by C. L. Parker
She popped the button fly of his jeans, pushing them over his lean hips, and then he helped her discard them altogether. When he returned to his previous position, Kerrigan’s fingers ghosted along the divots of his washboard abdomen, feeling it contract under her touch. Following the hardened lines of the V-shaped muscles at his sides to the soft trail of hair on his lower abdomen, she finally took his abundant length in her hands. He was hard, thick, and growing even larger still.
She did that to him.
His arms shook from the control it took to keep himself at bay while she had her way, toying with him. She teased him, rubbing his length against her center. It was a game she liked to play, tempting him with what was to come.
“Querida... please.”
When she simply smiled in return, with no indication she meant to bring him immediate relief, he pushed his hips forward and took what he wanted.
“God... dammit.” He moaned when he felt her constrict around him. He closed his eyes to savor the feeling and stave off his natural urges. As he fought to gain control of his own body, he bit down on his lip. He opened his eyes again to look at her, his hunger still evident. “You torture me with your cock-teasing, woman. A man can only take so much.”
She hooked her legs over his, planting her feet onto the mattress for leverage to lift her hips and roll them into his, pushing him deeper still. “Have all you want, Dominic. I’m yours for the taking.”
“Yes, you are. Mine... all mine.”
He leaned forward and claimed her lips before drawing his hips back and thrusting forward again. His thickness stretched and filled her as his tongue stroked hers in a slow rhythm. He was a master of seduction, the lord of her body, an artist of making love. The man was everything and more than she could have hoped for in a lover.
His movements were unhurried, yet deliberate. He laced his fingers between hers, and drew their joined hands over her head. His other hand slid over the mound of her right breast, along her slender waist, and over the voluptuous curve of her hip. He cupped her ass in his palm, gaining even more momentum to push deeper still.
His groin rolled over her little bundle of nerves, creating a delicious friction. Kerrigan moaned into his mouth. Her lips wrapped around his tongue, and she sucked on it, bobbing her head back and forth in a manner meant to drive him crazy. He tasted of cool mint and fresh fallen snow, a flavor she had come to crave. She could never get enough of him.
Dominic pulled back, forcing her to release her hold. His icy breath spilled over her face. “Easy, Querida. You pull another move like that, and I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”
She gave him a devilish grin and then lifted her head to kiss the mark on his shoulder. It was her birthmark’s twin, the one he had received the night her grandmother had saved him from the doom that had not been fated to him. She knew from experience the effect it could have when manipulated properly by the one carrying its mate. She wanted him to lose control, needed him to. Despite the protest she knew would come, she took advantage of his weakness and swirled her tongue around the skin encircling his mark. A muffled, almost desperate, plea tumbled from his lips.
“No... Oh, God... fuck!” His head fell back, and he bucked his hips into her, unable to maintain control.
Not to be shaken off, she wrapped her legs around his waist and grabbed onto his right shoulder, holding him in place while she sucked and licked at the mark. His thrusts came fast and furious. It was exactly what she wanted from him. He grunted with every slap of his hips against hers, his quick retreat only allowing him to rebuild momentum for the next attack. He squeezed her hand above her head so tight she could scarcely feel any more sensation in her fingers.
He was fierce. He was unforgiving. And she relished that side of him.
Dominic grunted, his voice coming out strangled. “Que rica tu estas... Mmm, you feel so fucking good, Querida.”
Ignited by his words, the wick attached to the coil that had wound tightly in her abdomen burned out of control until she felt the detonation of her orgasm. A cluster of bright sparks exploded behind her closed eyes. She bit down on his shoulder, her cry of pleasure muffled by the salty flesh between her teeth.
Dominic surged above her as his hips bucked frantically. In and out. Hard and fast. And then suddenly, every muscle in his body seized up and his movements stilled. His orgasm overtook him, and his body quaked from the sensation. A ferocious roar, like that of a man silenced for far too long and having finally found his voice, echoed through the air around them.
The birds in the old oak tree took flight, scattering across the sky before making a collective turn as one body and then going back to their roost. It took only seconds for them to settle again and begin to replay their song, half as long as it took for Dominic, spent from his exertion and sated by his release, to collapse and roll to her side.
Lacking the concentration it took to stay in her sanctuary, the spell was broken, and Kerrigan was transferred back to the bedroom, to the real world—a world that was still pretty unbelievable, even to a woman who possessed her gift. Because he was part of it.
Her eyes opened, and she could see the masculine surroundings of Dominic’s attic room. Their room. The attic had been, and still was, his solace; a place where he could remain hidden when midnight came, and he morphed into a spectral being. Kerrigan almost never left his side.
When Dominic’s younger brother, Colton, had arrived, she had offered him the bedroom that had been hers from childhood. It was a logical decision for her to move in with Dominic since she spent every night with him anyway.
Her lover’s cold, labored breaths were in her ear, spilling over the skin of her neck. The condition he was left in after his soul was nearly ripped from his body made his breath unusually icy, but it was a side effect she found erotic.
Per his normal routine, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his strong embrace. His warm skin contrasted with his cool breath, and she allowed the dual sensation to cocoon her. She inhaled deeply. The aroma of his intoxicating scent infiltrated her senses, adding to the rapture of being in his arms.
“About that stunt you just pulled...” His voice was raspy and breathless as he broached the topic of her mischievous manipulation of his twin mark, their button, so to speak. “Why did you do it?”
He wasn’t angry. Frustrated, yes, but not angry.
“I just wanted to see what would happen.”
“Well, you got your answer. Apparently it turns me into an archaic animal, and I can’t control my more primal urges.” Dominic was not a gentle person by nature, but with Kerrigan, he was nothing less than a knight in shining armor. He adored her and carefully worshipped her body as if he might break her with the slightest of touches.
“Newsflash, Dominic. Sometimes a good, hard fuck is just as pleasurable. Either way, we’re still making love. There’s just something about knowing you crave me so much that you lose control over your sensibilities. Sensibilities which hold you back, by the way. I don’t want you to hold back with me. Ever.”
“You deserve to be treated better.”
She laughed. “Any better than what you just did and I’ll be walking bow-legged for the better part of a year. You could never disappoint, Dominic. It’s just not part of your genetic makeup. I’m not some fragile piece of china, so stop worrying so much. I loved what we just did, and I fully intend to take advantage of the fact that I know how to make you behave more primal, as you say, in the future. Don’t act surprised when I do.”
“Mmhmm, just remember that what’s good for the goose, is good for the gander.”
“Promises, promises,” she goaded him. He growled before giving her a playful nip on her bare shoulder.
It had been Dominic’s idea for her to go to her special place while they made love, curious as to whether or not it would enhance her pleasure. He was shocked to find it also enhanced his. Her eyes were the only indication when she was channeling her gift, the blue of her
irises almost seeming to glow in their paleness. It was an awe-inspiring sight.
Kerrigan was ecstatic when she found she could do it, telling him how she could see him there with her. His mortal eyes were incapable of beholding the same sights as she, but he never complained. The vision before him wasn’t any less splendorous. The way she melted into his arms—it was like all her inhibitions washed away.
Milagros, more affectionately known as Millie, jumped up onto the bed and turned two circles before nestling into Kerrigan’s side. He had been ejected from the bed once their frolicking had ensued—none too happy about the rude eviction—and had been sulking on the black futon that lined the opposite wall, his paws over his eyes. Apparently, he didn’t care for the X-rated show, but was happy to finally be able to return to his cozy spot in the bed.
The stray pup had been a victim of a hit and run. Kerrigan had used her gift to save his life that day, and he had been a member of their family ever since.
Part of a chosen bloodline, Kerrigan was a Guardian of the Light. The Light was a supernatural power that had been handed down through the generations of women in her family. The gift was to be used to protect a person’s free will—one’s right to choose the path they walked in life. Free will was crucial. It determined a person’s destiny and, ultimately, their fate. There were people on the opposite end of the spectrum who would stop at nothing to steal that right for their own, otherwise evil, agenda.
Dominic was a living, breathing testament to that fact. His ex-girlfriend, Sinclair Davis, had attempted to vacate his soul from his body to use his physical form as a vessel to bring her true love, Drake D’Mon, back from the dead. The kicker was that Drake was Dominic’s flesh and blood father. A vessel in the direct bloodline of the would-be body snatcher was a requirement to pull off such a feat.
After two attempts on Dominic (the first leaving him a mortal man by day and a ghost by night), Sinclair and Drake had failed miserably. Dominic had already given his soul to Kerrigan for safekeeping, and she wasn’t about to relinquish that gift. When Colton had shown up on their doorstep claiming to have received a phone call from Dominic—a call Dominic knew damn well he had never placed—it was clear that Drake and Sinclair had set their sights on his baby brother.
The old grandfather clock downstairs chimed the countdown to midnight, and Dominic momentarily stiffened. He hated the time of night when his earthly form evaporated into nothingness. There were no longer any secrets between him and Kerrigan, but taking his vaporous form was still a burden. It made him feel like he was abandoning her even though he was right there.
Kerrigan knew the cue and turned in his arms to face him. It was her way of offering encouragement to help him get through the dreaded change. The tingling sensation began in his extremities and worked its way toward his center. The smile on her face was comforting. He tried to mirror it, but he knew she saw through the façade.
Just before his face disappeared, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his. When she opened them again, he was gone.
“Let me see you,” she whispered. After nearly a month, he was still ashamed to let her see him that way, and she couldn’t fathom the reason. Nothing could deter the love she felt for him.
He gave her what she wanted—just like he always did and always would—and manifested before her eyes. His form was transparent and ghostly, but he was still the same man through and through.
She smiled up at him. “There, much better. I can see your eyes.”
His eyes had been a darker green all his life, up until the time he was first touched by the Light. After that, they had become brighter, celadon. It was a characteristic anyone who carried the Light within them shared.
She shivered and pulled the blanket tighter to her neck. His apparitional state created a chill in the room, but she never complained. “I’m surprised he hasn’t noticed.”
She was referring to Colton. Even though the rest of their friends knew about his condition, Colton was still in the dark, which was a miracle considering how chatty Kerrigan’s flamboyant best friend, Gabe, could be.
“You should tell him, Dominic. He’s your brother. It’s not like he’s going to stop loving you because of something you have no control over.” She always knew what he was thinking.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Of course I am. Aren’t you?”
Dominic got out of the bed, wishing he could smoke a cigarette, and walked over to the open window. The Florida sky was clear of clouds, every star present and accounted for. They winked down at him. Whether it was because they agreed with Kerrigan or were mocking him, he couldn’t tell.
“I just don’t know if I can take that chance, Querida.” His voice was distant as his mind replayed the day Colton had shown up, and he had attempted to explain everything that had happened within the past few months.
“So, you’re telling me that our father is a raven?” Colton’s face registered his confusion and disbelief.
“No, well... yeah.” Dominic was exasperated. The words he spoke were incredulous even to his own ears. He sat back in the kitchen chair and pulled at his jet black hair, letting his head fall back as he gave himself a moment to collect himself. There had to be a better way to explain everything without sounding like a total freak.
“He inhabits a raven, at least until he and my psychotic ex-girlfriend figure out some way to force one of our souls out of our bodies so that he can take control of it.”
Maybe there really wasn’t a way to not sound like a freak, Dominic thought, playing back his own words in his mind. He took a long drink of his beer, knowing he would probably need something harder if he was ever going to get through the conversation he had been forced to have with his younger brother.
“Like Invasion of the Body Snatchers?” Colton had always been a lover of sci-fi, and it seemed he still hadn’t grown out of what everyone thought had only been a phase.
Dominic chuckled, remembering the movie had been the exact example he had sarcastically used when he and Kerrigan had talked the night before. “Yeah, Colt... exactly like that, except our sperm donor would be the pod person, and he’s from Hell, not the planet Mars.”
“Okay... so, tell me if I have this right... You were dating this Sinclair chick who’s apparently all into black magic. She put a spell on you to make you think you were in love with her just so she could make you comfortable enough with her that she could drug you and bind you to a headstone in the graveyard. Then, she and her coven did some sort of ceremony to separate your soul from your body, and she did all that so the guy she really wants to boink could take it over... And he just happens to be our father and has been taking up residence in a bird.”
Dominic nodded. “So far, you’re spot on.” He waved his hand for Colton to continue.
“All right, so then you’re rescued by Kerrigan’s grandmother—”
“Availia,” Dominic corrected him.
“Availia,” he amended before continuing. “Who has some sort of supernatural gift of the Light.” He made air quotes around the word. “And you came here to live with her so she could keep you protected, but she gets killed by step-mummy, daddykins, and a whole swarm of birds. Kerrigan comes here to live and finds out she’s got the same freaky power as her grandmother. You two hook up, but then she gets kidnapped by her gold-digging ex. You two have very poor judgment in the opposite sex, by the way.”
Dominic rolled his eyes, but Colton ignored him and kept going with his summation. “You rush back to the same graveyard to save her and end up in the same position again, so she ends up being the one to save you with said freaky power.” He took a deep breath. “Am I close?”
He didn’t mentioned the fact that his older brother was a spectral freak from midnight until the first light of dawn, but that was because Dominic had intentionally left that part out. Colton looked up to his brother throughout his entire life and Dominic just didn’t want that to change. In his little brother’s eyes, he was
about as perfect as he could be, and that felt pretty damn good to him.
Dominic nodded. “So you’re up to speed, and you understand I wasn’t the one who called you. I never would have brought you back here to get involved in this shitstorm. It must have been one of Sinclair’s lackeys pretending to be me, which is exactly why I can’t let you head right back to school. You’re safer here until we can figure out some way to get rid of the threat altogether.” Dominic went silent, unsure how he could guarantee Colton’s safety. “What saved me in the end was I had gifted my soul to Kerrigan. Maybe if you...”
“Hell no!” Colton interrupted, swallowing down a gulp of beer and shaking his head adamantly. He knew what the next suggestion was going to be. “No offense, bro. She’s a hot little number and all—”
“Watch your mouth, Colt!” Dominic said harshly, his little green monster rearing its ugly head.
“Chill, Dom. I’m not out to steal your girl. I’m just saying I’m not about to give my soul to anyone.”
That was certainly understandable.
Colton cocked his head and studied his older brother. Everything he had been told sounded outrageous at best, but he had no reason to believe Dominic would make it all up. Still, it was very hard to believe. “Scientifically speaking, you do realize what you’ve described to me isn’t really possible, right?”
Colton had been away at medical school before he had shown up on the front steps of the Cruz family home. He was going to be a doctor, and a good education didn’t come cheap. In fact, his probably came at a higher price than most. Dominic had paid the bill for his little brother to be able to go to school. So had many others—with their blood. Though it had cost Dominic his humanity to work for the Cuban mafia, it had its benefits. The only problem was that Colton now only saw things in black and white. He needed to get his little brother to open his mind to the supernatural, the fantastical, and that was a subject matter in which Dominic was more than capable of schooling him.