Expecting Darkness

by Mandy M. Roth

  She felt oddly in control though she knew she was anything but. It was all an illusion. While she might be able to knock him over, he was the immortal. He was the alpha, and that excited her. In that moment, she wanted to do nothing more than obey him.

  He licked a long line over the last of her cut and she watched as it healed over quickly, the skin pulling together and mending before her very eyes. She thought he’d stand and leave her be now that she was healed. He didn’t.

  The black continued to swirl in his eyes and he leaned in more, bending his head, putting his face level with her stomach. Searc drew in a long, slow breath, and then did the strangest of things—he kissed her stomach gently.

  He then stood so fast she nearly missed it. Bending, he gathered her in his arms and lifted her as though she weighed no more than a feather. He carried her to the room he’d first told her to take and laid her on the bed.

  She caught his hand in hers and held it.

  He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “You need to sleep, Jessie. I can sense how tired and drained you are. Giuseppe will have food brought up soon. I’ll wake you when he does.”

  “You’re leaving?” she asked, wanting him to remain close. He’d made her body respond in ways it never had to another before. He couldn’t just leave her in a state of longing. She nearly begged him to do naughty things to her. Things she’d read about in books and heard girls her age whisper about. She would have but instead she yawned.

  He stood to his full height but stayed near the side of the bed. “I’ll take the other room. As much as I want to stay here with you, it would be unwise. I do nae think I can control myself for an entire night next to you.”

  “Control yourself?” she asked, the weight of the day coming over her. She closed her eyes briefly before opening them to find Searc there, a slight smile upon his face.

  “Aye, lass. Yer pure temptation to me. Now, sleep.” He brushed her hair back from her face and planted the smallest of kisses on her forehead.

  As much as she wanted him with her, she realized he was right. She was exhausted. And she knew he was close. That should she have need of him, he’d be there. For the first time in months, she closed her eyes without fear.

  Chapter Eleven

  Searc finished getting cleaned up in the bathroom, thoughts of his conversation with his team haunting him. He’d barely slept having Jessie so close to him, and a million thoughts and worries running through his head.

  He’d spoken with Daniel, who had been vague except to say that Cormag was fine, but insistent that Jessie remain with Searc. In addition, Daniel stressed the need to meet in person to discuss recent revelations. As the sun was still out, that meant the meeting would have to wait, even though Searc wanted answers now.

  Exiting the bathroom, he went for a pile of clothing that Giuseppe had sent up just after dawn had broken. Searc grabbed a pair of jeans from it and slid them on, not bothering with underwear. He’d never been a big fan of restricting his cock in any way.

  He exited the bedroom and walked into the main suite area to find Jessie asleep on the sofa, a book from the hotel gift shop on her chest, her long hair cascading onto the floor. While she’d slept all day in bed, she’d clearly not been getting the proper amount of sleep for weeks and was overdue. She’d gotten up, had something to eat, showered and then told him she was going to read a book while he went downstairs to phone his teammates from a burner phone to check in, and set up a time to meet in person.

  He wasn’t surprised she’d nodded off again. He was thankful. He wanted her taken care of. She looked like an angel there, sleeping peacefully. She had one arm up and his gaze locked on it, remembering all too well how her blood had tasted the night before as it eased down his throat. His cock hardened at once.

  He’d wanted desperately to undress her and sample every inch of her when he’d licked her wound. It had taken great restraint to keep from doing so. And her blood had tasted as no other ever had. He knew he’d never be satisfied again with any other blood. He’d crave only hers for all his days. Just as he craved her sexually and no other.

  She’s a witch.

  As he watched her sleep, he knew better. She was no witch. She was an angel. His angel. His woman.

  Mine.

  The need to make it so rocked him and he had to take several long, deep breaths to control himself. Searc was actually happy he wasn’t in his kilt, but rather a pair of jeans. It meant he’d have to work harder to get his dick out. That was a good thing around Jessie. It was all he could do already to keep from pulling his cock out and masturbating to the sight of her.

  Pervert.

  He wanted to be buried in her. But he couldn’t. He’d promised Cormag he’d protect her, and that meant even from himself and his wicked desires. She was a temptation he struggled to resist. He couldn’t seem to stop touching her when he was near her. Already he wanted to go to her, slink over her, and simply caress every inch of her pale, creamy skin.

  And he didn’t even want to get into the unnatural pull he had to her stomach. The minute Giuseppe had mentioned her being pregnant, and that the child was Searc’s, it had been all he could think about. He wanted Giuseppe’s words to be true. It didn’t matter how foolish they were. The very idea of mating with Jessie and having a family together chased away the lingering darkness he always felt hovering near him. It gave him hope for the future and made him thankful he’d been sired at all. Had he not, he’d have never met her. But it was all just a fantasy. She wasn’t expecting and they weren’t mated.

  Take her, his demon pushed up at him. Claim her. Mark her as yours.

  He stepped back as his fangs burst free from his gums.

  Wait no longer. She is yours.

  “No,” he whispered, trying but failing to put distance between himself and Jessie.

  His vampire side refused to let him run and hide. It wanted her as much as he did. Maybe more.

  Unable to deny his demon any longer, Searc made a move to go for Jessie and she turned in her sleep, a look of pain washing over her face. She shook her head, her eyes still closed.

  “No! Stop. Don’t do this. Islay, stop them. Please stop them. I don’t want this,” she said, a sob breaking free from her. “Searc! Help me!”

  He retracted his fangs at once, her fear real, her terror gripping him. Rushing to her side, he bent, his hand touching her forehead lightly. His intent was to wake her. The same energy that had buzzed around her before she’d leveled him at her father’s club returned. He waited, expecting to be knocked on his ass once more.

  Instead, he was assailed with visions, images from Jessie’s mind. He saw her there struggling against restraints, an IV hooked to her arm. She was strapped to an exam table, fighting with all her might to get free. Men moved in around her, pinning her to the bed as someone in a lab coat came closer to her. Searc gasped as he recognized the men in white coats. He’d seen one the night prior at the club, talking with Islay. The other man had been present when he was captured and tested on. While the man had not done the testing himself, he’d been there, observing, watching it all happen. He’d also been nearby on more than one occasion when Searc had been forced to provide samples.

  She’s been tested on.

  As quickly as it all began, it ended, and Searc knew the images were similar to what Cormag had mentioned reading from Islay’s mind. Searc would find the man and kill him. He’d find everyone involved and make their ends painfully slow.

  Jessie’s eyes snapped open and she gasped, coming up quickly and throwing her arms around Searc’s neck. He held her as she shook in his arms, terror still holding her in its grasp.

  She scrambled up and onto him, knocking him backward as she did. He fell with her riding his body to the floor. She shook on him, clinging to him, and he held her to him. His cock had a mind of its own and didn’t seem to care that she was scared. It wanted in her. To hell with how she was feeling on the matter.

  “Searc?” she asked, her v
oice sounding small.

  Her pulse sped and he wrapped his arms around her tighter, the feel of her body pressed to his doing nothing to alleviate his hard-on. If anything, it made it worse. He was going to die again if he didn’t get some relief and soon. “I’ve got you, lass. Yer safe. You were only dreaming.”

  It was more than that and he knew it, but there was no point getting her worked up. She was scared enough as it was. Adding to it seemed pointless.

  She stared down at him, confusion coating her face. She wiggled on him and gasped when she pressed her mound against his cock, making him moan. There was a moment that he thought she might scream, but she surprised him by dipping her head, her long hair falling around him. Her lips skimmed his. “I had the nightmare again.”

  “Aye,” he whispered. “I know. Yer safe now, lass. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

  She focused on his lips and he was fairly sure he’d come if she kept looking at him like that—like she wanted him sexually too.

  Denying her wasn’t an option for him anymore. His resolve was weakened and he wanted to not only protect her, but give her anything she wanted. He only hoped that included him.

  She’s Cormag’s daughter. Stop thinking of her as a sex object.

  The thought kept him from dragging her head down and taking her lips for himself.

  Jessie watched him, a look of longing on her beautiful face. “Did you talk with your team?”

  “What?” he asked, his concentration shit with her on him.

  “You told me you were going down to the lobby to make a call.” A sly grin slipped over her lips. She moved on him more, causing their sexes to rub against one another again. Searc’s cock twitched and he thought for sure he’d spill his seed if she kept going. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t in her. She was close and about to make him come.

  Her father would kill him. Sure, he’d given his full blessing, but Cormag had meant in regards to protecting her, not bedding her.

  The thought should have sobered him and made him get up. It didn’t. He stayed under her, hoping she’d remain in place as well. So what if Cormag ended him? He’d die happy and sated.

  “You didn’t answer me,” she said, her lips still close to his.

  “Lass, I cannae think clearly with you on me,” he said, his hands skimming her sides before coming to rest on her backside. He kneaded her ass, pulling her against him more. Thumping the back of his head on the floor, he groaned in frustration, wanting release but knowing he couldn’t take what he wanted. “Lass.”

  “Yes?” she asked with a purr that nearly drove him over the edge.

  He held tight to her ass. “We should stand now.”

  “Uh-huh,” she whispered, straddling his waist, slinking down the length of his cock with her mound.

  He groaned in frustration, needing to be buried in her. All he wanted to do was flip her over and fuck her then and there. Resisting the urge took all of him. The entire day had been one filled with nothing but temptation.

  His sleep had been fitful until he’d gone into Jessie’s room and sat in a chair near her bed, watching her sleep. He’d nodded off then, sleeping in the chair, needing to be close to her to get anything close to good sleep. He’d woken to the sound of her in the shower. He could hear her in there, washing herself. He’d done the unthinkable while she was showering and he’d taken hold of his cock and worked himself to release.

  Searc assumed that would take the edge off his need for her. It hadn’t. With her above him now, it was as if he’d never even bothered to masturbate. His damn cock didn’t seem to have a stopping point when it came to the woman. If anything, it had just one speed—the want-to-fuck-her-nonstop speed.

  “Jessie,” he said, his hands still on her ass. His mind told him to stop; his cock was all in, to hell with what may come.

  “Yes?”

  “I need to call yer father and check in with him,” he said, hoping that would cool things between them. Short of a bucket of ice water being dumped over him, he didn’t think it would work. Still, he had to at least try.

  Nodding, she began to ease off him, only serving to grind her sex against his more. Searc’s willpower died instantly and he kept hold of her ass, causing her to rotate her hips against him. Her lips skimmed his as the scent of her arousal filled his head. He kept her on him, controlling her movements, his cock needing release.

  Jessie didn’t protest. She bent her head, her lips meeting his. Searc took their kiss to another level, shoving his tongue into her mouth. The minx above him moved just right and stiffened, the smell of her arousal washing over him. He knew she was coming and jerked up, bucking under her, dry fucking her. Within seconds he found release as well.

  He kissed her tenderly, wanting her to know what she meant to him. She was so much more than a woman one rolled around on a hotel floor with. Yet, he’d done just that. Shame filled him. He broke their kiss and cupped her face. “Jessie, I’m sorry.”

  She looked down at him, her brown eyes growing moist. “You regret it, don’t you?”

  He tipped his head. “What?”

  “You’re about to blow me off with some lame excuse as to why that happened and then tell me nothing more can come of it, aren’t you?” she asked, trying to roll off him.

  He held her in place. “Och. No! I’m about to apologize for acting like a rutting fool and rolling about with you on the floor in place of a bed. Trust me when I say, I do nae regret it. I regret nae taking you proper.”

  She eyed him. “Oh.”

  “Yer my maker’s daughter. I shouldnae have the feelings I do for you.”

  Jessie put her palms to his chest and sat up on him, as if she were about to ride him. His cock liked the idea and hardened again. It didn’t care that it had just found release. It wanted in her.

  “Feelings for me?” she questioned.

  He’d hoped she hadn’t caught that part. Searc swallowed hard. “Lass, yer nae ready to hear what I have to say.”

  She ran her hand down his torso, to the top of his jeans. “If I wasn’t your maker’s daughter, would things be different between us?”

  “Aye,” he said with a growl. “I’d be buried deep in you. I’d have claimed you years ago. You would be expecting my little one.”

  Shite. Tell me I dinnae just say that out loud.

  He closed his eyes, wanting the words back. He hated that he’d laid himself out there emotionally for her. He wouldn’t be able to stand her rejection.

  Jessie bent and kissed his lips chastely. “Just so you know, I’d have said yes to your claim and yes to a family with you.”

  She made a move to climb off him, but he held her there.

  Chapter Twelve

  Searc knew he should let her go, let her put space between them. It was the smart thing to do. Since he was currently on his back, on a hotel room floor, having just come in his jeans while dry fucking his maker’s daughter, he was running low on smarts enough as it was. A small portion of him wondered if this would qualify him for an honorable mention in the Asshole of the Week department.

  Still, her words radiated through him, making his demon take note. She wanted him too? Wanted to be claimed by him? Wanted a family with him?

  His hand made its way to her lower stomach and he found himself caressing the slightest of swells there, completely taken with the idea of Jessie bearing his children.

  She watched his movements and then pulled her long hair over one shoulder, her dark gaze lingering on him. “Searc?”

  “Knowing who and what I am, would you really accept my claim on you?” he asked, the words falling out before his mind could truly ponder them.

  Jessie’s full lips curved upward. “Yes. I have no issues with you being a vampire. You’re the one with the problem. You’re the one scared to do what feels right.”

  Scared?

  His demon took exception to the comment, as did his pride. “Och, I’m nae scared.”

  She arched a brow. “Really? Seems
like the only thing stopping us from acting on what we feel for one another is my father.”

  “I do nae fear him. I respect him, lass,” he said. “There’s a difference. And a man would have to be a fool to nae realize what Cormag would do to them for daring to be with you.” He cupped her face, wanting to pull her down and kiss her again. “I need to get a bag of blood and feed. Already I tempt my darkness too much with you.”

  She lowered herself on him, holding her hair back more on one side, giving him her neck. Was the woman totally crazy? Didn’t she realize how close to the edge he danced with his demon in regards to her? How much he wanted to sink his fangs and his cock into her?

  The look in her eyes said she more than knew and that she liked the power she held over him. Liked knowing he was at her mercy. The alpha side of him took the lead and the next thing Searc knew, he had Jessie up and off the floor and was carrying her toward the bed she’d slept in. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her lips finding his once more.

  His demon pulsed hard within, knowing what needed to be done. All the reasons why he shouldn’t faded away and all he could think about was her scent. The same scent that had coated the dress that had been used to take samples from him. The smell should have held bad memories for him, repelling him. It did the opposite. It turned him on more. It was the smell of Jessie. His woman.

  His mate.

  He gasped, breaking their kiss, stunned by what his body was telling him. She was his and it was past time he made it official.

  He laid her on the bed, his body easing over hers. There were far too many articles of clothing between them and he lifted her shirt over her head gently, her long hair getting stuck in it in the process. She laughed softly, the sound making his dick even harder as she assisted in freeing herself from her shirt. When she did, she tossed it aside, lying there before him in nothing but a pair of thin pants and a blue lace bra.

  He could see her pink nipples through the lace, and Searc thought he might actually lose it and come again in his jeans. Fuck. She was killing him. He didn’t need DNA results to tell him she was a temptress. He had the proof before him.