Exquisite Breath of Darkness

by Candice Stauffer

  “No,” he growled. “Not for this moment. I belong to you for forever.”

  He looked so ferocious that she couldn’t look at him. Fear gripping her heart, she closed hers eyes.

  “What are you doing? Do not fear me. Do not hide from me, little one.”

  She opened her eyes.

  “And you belong to me for forever,” he whispered softly. If he had tried to appear less ferocious he’d failed. Regardless, he looked incredibly handsome. Every feature of his face was ruggedly masculine. He was hers. Only hers. “For forever,” he whispered. And she knew it was a fact he would never dispute.

  His lips were firm and incredibly hot as he feasted on hers. His kiss was demanding. He was giving her all that he was and expecting all of her in return. Even through their clothing, she felt the scorching heat of his hot erection as he moved his hips and rubbed up against her.

  It was hard to fathom, but she knew he’d taken absolute possession of her soul for all time and had given her his. Next, it would her body, his body. She’d never wanted anything more than she wanted to feel him inside her. His big, strong hands touched her gently, reverently. He explored her body, slipping his hand beneath her shirt to knead her breast and softly caress her ultra-sensitive nipples with his callused thumb.

  When he reached between their bodies, lower down her belly, and unbuttoned her pants, she was overcome with wild urgency. He slowly, kissing her gently, slipped his hand inside her pants. The instant his fingers touched her aching sex, every muscle in her body clenched and she cried out his name. “You’re so hot, so wet for me,” he whispered, his tongue teasing her ear.

  Parting her feminine folds, he stroked her gently. She couldn’t help but arch her body against his hand as she gripped his biceps and dug her nails into his flesh. “I love how you respond to my touch, how your body burns for mine.” Her heart raced wildly when his fingers entered her body and his thumb teased her clit.

  She was close to bursting, her sanity shattering into a million pieces. All she wanted, all she needed to make her complete, was to feel him moving deep inside her body. Reaching between their bodies, she managed to unbutton his jeans and slide her hand into his pants. His cock was hot and swollen with desire for her. He groaned his approval of her touch. He whispered a few words against her lips, but she couldn’t make them out. He was so hard, so impossibly huge. She had no idea how it was going to work, but she would not survive unless he filled her body with his cock.

  “No.” He went completely still. She saw such deep, terrible pain in his eyes. “Oh, Brianna, I’m sorry.” The next thing she knew she couldn’t see him and he was lifting her and placing her on her feet.

  She could feel his gaze moving over her, studying her, as he struggled with something. She heard him walk away. She swallowed the lump in her throat. He was leaving her.

  “Nikolas.” She walked over to him. Needing to see him, she reached up and traced his jaw and then his downturned lips. “What’s wrong?”

  “It hurts to look at you, to know you belong to me and that I can never be with you, little one. I’ve spent countless hours going over the facts, and it always leads me to the same conclusion. I would be an idiot to ever believe I have anything but death to offer you.”

  “What?” She was genuinely confused.

  “I love you. I want nothing more than to be with you, but it’s too dangerous.”

  She shook her head. “Just stop. You don’t need to make excuses. There are different types of love. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have expected more from you.”

  “I’m not making excuses. And I want nothing more than to have all of you. But I won’t risk your life.”

  “You’re afraid. I feel it whenever I’m around you. But I can’t figure out what a man as powerful as you are would be ever afraid of.” She paused. “Tell me what it is. Help me understand.”

  “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “It’s true.” Sadness deepened his voice.

  “I don’t believe it.” And she didn’t. So she searched his soul for the truth, and she found it.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “You’re afraid power has corrupted your soul so much that you would use it to hurt me.”

  “Who told you this?” He paused “Was it my brother?”

  “No.” She placed her hand over his heart. “You think it’s your mind I read without effort, but it isn’t. Your soul speaks to mine.” She took his hand and placed it over her heart. “You believe I’m better off without you.”

  “I’m right.”

  “You’re wrong.” She felt his anger and frustration growing, but she wasn’t afraid. Even if the anger was directed toward her, he would never hurt her. She knew it. It was time for him to know it.

  “It’s not my heart speaking to you. You’ve picked up on my thoughts randomly. I shouldn’t have come into your home. And I won’t argue with you. It’s a waste of time. You’re too young, too innocent to understand.”

  “I’m not too young or too innocent to know there is too much goodness in you for you to ever hurt me.”

  “You don’t know anything. You’re a baby compared to me. You won’t even try to comprehend what I’m saying. I know what I know.”

  “You’re right.” His cruel words hurt her like nothing else could hope to. She fought back tears. “I was wrong to think you would never hurt me. I want you to stay away from me.” She lifted her face to him as if to meet his gaze. “I’m serious. Don’t come near me again.” She reached behind her neck and unclasped the necklace he’d given her the night they’d met, and then she took his hand and placed it in his palm. “You would never use your power and strength to hurt me, but you would use words because you’re too much of a coward to hope for a future for us.”

  She was in his mind. She knew he couldn’t believe she had just called him a coward. He was an immortal warrior, powerful beyond her comprehension, and he believed she had no right to call him a coward. “It was a gift.”

  “I don’t want it. I’m blind, but I’m not stupid. I know you’re powerful. But it doesn’t matter how powerful a man is if he’s a coward. ”

  “I want you to keep it.” He growled the words.

  Shaking her head, she smiled. “You want to soothe yourself by giving it to me. I don’t want it. I don’t want any part of you. Leave now, Nikolas. And don’t you dare come back here.” She turned her back to him.

  She couldn’t see him, but she knew his every move. He reached out to turn her around, but he stopped. He started to walk away, but he stopped again and turned around. She felt him watching her for a few seconds. She knew the moment he looked down at the necklace in his palm and decided he wouldn’t leave without her agreeing to keep the necklace. “Brianna.”

  “Just leave “

  “I will. And I will stay away, but only if you keep the necklace.” She knew it was a lie. If she was ever in danger or simply afraid he would be front and center, ready and able to protect her.

  She turned to face him though she couldn’t see him. “You don’t get to make the rules. I don’t want it. I don’t want any part of you.” Intending to open the door for him to leave, she took one step, but she couldn’t take the next.

  She was paralyzed, and her sight was restored all at once. She didn’t panic. She knew he was both preventing her from moving and giving her the ability to see. “Do you think I want to look at you right now, Nikolas?”

  He stood in front of her and placed the necklace around her neck. “I will not leave you unprotected, Brianna. You will not take this off.” It was command she would never be able to defy. He bent his head so that his next words were whispered in her ear. “I will know, and I will kill anyone else who attempts to take it from your neck.”

  She felt his power, his strength, and his resolve. It was not a threat. It was a promise. Her first thought was to argue with him, but she decided against doing it. His mind was set. She’d misread his fe
ar for her. It wasn’t fear—it was arrogance. He wasn’t a coward. He was a tyrant. Because she was young, he didn’t value her thoughts and opinions. The instant she felt her body free from his power, she turned away from him.

  “I can live with you hating me.” He took her arm and turned her around, and then he framed her face in his hands. “But I can’t live with you being hurt. As long as you are wearing it I will know if you are in danger.”

  “You’re right, Nikolas.” She blinked back the tears welling up in her eyes. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her tears. “I don’t know you. I never did. And I never want to.” Lifting the dragon emblem on the necklace, she smiled up at him. “I am safe now. It’s a good time for you to leave.”

  “Brianna.” He breathed her name against her lips.

  “Go away, Nikolas.” She reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek.

  “I love you, Brianna.” But his fingers were already on her face, wiping the tear away. “Do you not see that’s why I’ve made the choice to set you free?” Her back was against the wall, his body pressed against hers. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” He kissed her lips. “You’re so young, so beautiful, so fragile, and so damn innocent. I’ve lived for ten thousand years. I’m a demon. I’m made of darkness. I’ve done many horrible things that you cannot even begin to conceive of doing.”

  “Please. I don’t want to hear anymore of your excuses. Go away, Nikolas.” She wasn’t going to allow him to make her feel sorry for him.

  “I didn’t need to kill those men tonight. I did it because the first man touched you.”

  “That’s a lie. Why did you kill them?”

  “I told you why. The first man touched you. It pissed me off.”

  “You didn’t feel his lust, his hunger for my flesh and blood?” she prompted. “I supposed you also didn’t hear the vulgar words describing what he planned to do me and the threats he whispered in my ear.”

  “Stop.” The instant he issued the command, she felt vibrations beneath her feet and heard the walls rattle, but she still had no fear of him.

  “Why? Because you’re afraid it will explain your anger at that moment? Don’t try to deny that you saw the images of the last woman those three men attacked at the same moment I saw it. They tortured and killed her. They planned to do the same to me. If I could’ve killed the men I would’ve done it.”

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. There’s no way you would have killed them.” He laughed out loud. The sound of it was cruel and mocking. “You have no idea what it takes to kill a man. You have no idea of the cost.”

  She nodded. “You’re right.” She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. It was a good thing she was mad, for she couldn’t cry even though he kept ripping her heart right out of her chest and crushing it beneath his feet. “Now leave.” She knew it wasn’t going to be easy. She knew it was the closest thing to impossible, but she planned to find a way to escape him for good.

  “Brianna.”

  “I’m very tired, Nikolas. Please, leave. I want to go to sleep.”

  “I need you to know that I tried to prevent you from being hurt. I will always love you, Brianna.”

  “So what? I don’t care what you need. You’re giving me a headache. Just turn around and walk away. No hard feelings. I just don’t want to hear your excuses any longer. They aren’t needed.”

  “We belong together, but we don’t fit.”

  “What are you doing? I’m not arguing with you anymore. I agree. All I want is for you to leave. And in the future, I want you to stay away from me. I thought I loved you, but I now know that what I felt for you was never love.” She frowned. “Love is a powerful emotion. I’m sure it would’ve turned to hate at a moment such as this, but I don’t have an ounce of hatred for you. Disgust is all I have for you.”

  She felt him hesitate. She knew she’d hurt him, but she didn’t care. She knew he’d come very close to taking her in his arms. For a moment, she wished he would, but then he was just gone. He left without saying a word. It was for the best. His excuses were killing her. It would’ve been much kinder to just tell her that he wasn’t interested rather than claim he loved her but couldn’t be with her. She’d allowed herself to get caught up in a fantasy the night they’d met. He was a man with way too much baggage. She’d rather live a life alone and never find love than be with him. No more. She was done. Done. Done. Done.

  * * *

  Samuel, Eli’s second in command, made no effort to hide his anger. “What the fuck are you doing? Why did you allow the demon to walk off with her again? And why the fuck did the other demon kill three of the locals?”

  Eli didn’t care what Samuel thought. “It’s not the right time.” Eli looked down at Mia’s license and felt a strange twisting in his heart. She belonged to him. He would not lose her. He put the license in his jacket pocket. “And it was their fault. I don’t blame him. They touched his woman.”

  “What exactly are you waiting for?”

  “It doesn’t matter. She belongs to me. We will take her when I say it is time.” Eli’s head was pounding.

  Samuel glanced down at Eli’s side. “Who the hell stabbed you?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Eli had a huge problem. He couldn’t allow any member of his pack to discover there was something physically wrong with Mia. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he sensed she was fatally ill and Joseph was sustaining her life.

  Perhaps, in time, Joseph would heal her. Demons were known to be able to heal people of the most deadly diseases. But it wasn’t the only reason Eli decided to leave her with Joseph for the time being. If they knew she was ill, the pack would kill her rather than allow her genes to taint their blood pool. And he’d searched for her for too long to lose her.

  “We’ve been here for months. You know the demons and vampires in the area are at war. None of us want to be caught up in their bullshit. But if we stay we’ll have no choice. Every day you put this off you’re losing the respect of the pack a little more.”

  “If any man has a problem he can come to me.”

  “There’s no way in hell they’re going to continue sitting around, waiting for you to grow a set of balls. Most of the men don’t have mates yet. You know that if you don’t get it together one of them will take her.”

  Rage slammed into Eli at the thought of Samuel or any other male touching Mia. He snapped. Shifting into the form of the wolf, he lunged for Samuel and knocked him to the ground onto his back. Samuel also shifted, but it was too late to do him any good because his throat was already in Eli’s powerful jaws.

  Eli knew all eyes were on them even though the rest of the pack backed up. They wouldn’t interfere; they knew Eli would view such behavior as a challenge and deal with it as such. He waited for Samuel to decide, holding his throat in a death grip.

  Samuel’s fate was in his own hands. Fight and die or submit and live to challenge Eli again. It was good for this to happen now. Samuel was just as strong and as powerful as Eli. One day Samuel would leave to lead his own pack. But first, it was only natural for Samuel to make a stand and at least attempt take over Eli’s pack.

  Eli waited for a few moments after Samuel submitted before he released his throat. Then he immediately took his human form. “You will not touch Mia. And think twice before challenging me again. I will kill you next time.”

  ~ Seven ~

  “WHAT ARE YOU doing on the floor?”

  Mia lifted her head from her knees and looked up at Joseph as he walked into her bedroom. “What are you doing barging into my room?” Honestly, she would’ve been more shocked if he hadn’t. “I told you I’d be back out in a minute.”

  “It’s been several.” He crouched down next to her. “Come on. Let’s get you to the bed.”

  Biting back the pain in her shoulders and back, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he carefully scooped her up into his arms.

  “You know I’m not a very patient man.” He carrie
d her over to her bed and slowly put her down on it. “You aren’t feeling well.” He rearranged her pillows and helped her settle back onto them. And then he leaned down and placed his hand on her forehead. “You have a fever.”

  “It’s nothing. I’m tired. I’m just feeling a little lightheaded.” She pushed her hand through her hair. “It’s been a long day.”

  “It’s from pain.” He sat down on the foot of her bed. “And don’t even try to lie to me. We both know you’re hurting. Did you eat today?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Did you keep it down?” he asked.

  “I don’t want to talk about food right now, Joseph.”

  He lifted her feet onto his lap. “What do want to talk about?” At first she tried to pull her feet away when he took her shoes off, but then she gave in when she felt the soothing sensation of him sending waves of healing energy into her body as he started to massage her feet.

  “Is Eli Thomas your friend?”

  “No.” She noted the distinct sound of bitterness or perhaps hatred in his voice.

  “But you know him?” she probed.

  “Yes, I know him very well, but he is not my friend.”

  “How do you know him?”

  “It doesn’t matter. He’s dangerous, Mia. I want you to stay away from him.”

  “You can’t just say he’s dangerous without any further explanation and expect me to believe you.”

  “You think I would lie to you?”

  “I don’t think you would lie to me. I know you would lie to me if you believed it was necessary.”