Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 06]

by Penetrating the Darkness (epub)

  “But how will I find her? I have no idea where to look or who I’m looking for. What does she look like?” When they all disappeared, Chaos let out a loud cry. “How am I supposed to bring her to you when I don’t even know what she looks like or where she’s hiding.”

  Getting to his feet, he kicked the chair to his left in his fury.

  Grabbing his hat, coat, and long, brown wig, he put on his disguise.

  Looked like he was going to have to search for her himself.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Her mother had been correct. Food in her stomach did make her feel better, or maybe it was the warm tea Trinity had given her. Either way, Felicity knew she felt better now than she had when she’d woken.

  She knew there was one thing that would make her feel even better. Seeing Dusty.

  With her destination in mind, Felicity sent herself to the clinic, setting down in the sitting area. When she didn’t see him there, she searched the other rooms of the clinic.

  “Dusty. Are you here, Dusty?” She continued her search. When she got no response once she entered the laboratory area, she became worried. Then she heard something coming from a room at the back. Cautiously, she inched towards it, fearful of what she might find inside. Placing her palm on the door, which was slightly ajar, she pressed it open ever-so-carefully.

  There was a bed and on it a man lay tied up with tubes coming out of his arms. Curiosity getting the best of her, she inched further into the room.

  “Felicity?”

  She jumped, her heart pounding, and spun around to find Dusty standing in the doorway. Her heart instantly went from erratic fear to a calm, warm pumping of joy. Hurrying to him, she threw her arms around his neck and sampled the lips she’d been wanting to taste since she woke. Since before she woke.

  Holding him in her arms, tasting his lips on hers, feeling his heart beating against her chest was the most incredible feeling she had ever had. Felicity knew there was absolutely nothing or no one that was going to stand in her way of being with him.

  Feeling as if she were drunk on his taste, she pulled away, giggling. “I missed you.”

  “Apparently. I missed you too.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Do your parents know you’re here—wait, how did you get here?”

  “No, they do not know I am here and I transported myself.” She ran her fingers through his curls, enjoying the sensation of them as it slid along her skin.

  “What do you mean you transported yourself here? I wish you would tell your parents where you are because if your father comes looking for you, he is going to be furious.”

  “You ask too many questions at one time. I will answer the first at the same time as the second.” She sent herself back to her parents’ home to let them know where she would be.

  ***

  Dusty stood in his spot, staring at the void of space where Felicity once stood. One minute she’d been standing in front of him, the next…poof she was gone. Just like the other times she’d done something magical, it took him a few minutes to get over it.

  Hearing the moaning behind him, Dusty turned his attention to the vamp on the table, noticing that he was waking. Couldn’t have that now, not until he was sure his procedure worked.

  “Why do you have a young man tied to a bed?”

  Jumping, Dusty spun around to see Felicity standing behind him. “You can just disappear and reappear anytime you like?”

  “Yes. Why do you have that young man tied to the bed?”

  “I wish I had that ability. I have him tied up because I’m performing an experiment on him and I don’t want him to get away before I’m finished.”

  “An experiment?”

  “I’m draining his blood and replacing it with human blood to see if it will change him back to human. If it works, I plan to do it to myself.”

  She gasped, one delicate hand coming up to her mouth. “Why would you want to do that? Turn him human?”

  “Wha…what’s going on?” the boy slurred as he blinked his eyes rapidly.

  “I want to turn me human. I’m using him to see if it will work.” Dusty grabbed another two sleeping pills and shoved them into the vamp’s mouth. Before he could hold his mouth shut, the guy spit them back out. “Crap.”

  “Why would you want to turn human?” she asked, turning Dusty away from the vamp.

  “Because I was a human once and I kinda liked it.”

  “Do you not like being a vampire?”

  “Not really, no.” He had to put the vamp back to sleep before he fully woke up. Dusty knew if he did, it was going to be damn hard keeping him tied up.

  “How can you not like being a vampire, Dusty?”

  “Jesus…what the hell is this? Who the hell are the two of you?”

  “What’s to like about it?” Dusty held the young man down, or did his best to. “I need blood to live off of. I can’t spend time in the sun without being barbequed. My eyes are yellow. They used to be green. I liked green.” Even though once he’d contemplated getting brown contacts.

  “I like the color of your eyes. And there is much more to being a vampire than that. You grow old very slowly. You will not suffer normal human ailments. You have more strength, just to name a few.”

  Dusty continued to struggle to keep the young man pinned down. “I liked who I was before I was bitten. This guy here is going to help me get back what I lost.”

  “So you will deprive him of something he may enjoy for your own gain? I cannot allow you to do that.”

  “What are you doing? Stop it.” Dusty pulled her away when she started ripping the IVs from the vamp’s hands. When he disappeared, Dusty stood there with his jaw hanging open. Then the anger set in. “Why did you do that? Where did you send him?”

  “Away.” She took his hands in hers. “I did it for his benefit. It is wrong for you to hold someone against their will. Is that not what was done to you, Dusty? Were you not taken and turned into something you wished not to be?”

  His jaw clenched tightly. Everything he’d done had been for naught. Not only was he out a test subject, but nearly three quarts of blood as well. However, Dusty knew arguing with her would do him no good. He supposed he could start over and do it again. Only next time he’d be more careful not to get caught.

  “You’re right. What was I thinking?” he laughed nervously.

  “You cannot erase who you have become, Dusty. It is your blood now, it is your soul. If it was so easy to return you to your previous being, drinking in a human’s blood would return you to your human form. Once there is vampire blood in your body, it kills off the human. No amount of human blood can change that.”

  He didn’t want to hear that. He wanted to remain hopeful. This wasn’t the life he’d wanted. He’d had plans, aspirations of attaining his Bachelor’s in Biomedical Chemistry. How the hell was he supposed to do that if he was a vampire?

  “This saddens you.”

  “Of course it saddens me. How would you feel if you were suddenly turned human?”

  She tilted her head in thought. “I suppose I would not like it very much.”

  “Well…that’s just how I feel. I wanted to get my degree and work in researching diseases of the human body. I can’t do that now that I’m a vampire.”

  “Why not?”

  “How am I supposed to go to school, get my degree, and not let anyone know I’m a vampire? Hell, I can’t even tell my parents what I’ve become.”

  “Will they not love you now that you are a vampire?”

  “I don’t know.” That wasn’t true. His parents were the most loving people he’d ever known. They loved his older sister despite her handicap. Maybe they would accept him the way he was now.

  “I think if a parent loves a child, they will love them no matter what they become.
” Placing a hand on his face, she made his body warm. She was the sweetest thing.

  She had such a delicate structure, tiny bones in her face, hands, and shoulders. Her body was tall and willowy, still blossoming into full womanhood. Though her breasts were full, he suspected they had more room to fill in. And he had a sudden compulsion to be there to watch her grow.

  “You are so beautiful.”

  She looked at him with confusion. “You say that with such conviction.”

  “Because I mean it. I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone as beautiful as you and it makes me wonder what it is you see in me.” No, he wasn’t homely, but he was tall and thin, not a muscle to be seen on his body. No one as beautiful as Felicity had even so much as passed a glance his way. Or was it just that he had saved her, had shown her the pleasures of sex? He hoped it was more than that.

  “I see a kind man, a handsome man with curls upon his head that feel as soft as satin. I see a man who has a heart of gold.” She stroked a finger along his face and he wanted to melt into her. “You are my protector, my lover…” she leaned closer, touching her lips to his, “and my friend.”

  When she spoke to him he felt like he was the handsomest man on earth. When she touched him, he felt alive. Though he hated what he’d become, he knew if he hadn’t, he never would have met her.

  Scooping her up into his arms and making her squeal, he carried her to the nearest room and set her on the bed, cupping her face in his hands. Was it stupid to feel love for her? If it was, he would gladly be called stupid.

  “I wish I could make love to you in a real bed like the one at your parents’ place.”

  “What is…make love?”

  He smiled, taking a handful of her hair—he loved her hair—and playing with it. “It’s sex but softer, more romantic.”

  “Oh. Do you wish me to take us back to my room?”

  “No!” That was the last thing he wanted. “I just can’t make love to you there. I’ll keep thinking your father is going to jump out of the shadows and…never mind. This will have to do. Wait here.” He rushed from the room to grab a blanket from the storage closet and when he came back into the room, she was beginning to undress. “I was going to do that.” He was disappointed that she had started without him.

  “I am capable of undressing myself.”

  “True, but it’s all part of the romance. Let me.” Replacing her hands on the shirt, he finished unbuttoning it, slowly. “Your skin is so soft.” Wanting to feel it against his lips, he kissed the bare flesh as he released each button. She never wore a bra and that alone was incredibly exciting.

  He spread the shirt apart, taking one nipple into his mouth. She moaned, arched her back, and he continued to stimulate her with his tongue while his hands worked on the snaps on her pants. Her fingers twined through his hair, holding him to her breast and he was more than willing to suckle on it as long as she liked. He just hoped he was doing it right. He’d never touched a breast much less kissed one before her.

  Releasing the snap and the zipper on her pants, he pressed her back onto the bed and shimmied her pants below her waist. She began to writhe as he slid the material down. She was wearing panties this time and, oddly, that was arousing to him. He released her breast and, when she whimpered in protest, he kissed her. Then he slid the pants off her legs and dropped them on the floor. He’d watched enough porn in his life and read enough books to know what a woman liked, so he began slowly kissing his way up her body, beginning with her toes.

  “That tickles,” she giggled.

  Smiling, he inched his way up her leg, past her knee, and paused briefly on her thigh. He’d never tasted a woman either. He wondered if she would allow him to do so now. There was no way to find out but to try. Inching her panties down, he dropped them alongside her pants, then spread her legs apart. If he didn’t lose it now, he would be amazed. Gliding his hands up along the inside of her thigh, he lowered his mouth to her heat. She smelled so sweet but her taste was heaven.

  “Oh…my…”

  She wiggled her hips and he knew she enjoyed what he was doing. Using his tongue, he moved along her soft skin, drawing out her liquids, as fine a nectar as he had ever tasted. The faster her hips moved, the faster he kissed.

  “Oh my…yes, Dusty. You are going to make me orgasm.”

  He didn’t stop but, instead, drove his tongue deep inside. She bucked wildly and he felt her body convulse over him. As she shook through her orgasm, he drank her up. When she was still and panting, he pulled his shirt off, then slid out of his pants. Taking a condom from his pocket, he slipped it on and crawled up onto the bed.

  She spread for him and as he eased in between her parted legs, he took her lips in a heated embrace. He slipped inside while he kissed her and their tongues danced. Moving in a slow rhythm, she matched his speed and together they danced the dance of love.

  As his body gushed with his release, she wrapped her legs around his waist and gave him everything and more and when she bore her fangs, he turned his neck and gave himself to her. He felt her teeth penetrating him and it shot straight into his loins. Her vein called to him and as she poured over him, drank him in, he bit down on her neck.

  As they savored each other, their surrender was complete.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Basil returned with Jonah, feeling discouraged. He’d left Dante and Danny along with Gypsy and Starla at the warehouse, much to his dismay, to watch for Chaos. He expressed vehemently that they watch the warehouse and not get distracted by their women. Though both men had vowed they would keep their eyes on the building and not their ladies, Basil knew it wouldn’t entirely be the case.

  Women had a way of distracting a man.

  Arriving home, he found Trinity in the kitchen, sitting at the table with a half-eaten white cake on a platter and a slice on her plate. “Tell me you haven’t eaten most of that yourself.”

  “This is my first slice. I’m trying to lose my baby fat, remember?”

  “You look fine just the way you are.” Sliding her chair out, he leaned over and sampled her lips. He found them quite sweet and tasty. “More of you to love.” His hand came up to cup her breast.

  “My breasts will shrink whether I want them to or not. Once my milk dries up completely, which I think should be any time. Do you have any idea how hard it is for me being around Felicity, seeing the grown woman she is and knowing my breasts are still lactating for her? I keep thinking I’ll get over my hatred for what Rajana did to all of us, but every day it seems to build more and more.”

  “I know. Is that what this is about?” He jerked his head in the direction of the cake.

  “No, well…not entirely. Felicity isn’t home and I was feeling—”

  “What do you mean she isn’t home? Where is she?”

  “Calm down, Daddy. She’s with Dusty. Before you blow an artery, sit down and relax.”

  He plopped into the chair with her shove and glared at her.

  “You can’t stop her from seeing him. Besides, I thought you said he was growing on you.”

  “Growing, slowly.” Basil grabbed the fork from the table and sliced off a thick chunk of cake. “Is it too much to ask that we be allowed to get to know our daughter, to spend some time with her without having to worry that she’s falling into the arms of some boy we know nothing about?”

  “Welcome to the world of parenthood.” Trinity laid her hand over his. “Want some ice cream with that cake?”

  “No.” He shoved the forkful into his mouth, scowling.

  “Any Chaos sightings?”

  He shook his head as he swallowed. “Not so far. I doubt even if he were to walk right in front of Dante and Danny that they would notice him now.”

  “Oh, why is that?” She took the fork back and helped herself to more cake.

  He wai
ted for her to finish her bite before taking the fork back. “Gypsy and Starla came along.”

  “Ah…” She stood up and grabbed another fork. “They’re more professional than to let the women in their lives distract them.” When Basil shot a look that clearly said, right, she amended, “Okay, Dante is, at least. Do you seriously think Chaos will go back there? Dusty got away from him; he won’t take the chance of being caught. Why is it Starla can’t pick him up on her radar if he’s here?”

  “I’m betting he has some help from the Dark Mystics.” He sighed, taking another forkful of cake. “Do you ever think to hell with it, let’s just get out of here and let the vamps have the city?”

  “Never, and it surprises me to hear you say that.” She laid her hand on his, drawing his eyes to hers. “We’ll get through this, Basil. I promise.”

  “I know. I just wish…well…it’s pointless since you can’t go back.” Stuffing the forkful of cake in his mouth, he suddenly realized it had a different flavor than the usual cakes they had in the house. “Who baked this?”

  “Gabriella. She’s decided to fill her time with baking for us. You should see the freezer. We need to get her involved. She is way too bored,” Trinity laughed, shaking her head as she broke off more cake.

  Basil toyed with his cake, suddenly not wanting it. “Would you consider having more children?” He lifted his eyes to meet hers, fearful of what she might say.

  “Yes.”

  That was not what he’d expected. “Just like that?”

  “Just like that.”

  “I never realized how much I wanted to be a father until you became pregnant. I think I would love a house full of tiny children with your attitude.”

  “Tiny children grow up to be adults with attitude,” she reminded him with a smile. “As is the case with our daughter. How many are you thinking? Because a full house scares the hell out of me.”

  “Three, maybe four.”

  “Uh…Two more. I can go with two more.”

  “Six it is,” he teased.

  “You know damn well I didn’t mean six.” She slugged his arm, then leaned over the table to him. “Want to get started now?”