Dark Promises 4: Flesh & Blood

by Elisa Adams

  “I have to say I echo your sentiment.” Though his apparent detachment bothered her more than it should. Physical release only, Faith. Remember that. Ha! Easier thought than done. Though the sex had been great—phenomenal, even, as far as her experience went—she craved more from him than just a couple of quick orgasms. But he seemed even more determined than her was to keep their involvement on the solely physical level.

  As if reading her mind, Sam cracked one eye open and smiled at her. “Come here.”

  She complied, cuddling against his side. Sam stroked her hair, her arm, her back. She’d never felt so warm and safe, so cherished.

  The bargain.

  A chill ran down her spine. He didn’t cherish her. He might have wanted her, but he didn’t feel any kind of emotional connection to her at all. She’d offered her body, and he’d taken it. Nothing more. She struggled to move away from him, but he wouldn’t let her go.

  “Where are you planning to go?”

  She bit back a sniffle, the conflicting emotions building so fast inside her they threatened to tear her apart. “Don’t you want me to go sleep on the couch or something?”

  “Are you nuts? I want you right here, where you are now.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Go to sleep, Faith. You’re going to need your rest.”

  She frowned. Why was he being so nice to her? “Sam?”

  “Not now. We’ll talk in the morning.” He placed his hot palm on her forehead. A foreign, odd sensation of comfort and warmth wrapped around her. Her eyes closed, her mind succumbed to the call of rest. She tried to fight it, but she couldn’t. All protests died on her lips as she slipped into sleep.

  Chapter Three

  Sam sat on the edge of the mattress, next to the open window, his elbows resting on his thighs. The cool night breeze blew over his bare, sweat-dampened skin. He closed his eyes, sucked in a gulp of forest-scented air.

  Shit.

  Remorse washed over him, drowning out any leftover exhilaration. He glanced over his shoulder to where Faith lay curled in a ball. Her hair, nearly black in the inky darkness, fanned across his pillow in soft waves. Her full, pink lips slightly parted, her cheeks flushed even in sleep. An angel. She deserved roses and candlelight, courtship and kindness and trust. But she’d gotten him—more beast than man—all but tying her to his bed and barking orders at her.

  When had his life come to the point that he couldn’t back down from any challenge, even when an innocent woman had issued it?

  Apparently, the moment Faith had walked through his door.

  He snapped his gaze away from her, hung his head. What had happened between them had cemented their bargain in a way she would never imagine. She belonged to him now. No one would ever hurt her again. He should have sent her away last night while he’d still had a chance. Instead he’d forced her to keep her end of the bargain, taken her when he should have walked away. She deserved so much better, but she wouldn’t get it now. He’d kill any man who got in his way.

  No. A human wouldn’t accept that kind of behavior. Faith was human. He would have to play by her rules. At least some of them.

  The bed linens rustled. Faith let out a small sigh. He looked back to find her blinking at him, her soft brown eyes round and wary. His cock stirred to life at the thought of taking her again and he bit back a groan.

  “What time is it?” she asked, her voice hoarse from sleep.

  He slid a glance to the clock on the dresser. “A little after five.”

  “In the morning?”

  “Yeah. You should try to get back to sleep for a little while.” He’d prefer to berate himself for his boorish behavior in private.

  “I can’t. Without you near me, giving off such an immense amount of body heat, I’m freezing. Haven’t you ever heard of blankets?”

  “There are some in the closet. Do you want me to get them for you?”

  “I’m a big girl. I think I can manage it on my own.”

  The springs creaked as she got up and padded to the closet. Moments later, the mattress dipped as she climbed back into bed. Her small, warm hand pressed against his back. “Why don’t you join me? There’s plenty of room for two under the blanket.”

  His conscience—a new development in recent years—wouldn’t let him. “Listen, about earlier…”

  She stroked his back with her fingertips, sending chills down his spine and heat straight to his groin. Her nails scraped his flesh. “Earlier was…amazing. Let’s just leave it at that, okay? I don’t want to analyze it to death. I don’t want to talk about what a bad idea it was, what a mistake you think we made. No regrets, Sam. I don’t have any, and neither should you. Just let it be.”

  He shook his head. Had Paul ever seen this side of her? He pushed the thought out of his mind. He didn’t want to think about Paul, or any of her other men. Not now. Not ever. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I am. I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t.” She pinched his side. “What’s the matter? Feeling guilty?”

  Of course he was. Any man would, in his situation. At least any man with a tiny bit of conscience. He shrugged. “I have nothing to feel guilty for.” Go ahead. Tell her some more of your lies.

  Her hand dropped from his back. “Wasn’t it what you expected?”

  He shifted, facing her across the mattress. Doubt clouded her gaze. Did she worry that she wasn’t good enough for him? She couldn’t. Nothing could be further from the truth. He’d worshipped the ground she walked on since he’d first seen her.

  And he’d shown it by treating her like some kind of possession to do with as he pleased.

  If anyone should feel doubts about their self-worth, it should be him. “It was all I expected, and a whole lot more.” He had to force the truth past his lips.

  “Then what are you doing so far away?”

  His gaze slid to where the blanket covered her full breasts before snapping back to her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You didn’t.”

  Not yet.

  “Sam?” She reached her hand out to him, squeezed his thigh. A jolt shot up his leg, settled in his rapidly hardening cock. Did she not know how her touch affected him?

  “If you keep touching me, I won’t be able to control myself.”

  She laughed. “Yeah. I’m kinda counting on that. I don’t know what’s going to happen down the road, and I’ve got to tell you, I’m scared. I’ve never been this scared in my life. I want—I need—to forget. Please, Sam. Help me forget, for a little while.”

  “You don’t want that.”

  “Oh, and now you’re such an expert on what I want?” She came up behind him, pressed her chest to his back and wrapped her arms around his waist. One small hand found his cock, circled around the hard length of him. He bit back a groan. “Don’t tell me you don’t want me. I don’t like liars.”

  He put his hand over hers, intent on pulling her away, but didn’t. Her touch felt so amazing, so right, that he couldn’t bring himself to break the contact. “I won’t lie to you. I want you again. And this won’t be the last time. But what happened earlier…” His voice trailed off. What would she do if she knew the extent of his desire? The truth about what had happened between them?

  She’d run. She’d try to hide from him, and the people looking for her would find her and kill her. He wouldn’t tell her. Not yet. No matter how much his mind screamed for him to.

  “It’s just sex, Sam. Geez. Get over it.” She pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Isn’t the woman the one supposed to feel guilt and remorse in the morning?”

  She rubbed her pebbled nipples against his back, stroked her hand up and down his cock with an expert grip. He tightened his hand over hers, rode with her while she circled her thumb over the tip with every upstroke.

  “It’s not remorse.” Bullshit. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You will. That’s what men do. But that’s okay. I’m fine with it.” She laughed, the sound tinged with fear and pain. It nearly
broke his heart. She’d hurt him, too. More than he could explain.

  He pushed the tender feelings aside. Forget human emotions. Focus on the deal. The incredible sex. He tugged her hand away from his cock, pulled her around him until she straddled his lap. Her eyes widened, her lips parted on a sigh. His cock prodded her entrance, begging to push further inside. He arched his hips, sliding the head into her cunt.

  She pulled back.

  He groaned from the loss of contact. “What are you doing?”

  “Condom.”

  He closed his eyes, shook his head. His secrets would be the death of him if he had to keep them up much longer. “Oh, yeah.”

  Yeah, because if you tell her what you really are, she won’t come within a hundred feet of you.

  He waited the endless, torturous seconds while she tore the wrapper open and slid the protection over his cock. He wanted nothing more than to bury himself, unsheathed, inside her, but that would require explaining he wasn’t ready to do. He couldn’t contract diseases, couldn’t impregnate a human. But her rules were the ones he had to follow until it was time to tell her the truth. He’d just have to learn to live with it. He gritted his teeth, clenched his hands on her hips as she lowered herself over him.

  Her wet cunt enveloped him, surrounded him with her heat. He met her halfway, pushed up as she came down on him, driving his cock to the hilt with one thrust. She tried to lift herself up, but he gripped her hips to steady her, relishing in the feel of her all around him.

  How much longer would she let him hold her like this? A week? Two? When she found out the truth, it would take time to explain it all to her. She might never fully understand. But he couldn’t confess it to her now. Not before she was ready. And thinking about it too much would tear him apart.

  He leaned in, captured her lips in a kiss that seared straight to his soul. Would he ever get enough of her? He doubted it. But would she let him have a lifetime of what he needed?

  No. She was a human woman. He couldn’t allow himself to forget that. Although the bond had been forged, it wouldn’t give her everlasting life. She would be his until her human life ended. He saw no other way.

  He pushed away the depressing thoughts, broke free of her mouth and trailed his lips down her neck. The fangs he tried so hard to hide from her elongated in his mouth, but he resisted the urge to sink them into her tender skin. Not yet. Not until she was ready to learn all his secrets. He couldn’t take the chance that she’d run and endanger her life again. He laved the skin of her collarbone, trailed his tongue to her breasts and lapped at her stiffened nipples. His cock twitched, throbbed inside her, urging him to thrust. Not yet. Not so soon. His fingers dug into the soft flesh of her hips. She moaned, whimpered. Squirmed.

  “Sam, you’re driving me crazy.”

  That makes two of us.

  He’d been too hard on her the night before, and the need to banish the guilt rose up inside him. She had him by the balls, and sooner or later she’d learn that. There wasn’t much sense in fighting the truth, at least not at the moment. Letting her control the encounter would go a long way toward getting her to trust him, and once she trusted him, he’d be able to spill his deepest, darkest secrets. Or, at least some of them.

  He flopped to his back on the mattress and loosened his grip. “Ride me, Faith.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “No. Please, Faith.”

  A small, nervous laugh escaped her lips. She blinked down at him, her eyes clouded with lust and confusion, before she lifted almost completely off. She brought herself down, rose over him again and again in a rhythm that did nothing to ease his arousal. His balls drew tight against his body, his cock so hard he felt like he might explode. Her warm, slick cunt pulled him deeper each time she sank down. She brought him right to the edge of orgasm, but held him there for endless minutes, her strokes slow and easy. Maddening. He had to do something, anything, to increase her pace before his heart stopped beating from the strain. He pumped his hips hard against her as she came down, dragging a gasp from her throat.

  He didn’t stop there. Despite his intentions to let her control the situation, he couldn’t hold back once he’d started thrusting. The way she enveloped him, pulled him in filled him with an unfamiliar sense of urgency. He couldn’t hold back, and if he had to admit the truth, he didn’t really want to.

  Her hands came down on either side of his head, her breasts bouncing inches from his face and he pounded into her. He lifted his head, sucked one peaked nipple between his lips. His tongue swirled over the distended flesh, his lips twisting and teasing. She groaned, her body quivering around him. He dropped his head to the mattress and opened his mouth in silent request. She obliged, bending her elbows and leaning in closer to give him better access. Her position didn’t allow her much movement, but he didn’t care. His hands came to her hips again, tugging her down every time he thrust up. The sounds of their flesh slapping together filled the room, punctuated by their panting breaths and groans.

  His tongue darted across one nipple, then the other, swirling over the hard peaks of flesh. Her soft moans and whimpers drove him crazy. His cock ached, his balls tightened even further, ready to let go.

  He closed his eyes, fought for control until she’d found her release. “Faith, I’m really close.”

  “So am I.” She ground her hips against him, pushed back until he thought he’d explode.

  And then she did something that shocked the hell out of him. She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. The single, gentle action made his stomach clench and his mind reel. She had no right to be nice to him. Not now. Not after what he’d done.

  He let out a soft growl, reached between them to where their bodies joined. His fingers brushed her clit, circled the hard nub of flesh. Pressed until she cried out, jerking above him. Her inner muscles clenched, unclenched around his cock, driving him closer and closer to the release he needed with every cell of his body.

  The fangs he fought so hard to contain elongated, crying out to sink into her warm, soft flesh. Just one taste. Just a little bit. He opened his mouth, ready to close his fangs over her turgid nipple.

  No. Not yet. He wouldn’t treat her like a piece of meat. He closed his eyes, fought against his primal urges as his body raced toward what promised to be a powerful climax.

  Faith leaned in, trailed a line of kisses from his cheek to his chest. Her lips on his nipple proved to be too much. Sensation exploded inside as his climax washed over him, bringing him to places he hadn’t been in too many years to remember. The world faded around him until it was just he and Faith, floating on a bed of air in the middle of nowhere. Heaven, if such a thing could be believed. He never wanted to come back down to earth. But, just as he had earlier, he crashed back to reality too soon.

  Faith laughed softly, kissed his nipple, and slid away. “That was incredible. No other man has ever bothered to worry about me.”

  And none ever would. No other man would lay a hand on her again.

  * * * * *

  Sam lay on his back with his gaze fixed on the ceiling. Faith’s warm body curled against him, her breath feathering his chest with each slow, even exhalation. She hadn’t yet fallen asleep, but she would soon. As much as she wore him out, he couldn’t force his eyes to close. Something held him back. Worry, anxiety, the sense that the worst was yet to come. In the morning, the first order of business would be to find out who sent the men to kill Faith. The second would be to get rid of them. No matter what it took.

  Who, exactly, had Paul been dealing with? Being hired as Paul’s bodyguard, Sam had never been privileged to that information, though he’d tried to dig up the facts on more than one occasion. Paul had kept certain identities under proverbial lock and key. And now whoever Paul had pissed off had come after Faith. He didn’t want to see her hurt—wouldn’t let it happen now, though it would take disobeying direct orders from a very powerful Council. Faith needed him.

  He clenched his hands into fis
ts. It shouldn’t have come to this. Hadn’t he warned Paul on more than one occasion to be careful with her? To make sure he kept his wife out of his dirty business dealings? Paul hadn’t listened, and now Faith’s life was in danger. Anger clenched his gut in knots. Nothing would happen to her. He wouldn’t let it.

  Eric and Merida would laugh, seeing him like this. Obsessed with a human woman. He sighed. Even more than obsessed. His life, as he had known it, was over.

  A small scraping sound carried across the stillness of the night. He froze, even stopped breathing. It came again, raspy and metallic. Strange. Familiar.

  Shit.

  He nudged Faith, slid away from her. “Looks like your attackers found you. Get up and get dressed. Stay away from the door and the window, and be ready to go as soon as I tell you,” he whispered.

  She shot up to a sitting position, her eyes wide. “What’s going on?”

  “There’s no time to question me. Just do it.”

  He slid out of bed and pulled his jeans on. “Everything, Faith. Even shoes. Be ready to go.”

  He pulled a black t-shirt over his head, stepped into his running shoes and tucked the laces inside. He grabbed his wallet and cell phone from the nightstand drawer before he glanced at Faith and found her buttoning her jeans. “I think I’m going to have to start living up to my side of the bargain.”

  “Now?” Her face paled, turning ash gray in the light of the moon.

  Please don’t pass out. He wouldn’t be able to rush them out of the cabin if he had to carry her over his shoulder.

  “Yes, now. Duck down behind the bed.”

  She dropped so fast his heart stopped. Had she fainted? “Faith?”

  “I’m here.”

  “Good. Stay there until I tell you otherwise.”

  “Should I hide in the closet or something?”

  He nearly laughed. Innocent humans. “There’s no point in that. They know you’re here. They’ll find you. It’s their job. Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “Who?” Fear and suspicion sharpened her voice. “Do you know who’s after me?”