Hunt the Darkness (Order of the Blade Book 11)

by Stephanie Rowe

  Sophie flung her arms around his neck, holding him close, kissing him back with equal passion, her lips searching for his as if she couldn’t breathe without his mouth on hers. Need exploded through him, a wild, hungry explosion of craving that tore through him, ripping him from his carefully controlled foundation and plunging him ruthlessly into the swirling whirlwind of her.

  His hands were possessed, moving of their own accord, over her body, across her hips, under her shirt. He swore as he palmed her belly, the soft skin trembling beneath his touch. He could feel the scar on her hip from when she’d fallen out of the tree when she was eight and landed on a rock.

  He rolled her onto her back and pulled her shirt over her head, his lips sinking into the curve of her belly. He kissed the trio of freckles just below her navel, the ones he’d teased her about over the years. Freckles that had once been innocent now seemed to sear his entire body as he pressed his lips to them, his hands sliding along her ribs, to her breasts.

  “Oh, God, Vlad.” She writhed under him, her fingers delving through his hair as she arched her back, filling his palms with the soft curves of her breasts.

  He cupped them, abandoning the freckles to pour kisses over her breasts, to take the rosy buds of her nipples between his teeth. He bit lightly, and grinned when she gasped, his cock throbbing with need for her.

  For two hundred years, he’d resented every woman he’d met, because she was alive when Sophie wasn’t. To be with her now, basking in every curve of her body was beyond words, more intense than he could even process.

  “I need more,” he whispered. “I need to taste every inch of your body. I need to learn who you are, who you’ve become.”

  She sat up, tugging at his shirt. “Take it off,” she demanded.

  He grinned at her insistence, and immediately dragged it over his head. “Still bossy,” he observed.

  “And you love that about me,” she retorted, just before she pressed a kiss to his chest, her tongue circling his nipple.

  He went still, every nerve ending strung tight, as she worked her way across his torso, her lips and tongue the most decadent temptation he could even conceive of. His muscles were taut, his breathing labored, his focus almost shredded as he tried to hold himself still, letting her take control.

  “I like this,” she whispered as her fingers closed over the button of his jeans. “You’re twice the size you were the last time I saw you, but you still let me boss you around.” She unzipped his fly, and he tensed, heat pounding through his cock.

  “It’s all a façade,” he muttered, sliding his fingers through her hair as she pressed a kiss to his belly button, and then lower, following the path of his jeans as she slid them down his hips. “I’m a domineering asshole these days.”

  “You always were.” She tugged his jeans lower, and his cock sprang free. Before he even had time to process that she was seeing his cock for the first time, she wrapped her fingers around it, and pressed her lips to the tip.

  “Hell.” He gripped her hair, his body rigid as she began to stroke him with her tongue and hand, igniting fires he’d never even conceived of. His cock was so hard it hurt, and every muscle in his body was strained to the limit.

  She grinned up at him, light dancing in her eyes. “This is amazing.”

  It was the sparkle in her eyes that did him in. He hadn’t seen that sparkle in so long. He’d never thought he’d see it again. Something inside his chest turned over, and he groaned her name, his throat too tight to speak properly.

  Her face softened, and of a single accord, they came together in a kiss that shredded the years they’d been apart, and rebuilt the bond that they’d forged so long ago. With a low growl, he unzipped her jeans and had them off in record time, unable to handle a second more of having fabric between them.

  He pulled her onto his lap, and she wrapped her legs around his hips, the kiss still so intimate and powerful that it seemed to infuse sunshine and healing into even the most damaged parts of his soul. “My sweet Sophie,” he whispered into the kiss. “I’ve never stopped loving you.”

  Before she could answer, he deepened the kiss, too afraid to hear whether she still loved him. How could she? He’d failed her, and he knew it. But right now, he needed her to be loving him the way she was, at least with her kisses and the way her arms were wrapped around his neck so tightly, as if she were terrified that he’d disappear.

  He grasped her hips, lifting her just enough for him to adjust the position of his cock, the kiss between them growing in intensity, exploding with two hundred years of loneliness and distance. They moved as one, lowering her onto his erection, and they both gasped as he slid inside her, a perfect coming together that sent fire streaming through his soul.

  She went still, her breasts flattened against his chest, her feet locked behind his hips, her lips against his. “This moment,” she whispered, against his mouth. “I never dreamed…I never believed…” She looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “How could I have forgotten you? How could my mind have let you go? My life would have been so much better if I’d had the memories of you to keep me going. How could my brain refuse to hold onto the one person I’ve always loved with all my heart?”

  At her words, he suddenly couldn’t breathe. “You still love me? After everything?”

  She laughed, a laugh full of tears and disbelief. “God, Vlad, we were teenagers, and our parents had contracted with demons. How on earth could you think I’d be stupid enough to blame you for the fact you couldn’t save me? Is that how little you think of me?”

  He couldn’t talk for a split second, too stunned by her words. She didn’t hold him responsible. After two hundred years of tormenting himself, she forgave him. She just…forgave him. He swore under his breath, and kissed her, pouring two hundred years of pain and love into the kiss.

  Sophie wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close as she began to move her hips in a seductive, instinctual pattern that made streaks of desire stream through him. He gripped her hips, holding her securely as he began to move his own hips, driving harder and harder, until it wasn’t enough, until he needed more, he needed to be deeper.

  He locked his arm around her back and stood up, bracing his legs as she sank deeper onto his cock. She gasped, gripping his shoulders as he drove into her, moving her where he wanted her, his quads straining for balance and power as he thrust again and again, his thumb sliding between her folds, driving her to the edge—

  She screamed his name and convulsed in his arms, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. He unleashed his control instantly, and the orgasm seized him, contracting his muscles and pumping his seed into her, again and again, until he’d emptied all he had and all he was into her.

  Sophie gasped one final time, and then sank against him, her face pressed into the curve of his neck. Her back was damp with sweat, and her thighs were shaking where they were wrapped around his hips. She’d given him everything, just as he’d given her all he was, until there was nothing left.

  Disbelief echoed through him as he sank to the floor, his powerful quads trembling from the intensity of what they’d shared. He leaned back against the wall of the cave and tucked her sideways onto his lap, unwilling to let her soft skin be ravaged by the rock that surrounded them.

  Sophie sighed and leaned against him, her cheek against his damp chest, her feet tucked between his thighs. She said nothing, and Vlad rested his head against the wall, his fingers drawing circles on her lower back, still needing to touch her, to feel her, to explore her. “It would never be enough with you,” he said softly. “I could make love to you a thousand times, and it would never be enough.”

  He felt her smile, and she held out her left hand. Her wedding ring was still turbulent and purple, but there were streaks of gold in it now. “It hasn’t been gold since the night we got married,” she whispered. “As soon as I left you to go home and pack, it turned black.”

  He slid his fingers between hers, tangli
ng their hands together. His ring matched hers, with tiny, delicate streaks of gold moving between the black and purple.

  “The gold is hope,” she whispered. “I haven’t had hope for a very long time.”

  Vlad brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her ring. “Me either.” But he did right now. Sophie was alive, in his arms, and she’d given him her trust. “I didn’t deserve a second chance, but I swear I won’t let you down.”

  “You didn’t let me down before.” She sighed, burrowing more deeply against him.

  “Except that I didn’t look for you. It took me one day to find you once I knew you were alive. If I’d come two hundred years ago—” Jesus. The enormity of his failure hit him hard. “One day. One day is all it took, and I never tried.” Suddenly, he felt like a complete asshole for making love to her. “Shit.” He lifted her up and set her on her feet. “I’m such a bastard. I should never have made love to you.” Swearing, he stood up, disgusted by what he’d done. “I—”

  He stopped when he felt her hands on his back. Gentle hands. Kind hands. “Vlad.” Her voice was soft.

  He closed his eyes and went still, his entire body vibrating from her touch. “What?”

  “I’ve lived for two hundred years among demons. I’ve seen horrible things. I know what evil is. I know what it’s like to watch people I love die. I was living in terror of being turned into Lucien’s concubine.” Sophie slid her hand around his waist, holding him. “I know badness, and that’s not you. Forgive yourself.”

  Vlad looked down at her hands clasped around his stomach. He set his hand over hers, engulfing them. He could feel the depth of her words, and he knew she was speaking her truth. It wasn’t that she forgave him for failing her. She truly didn’t hold him responsible for not saving her, and for not coming after her. “I want you to be angry at me,” he said, squeezing her hands. “I need you to be pissed.”

  Sophie leaned her forehead against his back. “There’s no energy in me to be angry,” she said, her voice weary. “There’s too much real carnage and destruction to waste time dwelling on what might have been. I know that you did everything you could think of, didn’t you?”

  He closed his eyes, thinking of how he’d clawed his fingers to the bone trying to get through the crevasse after it closed. “My soul died that day when I thought you did,” he said quietly.

  “I know.” She pressed a kiss to his back.

  Vlad sighed, trailing his fingers over her forearms “How can you not see my failure to save you as a betrayal? How do you not see the fact I didn’t come find you for two hundred years a betrayal?”

  She tugged on his waist, and he allowed her to turn him around. She stared up at him, her face soft. “Always trying to be responsible for the world, aren’t you? You’re the same as you ever were.” Her gaze searched his. “This is why I love you, Vlad. You’re a hero, aren’t you? I bet you’ve been doing something amazing all this time. What have you been doing for the last two hundred years? Who have you been saving?”

  He frowned. “Some kids,” he muttered.

  “Some kids,” she repeated. “How many?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. A thousand? Maybe two.”

  “Two thousand children?” She smiled, a smile so warm that his heart tightened. “They needed you, didn’t they? Was there anyone else to save them?”

  He shifted uncomfortably. “No.”

  “So, you were needed in the earth realm, saving those kids.” Sophie smiled at him. “It may damage your male ego to hear this, but I didn’t need you for the last two hundred years. I needed to be here with Maria and these women. Maria has become my sister, filling my heart with love, and I’ve served a higher purpose, helping these women. I was meant to be here, not being some fancy princess in a castle. Do you realize how many women are alive because of me and Maria?” Her face lit up, a glow from within that made his stomach tighten. “I make a difference here. It sucks at times, and it’s difficult and scary, but it matters. I matter. I do something that matters, and so do you. Neither of us would be who we are today if we hadn’t had these paths.”

  At her words, something inside Vlad began to release, a tension that had been locked around him for so long that it had become a part of him. “But you sounded so lost just a few minutes ago, when you got your memory back.”

  She smiled, and linked her fingers behind his neck. “It was overwhelming to be deluged with so many memories at once…to be given back the love that had once sustained me. You came back to me when I needed you, Vlad. Don’t you understand that?”

  The knot in his chest began to loosen even more, and he kissed her. Gently this time. Not the raging, uncontrolled passion of earlier. This was different, even more intimate. It was a kiss with his heart, the blackened, ravaged heart that was starting to beat again for the first time in centuries. He thought back to his visit from the magi, his claim that he hadn’t tracked down Vlad because it wasn’t time.

  Was there truth to that? Was there truth to what Sophie said? That they’d both had roles to play? Women and kids to save?

  Her smile faded as he pulled back. “Things aren’t okay here anymore, Vlad. Things have changed. That’s why you found me. I need you now.”

  Adrenaline rushed through him, and his muscles tightened. His vision narrowed to hyper-focus, and he nodded. This was why he’d come. To fight. To stand by her side, and fight. “I’m in. Let’s do it. What do you need?”

  She hesitated. “We need to somehow neutralize Rikker and Lucien. I don’t know any other way.”

  He studied her. “You want us to take down the demon king and his second-in-command? You do know demons aren’t killable, right?”

  Sophie sighed and grabbed her jeans. “I am well aware of that, thanks for the insight.”

  “And they heal almost instantaneously?”

  “I know.” She pulled on her pants and fastened them, aware that Vlad was watching her with blatant hunger in his eyes. Hunger, and a hint of that same bossiness that used to drive her so insane when they were teenagers.

  “And they aren’t exactly reasonable,” he added.

  “Yep. Got that, too.” She grabbed her bra and pulled it on, suddenly needing clothing. Vlad made her feel exposed and vulnerable, and she needed to feel strong.

  “So, the only option is to get out, right?”

  She stopped, looking at him sharply. “Get out? Of the demon kingdom? And what? Leave Maria and the others behind?” The idea was so shocking that she almost couldn’t even say it…especially when the wave of almost unbearable longing hit her. God, to be out of this hell, and back in the world of sunshine and flowers? Tears suddenly swam in her eyes, and she had to dig her fingernails into her palms to keep her composure. “I don’t want to go back to that life,” she lied, her voice stiff with tension. “I don’t matter there.” That was true. “I matter here. They need me.”

  “You can’t help them if you’re dead.”

  She grabbed his jeans and tossed them at him. They hit him in the chest, and slid down his body when he ignored them. “That’s why you’re here. To help me figure out how to make this place safe for me.”

  Vlad sighed. “Soph, this place will never be safe for you, or anyone. It’s the demon kingdom.”

  She set her hands on her hips and glared at him. “So, you’re not going to help me? You came all this way, and you’re not going to help?”

  Anger flashed in his eyes, anger that was laden with such extreme guilt that she almost felt bad for bringing it up…except she was desperate, and she knew Vlad well enough to know that he would never allow her to do anything that he thought could put her at risk…unless she guilted him. “I will help you,” he said, his voice low and hard. “You know I will. You got a plan?”

  “You can control living matter, right?”

  He nodded. “Of course.”

  “So, they’re living, right?”

  “I can’t hold them for long. They’re extremely strong.”

/>   Sophie bit her lip, thinking. “There’s a part of the kingdom called the Graveyard of the Damned. It’s where demon bodies go when the demons finish with them. The bodies are all sealed in rocks. If I dissolve the rocks long enough to make an opening, could you put Rikker and Lucien inside and hold them there until I can close it?”

  Vlad studied her, his eyes dark and thoughtful. “Even if that worked, what about the void they leave in the power structure? What about the next demons to take over?”

  “They don’t want to make me their concubine yet, so we’ll deal with that later.” She looked at him, hope trying to surge through her. “Could you do that, Vlad? If we worked together?”

  He nodded slowly, once, and her heart leapt. “Really?” She could barely whisper the words. Was there really a chance they could do this?

  “I don’t want you that close to them,” Vlad interrupted.

  Sophie drew her shoulders back, bristling at the autocratic tone in his voice. “I’m not a teenager anymore, Vlad. You don’t get to control me. This is my world, my life, my friends, and I’m going to fight for them. They matter to me, Vlad, in the same way I mattered to you. I can’t stand by and leave them to their hell any more than you could. I need your help. Will you help me?”

  Vlad swore under his breath. “Jesus, Soph. You’re still stubborn as hell.”

  She grinned. “I know. It’s one of my more endearing qualities, right?”

  “Yeah, that.” He grabbed his jeans. “One condition, princess. If you want me along to trap these fuckers, and to keep you safe, you need to do what I tell you once things get dangerous. And if I tell you to abort, you do it. We find another way.”

  “The only other way is to leave. Which I won’t do. And there’s no way out, anyway.”

  “We aren’t demons. We’ll be able to get out.” Vlad shoved his feet into his jeans. “Agree with me, Soph, or we’re heading straight to the barrier where I came across the first time. Your safety comes first.”