by Shania Tyler
Ronan lifted his head and in the dark, she could feel him staring into her eyes right before he pushed all the way in.
Amity gasped and fell back against the table.
And Ronan went to work.
His hands gripped her hips and his own sped up, gliding in and out of her, stroking and filling her over and over again.
“Yes!” Amity lifted her hips as he stretched her, his pulsing member moving over the walls of her canal.
Ronan lifted her legs, grabbing both her ankles with one large hand and he began to take her at a faster speed. His other hand move to the peak between her legs.
Amity felt the blood leave her limbs and pulse around him. She began to weep with joy as her body shook and she came again.
He pulled out, and turned her over.
She groaned from exhaustion and wondered if vampires ever came.
But fatigue left her the moment he reentered her, and the pressure built as she felt him knock against the most sensitive part in her body. She screamed with every stroke, not even sure what she was saying, but sure she begged him to never stop. The sensation was overwhelming and like nothing she’d experienced before. Her voice grew hoarse, and she was sure she’d come a few times before she felt his own body shake and then heard a rumble grow in his chest before leaving his lips.
He let out a deep groan and then collapsed on top of her and pushing her flat against the desk.
It was several long moments later before he fell from her body and slid to the floor, taking her with him.
She giggled as she landed against him. His body was warm, but she shivered as the cool night air touched her back.
He leaned over to reach for something and draped his coat over her. The jacket covered her from shoulder to well past her bottom.
They lay silently on the floor while their breathing calmed down.
Amity snuggled close to his hard body and was almost ready to doze when she remembered why she was there.
Vampire.
CHAPTER
TEN
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“I’ll be back.”…
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Ronan could feel her watching him in the dark and though he wished to peek at her mind, he resisted. Now that they’d been intimate, it felt wrong. Even more so, he wanted her to come to him willing now. He wanted something he had no business hoping for.
* * *
He wanted to tie himself to her.
But the consequences of such an action were too great. She was human, he lived in a world without sun, and his life was too dangerous to drag anyone along with him. For centuries, he’d been able to move without raising the suspicion of those in command, but he’d the feeling it was only a matter of time before the vampires were onto his true bloodlines.
But the others were not here. At the moment, it was only him and Amity, and he would give her what he could. “Ask me anything.” His voice seemed to break into the darkness that surrounded them.
Amity took advantage of his offer just as he’d known she would “How are you able to go out in the day?”
He thought it humorous how their minds were so aligned in thought. “I’m only half vampire.”
“And half human?” she asked with the faint sound of hope. Before that moment, he’d never have hoped for such a thing. Humans were inferior. It was what his instructors had always taught him. But now . . . what would it be like to be part of what Amity was?
He shook his head. He was something much worse than part human. “Elf.”
“Elf?” She got up and stumbled around the room until she found the light on the desk. She switched it on, looked momentarily blinded before crawling back to him and examining his face. She stared at him as she hovered in front of his face and her hair made a canopy around them, the various gold strands in her dark hair glowed.
“You don’t have pointy ears.” Then she frowned. “Do elves have pointy ears?”
His fingers brushed her cheek as he thought about his long past. “My mother was a vampire and married to a wealthy vampire, but my father was an elf and . . . her slave. When I was born, she clipped my ears so no one would know my true origins.”
“Elves are slaves?” she asked. “But aren’t elves magical?”
He nodded as he rubbed her back. “Elves are blood slaves. Being an elf is not to one’s advantage at the moment.”
She touched his ears and looked at their tips, but felt or saw no scar. It was all hard to accept. “Prove it,” she told him, just as she’d asked him to prove his name that day in the office.
He grinned and then slightly parted his lips. Amity watched his canines stretch before her eyes. She was a believer then.
He continued to speak. “Many of the elf clans are in hiding . . . much like your friend Heather.”
Amity was ready to shoot up from the floor again. “Heather is an elf?”
He nodded. “Now, I have some questions for you.”
She blinked. “Me?” She’d barely had time to digest the fact that she’d been sharing the room with what should have been a mythical creature. She shook her head. “I have more questions.” She had so many more now. “I want to know about the elves, and the vampires, and your world . . . .”
He cupped her cheek again. “Later. Right now, I need your help. I’m looking for Heather. It is why I was sent here.”
“Who sent you?” she asked.
His eyes, which had been on her breasts, moved back up to her eyes. “Your questions later. My questions now. Was Heather being watched?”
“Watched?” She sat up and brought the jacket over herself.
Ronan sat up as well, but did nothing about his nudity. His dark hair looked rumpled, which only made him look sexier. “Did she ever say that someone made her feel uncomfortable?”
Amity shook her head. “No.”
“But she did say something,” he said and Amity realized he’d not asked her a question, which meant he knew that she was hiding something.
Amity let out a breath and wondered how much of Heather’s secrets she should say. She stared at Ronan. “Heather was seeing someone.”
“Who?”
Amity bit her lip. She thought how ironic is was that she too was seeing someone on the staff . . . . Well, she and Ronan were not actually together . . . or were they? “She hadn’t wanted me to tell anyone and I hadn’t thought it important to mention, since he’d been accounted for on the night she went missing.”
“What is his name?”
“Matthew Shelton. He’s the basketball team’s coach and they were at an away game that night. He wasn’t even on campus when she went missing.”
He frowned. “You’re sure?”
She shrugged. “He’s in all the pictures online from that night. It would be kind of hard to be in New York and Connecticut at the same time.”
Ronan stood. “Not really.” He began to pull on his pants.
Amity stood as well and went for her clothes. She also placed her cross in her pocket. “Where are you going?”
“To speak to Mr. Shelton.”
“It’s the middle of the night.” She yanked her pants back on just as Ronan buttoned his pants and reached for his shirt. She watched the muscles move in his arms and abs as he put it on. It was like watching a sea of marble move.
He froze and said, “You’re right.” Then he resumed dressing.
“So, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to go talk to him.”
Amity shook her head as though in déjà vu. “Uh . . . but it’s the middle of the night?”
He grinned as he fixed his cuffs. “If he doesn’t have Heather, I’ll erase his memory and send him to bed.”
“Wow.” Then Amity frowned. “Are you going to erase mine, too?”
He walked toward her and, still holding his cuff, leaned over and kissed her.
The kiss was soft, but done really well.
He pulled a half inch away and whispered, “No
, I want you to remember everything.”
She smiled.
He kissed her hand and then headed toward the door.
“Can I watch?” she asked.
“No.”
She frowned, wondering what she was supposed to do.
Her eyes went to the door in the bookcase then to him.
His eyes were already waiting for her. “When this house was constructed, there was a suite built below for visiting vampires from my world. I could have remained in the main part of the house, but I gain just as much strength from pure darkness as I do from the light.” He seemed hesitant to make such a confession.
She turned back toward the door and closed her eyes when she felt Ronan’s lips on her shoulder.
“I’ll be back.”
She turned toward him but jumped when she realized he was gone.
She then turned back toward the door and let her curiosity get the better of her.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
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The door swung open and a
black cloud moved toward her. …
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Amity’s phone rang before she could take another step, and she smiled when she answered it.
* * *
“Are you dead?” Jenny asked.
Amity sighed. She truly loved her friend. “No, I’m not dead.” She started to head toward the darkness in the bookcase and felt around for the switch.
“How do you know?” Jenny pressed. “You could be a vampire right now.”
Amity froze in her search as Jenny’s words sunk in and fear crawled up her spine. She hadn’t even asked Ronan how becoming a vampire worked. Did he change her when he last bit her? How long did she have before the transformation was complete? She’d never be able to sunbathe again.
“Hello?” Jenny asked.
“Yes?”
“I was just kidding,” Jenny said. “You know that, right?”
Amity sighed, but the fear did not go away. Jenny brought up a good question even if she was joking.
There was silence and then Jenny whispered, “So, is he a vampire?”
Amity frowned and though about the best way to reply. The image of Ronan tearing into her thigh appeared, but was quickly swept away by the look of tenderness in his eyes when he’d cupped her cheek a few moments ago.
I’ll never bite you again.
“Hello?” Jenny called.
Amity shook her head. “No, he’s not a vampire.” After what they’d just shared, there was no way she’d break Ronan’s confidence. He’d shared so much with her. Personal information. He’s trusted her. She wanted to keep that trust.
A light flicked on, and Amity looked down the short set of stairs that led to another door.
“I told you,” Jenny said on the line. “Vampires don’t exist.”
“You’re right,” Amity said. “And honestly, I don’t even remember what I saw. Maybe you were right. I’m simply stressed about finals.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ve got to go.”
“Where are you? Are you coming back, or should I cover for you?”
Amity smiled. “Cover for me.”
Jenny’s breath hitched. “You slept with him.”
“I’ll talk to you later.”
“With all the filthy details!”
“Bye.”
“Later.”
Amity clicked off and climbed down the stairs.
Her hand rested on the door and she paused as she wondered what she would find on the other side.
Did he sleep in a coffin?
And if they were sleeping together, would that mean she’d have to join him?
She shivered at the thought of lying in a box.
She pushed the door open and found another light switch.
And was surprised to find the room to be very modern.
There were no windows, but the exposed brick walls made the space feel like a bachelor pad.
The room stretched for most of the house’s length, forming a sort of studio apartment.
A large bed in one corner announced itself as a bedroom while in another sat a dark brown leather couch and a large-screen television. In another part of the room was a fridge and she walked around the staircase to find a spacious bathroom with a large tub and sink.
She went toward the fridge and opened it to find a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits.
“He eats healthier than me.”
She closed it and turned toward the television, turned it on, and smiled as she flipped through his “recently streamed” collection. He was such a guy. He’d watched the God Father I and II, Dark Knight . . . . She frowned and then smiled. “Mean Girls?” He had good taste.
But it still didn’t tell her a lot about him.
She turned the TV off and started for the counter by the kitchen, but turned and frowned when she stared at the back of the staircase.
There was another door on the back of the staircase, and while at first, she assumed it to be for storage, she studied its markings and knew it was something else.
The door looked to have been carved from the wood of a tree she’d never seen before and looked to be quite heavy and ancient. She ran her fingers over the ridges, hills, and valleys before realizing the entire structure showed the map of some place.
She tilted her head as she tried to figure out what it could be. Ronan’s world looked nothing like hers.
A thumping came from the other side and Amity jumped away.
She stared at the door as she heard it again, and began to slowly back away.
But then the door swung open and a black cloud moved toward her.
She screamed and ducked with her back hitting the wall.
She closed her eyes tightly as the feeling of being touched by mist covered her arms and she shivered as her heart accelerated. Voices surrounded her in fevered whispers and then she felt something like fingers through the mist and tried to knock them away, but they grabbed for her. She looked up, opened her eyes, and met a pair of the largest black eyes she’d ever seen. They were like black gems staring at her and she could feel their evil.
She screamed and sensed the shadow smile at her.
She turned and began to crawl away. When she reached the other side of the room, the clouds began to gather into one man and he moved around the room in a body that glided like smoke.
He came toward her and Amity screamed again and something cold touched her hands and made her jump.
She looked down and saw it was her crucifix.
She picked it up and, without thinking, pointed it toward the shadow.
A wail emitted from the creature and he came no farther.
Amity stood up slowly and kept the cross between her and the darkness, all the while shaking with fear.
The sound of heavy footfalls made them both turn toward the staircase and Amity almost collapsed at seeing Ronan.
CHAPTER
TWELVE
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“I will always be yours.” …
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Ronan had felt Amity’s fear from a mile away. He’d been at Shelton’s house, and had not been able to find the coach, but had smelled the evil emitting from the house long before he reached it. It was the scent of fear and grief and was strong enough for Ronan to believe that the coach had something to do with Heather’s disappearance.
* * *
He’d been investigating the house when he’d felt Amity’s fear, their minds still connected from the moment he’d tried to control her thinking after tasting her body. He’d heard her scream and had used all his strength to reach her, knowing the problem before he got there.
Monrel, the God of Darkness, was after her.
He hadn’t thought Monrel would come for Amity, knowing she was human and that Monrel sought power more than anything else, but he’d been gravely wrong.
Ronan had never felt such fear in his l
ife until the moment he’d heard Amity screaming in his head. What if she was hurt?
He hadn’t let himself think about that as he’d all but flown into his home and found Monrel within feet of Amity. Her cross held a slight glow in the face of Monrel and Ronan moved to stand at her side.
“Where is Heather?”
Monrel dared a glance in his direction.
He hadn’t touched Amity, and Ronan felt his shoulders ease their tension.
Amity stared into his eyes and though he saw a great amount of fear, he also saw strength as she nodded.
They both turned back to Monrel.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” Ronan announced. “The girl, where is she?”
Monrel said nothing, but then his body began to disperse in all directions away from Amity and soon he was gone from the room and the air felt lighter with his absence.
“Where did he go?” Amity asked.
Ronan closed his eyes and pictured Monrel from a moment ago and remembered the feel of the room. Monrel had been avoiding him for this very reason. He’d known that Ronan could trace him if he ever appeared, so he wondered why he’d foolishly decided to come after Amity.
Ronan reached out, touching the space where the darkness had been, and his touch recognized it from the darkness that lay in himself.
“What are you doing?” Amity asked.
“Tracking him.”
“Tracking?” She moved closer to him and watched his hand then looked in his eyes. “Can all vampires do this?”
“No,” he told her. “This is an elf gift. The vampire equivalent is banishment.”
“And you can do both?” she asked.
He nodded as he locked onto Monrel’s location and started from the room. He stopped when he heard Amity’s footfalls behind him. “You are not coming with me.”