Expecting Darkness: An Immortal Ops World Novel (Immortal Ops: Crimson Ops Series Book 2)

by Mandy M. Roth

  Having a child? One of his kind?

  Searc paused and cleared his throat, doing his best to work himself out of the small man’s grip.

  Jessie had no better luck. For a small guy, he was strong with his embraces. “Searc?”

  Searc glanced at her. “Giuseppe comes from a long line of Italian witches. They date back centuries. I knew his great-great-grandfather. And I sort of helped Giuseppe out with an issue he had several years ago.”

  “He is being modest,” said Giuseppe, beaming, his cheeks rosy. He swatted Searc’s arm in a friendly manner. “He saved my life. He’s a good boy. A very good boy.”

  Searc blushed and the sight of it caught Jessie off guard. She liked seeing he had a softer side.

  “He’s good like that, isn’t he?” She winked.

  “The best and he’s to be a father,” returned Giuseppe, confusing her as he pointed to her stomach. “How long have the two of you been mated? Is he good to you? Of course he is. Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?”

  Searc caught Giuseppe by the shoulder lightly. “It’s nae what you think.”

  “She no expecting your little one?” asked Giuseppe, looking bewildered.

  “No. She’s nae.”

  Genuine puzzlement showed from Giuseppe.

  Jessie stood there, her hand going to her stomach once more. Why did everyone think she was pregnant? She barely had any stomach to speak of.

  Giuseppe eyed her and then Searc, his busy eyebrows squishing together. “Are you sure? I sense you all over her and I swear she’s got your babe growing in her. My magik no lie. It’s tried and true. You know as much.”

  Searc’s gaze snapped to her stomach. He swallowed so hard the corded muscles in his neck worked overtime. “I’ve nae touched her, Giuseppe. Though I do smell my scent upon her. My mark even. I’ve no explanation for it being there.”

  There was a long pause that hung in the air. The short man continued to stare at her stomach like he didn’t believe a word coming out of Searc’s mouth, and Searc kept glancing at her nervously.

  It was all too much for her. She considered going to stand behind one of the overdone floral arrangements to be out of their line of sight.

  Searc snapped out of whatever weirdness he had going on. “We need a room. Dawn is close.”

  Giuseppe looked around as if remembering they weren’t alone for the first time since their arrival. “Of course. Come.”

  Jessie moved in close to Searc, her mind wandering to the crazy number of people who had suggested she was pregnant so far that day. Sure, she’d gained a small amount of weight in four months, but to keep thinking she was expecting was a bit much. She was only a size six now. Not to mention, she’d never had sex. To be pregnant, she’d need to have that key ingredient.

  They were starting to give her a complex.

  Searc draped an arm over her shoulder and followed Giuseppe to the elevator. The man took them right up to the top floor. He swiped a card in the penthouse suite door and stepped back, allowing Searc to walk her through the threshold first. Giuseppe followed close behind.

  “Should I call a carrier for blood bags?” asked Giuseppe, no judgment evident in his voice.

  Nodding, Searc kept her close. “Yes for me. No for her. She’s nae like me. She’ll require food.”

  Giuseppe smiled and it lit up his eyes. “Healthy things for her and the little one?”

  Groaning, Jessie stared at the man. Unable to take it anymore, she snapped. “I’m not pregnant. I can’t be pregnant. I’ve never had sex. Unless there was some Immaculate Conception thing happening, there is no baby. And if there was, Searc would not be the father.”

  She stiffened at the sound of her own words. The need to look to Searc was great and she did. She found him watching her closely. As she saw the hurt in his gaze, she reached for him, wanting to have skin-to-skin contact with him once more.

  He held her hand and drew her to him once more.

  Giuseppe laughed and clapped. “Young love does a heart good.”

  Searc bent his head, his lips nearing hers. “Lass, should you find yerself expecting, you should know I better be the father. I’ll nae have any other man touching what is mine.”

  His?

  Giuseppe laughed more as he let himself out, closing the door behind him. It was then Jessie realized she was totally alone with Searc. She jerked and he grinned rather wolfishly, making her insides tighten with anticipation.

  Her breathing grew shallow as she stared up into his eyes. The man was walking wet-panty material, and he probably knew it. Knew the effect he had on the opposite sex. Knew that being this close to him made her brain nothing more than hormonal soup. She could almost feel her ovaries shouting for joy at his closeness. They were apparently all for him fathering children with her.

  As his lips neared hers, she puckered, hoping it was everything she’d ever thought of and more. A kiss didn’t come. Searc drew back from her and motioned to one of the doors in the large suite. “Take that room. I’ll take the other. Dawn nears.”

  Disappointed that he didn’t kiss her, she nodded but held tight to her emotions. Crying in front of him over not being kissed was childish. It didn’t matter that her emotions had been building for nearly four months and picked now to want out. It would look like her outburst was motivated by his rejection. “Okay.”

  She turned to go and he caught her wrist, spun her around, laced his fingers through her hair, and jerked her against his hard body. He growled. “Lass, it would be wise for you to lock the door and mayhap we should have holy water, crosses, and a stake brought up for you as well.”

  “W-what?” she asked, unable to think about anything beyond his kissable-looking lips.

  “To keep me at bay with, lass,” he said, his hands still laced through her hair. “I’m a danger to you at this moment.”

  A danger? Searc? No.

  As he rubbed his body against hers, she felt his erection through his kilt and her breath caught. Understanding what he meant by danger, she gulped, her upper chest heating. She put her palms against his torso and locked gazes with him. “Maybe it’s you who should lock your door to keep me out. Ever think of that?”

  Hunger shone in his eyes. “In my wildest dreams, lass.”

  She would have commented, but the weight of the night hit her hard. “Searc, why is Daddy so worried about me all of a sudden? And why were Professor Rudy and Tyler at the club talking to Islay? Why did Islay tell me he doesn’t know Rudy when I saw him having a heated talk with him? And what did he have to talk to me about? What did he need to make me understand?”

  The fire in Searc’s eyes died quickly. “Yer father worries because he loves you, and his demon is telling him yer at risk. He’s nae got to the position he’s at by ignoring his demon or its warnings.”

  She bit her lower lip.

  He brushed the slightest of kisses over her mouth, and need slammed through her. “Tell me why you fear the men who were talking with Islay.”

  She tried to focus, but it was difficult with his mouth so close to hers and his hard body against hers. He tipped her head back more and she whimpered, wanting to be kissed by him.

  “What about them scared you?” he repeated, holding her in a way that left her unable to get her mouth closer to his.

  “Tyler has always given me the creeps,” she confessed, her gaze still locked on his lips. “He’s Rudy’s teaching assistant. I try to avoid him whenever I can. He has a weird thing for me and I swear he’s followed me around campus more than once before. He even suggested that he and I double date with my friend Meena and Rudy. Ugh. No thank you.”

  Searc skimmed his lips over hers once more. “That does nae tell why you fear him so.”

  “The nightmares,” she said, unsure why she’d confessed as much.

  “What nightmares?” He pressed his lower half against her, making desire ripple through her.

  “They started about four months ago,” she said with a whimper.r />
  A question formed on his brow. “Right after yer father left for Scotland?”

  She nodded.

  “Anything else happen then?” he demanded.

  She traced her hands up to his neck, wanting to feel more of him. She didn’t want to talk. She wanted to make out with the man. Couldn’t he sense that? Didn’t he know how much she needed him?

  “Jessie,” he murmured her name softly. “What are you nae telling me?”

  “I went to dinner with Islay the night after Daddy left, but I blacked out during it. He told me I drank too much that night, but I only had a sip that I can remember. And I’m not a big drinker at all. Ever. I woke up days later in my bed at my condo, and had no memory of the days before…” she returned, her voice trailing off a moment. “I’ve wanted distance between Islay and myself since then. And then the nightmares started.”

  Searc released her at once and backed away, fury filling his gaze. His face contorted and she watched in stunned horror as his vampire side didn’t just near the surface, it took over fully. She’d heard of such a thing happening before, but she’d never seen it with her own eyes. Her father had always kept that hidden from her, and as fear raced through her veins, she was happy he had.

  “Searc?”

  The green of his eyes was totally gone, replaced fully by black pools. His normally handsome features were now twisted and demon-like. The ends of his fingers had long, jagged nails on them. He was barely recognizable as the man she’d grown up having a crush on. Now he looked every bit the monster his kind was named after.

  She jerked back more, wanting space between them, her hands instantly going to her stomach for some reason. There was a strange need to protect it, even from Searc if need be. A huff broke free from her as she thought about how everyone else’s crazy was rubbing off on her. She was acting as if she was expecting. That being said, Searc was clearly losing control.

  The same buzzing energy that she’d felt around her at the club before her father had knocked Searc onto his backside seemed to rush in from all directions and blanket her. It pushed at the ends of her hair and continued to ease around her in a protective manner. That wasn’t something her father could do from afar.

  One second Searc was there, reaching for her in full vampire mode, and the next he was lifting high into the air and catapulting backward, looking more like a rag doll than a badass immortal operative.

  He struck the wall with a thud and slid down it slowly, ending up on his back on the floor, just as had happened at the club.

  For a second, he didn’t budge and she wondered if he was dead. “Searc!”

  Jessie’s hand flew to her mouth as a gasp broke free from her. She spun, expecting to find her father there. He wasn’t. She looked back at Searc, who was on the floor, rubbing his chest and cursing in Gaelic about the beautiful she-witch. “You’re alive!”

  “Och, depends on yer meaning of the world alive.” He looked up at her from his position on the floor. “I deserved that. I shouldnae have scared you so, lass. I’m sorry.”

  She backed away from him deliberately, unsure if she’d set him off again. It didn’t help that she still wasn’t sure what had happened or how he’d ended up on the floor to start with. Where had the power come from? Why did it center on him? Looking around, she tried to make sense of it, but couldn’t.

  Searc grunted as he sat up slowly. “Yer more powerful than yer father even. I do nae think anyone would have guessed that. We’ve all thought you do nae possess any supernatural gifts all yer life. We were verra wrong.”

  “Me?” she stammered out, disbelief coating her every thought. She’d not been responsible for what had happened. That was insane. She was no master vampire. She wasn’t any type of vampire. “I didn’t do anything.”

  He met her gaze, compassion filling his. “Lass, you did and you well know it.”

  Opening her mouth to protest, Jessie felt the energy buzzing around her once again and jerked, putting her hands to her side as she yelped, fearful it would happen again. “Ohmygod, I did do it!”

  Searc laughed softly. “Aye, and I’ll thank you to nae do it again right this second. It hurts.”

  She tensed, feeling like her hands were loaded guns. She wasn’t sure where to aim them. “I’m so sorry.”

  He sighed, pushing off the floor. His actions were almost human and she realized she must have hit him with a lot of power. “Jessie, I smell yer fear of me and yerself. Know that I’d never hurt you and neither would my demon. And you did what you felt you had to in order to protect yerself. I’m damn happy you can wield magik. Though I would like to stop being the target of it.”

  “I’m not magik. I mean, I don’t know how I did it.” Her mind whirled with possibilities. Had she always had such magik in her? If so, why was it only showing itself now? And what all was she truly capable of? She shuddered, not wanting to find out. Searc was powerful and she’d knocked him on his butt—more than once. “The club, that was me too?”

  “Aye.”

  She bit her inner cheek, shame washing over her. “Sorry.”

  He grinned. “I deserved to be knocked on my arse both times.”

  “No one deserves that.”

  He grunted. “Nae true. I’ve met plenty who did. And need I remind you, I’m Scottish. That means I’m hardheaded. Sometimes the only way to get through to me is to knock me on my arse.”

  Laughing seemed wrong, but she found herself giggling anyway. He was a stubborn Scot. “Today is the first day it’s ever happened to me. I don’t know why it keeps happening around you,” she said as she kept backing away from him, still unsure of herself and her newfound gift. Energy continued to swirl around her and she was afraid she’d somehow unleash it on Searc—again. Was she capable of doing more than knocking him backward? Could she accidentally kill him?

  They’d only just gotten to the point they were sharing affectionate touches. She couldn’t lose that—lose him. Not now. Not when she’d only finally gotten him.

  The thought scared her, causing more power to buzz around her. It felt and sounded much like hundreds of bees were swarming her, brushing past her skin, flying by her head. The urge to bat at it was great, but she worried that if she dared to lift her hands they’d shoot power out at Searc and possibly do far worse than simply knock him over. She’d heard of what her father was capable of. She didn’t want to cause anyone serious injury.

  “Lass, calm yerself,” said Searc, concern in his voice. “I’m fine. Yer fine. All is fine.”

  “This is far from fine. I’m dangerous,” she whispered, backing up faster. Her ankle caught on the foot of the coffee table in front of the sofa and she went backward faster than she could stop herself. She caught her upper arm on the corner of the end table on her way down, tearing it open. A second before she would have hit the floor, Searc caught her.

  “Yer verra clumsy,” he said, a light note to his voice. “And verra capable of knocking me on my arse when called for. That is nae a bad thing. Never think it is.”

  She tensed, realizing she was bleeding and he’d only just lost control of his demon side. Would he attack her? She’d seen pictures once from a crime scene report the Para-Regs had on a vampire that had lost control and slaughtered a number of people. It wasn’t pretty or clean.

  Jessie grabbed her bleeding arm, her gaze whipping to Searc as she felt blood oozing between her fingers.

  His expression was guarded. A bead of sweat appeared on his brow. She knew then he was fighting his bloodlust. “Lass, I told you already, you do nae have to fear me.”

  A nervous laugh escaped her. “Sorry, but I just got my first glimpse of a full vampire transformation. I think being concerned I’m bleeding next to you is called for.”

  He stilled. “You’ve never seen a full change before?”

  She shook her head. “Not before you just did it. Daddy has never done it in front of me and he’s not allowed anyone else to either.”

  Humiliation coated his expre
ssion. “I dinnae mean to do it before you. And you should know my anger was nae directed at you. ’Tis Islay I wish to have words with, as does my demon side.”

  “I’m pretty sure words are the last thing you want to have with Islay.” Blood dripped through her fingers and onto the floor. She looked from it to Searc and found him watching it as well. She stiffened again. “I should go clean this up.”

  “Lass, I would have assumed you’d have seen a full vampire shift by this point in yer life because you’ve grown up in a house full of them. But since you dinnae, I’m unsure how much you actually know of my kind. Has yer father ever used his saliva to heal yer cuts before?”

  She thought about what he was asking and remembered falling when she was little and skinning her knee. Her father had kissed his fingers and then wiped his fingers over her knee, healing the scrape nearly instantly. “I think so. Yes.”

  “Can I do the same for you?” he asked. “I willnae touch you if you tell me no. I’ll go. I need to feed and being this close to you bleeding is nae wise.”

  Jessie took a long, calming breath and nodded. This was Searc. The man her father trusted. The man she trusted. “You can fix it.”

  She waited for him to lick his fingers and wipe them on her arm, much like her father had done when she was little. That didn’t happen. Searc eased her onto the sofa and then bent before her, holding her arm gently. He leaned in, lifting her arm, his lips finding the cut. His tongue darted out and over the wound, his green gaze never leaving her as he licked.

  A twinge of desire swept through her at the sight of him there, kneeling before her, drinking down her blood. As his eyes rolled back, he moaned, increasing his grasp on her arm.

  When she realized he liked the way she tasted, she fought the urge to smile, liking that piece of power she held over him.

  As he swiped his tongue over her wound again, something close to pleasure made her stomach clench. A torrent of cream flooded the apex of her thighs. She shifted awkwardly on the sofa and Searc looked to her, kissing her arm before stopping and inhaling.