Dark Awakening

by T. A. Grey

  She cried out, husky and soft. Her hips pushed back against his hardness.

  His arm pressed bold, possessive caresses down her spine, over her hips. It made her breath catch. Hot lips and then the wet press of tongue circled then bit her at the juncture between her neck and shoulder. He released only after she growled in pleasure.

  "There will be no more talk of Sandra. She's gone from my life, she means nothing to me." Her ran long fingers through her hair at the nape of her head, grabbed the strands gently, and coaxed her head further to the side, showing his dominance.

  Alison loved everything he did until he mentioned her name. She moved to jerk away from him, but he held her tight, her breasts pushed hard into the door.

  "I know you’re mad, but I don't know how else to explain it except that there is no other in my mind. Except you, Alison. Only you," he whispered, then turned her, pulling her up on her toes to take her in a mind-consuming kiss. Alison stood no chance against the assault. Her knees weakened as his tongue plundered her mouth. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

  Hot, wet, eager kisses. Two lovers desperate to taste each other.

  Alison pulled her mouth away from his to draw in air. "Rome." Her voice was soft and husky, pure aroused woman.

  The sound seemed to snap something inside him because a second later they were inside the cabin with her back pressed back up against the door.

  "Touch me," he said. His eyes were tortured and bright as they looked down her. Alison licked her lips slowly feeling like she was drugged.

  Moving sluggishly, she went first for his pants. The baggy khakis did nothing to hide the powerful thighs and tented cock that lie beneath. She nimbly pushed the button through the whole and pushed down the zipper. The sound like a loud hiss. She gave a shove and watched those pants slide down to reveal his long, thick cock, the tip red with arousal.

  She licked her lips and before she realized what she was doing, was dropping to her knees in front of him and licking the swollen head.

  "Alison!" he groaned, his hands coming to her hair. Would he push her away or take, she wondered as she opened her mouth and took the head of him into her wet mouth.

  She moaned over the male taste of him. He was hot like a fever and hard like metal. She twirled her tongue around the tip before pressing forward. She didn't make it far down. He was too big, her mouth too small.

  She pulled her mouth away and caught the heavy, bobbing flesh in a fist. She looked at the hard length of him, and then studied the full sac below. It was flushed and drawn up to his body. She had a strange urge to cup them in her hand, feel them.

  She looked up instead. Rome was breathing hard, a trickle of sweat dripping down his temple. He eyes were open but colored hot with arousal and need. She decided right then that she definitely loved that look. She flicked out her tongue and traced up the hot path of his cock from balls to tip, watching his expression.

  When his eyes hooded, going soft and looking lost, she did the motion again. And again. She licked him everywhere, wetting his cock until it shined from her mouth in the evening light. His hand tightened in her hair like he didn't know whether to push her away her hold her still.

  She had a feeling he wasn’t going to let her keep playing for long, so she wrapped her lips around him and bobbed down his wet shaft. She repeated the pumping motion three more times, as a deep answering throb from deep within her sex released a gush of heat like a mini-orgasm. She moaned over his cock as she felt her cream rush into her panties.

  She knew he could smell her arousal. He knew how much she loved this, how wet it was making, because a moment later he shouted, "Jesus Christ!"

  He pulled out of her mouth and lifted her, his hands tearing at her slacks until they slid roughly down her smooth legs. A second later, he had her legs around his thighs, his cock nudging her slick entrance, and her ass in his hands. He kissed her hard at the same moment he found her slit and thrust inside. She cried out into his mouth, his tongue muting the sound.

  Each thrust sent her back digging into the wall. But she didn’t notice. She had the distinct feeling that he was trying to mark her permanently. What for, she didn’t know.

  She ate at his lips, her nails raking his back through the T-shirt he wore. Heat spiraled inside her with amazing centrifugal force. Pleasure tightened inside her coiling with each hot, thick slide. He tore his mouth away, breathing heavy and buried his face in her neck as he pumped his hips faster, harder. His thrusts were brutal, possessive. He licked the spot where he'd marked her outside then sucked hard on the skin.

  Some small part of her recognized the dominant marking he was leaving on her. She should protest it, but instead she rocked her hips back against his. When he sucked her neck again, over his mark, she flew apart like exploding glass. Her muscles tightened and worked the hard cock inside her.

  He groaned pushing faster through the clenching muscles then pushed in one last time, as a flood of hot thick semen filled her deep.

  * * *

  Alison didn't even have time to catch her breath before she was pushed to her hands in knees. She looked behind her, still fighting to catch her breath when Rome knelt behind her. His eyes were dark and heavy with arousal, his hungry face intent.

  "I'm not through with you, baby," he growled.

  Alison couldn't believe the pulsing heat that curled inside her. Could she possibly be getting turned on so quickly?

  He grabbed her hips, and the only preparation she had was a round thickness nudging her channel, stretching her wide, before he slammed in. Oh God, she was so ready to go again.

  He groaned and took her in pounding thrusts that quickened and quickened. His hands were everywhere, on her back, cupping her hard-tipped breasts, petting between her legs. But where he left her, and where she came apart, was with his hand at the nape of her neck pushing her face down to the floor and his hand stuffed between her legs rubbing delicious patterns over her needy clit.

  He controlled her. He owned her. She knew it and he knew it.

  And she didn't care at all.

  Didn't care that that she felt entirely too much for the scoundrel or that Conlin wanted her dead. All she could think about, all she cared about was the thickness rocking so fast inside her and the strong hands on her body.

  He rubbed one last circle over her clit and she came in a gush of liquid heat. She heard him groan and curse above her. His hands tightened momentarily on her neck and then she felt the blast of wet heat inside her as he pulsed hard and hot, coming inside her.

  He pulled out and fell down next to her, bringing her to drape over him like a fine silk blanket. His fingers teased the skin of her arm.

  "I don't want to hear anymore talk about Sandra or any ex's of any kind. Unless you want to tell me about how you escaped from Conlin. Don’t think I didn’t know you purposely evaded that before."

  Alison nuzzled her cheek against his hard and kissed the muscle there before answering. "I'm fine with that, but I still have questions."

  His fingers paused on her arm. "What questions?"

  She was afraid to ask. Her lifelong curse of asking questions and getting bad answers echoing in her mind. Yet the not knowing, the unanswered was too powerful.

  "Am I going to end up like..." she started to say her, but stopped. She didn't want to start this line of questioning off with breaking the one rule they had.

  She didn't have to finish the question. He sighed heavily and his fingers resumed their touch. "No, I don't think so baby." His voice was husky, thick from two hard orgasms. Her heart did a little leap at his words.

  "What do you mean?" She made her voice sound only mildly curious, not eager.

  "You're not like anyone I've ever know before, Ali. You make me feel, hell, make me think about things...different things. A part of me really hates it and another part...well that part wants to tie you to my bedpost and never let you go."

  Alison swallowed hard. Well that was something. Such a strong wa
ve of emotion from someone so gorgeous, so strong, so smart.

  She wondered if now would be the time to tell him that she felt safe with him. It was the first time she felt safe with a male in two years. The first time she wished she could trust him with so much more than just her body.

  She opened her mouth to tell him that so, but a knock interrupted her. Rome groaned and extracted himself from her, planting a swift kiss on her lips before answering the door in only his shirt.

  He answered it and spoke to someone Alison couldn’t see. "Yeah, yeah, give us a minute," he said and closed the door harder than necessary. He turned to her, his eyes taking her all in.

  He shook his head as appreciation filled his eyes. "Looks like the Kategans are here to visit, and they bring news of Conlin." He was already pulling on his pants and the shoes he'd toed off. "Get dressed baby. I can't think when you look like your waiting to be ravaged."

  Alison smiled a soft wicked curl of her lips that had him stopping dead in his tracks. He licked his lips, his eyes falling to her hardened nipples and open legs, her pussy bared fully to him.

  "God you're beautiful."

  Alison smiled widely at his compliment. She stood and snatched her clothes off the floor and gave him a quick kiss before sprinting to the other room to dress.

  Chapter 12

  The Kategan family took up more room in the tiny one bedroom cabin than was available. It looked like some scene out of a Disney movie, Alison thought.

  "So DNA results are back from our guys at the lab. The bedsheet from the apartment is a match to Conlin. Ninety-nine percent accurate,” said Sarina.

  "What did they match it against?" asked Rome.

  "Conlin's DNA was already in the system from four years ago. The lab guys couldn't tell me what it was for though."

  A hard knock interrupted the conversation. Rome was closest to the door and opened it.

  "Hey, it's about time you showed up. You need to work on your punctuality man. Something happen?" Rome stepped aside so a tall male with a short military-style haircut could come through. He didn’t just look around the room, he searched it. Alison had a feeling he was taking in everything in that one look. His eyes lingered on Rome's sister Vera for a second longer than necessary.

  "I got held up at the office, sorry."

  Nodding, Rome turned back to the room. "Vane, Darien, you've met my old comrade in arms, Jackson." The men came forward to shake hands. "Jacks, I don't believe you've met Vane's mate Sarina." She came forward, welcoming him with a smile and a handshake. "The lounger over there is my sister Vera and this is Alison, the reason I called you here."

  The man—the very human man—stayed near the front door. The man didn't just stand, he looked ready to move at a moment's notice. His eyes seemed to see everything. He was quite unusual for a human. Alison wondered if he stayed near the front door as an emergency exit and if he didn’t it knowingly. He reminded her of a man who’d been through war.

  "We were just catching up on the latest details of the situation," Rome said to Jacks. Turning back to the room he said, "I asked Jacks here because he's the best investigator I know, and more importantly, I trust the bastard. We got the DNA results back and it's a positive match to Conlin."

  "Sarina also told me there was an interesting run in with a woman today," Vane added.

  Alison stiffened, but Vera smiled at her and that somehow made her feel stronger.

  Rome broke the new tension. "It was my ex Sandra. Right before she left she said Conlin wants Alison back."

  "So she's working with him then." Jacks didn't ask a question, merely stated the information as cold fact.

  Rome nodded and said, "Yeah, a man like Conlin has a lot of power, a lot of money, and too much charm.”

  “How do we know the woman wasn't just saying that to cause some chaos?" Jacks asked.

  "It doesn’t fit. She didn't even know I was seeing someone else. She had no idea I was with Alison until she came in the cafe," Rome said.

  Alison turned to face Rome, confused. "How did she know you were there anyways? Was she following you?"

  Big shoulders shrugged. "Probably, she's called nearly once a day since I ended things."

  "And when was that?" It was Vera who asked. Her soft, husky voice was soothing. Alison could easily see her having a great seeing voice. Bluesy and jazzy music thick like a humid night.

  "Four weeks ago."

  "So she sought out Conlin just to, what, sabotage us?" Alison nearly blushed at the connotation of us. Though Rome didn't seem to notice the slip.

  Rome took a seat next to her. "My guess is he found her. He has cops, lawyers, all kinds of people who can gather him information. He found her to use against us is my bets." Alison wrung her hands together, wishing that if she just squeezed tight enough all of this would go away. These people didn't deserve to be cleaning up her problem.

  "The bigger problem is Conlin. If he actually said that he's going to take her back then he's going to try and find a way to do it," Vane said looking everything the military commander with his knees spread and elbows resting on them.

  "There's no way he's coming back on Kategan lands, and we have extra guards lined up and watching the perimeter," Sarina said, shaking her head.

  The human was shaking his head no. "If he wants her, he'll find a way and he'll get her. The best you can do is have a personal guard on her at all times and have some kind of alarm planned that can be triggered when he finally attempts."

  "How can you be so certain?" Vera's voice was no longer soft but cutting and cold. She stared at the human like she wanted to see his insides.

  He stared right back at her. "Because it's my job to find people like this."

  "Lay off, Vera. He's the best, that's why I brought him here." Rome turned to his friend. "I want you on Conlin. We need eyes on him at all times, can you do that for me."

  "Done," the human said.

  Alison spoke up with a question that had been nagging her. "Can't we just go to the Justicar's now that we have evidence?"

  "The only thing they're going to do is tell him to back off. The Justicar's restraint orders are as useless as human's restraining orders. They're bullshit." Alison had never seen Rome speak so violently, like he was having a hard time suppressing his anger.

  Vera pointed a long-nailed finger into the air. "No, no, no. She definitely needs to make a report with the Justicars. We need to keep building evidence against the bastard."

  "She's right," Darien said, speaking up for the first time. His body shadowed the corner like a statue. "Rome should stay with her."

  Alison protested immediately. She had enough problems on her hands and some of them were due to the handsome lykaen. The last thing she needed was to have him permanently at her side. Hell, she'd already slept with him way too much.

  "I think after today's warning that's our best option right now," Rome agreed.

  "I can stick around too," Vera offered. "I have some vacay time I can use from work. I can even bunker down in the spare cabin so I'm close."

  "It would be better if Darien occupied the guest cabin instead," Jacks said, his arms crossing across his big chest.

  Alison's mouth fell open at Vera's thunderous expression. She leaned forward from her slacked position, her hands straddling her thighs. "Are you saying I'm not as strong or capable as my brother, human?"

  The man didn't flinch at her icy tone. "That's exactly what I'm saying." She growled, a loud vibrating sound in the cabin.

  "Vera can take the cabin, Darien will stay near just in case," Vane ordered, all alpha in his voice.

  Alison watched the human tense but then his shoulders relaxed. He cut his eyes away from Vera.

  "Don't worry, we're going to make sure he never gets his hands on you again," Rome said.

  Alison's gut tightened. A throbbing pain was beating at her temples like it was trying to get out. She just wanted to be alone. She didn't want to think about Conlin or Sandra or her life or anything
at all.

  Sarina caught her gaze from across the room and gave her a soft nod. "Baby, are we done here? I'm feeling tired." Instantly the male looked concerned. Vane grabbed her hand and practically hauled her to the door.

  Rome laughed and Vera snorted and rolled her eyes; Darien just stared at Vane and his mate, a peculiar look in his eye.

  Rome hollered before everyone was out of earshot. "If anyone gets news of any kind you pick up the phone and call me."

  "Yeah, yeah, yeah, Roman. We know the drill." Vera lifted off from the chair, the move fluid and graceful. She swooped down and gave Alison a quick, startling hug before heading to the front door. The male Jacks didn't move as she stared at him. They stayed in that staring contest for a few more seconds before she finally puffed out a sigh and sauntered out of the cabin. Jacks gave a nod to Rome and left after the fuming female.

  Alison breathed a deep sigh when everyone was gone. Rome came up and leaned down over her, his hands braced on the arms of the seat. Her heart beat faster. Only he could do that to her. It scared the shit out of her.

  He cocked his head at her, studying her, taking everything in. From the frown of her mouth to the stressed furrow of her brow and her now rapid pulse beating against the thin skin of her neck. Yup, she was definitely stupid.

  She'd been hurt so bad once. It wasn't the physical pain of the beating that Conlin gave her that scarred her. It ran much deeper than that. It festered and bled inside her. She'd actually loved him. The sickness in her gut permeated throughout her body making her body feel heavy and sick. Who could love someone like that? Why couldn’t she see it then?

  "Hey, stop it." His voice wasn't gentle. It was hard and heated. He cupped her chin in his hand and gave her a bruising, punishing kiss. "Don't think about it, don't think about him. He doesn't deserve to be in your thoughts." His words surprised her and brought her back from the sick feeling. It was still there but it was only simmering inside her.