Death of Darkness

by Dianne Duvall

  Unwanted tears welled. “Because they’re ugly.” And Seth was perfect from head to toe.

  He frowned. “They’re a part of you, Leah. Nothing that is a part of you could ever be ugly to me.” He settled his hands on her hips once more. “May I?”

  She nodded but couldn’t help but cringe inside when he smoothed his thumbs over the scars. Leah fought the desire to curse when she couldn’t stop a tear from spilling over her lashes. “I wanted to have a plastic surgeon do whatever she could to remove them or reduce the appearance of them.” Seeing them every time she went to the bathroom or changed her clothes or showered or bathed had made it harder for her to put her life back together after the accident. “But I couldn’t afford it and insurance doesn’t cover it. It’s considered cosmetic surgery.”

  He met her gaze. “You want them gone?”

  “Yes,” she choked out. “I don’t need a visual reminder of what I lost.”

  “Because that loss is always with you.”

  She nodded, unsurprised that he understood, having suffered such a loss himself. Leah bit back an instinctive protest when he splayed a hand over her stomach. She hated those scars, both seeing and touching them, and couldn’t bring herself to believe that—

  Heat suffused her where his hand covered her. Her skin began to tingle.

  When she looked down, her eyes widened.

  Was Seth’s hand glowing?

  Yes, it was. The warm light emanating from it was faint but definitely there.

  Then the glow faded, his skin tone returned to normal, and the heat receded.

  He slid his hand back over to her hip.

  Leah gasped. The scars were gone. Only smooth, pale skin remained.

  She drew shaking fingers over her stomach, then met Seth’s gaze.

  “Do not mistake my reason for removing them,” he ordered softly. “I meant what I said. Nothing that is a part of you could ever be ugly to me, Leah. I only removed them because they caused you pain and I wanted to make you happy.”

  Leaning down, she pressed a kiss to his lips, then hugged him tight. “Thank you.”

  He wrapped his arms around her. “Anything for you.”

  Raising her head, she again pressed her lips to his. “I’m going to tell you something, and I don’t want you to confuse it with gratitude. Okay? It isn’t. I would’ve said the same thing before you erased my scars.”

  “Okay.”

  She brushed his long hair back and studied his ruggedly beautiful face. “I’m falling in love with you, Seth.”

  Golden light flared amid the dark brown in his irises. Cupping her face in his big hands, he stared up at her for a long moment. “I’ve been falling in love with you ever since I held your hand the night we met.”

  Her heart soared.

  “Lisette once told me that before she met Zach it seemed as if she were just sleepwalking and going through the motions. Then Zach woke her up and made her feel again.” Taking one of her hands, he pressed a kiss to it, then placed it on his chest above his heart. “That’s what you’ve done for me, Leah. I was sleepwalking… for thousands of years. Then you came along and woke me up. Now I’m feeling things I never thought I would again.”

  Emotion choked her. She had been alone for twelve years. Seth had been alone for thousands. More tears welled as elation battled with despair.

  He brushed the tears away. “This makes you unhappy?”

  “No.” She swallowed hard. “There’s something else, something I should’ve told you before we made love.”

  “Tell me now,” he said, no concern evident.

  Regret twisted her stomach into knots as she sat up. “The scars you healed aren’t the only ones I carry.”

  His gaze slid to her knees on either side of him. Cupping a hand over each, he healed those too, erasing the marks as if they had never existed.

  “Those aren’t either.”

  He studied her a moment. “You refer to the emotional scars you bear?”

  She shook her head, swallowing hard. “I can’t have children.” Another tear spilled over her lashes. “There was too much damage from the accident. The doctors I consulted all told me the same thing, that I have no chance of ever getting pregnant again, even with in vitro fertilization.”

  Brow furrowing, Seth smoothed a palm over her abdomen and stared at it. After a moment, he lifted his gaze to hers. “They didn’t perform a hysterectomy.”

  She shook her head. “But my uterus and—”

  “Do you want children, Leah?” he asked, interrupting her.

  “Yes,” she answered, silently adding with you.

  His hand heated.

  “Seth,” she whispered. She knew he wanted to help, but the doctors had been very clear.

  His gaze fell to her stomach, a look of concentration sweeping over his visage. “Had they removed your uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes, I would be unable to help you. My healing gift is not so great that I can enable someone to regrow a limb or an organ that was removed. But damage and scarring…” His hand cooled. “That I can heal.” His eyes met hers. “All is restored, Leah. You can have children.”

  She held her breath, afraid to believe it. “I’m forty-six years old.”

  “And now have the reproductive system of a thirty-year-old.”

  Glancing down, she slid her hands over her stomach. “I can really have babies?”

  “Yes.”

  She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or shower Seth with kisses.

  She opted for the latter and leaned down to brush her lips against his. She meant the kiss to be tender, to convey the multitude of feelings she bore for him. But Seth cupped the back of her head in one large hand and took control, deepening the contact and teasing her with his tongue until both were breathless.

  Rolling her onto her back, he settled himself between her thighs. Leah hummed her approval when he slid one hand down to grip her ass and urged her to wrap her leg around his waist. He palmed her breast, kneading it, then tweaking the taut peak. She moaned when he abandoned her lips to take that tight, sensitive bud in his hot mouth and tease it with his tongue and teeth.

  His hard shaft slid against her clit.

  Sensation shot through her. “Yes.” Wrapping her arms around him, she grasped fistfuls of his long, thick hair and urged him closer. She loved the way he felt against her. His mouth on her breast. His cock teasing her center. He was so hard and made her body burn. “Seth,” she gasped. “Take me. I want you inside me again.”

  But he shook his head. “I’m doing it right this time.”

  She moaned a protest when his lips left her breast. “If you had done it any more right the first time, my head would’ve exploded.”

  He laughed.

  And she sucked in a breath when it made his cock jump against her. “Seth, please. I really want you.”

  Smiling, his golden eyes mesmerizing, he shook his head and winked. “You’ll want me more by the time I’m finished.”

  So saying, he lowered his head to her other breast.

  Leah gripped his back, still holding fistfuls of his long, loose hair. She’d never been with a man who had long hair before. It was so soft and beautiful and somehow managed to tickle her with little brushes against her bare skin and tantalize her all at the same time.

  He shifted, slipping lower on the bed.

  She squirmed when his lips left her breast and trailed kisses down her stomach. Though the lust thrumming through her did not lessen, tears welled anew when his lips caressed her newly scar-free skin. Seth had done that for her. He had healed her.

  Then his soft lips brushed her mound and she sucked in a sharp breath, forgetting everything else. He drew his warm, wet tongue over her clit.

  Moaning, Leah threw her head back and dropped her hands to the bed. So good.

  Another long lick followed.

  Her fingers curled into fists, clutching the sheets.

  That oh-so-talented mouth. That wicked tongue. Stroking and fli
cking and sucking, driving the pleasure higher and higher. She arched up against him, wanting more.

  He rested a hand on her stomach to hold her in place, then slid the other up to cup her breast. She cried out when he pinched her nipple at the same time his tongue stroked her. Her breath grew short, emerging in pants and gasps as she writhed beneath him. “Seth.”

  Just when she thought she would die if he didn’t make her come soon, his tongue vibrated against her and sent her careening over the edge.

  Leah screamed his name and arched up against him.

  But Seth didn’t stop, his mouth and hands continuing to torment her, drawing the orgasm out for so long she damned near couldn’t breathe.

  At last she collapsed against the covers.

  As she lay there, panting, she became aware of a rumbling. The bed shook beneath her.

  She glanced around. Everything shook.

  She looked up at Seth as he rose above her and lost what breath she had managed to regain.

  His golden eyes shone as brightly as hundred-watt bulbs. His face was hard with need as he settled himself between her thighs once more.

  She gasped when he entered her with one hard thrust.

  Both moaned. It felt so good. And Leah loved looking up at Seth, seeing his muscles ripple as he withdrew almost to the crown and drove inside her again. His long hair fell down around them like a curtain, some pooling on her breasts and teasing her with light touches.

  Again he nearly withdrew, then slid home, grinding against her clit and sparking another moan.

  Leah wrapped her arms around him. “More,” she begged.

  A muscle in his jaw clenched. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She slid her hands down to grip his ass and arched up against him. “I can take it.”

  The bed shook harder. Or was it the ground?

  Seth left her no time to decide as he ducked his head and took her lips with a voracious kiss.

  She closed her eyes. Her hands tightened on his ass, urging him on as he drove inside her deep and hard, over and over, touching all the right spots. The scent of fresh rain suddenly filled the air, as strong as Seth’s own tantalizing aroma.

  His mouth left hers and trailed down her neck.

  Leah opened her eyes… and gasped. Huge dark wings now adorned Seth’s back. The semitranslucent feathers they bore were the same color as his tanned skin at their base, then darkened to black at their tips.

  “Seth,” she breathed, staring up at him in awe.

  Seth told himself to slow down, to ease his hold a bit and take more care, but he couldn’t seem to bring his body under control. Leah felt so good beneath him. Her hands gripping his ass. Her hips arching up to meet him, thrust for thrust. Her warm, wet body clutching him tightly as he drove inside her, squeezing him and pushing the pleasure higher and higher.

  She whispered his name.

  It only made him more frantic to claim her, to make her his, to make her come for him again. He never wanted it to stop. He tried to tell himself to be gentler. Feared he would leave bruises on her pale skin if he wasn’t. But he couldn’t hold back. He had wanted her since the day he had met her. And she tasted so good. Smelled so good. Felt so good beneath him. Was so responsive to his touch.

  “Seth, please,” she begged.

  He gave her what she wanted, what he needed most. Her tight, hot sheathe clamped down around him as she threw her head back and cried out in ecstasy. Seth shouted her name as he finally succumbed and let an orgasm rip through him. On and on it went. By the time the pleasure ended, both breathed heavily, their skin coated with a fine sheen of perspiration.

  Bracing his weight on his elbows, Seth burrowed his hands beneath Leah and hugged her to him as he rested his head beside hers on the pillow. Her heart raced madly. As madly as his. He closed his eyes, embracing the happiness and contentment she brought him.

  How he needed this.

  How he needed her.

  Her hands left his ass and caressed a path up his back. Another shiver of pleasure shot through him as she lightly drew her fingertips across his wings.

  Smiling, he sighed in satisfaction… then stiffened. His eyes flew open. “Oh shit.”

  “Yep,” she said, still breathless from their vigorous lovemaking. “Looks like you forgot to mention something else.”

  Ducking his head, he lightly bumped his forehead against her shoulder, wishing instead that he could bang it against the wall in dismay. “It would seem I have no control at all when I’m with you,” he murmured. And could keep few secrets. Raising his head, he eyed her warily.

  Her brow furrowed. “Is it a shape-shifting thing?” Her slender fingers gently explored his wings. “Were you afraid it would scare me if you added the wings?”

  He should say yes and leave it at that. But his heart wouldn’t let him lie to her. “No.” Carefully withdrawing from her warm body, he eased away. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” He rested a hand on her hip where he had gripped her so tightly. “Was I too rough?”

  “No. It was wonderful.” Raising a hand, she positioned her index finger half an inch from her thumb as if she held a small marble. “You came this close to actually making my head explode.”

  Relieved, he found a smile.

  Red crept up her neck and entered her cheeks. “And I’m pretty sure I’ve never screamed like that before.”

  Grinning, he shook his head and moved to sit on his heels down by her knees. “Being immortal does have its perks.”

  “No kidding,” she said with a faint smile. Drawing her legs together, she rested her hands on her stomach and studied him with a faint question in her hazel eyes—more brown than green tonight.

  Seth motioned to his body. “This is the real me, Leah.” He stretched his wings out as far as he could, a wall restricting the movement on one side. “This is who I am.”

  Face sober, she sat up.

  “I only kept it from you because I knew it would raise questions I couldn’t answer without endangering you and everyone else I love.”

  She bit her lip. “You think I would betray your confidence?”

  “No. I trust you implicitly. But the telepaths would read it in your thoughts. I can command them to stay out of your head while they’re awake. But the younger ones lose control over their gift when they sleep and may find the answers in your dreams.”

  She was silent for a moment as her gaze wandered over him. “You were born like this?”

  “Yes.”

  “And they don’t know? All those guys in the hallway—they don’t know this is the real you?”

  “They don’t know,” he confirmed. “I’ve never shared this with them. David, Zach, Lisette, and Jared know. Zach and Jared are like me. Lisette is Zach’s wife, so she knows he’s like me. But she doesn’t know why we’re like this. Only David knows, because he’s been my closest friend for thousands of years and no one can read his thoughts.”

  She remained silent for a long moment.

  “There’s something else,” he added reluctantly.

  “Okay.” She drew in a deep breath as though bracing herself, then nodded.

  “Melanie explained the virus to you when we were at network headquarters, didn’t she?”

  “The virus that infects all vampires and Immortal Guardians? Yes.”

  “Well… I’m not infected with it.”

  She blinked. “You’re not?”

  “No. I’m a gifted one.”

  “I don’t understand. Melanie said the virus is what transforms mortal gifted ones and gives them immortality.”

  “It’s a conundrum, I know. I wish I could explain it to you.”

  “What is it you fear will happen if the rest of your brethren find out?”

  He shook his head. “Sooner or later, someone will share the information with someone they shouldn’t. They’ll trust someone they shouldn’t. And when they do, violence and death will follow. It always does.”

  She frowned. “You’ve told someone b
efore?”

  “Yes. My wife and our children. Our son and daughter both fell in love and married humans we trusted. I loved my son-in-law and daughter-in-law as though my wife had birthed them. I loved them as much as I do Ami and Adira. But…” He shook his head. “My daughter-in-law shared the secret with someone she shouldn’t have. She told her sister. And her sister betrayed her, betrayed us all. When word of what I am traveled, a plan was hatched. A man lured me away to heal his dying child, and his coconspirators slaughtered my wife and children in my absence.”

  She touched her fingers to her lips, then reached out to him. “Oh, Seth.”

  He refused to let her console him. Best to tell her all of it. “I lost it, Leah. When I saw what they’d done… When I saw how my wife had suffered… the violent deaths our children had been dealt…” He shook his head. “I lost it.”

  “Of course you did,” she declared gently, no condemnation in her voice. “You—”

  “I killed them all,” he told her, steeling himself for her response. “Every man and woman who had plotted against us. Every teenager who had eagerly joined in, their minds already corrupted by hate. And I didn’t stop there. I swept through the city, slaying every man and woman who hadn’t plotted against us but who had hoped those who did would succeed. Every man and woman who had embraced that darkness fell beneath my sword. I razed most of the city, burned it to the ground. And I know people today like to believe that there were only tiny, primitive villages back then, but it was a large, thriving city, Leah. And I destroyed most of it. Had David not found me and intervened, I would’ve continued on to the next city. And the next. And the one after that, determined to wipe out every hateful heart that would’ve risen against those I loved had they been given the chance. I—”

  Rising to her knees, Leah surged forward and wrapped him up in a hug. “Shhhh. It’s okay.”

  Seth held her close and buried his face in her neck.

  “It’s okay, Seth. It’s okay.”

  “No it isn’t,” he whispered, still tormented by the memories. “Do you know how many children I orphaned that day? How many lives I destroyed?” He tightened his hold on her. “I can’t let that happen again, Leah. I can’t.”