“Lee.” Ben now stands in the doorframe. His eyes are fixed on the lightening horizon visible through the sash window.
“Can’t we close the curtains and stay with her? She’ll spend all day worrying.”
Ben’s eyes soften as he looks at his mate. “I know you care, but you must rest. Not just for you.”
Her hands drift to her stomach. “Alright.” Her head leaves my shoulder. She gives me a big smile. “He’ll come back.”
I smile back. It’s wobbly, but hey, a smile is a smile. “I know.”
Lee and Ben drift away together. Their love surrounds them, a radiant nimbus safeguarding them from anything that means them harm.
I secretly hope Daniel will come back before the sun rises, but I get an impression of him digging into the earth and sigh sadly.
He’s not with me, but at least he’s safe.
He didn’t allow me enough time to respond to what he showed me. He thinks I hate him. That my loss of consciousness was because I couldn’t deal with him when I was merely overwhelmed by the sheer ferocity of emotion that came from him. It swallowed me whole, dragged me under, and it took time for me to swim to the surface.
He should have waited. Instead he ran.
“Please come back,” I whisper.
If he chooses to run it could take me years to find him. Maybe I never will. I’m not immortal, like a Vampire.
Why is it so hard for us to have a conversation without arguing or running from each other?
Lee and Ben have been through a lot and look at how close it’s brought them. They exist for each other. They have a reason to go on; each other.
That’s what I want for Daniel and me.
Our mating gives me freedom, but I want to spend that freedom with him.
Otherwise, what’s the point?
CHAPTER NINE
Two days. He left me for two days, and here he stands looking like butter wouldn’t melt.
I smile, but my face warps and drops into a worried scowl. “You smell like wolf. What have you been doing?”
Lee sniffs him then groans. “Something he thinks is clever, no doubt.”
“I am standing right here.” Daniel glowers at us. “Ask me your questions rather than plucking stray thoughts and making half formed opinions.”
Lee puts her tiny fists to her rounded hips. “Well then?” She goes very still, hearing the answer formed in his mind before he speaks it aloud.
“I went to see the South-western Pack Alpha.”
Rearing back, I wobble. Panic amasses inside, putting pressure on my chest. It invades my pores and wafts off me in pungent waves.
It’s spine chilling to smell your own fear, to taste it in the back of your throat.
I choke back hysteria. I never knew what the hell hysteria was before I met Daniel. “I think I hallucinated. Did you say you visited the South-western Pack Alpha? Visit? Like you went for high tea or something?” I look at Lee. “Is that what he said?”
Stumped, she nods.
Ben charges into the room. His red lips pull back to bare his fangs. Silky hair brushes his bumpy brow, and his aura is jagged with terror. Wild eyes glow silver with starlight. His gaze lands on Lee, and flicks over her at warp speed. Tormented expression easing, he scans her again, slower.
Happy his Bride is not in peril, Ben’s hunched shoulders relax.
The Vampire will lose his mind if he wakes in such a bother each night.
Wooden, he stalks over to Lee, expression beyond relief. “You could not wait for me to rise?”
“I wanted to see if she was well.” Lee is sheepish, blushing. “I didn’t want to force you awake. You haven’t been sleeping well.”
Ben points at Daniel. His arm’s rigid, and his finger stabs the air damningly. “The reason stands not ten feet from you.”
Hands flying to my hips, I step in front of that finger. “Hold a grudge much? He wouldn’t hurt her for the world.”
“He already has.”
“He feels regret for that.” I tap my chest. “I feel it when he looks at her.”
Daniel’s cool presence is suddenly right behind me, his chest brushing my back. “I do not need you fighting my battles for me.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I move so I am standing between the two men and motion him to continue. “Battle away then.”
The men eye each other.
Both are gorgeous, and frightening because of it.
I’m used to brawny, hairy, gruff men who’d fuck you just as soon as rip your throat out to establish their dominance.
These Vampire males are tricky and subtle. Their power is understated, something that sinks into your skin, and burrows so deep it’s impossible to shake no matter how strong or resilient you are.
There’s Ben. With his dark hair, and dark eyes that are bottomless. His compact body, camouflaged in dark natural fabrics, accentuate his lean shape.
As he faces his Sire, his body draws taut. Not the kind of tension that indicates preparation for a battle of wills, but one that screams of physical readiness. His face is composed. Patient. But those eyes are sucking everything in – showing how impatient the creature inside is for this to come to blows.
Then there’s Daniel; my mate, with his rangy body and rakish looks. His tapered face, prominent brow, and cleft chin are strong. On a body with less character it would be ugly as sin. His cheekbones are so sharp his lower face is shadowed. Dramatic blue eyes capture all respect and attention. They are that powerful. He’s taller than Ben. At a glance, Daniel appears willowy. His body too lanky to be a suitable match for someone built solid like me. Look again. Under the black denim and fine-knit jumper there’s gracefully honed muscle. The corporeal power of his monster heightens the strength of his character. Without it, Daniel wouldn’t be the petrifying force of nature he is, and always will be.
In this stand-off, Ben is the Protégée. The Sire can read his former pupil like an open book.
Daniel’s face is self-possessed. His deportment is straightforward, and open to immediate change for good or ill. The slight up curve of his lips is mocking, and the wicked glint in his eyes a challenge.
I’m already bored of this male showboating. It’s distracting us from the fact Daniel tottered onto the hunting grounds to see my Pack Alpha without my protection, or back up from his own kind.
What the hell had he been thinking? How is he still walking and talking?
I can’t see a scratch on him.
Thank you, Lord.
I take a bracing breath. “Can you guys call a truce? Lee found out she’s pregnant days ago, and we should be celebrating, not fighting.” My crossed arms drop. I direct my ire at Ben. “You should be making happy memories with her, not stressing her out.”
The Vampire’s jaw clenches, and his intensity lessens. “A truce. Daniel?”
“I was no danger to her or you to begin with.” Daniel shrugs. “What happened between us will not affect my ability to be rational. I do not hold grudges. You have your truce.”
Ben snorts, but turns with a brilliant smile for Lee. “I’m mad you endangered yourself for nothing, but each time I think of our child my heart overflows.”
Lee returns his smile with a luminous beaming of her own.
Daniel and I stare each other down. “What have you done?” My voice is too high, strained with the effort of not shrieking.
There’s nothing but cultivated blankness on Daniel’s face.
Does he not realise the horrible things that tormented me when the sun was up? Trapped in a strange place, alone, I couldn’t leave because I was tired, hungry, and I wouldn’t get very far with the Pack hunting me looking for him. I wanted to leave so badly, and had to repeatedly remind myself our unresolved mating would leave me vulnerable without my mate by my side.
Why doesn’t he understand that now my wolf has chosen him she expects him to keep us safe?
Anger prances across his handsome features.
Is he listening to m
y thoughts? He didn’t realise these things would affect me? ‘You are my mate. Let me care.’
The avarice in his expression bleeds until his face is soft. ‘Stop your fussing.’
I’m tense, resistant when his arms surround me. I sigh. Daniel runs his hands down my body, his fingers kneading, dipping, and flaring with the curvature of my form.
Pleased, he rumbles in my ear. The sound is dark and seductive, paying homage to my body. “I missed this.”
Not ‘you’ but ‘this’.
It’s a start.
Sensing his mood, I catch his hand sliding up for my breast, and tug him after me towards the door.
Ben and Lee so need some privacy. Their moans are loud, and Ben’s hands are doing eye-popping things.
I’ll find us our own cubbyhole where I can interrogate and seduce Daniel.
But he does not move.
Daniel looks at the other couple in the room, gaze questioning.
Ben lifts his head from plundering Lee’s mouth. A sleek eyebrow climbs, and the corner of his mouth curves. He murmurs something in Lee’s ear.
Eyes sparkling, she nibbles on her bottom lip. Her gaze shyly meets mine. Wink. She nods at Ben timidly.
My attention shifts to Ben who drops to his knees and pushes her shirt apart to bare her breasts, sucking a dusky nipple into his mouth. She mewls, fingers curling into his hair. Ben stands, grabs her so she can lock her legs around his waist, and he sets her down on the sideboard, rocking his jean-clad hips into hers.
Lycans behave like this all the time, animal nature and all that.
I’d not expected it of the Vampires. They seem too remote to enjoy anything so openly kinky.
Staggered, my attention snaps to Daniel.
He pulls me into a shaft of moonlight by the window, and turns so my back presses into his front. His cool breath tickles the nape of my neck. Lips crafted from sin ghost over the shell of my ear as strong hands grip my hips. ‘Lee likes to watch.’ The whisper ends on a naughty chuckle. Daniel nips my earlobe. ‘And Ben does whatever she wants, encourages it because he loves nothing more than making her happy. I hear it in his thoughts.” His fingers stroke my hip lazily. “Sickeningly sweet, isn’t it?’
I swallow, loud enough to hear the dry click at the back of my throat. “So Ben does whatever her heart desires. Whatever his Bride wants?” The concept is nauseating, but charming too. “You won’t do the same for me.”
I lick my lips, again, because the feel of my wet tongue is erotic.
My breathing turns ragged.
I feel Daniel’s mouth pull into a smirk as he presses a kiss to my throat. “It’s best you believe that.”
I’m roughly spun round.
Daniel’s forehead undulates. His brow slopes over his eyes leaving a lumpy crown of bone. His fangs elongate, and his gaze transforms into piercing stare.
Reduced to hiding behind the monster.
He wants me to think he doesn’t care. I suppose for him it’d be easier if I conform like the rest, and accept he’s cruel and sinister when really he’s just broken, hurting, and in need of my love.
I’ve seen the real Daniel, and it’s as beautiful as his creature is ugly.
Knowing what he needs, I tug his shirt away from the pearlescent skin at his neck. Skin so pretty it hurts to look. Silvery scars make it better, adds a flaw I can relate to, so I feel less like I’m in the presence of a fallen angel.
I am conqueror. My vicious teeth marks brand this warrior.
Whatever excuse he uses to convince himself our relationship is doomed, his skin reveals the truth. His Bride has claimed him, and she’s offering to love him.
Snaring his icy gaze, I let my desire melt his indignation into a sexy haze of want.
“The Vampire is hard for the Lycan,” I murmur.
He grins.
I drag the flat of my tongue over my claim on his skin in a singular, insolent lick. I suck on the mark, loving the taste of his skin, all masculine and salty.
Knees knocking, his bony crown smoothes. The predator retreats and leaves behind a face forged from dreams.
Handsome?
Daniel is beyond the word.
He trembles. Large hands flex on my hips. His breathing is heavy and harsh. Groaning, he rocks forward to kiss my temple and press his groin into my belly.
Faraway eyes identify my smug expression for the victory it is and harden.
Daniel grabs my chin. Baring my throat, he returns my teasing. His licks are lazy, arrogant flicks over the double pinpricks he bit into my skin the first time we clashed. He chuckles evilly. Watches me through slumberous eyes, twin pools of lust lowered to sapphire slits, exultant to again be in control.
I gasp. Shivering in his arms, my nipples tingle and rub against the cotton twill of my borrowed shirt.
A blissful sigh has my gaze wandering over the other couple. Ben and Lee have moved from sideboard to sofa.
Naked in a tangle of clothes, Ben eases onto a supine Lee, sprawled out on the Chesterfield. Firelight casts a shimmering nimbus around her pastel limbs. She sighs. The sound brims with love. Her rounded hips roll, arms curving in welcome, luring him into her embrace. She arches into Ben, a pagan goddess accepting ravishment. Supplicant, he bows to her, straining body descending towards his idol. Ben hisses when she nips at his chest, running her hands down his muscled back. The caress becomes a wild scratch down his sides. She grabs his backside. Fingers dig greedily as she fits him against her.
‘See how he loves her.’ Even Daniel’s mental voice is breathless. ‘Would you believe you can inspire greater pleasure? Desire so powerful nothing can match it? Not even the vision of consummate adoration you see now.’
Look how Lee holds Ben, as if he’s precious, sculpted by love itself. Desire greater than that? Look how Ben slants his mouth over Lee’s, and rocks his body into hers with such care.
I can’t begin to fathom desire so vast.
Daniel believes we can be as beautiful? It’s possible for our feelings to burn so brightly? Become a primal power too furious to contain, and too ferocious to tame?
This is too much, the need growing inside me. It was easy before. I clung to the hope if he rejected our mating I could find a new pack where I’d no longer be babied, but how can I not want Daniel with all my heart?
How do you protect yourself from falling in love with a man like him?
He turns my head and kisses me, mouth crushing until blood floods my lips to ease the ache. Tongue tangling with mine, supping, exploring with no indication of retreat, he stabs me over and over as his hips rock, his hardness pressing into the flesh of my ass and making me wet. Our lips press closer, battling for dominance. A hand cups my breast, squeezes, and a thumb plunges past the fabric to sweep over the hard peak.
Holy hell.
I rest my hands on my stomach. My fingers become claws that snag the cotton in agitation.
Daniel kisses the tender spot behind my ear. My eyes roll and my leg shakes. Sucking, applying pressure, he plays with me. Teases. His thoughts are dark, but rising beyond the shrouded tangle is the desire to possess me, to claim what’s rightful his before the end.
Hold on and wait. The end? ‘What end are you thinking about-’
Teeth graze the sensitive skin on my shoulder around his bite mark. My train of thought derails. Shuts down. I squirm in his embrace.
How much wonderful am I to be punished with?
CHAPTER TEN
Jerking his hips, Daniel pushes me forward. We take jarring, uncoordinated steps that have me reaching to brace myself on the sofa.
Wouldn’t want to tumble over onto Lee and Ben. Errant thoughts of exactly that happening flicker through my mind. My mind lingers on taboo images dreamt only in the dark imaginations of the sensually deviant.
Daniel stills. Hisses sharply.
I wait, expecting shame or disgust, but Daniel sends me the beginnings of an image so provocative my legs weaken and my insides liquefy.
Daniel and Ben thrust into me, hands travelling, tongues stroking. And it’s not just Daniel who creates this vision. Another watches. She’s aroused to the point of pain. She adds to the picture, enhancing the colours and textures. An artist. She brings the taste of musky flesh, and the rough touch of Ben’s hands on my hot skin, a touch only she knows so well. Another inquisitive mind joins. He reels at the scene then comes back with a vengeance, adding pleasure that ripples across the four of us like wildfire. The female watching is dragged under by the masculine presence, a mind unlike my mate’s, but similar in animal intensity. Ravishing. It blinds me. All consuming. Frightening in its intensity, the connection is endless. Our minds fracture. This astral projection of bliss cracks, and we’re forced to separate.
I hold onto one last image as the presence of the foreign couple fades.
Us four entangled in rapture.
Lee’s green eyes open and stare at me. She’s not all here, but somewhere else with Ben. He arcs over her, his dark hair obscuring his classically handsome face. Their legs are tangled and rubbing leisurely.
Hips aligned and lip locked.
Lee clutches Ben to her, body writhing. Her raven hair blankets her body. Ben’s mouth latches onto her pale skin and sucks until sobs for release.
I’m transfixed. Watching them has my body in a whirl.
Ben entwines his fingers with Lee’s. He yanks her arms above her head, stretching, and trapping her in one smooth move. She gasps. Her head flies back as he draws a nipple into his mouth, and he smiles, fangs flashing then sink into her flesh to draw blood.
Teeth graze my neck. I quiver. Daniel’s hands slip under the waist of my jeans, tug them down to my knees, and his knuckles stroke the back of my thighs as he goes. Cold air hits my ass. A hot open-mouthed kiss is planted on the curve of my buttock.
The air leaves my lungs. I duck my head, flushing when my gaze clashes with Lee’s. She grips her lip with her teeth, wets it, and the glossy sheen is mesmerising. I exhale in a breathy rush at the lust bouncing between us.
The hands on me separate, one pushing on my lower back, the other easing between my legs.
Jolting, I look over my shoulder.
Bite My Love Dark Creature Page 8