. Energy rushed around us, white noise that grew by the second. His soft tongue sought mine, and I knew that his need was as great as my own.

Arys tangled one hand in my hair, tugging urgently at my clothing with the other. His touch was possessive and rough. I gasped when he caressed my bare skin, stroking a bold path down my abdomen.

"Arys wait," I breathed. My lips fought to form the word. I wanted to move further into the house, away from the entryway. I had yet to take my shoes off.

"I know you want me, Alexa. I can feel your wolf calling to me." He buried his face in my hair, and I felt fangs graze the sensitive skin along the side of my neck.

I shoved him off me and kicked my chunky wedge heels off. "Let's go inside."

He stared at me like a hormone-fueled teenager who couldn't understand the word no.

Even as I sauntered into the heart of the house, the power tried to persuade me to reconnect the broken touch. I didn't get very far before Arys pulled me back into his arms. A gentle breeze of electricity stirred around us as I lost myself in him. The energy built with each touch and encouraged the next.

In the back of my mind, I wondered what exactly it was that we were conjuring up. Maybe we should stop. I made to pull away, but Arys kissed me. The pa.s.sion sent a fire racing through my soul. I wanted to take him, right there in the living room. Instead, he led me to the bedroom.

The king size bed was in the middle of the room. With its lavish, fluffy pillows and deep comforter, Arys's bed looked like a marshmallow just waiting for me to dive in. I was disappointed when he steered me away, but desire and instinct drove me. I focused solely on the vampire that made my blood boil. I needed him to put out the fire that we'd ignited.

Engulfed in pa.s.sion, I stripped off my own clothes. His hands caressed every piece of skin that I revealed. I couldn't recall if he'd rid himself of his clothing or if I had done it in my frenzy. I had no semblance of rational thought left at the forefront of my brain.

With dark, potent need, I clung to Arys. He picked me up and slammed me against the wall with a satisfying bang. Braced against the wall, I growled with hunger, ready for him.

As Arys slid deep inside me, a wave of power crashed over us. With our bodies joined, the power seemed to weld us together in our union. It was like that last puzzle piece finding its place.

I flashed back to Lena's battery metaphor, and a glimmer of fear crept in, but it was too late. I was in his mind, just as he was in mine. Images flashed through my brain like a strobe light. Arys's memories flooded me with too much information. I wished to close my eyes against the onslaught, but it ran deeper than vision.

I saw blood and pain in his memory, much that he'd taken and more that he'd given. And heartbreak. I was intrigued by the heartbreak. I'd never looked at him that way, like someone who had feelings beyond blood thirst. I had only seen the vampire, not the man.

I experienced the sensation of what he felt when he killed, the ecstasy that he felt each and every time. I saw Arys walk away from a kill with renewal and a grin, but I also saw the blood tears and the regret. The shame that he'd once again fallen into the trap of temptation.

Sweat dripped down the side of my face, and my hair was damp with it. I could feel him in my mind. I couldn't have shut him out if I had tried. Despite all of it, he didn't slow his pace as he thrust into me with a sense of desperation.

My fingertips were sticky with his blood. My claws had bit through his flesh as I held him to me. If it pained him, he gave no sign. I cried out as we spiraled toward climax. Our crescendo of buzzing power neared the breaking point.

I was painfully aware of the overflow of energy. It seeped into the objects in the room, as it sought a place to expend. A clock radio on the nightstand turned itself on at full volume and quickly fizzled out, fried. The ceiling light turned on before exploding, sending thousands of tiny shards onto the carpet. I gave a small yelp as one struck my foot. The lights down the hallway followed suit, and I could hear the TV in the living room turn on full blast and then a loud pop.

"Alexa, can I...?" Arys's breath was hot against my ear as he whispered my name urgently. His pace quickened, and I felt myself hurtling fast towards that ultimate finish.

When it hit, I climaxed with the greatest intensity that I'd ever experienced. It smashed into me with the heaviest metaphysical weight that I'd encountered during a physical act. The strangest sensation accompanied it, something that hurt deep inside my mind as it stripped away any barrier left between the vampire and I.

I heard the howl that tore out of my throat but didn't identify it as me. In the same breath, Arys sank his fangs deep into that soft hollow above my collarbone. I arched my back, and as the howl died out, it turned to cries of sheer joy. A sound low in his throat echoed me as he sucked and licked at the b.l.o.o.d.y wound. It hurt so badly but it felt so good.

I wrapped my legs tightly around him as he carried me to the fluffy bed, careful to check for gla.s.s before setting me down.

Everything in Arys's house that had run on power of any kind had been blown far past capacity. We had completely lost control. The disastrous potential of that much power alarmed me.

With our nagging metaphysical energy spent, we were left with the hum of residual power in the room and the continued s.e.xual enticement of the moon, which I gladly gave into. Arys was more than happy to quench that thirst as well. We remained entangled in one another until just before dawn, when finally we lay exhausted.

I lay there amidst the down blankets and the satin sheets, breathless. My mind scrambled to make sense of everything that I'd seen and felt. I had been unprepared for the experience. A complete bearing of souls was not what I'd had in mind. Arys broke the silence first.

"That was a trip." He gave my hand a squeeze.

I lay, collapsed on the bed beside him, staring up at the ceiling. The blood still roared through my ears, and I shook slightly, whether from a chill or from aftershocks, I wasn't sure.

"Really Arys, what the h.e.l.l was that? That was so far from normal."

"Why, thank you. You were d.a.m.n incredible yourself." He laughed, and I gave his arm a halfhearted slap. With all that had just taken place, I was surprised that the atmosphere was so comfortable.

I knew the things that Arys had seen inside my mind. He knew my secrets, my hopes and fears. I said a silent prayer that I could trust him with that.

"Seriously though, did you know it would be like that? A complete sharing. I can't imagine how that could happen." I was insistent despite the fangs that now nipped playfully at my throat. When he bit at my b.r.e.a.s.t.s, I pushed him back to force him to reply to me, despite the tingle that grew low inside me again.

"No. I never would have guessed it would be something that I couldn't block. When our powers joined, it tore away any mental barriers between us. I'm not sure I can say I would have done it had I known we would share everything." He pushed my hands down and pinned them against the bed. "But now that it's too late, we might as well make the most of it."

Arys's lips made their way to one of my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. His tongue traced circles around my nipple as he chuckled wickedly. His eyes met mine, and he asked, "Can I taste you again?"

The fact that he wanted permission to bite me spoke volumes in terms of respect. I didn't need to answer, though, as I played with his feather soft black hair. Enough had pa.s.sed between us that words didn't seem important.

After a moment, his fangs sunk deep into the fleshy underside of my breast. A sound escaped me that was both pain and pleasure.

"Do you treat all of your lovers this roughly?" I asked with a hint of teasing. My breath was stolen as his fingers sought out the warm, inviting place between my legs.

"Of course not. You're a werewolf," he replied as if that was explanation enough. His tongue lapped at the blood he'd spilled, and I strained against him, wanting more than he was giving.

"You're high. High on power and werewolf blood." My voice sounded terribly lazy. Arys looked up at me with a crimson smear on his lower lip. His eyes burned with a predator's glow.

"Funny comment coming from a lady with such stunning wolf eyes. Howl for me, Alexa. I want to hear how much you love this."

I did love it. His touch rocked me in ways I never thought possible. As much as I wanted him to scratch the itch inside me again, I wanted answers.

"Do you know what's happened to us Arys? I need to know. I don't know enough." My words stopped, and I dug claws into the sheet beneath me as his mouth replaced his fingers, hot against my core.

"What do you need to know? Power wants to be used." He spoke slowly, and his lips never left my flesh. "And enjoyed in the meantime."

"Ok, no more talking," I groaned. My questions temporarily forgotten, I urged him up so that he kneeled over me.

A sinful smile curved my lips as I gazed up at his hard body. He was more than ready for me again, and I growled my frustration when he didn't immediately take me.

"Arys," I murmured. "Don't play with me, boy."

"Still not satisfied, Alexa?" He rubbed his rock hard shaft against me playfully, and I made a noise that could have been a purr. I had been satisfied three or four times over now, but the hunger for him was far from fulfilled.

"Not yet. Why don't you hurry up and satisfy me? Again." The pleading note to my words made me grimace. The wolf would beg for it, under the right circ.u.mstance, but the woman in me never would.

If his snake-like grin was any indication, he loved hearing it. He wasn't as aggressive as the first few rounds. This time, the softness frightened me. I a.s.sociated soft, gentle s.e.x with feelings and emotion. After everything we'd willingly and unwillingly shared, insecurity was beginning to creep in.

Arys's room was heavily curtained to prevent even a sliver of sunlight through, so when the dawn broke, he paid it no mind. Around seven, I decided that I should be getting home.

"You know, Alexa," Arys said thoughtfully from where he lay on the bed watching me shimmy into my skirt. "This could be huge for us. Imagine what we could do with that kind of power." He grinned slyly.

"Like what? Wait. Don't answer that. I don't want to know what you're thinking." I slipped my shirt over my head and tried uselessly to finger comb the tangles from my hair. "Arys, about the memory thing..."

"I think that was a little traumatizing for both of us. Let's just agree to keep it confidential."

I nodded, uncertain. "Speaking of keeping things quiet-,"

"You don't want the wolf pup to find out." Arys nodded knowingly, and I cringed. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed."

"Thank you." I suddenly felt uncomfortable. I didn't know why it meant so much to me to keep this quiet. In part, the s.e.x had a lot tied into it that maybe shouldn't be public knowledge. Also, there were certain people, like Raoul and Shaz, that, for very different reasons, I didn't want to know my personal business.

"I'll see you later, Arys," I called from where I'd stopped in the washroom. Pulling the gla.s.s sliver from my foot proved more painful than when the d.a.m.n thing had gone in. I cursed and swore until the little shard had successfully found its way into the garbage. The debris and gla.s.s was appalling in the light of day.