“Where in the hell did you hide that thing?” The words came out before I could stop myself.
His smirk blossomed into a full-blown smile that, I swear to god, reflected the stars in his eyes. Bastard. He’d outwitted me and I’d just confirmed it with my stupid question. Would it really be a bad idea if I took Ramona and hit him over the head with it? The jerk was so thickheaded I’d probably damage the gun more than him. If I hurt Micah, Roy would be pissed and his father would probably cut off my head. I was on shaky ground with the agency as it was.
Micah chuckled as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. We hadn’t known each other long enough for him to read me so well.
“I’ll tell you this,” he said as his laughter faded. “The bulge in my pants wasn’t because I was happy to see you.”
A nest of hornets swarmed inside my stomach. The feelings he brought out in me were too reminiscent of Julian breaking my heart into a thousand, million pieces. Angry. Vicious. Stinging. I wouldn’t go there, not again. No more ill-fated romances for me, thanks. The deep inhale of cold air I took was supposed to calm me. It had the opposite consequence. Micah’s rich, masculine scent filled my lungs much like the blood had. He was all leather and spice and everything nice. Under all those scents, though, was the hint of soap—my soap.
I had a consuming image of Micah showering, of him dragging my bar of soap over the rigid planes of his body. In my mind’s eye I watched suds roll in slow motion down his well-toned stomach. We trained together every day. We hunted together every night. Roy threatened to disown me if I didn’t. Over the last few months, seeing Micah shirtless and sweaty had become part of my day-to-day. Sure, he had his own apartment, but he spent so much time at my house he might as well live there. After the first week I knew every line, freckle and scar on his body. Some might call it obsessive. I called it having an attention to detail. I can’t help it if I’m overly observant.
A snarl echoed inside my head. You’re mine. Mine, Ella. I made you, taught you the pleasures of flesh and blood.
When Julian used my name, as opposed to the Swedish endearment min älskling, “my darling”, I knew he was well and truly pissed. It had taken me almost two years to learn the art of shielding Julian from my thoughts. After seven, I’d damn near perfected it. That was, until Micah had marched into town like he owned the place and shattered the perfect bubble I’d created around myself.
I sent a mental fuck-you-stay-out-of-my-business and slammed my shields in my sire’s face. My mental protection came in the form of a heavy metal wall with no door, no windows and no cracks. The fortress was impenetrable. In the next breath the only person in my head was me.
If only getting rid of Micah could be so easy. The last few months had brought too many sleepless nights. The man struck every nerve, and not the good ones. I shouldn’t be so attracted to him.
When had I become so infatuated?
I decided to blame my nonsensical desire for him on inactivity. With Micah camped out in my town for god only knew how long, demon and vampire activity was practically nonexistent. So was my morale. I needed to kill something. Or get laid…
Sex wasn’t an option. Not with Micah. We spent our time between physical and verbal sparring matches. We couldn’t agree on anything, from which station to tune the radio to, to which cemetery we’d go hunting in first. We fought about the weather. We fought about the lack of weather. Sometimes we even managed to fight about fighting.
I shook my head and brought my focus back to the conversation.
“Of course you weren’t happy to see me. I disgust you.” I pointed to my teeth, let the fangs slide out, and gave him an innocent smile. It was near impossible to look demure with gleaming fangs pressed against your lower lip. I think I nailed it. “So, tell me, the hard-on you got earlier today when I let you pin me to the mat was what?”
Color rushed to his cheeks and it sent an unexpected jolt through me. I’d just broken a cardinal rule. I’d mentioned the unmentionable. Sparring, it turned out, was a lot like sex. Every grunt, every pant, every moan of exertion tightened something inside me until I was ready to explode from the inside out. The tension built and grew until I was breathless.
It was hard not to react when an attractive, half-naked, broad-shouldered man had you pinned to the ground with your wrists above your head, stretching you out beneath him. For all of Micah’s faults he’d never, not once, mentioned how I trembled against him. How my nipples hardened under his gaze or how my ass gyrated of its own accord against the impressive bulge of his hard cock when he had me pressed face first against a wall. For two people who had as much animosity as we did, it was a dangerous game we played.
Micah’s stance shifted. I watched the muscle beneath the shadow of hair on his jaw twitch. It was silly how a little bit of facial hair could make a man look so…reckless.
“You call that a hard-on? Please. Your sire must not have been much in the man department. Oh wait!” The slap of his hand against his forehead rang out. “I forgot. He wasn’t a man at all. He was a dead, bloodsucking leech.”
“Ah,” I seethed. “You’re this close,” I pinched my fingers together, “to my fangs in your throat. Don’t talk to me about Julian and don’t get cocky because you got in one good punch earlier. I will hurt you. Then again, maybe that’s what gets you hot.”
Standing in the middle of a haunted eighteenth-century cemetery yelling at each other wasn’t the smartest thing either of us had done. Nothing attracted bloodthirsty demons like anger and lust. Micah stalked to me and the air around him fled away like frightened roaches in a spotlight. I, however, was not a scared little bug. Tilting my chin up, I met his eyes dead-on. My heart pounded and all the pent-up sexual tension inside me smoldered in my veins. The need to tear into his flesh, to taste his blood, was unbearable.
“You don’t have what it takes to turn me on. Sorry, babe, parasites don’t do it for me.”
I was going to kill him. “I. Am. Not. A. Parasite. I don’t drink blood and you damn well know it. The Shadow Agency made me swear an oath. I’ve never gone back on my promise.”
Oh, but I wanted to drink blood. I wanted it so bad it burned my throat just to think about it. How good it would feel splashing thickly over my tongue, sliding down my throat.
Despite every sense screaming at me to run away, I stepped across the three dull, countersank headstones between us. Out of control didn’t begin to describe how I felt. My gaze dropped from his eyes to the upturned collar on his jacket. The cuff hid the vein in his throat I knew throbbed with the rush of blood. His eyes narrowed and darkened as if he was reading my mind, sensing my desire. The shadows in his gaze weren’t fear. I’d never met anyone whose emotions were tied so directly to the ever-changing shade of their irises. Just like that, Micah checked out and the predator inside him checked in. Too bad for both of us, his predator brought out mine.
Energy pulsed around us, drew us closer. The wind howled through the pumpkin-orange leaves on the ground, picking them up, swirling them around our bodies and tickling my calves. Before I knew what I was doing, I slid my fingers down the front of his cotton shirt. My gaze followed their trail until I heard the sharp hitch in his breath. I flicked my eyes up to meet his. Fire. He grabbed my arm, tugged, and slammed me against his chest. The air whooshed out of me. One inch at a time, he dragged me up until the tips of our noses touched.
Micah’s gaze darted from my eyes to my mouth. Instinct forced my tongue against my lower lip, moistening it. He exhaled sharply and the warmth of his breath caressed my parted lips, danced along my now fully extended fangs. The next five seconds that passed had to have been the longest in my entire life. He didn’t kiss me. He didn’t yell at me. No. He let go of my arm so abruptly I crashed to the pile of leaves with a crunch. It was only then I was able to release the breath that had been stuck in my chest. Slow, steady, the beast inside him retreated into the darkness. The image reminded me of a hulking tiger fading into the jungle.
; His lips curved, not a smile but a baring of teeth, as he watched me pull myself to my feet. Micah didn’t try to help me up. Smart man. If he had, consequences be damned, I might have killed him.
I wiped the bits of rust-colored leaves from my black cargo pants and glared at him. He glared right back.
“You want me,” he said.
I was opening my mouth, more than ready to tell him all the reasons why I didn’t want him, when something flickered in the distance. What caught my attention wasn’t a figure but more a crackling of energy. Wind began to swirl around us. My skin tightened until goose bumps raised the fine hairs on my arms. A portal that allowed demons from other dimensions to cross into ours had just been ripped open. The pungent scent of Brimstone burned my nose.
Micah and I snapped into mirrored fighting stances. It was another sign we’d spent a little bit too much time training together.
I concentrated on the darkness and shoved my senses in front of me without an ounce of finesse. Things came at me in a bumpy rush, almost too overwhelming to process. The stench of decay was more than I could stomach. But there on the horizon, I fixated on an old mausoleum and let the scent of sulfur and death fade into the background. The stone walls of the crypt were cracked and covered in a layer of green ivy. To the right of the edifice was an angelic statue, the white marble turned ivory with age. Between the two, a thick layer of opaque fog hugged the ground as it rolled into view. The haze crept closer, billowing and pulsing with every consuming inch.
Humidity weighted the air. My skin grew clammy, my clothes clinging. The temperature went from almost freezing to smoldering. Steam curled from the ground to thicken the approaching fog.
I stepped in front of Micah. “Stay back.”
In one of those lightning-quick moves, he grabbed my arm and yanked me roughly behind him. “And miss the fight? I don’t think so. This one’s mine.”
Before I could open my mouth to argue, a need more fierce then I could have ever imagined slammed into me. My head was thick, heavy, and all I could think of was Micah’s hard cock pounding into me, making me scream.
“Fuck,” Micah hissed.
He turned to me. The look in his eyes was carnal and hungry. The expression on his face was feral and terrifying. My insides clenched and the rush of moisture between my thighs made the need unbearable. Micah’s gaze enveloped my breasts and the hard, tight peaks of my nipples. I saw the strain in every muscle that tensed and released in the hollows below his cheekbones, but he eventually met my eyes. We both swallowed.
I need you, his eyes said.
I’m yours, mine responded.
“Succubus.” Our breathy words echoed simultaneously.
As if we’d conjured it, the demon emerged from the mist, looking ethereal and more delicate than any sex-sucking bitch from hell had a right to be. I wanted to look away and I couldn’t. I stepped closer.
The succubus moved effortlessly through the thick haze. Roiling behind her with each step, long black hair floated above the mist. The strands moved in an unnatural tandem with the flaps of her shimmering robe. Through her pale, translucent skin I could still see the outline of the angelic statue in the distance like a double exposure.
She looked at me. No, not at me—through me. She stared into the darkest parts of me with eyes that were rich, swirling rings of color. The outer rim was royal blue, the middle a shimmering green and where a black pupil should have been there was a spiraling gold center. The curve of her mouth turned up and the look on her face promised nothing but pure, undiluted sin.
My fingers loosened around the knife I hadn’t remembered pulling out. The weapon thudded, along with Micah’s gun, to the ground. Invisible fingers moved along my jaw, tickled down my shoulder and pulled at my hand. The warm sensation beckoned me closer to the danger ahead. I forced my eyes away from the still-smiling demon to glance at Micah.
Unable to move, I watched him go to her, his trembling fingers outstretched and reaching. Each step he took was jerky and uneven. I got the distinct impression half of him was fighting to move in the opposite direction. His eyes, his beautiful eyes, were now glazed over with a filmy gray shimmer.
We were so screwed.
“Yes, hunter,” the demon purred. “Come to me. The darkness, the untapped power inside you tastes delicious.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Micah was firmly in the demon’s grip. I had to do something. Anything. I’d never phazed on purpose before and I wasn’t entirely sure how. Julian had conveniently forgotten to leave me with a vampiric manual. With the last ounce of willpower I could muster, I focused all of my strength on Micah, on feeling the heat of his chest at my back and his breath against my neck. If he went to the succubus, he wasn’t coming back. Not alive, at least. I concentrated on his scent, the leather and the spice. I thought of the soap, the three-inch scar on his chest I’d given him during an overly eager sparring match last month. I thought of him.
Time shifted in a woozy blur of colors. In the next instant, Micah was behind me. He took a half step and collided into my back.
Beads of sweat broke out over every inch of my body. Micah slid his hands under my knee-length coat. Drawing his fingers along my thighs, my hips, he brought me closer. He used one hand to cut across my stomach, hugging me. Slowly, he drew the other up between my aching breasts and I moaned. Micah’s caress didn’t stop until his fingers clamped over my right shoulder and his forearm banded over my sternum. He clung to me, pulled me harder against him. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move.
The shaking began as a gentle quiver I thought was coming from the earth. It wasn’t an earthquake—Micah’s muscles were seizing. One after another, violent shudders racked his body.
Micah’s breath trailed a line of fire along my neck. He pressed his mouth tight against my ear and gasped with what I assumed was his last coherent thought, “We’re fucked.”
The beauty in front of us let out a charming chorus of laughter that reminded me of porcelain bells tinkling in a cave. The sound echoed. The glamour all demons possessed flickered with the sound of her mirth. For a moment she faded between a mask of translucence and black decay. Demons might dress up pretty for us mortals, but underneath…well, the sight was gruesome. Micah pressed his body against mine, as if he could walk through me in order to get to her, and we stumbled.
“Oh my.” The succubus clapped with glee. “Aren’t you two a pair? The brave little vampire protecting her mate from the big, bad demon.”
I wasn’t going to bother correcting her. One, I wasn’t truly a vampire, and two, Micah was not my mate.
“Move any closer and I’ll cut your head off,” I hissed, or tried to at least. My words came out as a husky whimper. The combination was strange.
Movement disturbed the mist around the succubus and sent currents of fog through the air. Inch by inch, she unfolded a pair of shimmering wings that spanned three feet in each direction. Colors that didn’t exist in our dimension shifted on the delicate feathers of those gossamer wings. She flapped them, causing a cyclone of mist, wind and energy to fan the night.
Her head moved to one side, then the other. The look told me she was the wolf and I was the injured fawn. I was pinned, both by Micah’s unbreakable grasp and her piercing gaze. I had a sick feeling I wasn’t going to like what she said next.
“Is it possible?” she whispered. Something I couldn’t read flashed in those tricolored eyes and it scared the shit out of me. The succubus went still, thoughtful. “I believed it to be a lie, but no. The Vampire Queen and yes…the Demon Son. Destruction and mayhem!” She clapped with an unholy glee.
For the first time since I’d been changed, I didn’t feel my sire’s constant presence in my head. No, there was something much worse there now. Desperate, I reached out for the tie I shared with Julian. He would save me. He had to. In my panic, I was clumsy. Hand over imaginary hand, I yanked on the bond between us, but I was too inexperienced and it was too slippery for me to grab hold. I was falling into dark
ness. The sea of black was icy, such a contrast to the heat engulfing me.
The succubus chanted, her ancient words gaining strength with every syllable. My insides shifted, my skin burning. I looked down to see the arm Micah held across my chest glowing with bright, streaking lines. Serpentine was the only way I could describe how they moved under his skin. As I watched, the sapphire lines moved from him to me.
I screamed. I struggled. Nothing I did helped block the horrific sensation of things slithering under my skin. Gritting my teeth, I concentrated on the vampire who had taken my innocence, my love, my life and destroyed them all. Julian, I need you. I need you. I need you. Help me. The walls around my mind, around my bond with my sire, crumbled. I got a vision of Julian on his knees, a black cloak fanned around him to create an inky circle. The ground beneath him was cold, so very cold and hard. I couldn’t just see it, I felt it as if I were there. Pain. So much agony. Julian’s head was thrown back, his eyes glowing with blue electric flames so bright I couldn’t make out the features of his aristocratic face. The unnatural light illuminated dusty stone walls. There were others around him, seven cloaked in black flowing robes that made them little more than shadows. I knew without having to be told that this was the queen’s inner circle.
“Min älskling,” Julian warned. “You should not be here.”
His voice was not the tinny echo I’d grown accustomed to in the last seven years. The tone was different. Richer. It was how I remembered it when he panted against my neck while he fucked me. Jesus, was I inside his head? I didn’t have time to think about what I was doing.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
I pushed harder, reaching for him as if I could pull him inside me. He broke. Power poured into me, too much and too quick. I was drowning in it. I struggled for breath, struggled to orient myself. The snake-like lines moving inside my body coiled, struck. All the energy inside exploded.
Dark Cravings Page 2