The Darkest of Dreams

by Emigh Cannaday

  “You’d never do such a thing!” she blurted out. “You’re a national hero back home!”

  Talvi raised an eyebrow at her, then fluttered his wet fingers even deeper inside of her, making her groan in pleasure.

  “Need I remind you about the day I asked you to marry me, along with the day of our wedding ceremony? You seem to have forgotten that I fucked you in front of an audience on both occasions. What makes you think I won’t do it again, if only to prove my point that you are mine?”

  Shivers covered her from head to toe as she realized that Talvi Marinossian wasn't the type to make idle threats.

  “You’d really do it, wouldn’t you?” she gasped. She tried to back away but his right arm had curled around her waist and was holding her tight.

  “There’s only one way to find out. Are you going to wear this outfit to the embassy again and test me?” he asked with a devilish grin. “Please say you will.”

  Annika shook her head.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “What a shame,” he said with a feigned pout. “I thought you’d want to know exactly what came to mind when you disrupted my class yesterday. I confess that I wasn’t distracted by thoughts of making sweet, gentle love to you.”

  “You weren’t?”

  “No…” He withdrew his fingers from between her legs and brought them to his mouth. A self-indulgent hum escaped his lips as he sucked them clean. The satisfied groan that rose from his chest made her knees start to buckle, and she pressed her body against his for support.

  “I know you were distracted,” she said while leaning against him. “Why don’t you show me what you were really thinking about doing to me?”

  Instead of bending her over the counter like he’d threatened, his tongue slid into her mouth and reintroduced the sensual taste of the scotch-infused Earl Grey, along with the flavor of her sex. She felt another throb of desire run through her body as he kissed her again, and then again, and even though his mind was open to hers, there were no visions of happy memories like she expected to see. No euphoria of riding through the forests and meadows and mountain valleys near his home. Instead, there was only a deep, dark well of primal emotions and urges, like the need to hold onto her, to be loved by her, and to possess her at a level that he had yet to experience.

  His hand cradled the back of her neck while his other arm reached around her waist and pulled her body closer to his. His movements were deliberate and careful, as though her body was made of glass. Finally, Annika began to see the visions return, perhaps because she wasn’t backing down from him, let alone running away. Now she saw a black mane whipping through the wind and trees rushing past her as she rode through a forest. She saw herself singing as she played guitar with him at the pub back in his village, and she saw herself singing in pleasure with him back in his luxurious four-post bed. Then she saw her own face staring back at her, gazing with a tender, yet two-dimensional smile from a pitted stone wall. Her skin was mottled shades of grey stone, while the contours of her eyes, her nose, and her mouth had been drawn upon it in layers of blood. Talvi lifted his head and let go of her, taking his happy memories away, along with his kiss.

  “I’ve seen that picture before. I’ve seen it lots of times…always in my dreams,” she told him. “Did you draw that when you were—when you were away?”

  Talvi lowered his eyes before nodding.

  “It was the only way I could have you there with me.”

  “And now we’re together, so kiss me,” she dared him. She pulled her dress over her head and let it fall to the floor. Talvi’s eyes widened upon seeing her body made so vulnerable to him. His eyes wandered down to where the black lace thong still hugged the flare of her hips; then they ventured up to admire the narrowing of her waist. His damp fingers ran along her spine until they found the clasp of her bra and unfastened it. She watched as he freed her from the black lace garment and let it fall down her arms and off to the side. Then he bit down on his lower lip. He’d caught sight of those pale pink nipples peeking out from behind the curtain of long, bright red hair. “Go on and kiss me,” Annika urged playfully. “Unless you don’t want to. I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to.”

  A snort and an amused laugh escaped from her lover’s chest. The smoldering green glow in his eyes lit up like a bright flame. The electricity between the two of them was so strong that Annika fully expected an electric shock when he brushed her hair away from her shoulders to gaze at her pale breasts. He held back a smile for a few seconds before finally giving up on the task.

  “I don’t think there’s anything I don’t want to do to you,” he murmured as he admired her body. The intensity of his gaze with building stronger and stronger. It had no intention of letting up.

  “So you’re not going to send me home after all?”

  Talvi shook his head, eyeing the one garment that she still wore; a dainty scrap of black lace.

  “No,” he said, still shaking his head. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  Without a word of warning, Talvi lifted Annika into his strong arms as if she weighed nothing at all, then sat her on the countertop before ripping off the thong and spreading her knees wide apart. She felt the delicious heat of his rock-hard erection pressing against her, then stretching her, then filling her—it made her cry out before he withdrew and pushed into her again. Each thrust was harder and deeper than before, consuming her with his raw animal magnetism. He grabbed a handful of her hair while his soft mouth crushed against her own and covered it with a deep kiss to silence her whimpers. She felt so vibrant and alive in his arms…so warm and soft and real. She pressed her cheek against his and then looked into his eyes. They became infinite pools of smoldering secrets, and the warmth of his body burned so hot she could feel it through her skin, warming her from the inside. And he felt her, too—that sweetness, that softness…it was all too much for him, and yet, it was nowhere near enough. He needed more, he needed all of her, right at that very moment, and she needed him just as much.

  “Take me to your bedroom,” she moaned into his ear, and let go of the cold, hard counter. He grabbed ahold of her thighs, pulling her hips to the end of the counter as he continued to drive his body into hers.

  “I don’t want to stop fucking you for that long,” he whispered as he let his lips wander down her throat. Nothing had touched her there since the vampires had held her captive, but she knew she was safe with her husband. Shivers ran along her back as she arched it off the counter, and she hoped it would convey her complete and utter surrender to him. She felt his hand squeeze each of her breasts before tracing the outline of her amulet, which rested securely between them.

  “If you take me to your bedroom, you don’t ever have to stop,” she taunted. Those must’ve been the magic words, because the next thing she knew, he was carrying her down the hall and then sinking down onto the sheets with her, guiding her into his lap. She groaned in approval when his hands cupped her ass and forced her body to grind up against his. He lifted his hand to the side of her face, the same deadly hand that had killed more times than she could imagine, and he gently smoothed back her hair. Then he licked his thumb and placed it between her legs, resuming his soft, skillful strokes from earlier.

  “Is that the way you like it?”

  Annika nodded her head and gave a breathless smile. She looked down to where their bodies were connected, growing more aroused the longer she watched him working her over. He continued to glide in and out of her, although not with half the force from earlier. He was all hardness and heat and if she hoped to prolong her pleasure, she didn’t stand a chance. The moment she came, he brought her mouth to his to claim it once more. He crushed her body against his, then rolled on top of her as she gasped in pleasure over and over again. She wrapped her legs around Talvi’s waist, willingly opening herself up to him and taking as much inside of her as she could. Her body welcomed his powerful thrusts, and she watched as he controlled her hips with his hands. The har
der he slammed into her, the closer it brought him to the point of no return. Now there was an urgency in his need for release, both physical and emotional.

  Talvi’s eyes blinked to a close as his pleasure erupted inside of his wood nymph wife, and he felt the most primal satisfaction as he flooded her body and her senses with all of his pent-up longing and frustration. He held onto her hips until he’d drained every last passionate drop into her and his raspy breath began to slow down. He lifted her leg and repositioned his body to lie next to hers and spoon her from behind. His cock still lay inside her, although the urgency of his thrusts had taken on a less frantic pace. Part of him still cared for her comfort and pleasure, but his need to possess her completely took over. He continued to drive into her as he nuzzled into her neck, and eventually, she twisted herself to smile back at him. He gave another affectionate grind against her ass, relishing the afterglow that encapsulated both of them.

  “Do you want me to stop?” he asked. Annika shook her head as she came down from her natural high.

  “No,” she said with a woozy grin. “It feels too good.”

  Talvi gave a soft snicker, then gathered a fistful of her hair. He let his fingers become as tangled up in it as his legs were now with hers.

  “I’m pleased to hear you say that, because I’m just getting started.”

  23

  For Love or Country

  Like a perfect note being played by a concert violinist, a euphoric buzz of contentment hummed through every cell of Talvi’s body. He slipped out of bed without a sound and fetched a glass of water from the kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed the box filled with desserts, along with a fork, before drifting back to his bedroom and his wife. The scent of their sweat and their sex filled his nose and he took a deep breath to savor as much of it as he could. It didn’t matter how many hours he’d just spent worshipping that fiery, feminine form curled up in those love-stained sheets—he still couldn’t get enough of Annika to satisfy his unquenchable thirst for her.

  He took a large bite of the mille-feuilles and pulled back the covers to reveal his wife’s bare body. His eyes wandered over her shape, noting the drape of her arms around the pillow, admiring the bend in her knee, the way her breast rested against her ribcage, and the expression of blissful exhaustion on her sleeping face. A self-congratulatory smile crept across his mischievous mouth, pleased at seeing a job so thoroughly well done. He took another bite of the razor-thin pastry layers filled with cream and crawled back to her side.

  A series of digital chimes broke the silence, causing Annika’s blue eyes to flutter awake. Talvi almost growled in disappointment that the magical moment had been so rudely interrupted.

  “Aren’t you going to answer that?” she yawned while glancing at the nightstand. Noticing the box of pastry, she crawled onto her hands and knees, then took the fork out of her husband’s hand.

  “I haven’t decided yet,” he said while it continued to ring. Annika helped herself to a bite of tiramisu and watched him with an inquisitive expression, taking care to chew and swallow with deliberate sensuality. Finally, the ringing stopped.

  “I think it went to voicemail,” she grinned, and climbed into his lap. She watched as one of his warm hands reached out and guided his partial erection to rest against her inner thigh.

  “Even if it did go to voicemail, he’s just going to keep calling until I answer,” Talvi said with a shrug. On perfect cue, the phone began to ring again.

  “Who is it?”

  “Cyril. I was supposed to have a very important meeting with him today,” Talvi explained with a seductive smile, “but something more important came up.”

  “I suppose you should answer it, if it’s your boss,” said Annika. The more that she squirmed and wriggled against him, the less he wanted to pick up the phone. He watched her take another hungry mouthful of the tiramisu. All he wanted to do was watch her taste that delicate dessert…watch her devour those espresso-soaked ladyfingers…and watch her swallow that sweet mascarpone cream. The thought sent blood coursing through his veins, making him hotter and harder by the second. Her soft hand was now caressing the trail of black hair that ran south of his navel, but the nagging noise in the background was determined to ruin his day. Talvi lifted the phone to accept the incoming call, when a burst of indescribable heat enveloped the head of his cock. He let out a hiss of pleasure as a hot, wet tongue began tasting and licking more and more of his length before sucking him into that greedy mouth. His head began to spin as he brought the phone to his ear and mumbled his best impression of a courteous greeting.

  “Please don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten our appointment this afternoon,” Cyril said through the receiver.

  “Hmmm…” was all Talvi was capable of saying.

  “I know that Annika never went to the hotel last night. I presume she’s been with you the entire time?”

  Talvi’s eyes squeezed shut and he let his free hand rest on the head that was now bobbing up and down above his lap.

  “Yes,” he hummed, and twisted his fingers through her red hair.

  “Do you plan on coming in?”

  “Oh, godsyes,” Talvi sighed and coaxed Annika to move faster. “I’m definitely planning to come in there.”

  “Very well. Do you know when that might be?”

  “Soon,” Talvi practically groaned as he was taken even further into her mouth. “Quite soon.”

  “I’m sending Tripp and Adams over there with a car immediately. You had better be ready in fifteen minutes, otherwise I’m going to dock your next paycheck for all those history books you…”

  Cyril’s voice trailed across the room and through the open door as the phone sailed through the air and landed somewhere in the living room. Both of Talvi’s hands were now on either side of Annika’s head, holding her steady as he thrust harder and deeper between those soft wet lips. Suddenly he sat upright and let out a roar of ecstasy before falling onto his back. His glistening body shivered and twitched more than Annika was expecting. She lifted up her head and looked at him in both awe and concern.

  “Are you okay? I’ve never seen you react that way before.”

  An amused laugh rose from Talvi’s chest.

  “I’m better than okay, my little dove,” he panted with a nearly delirious grin. “I don’t know how you did it, but I believe you may have drained me for good. What did you do different this time?”

  Annika shrugged, then reached for the abandoned fork.

  “I don’t know, other than I’m starving. I need to eat something besides leftover pastry.”

  “I believe you’ve just carried out your mission…with flying colors, I might add.”

  “Cute,” she smirked. “As yummy as you are, I need real food, babe. Let’s grab some lunch before your meeting.”

  “I wasn’t joking about what your little black dress does to me. So unless you have another outfit hidden away in your tiny handbag, I’m not taking you anywhere in public.” He laughed to himself before casting her a lecherous look. “Otherwise I might be inclined to fuck you in the back seat of the taxi…or the loo…or right on the bloody table.”

  Annika placed the fork in the now empty dessert box and set it aside.

  “I don’t have another outfit. I left my bag at the hotel.”

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Talvi chided as he swung his legs to the side of the bed and rose to his feet. “If you don’t want me to shag you in public, then I suppose you’re trapped here unless Tripp or Adams remembers to bring your bag.”

  “I have my coat,” she reminded him. “I promise to keep it buttoned up so you can’t see how short my dress is.”

  “To be honest, it wouldn’t matter what you wear. I’d still fuck you every chance I got.” He reached down to give her an affectionate tap on the nose. “I’d love to take you to lunch but I haven’t the time. Your burly babysitters will be here in less than fifteen minutes to collect us. I’m sure they’ll take you wherever you wish to go,” he sighed
, then helped her to her feet. “It’s a shame I can’t join you, if only to observe.”

  “Oh? Why’s that?”

  “You really do have the most exquisite mouth.”

  Upon arriving at the London Embassy, Talvi bounded up the stairways and hurried through the hallways until he found himself sitting in one of the elegant leather chairs lined up along either side of Director Sinclair’s closed office door. His stomach growled in protest at only being fed a few bites of pastry over the last several hours. But oh, what glorious hours they’d been. He tried not to imagine Annika pursing her soft pink lips in deep thought as she scanned the menu and enjoyed her lunch without him. He could just picture that succulent mouth watering with every bite it took, and how he longed to be whatever she was sinking her teeth into. He felt his body stir as he thought of her talented fingertips disappearing into her mouth to lick them clean. Even in a fine restaurant, his wife didn’t always defer to her dinner napkin. Her tongue was always planning its next stolen moment, whether it be the salt from a basket of frites, or a drop of wine sneaking down the outside of her glass. It wasn’t fair that Tripp and Adams got to experience that visual, while Talvi sat staring at a wall made of wooden bookshelves and antique paintings of hunting dogs.

  After spending all that time in Bleakmoor carving countless pairs of lips for Nillin—or Dillon— out of prison-issued soaps, experiencing the real thing had left him hypnotized. There was something extra special about a woman’s mouth…the way it could be soft or firm, tidy or sloppy, and the way it could devour or deny access altogether. And the wet heat of it…that was in a category all its own. The minute hand of the clock on the wall ticked round and round, giving no sign of hurrying things along. Talvi watched while Cyril’s assistant typed up one letter after another for nearly thirty minutes, calculating how long it would be until he could experience his wife’s exquisite mouth all over again.