The Forgotten (Demons Book 2)

by Marina Simcoe

  “Okay, I’m not claiming to be an expert here. I mean my one and only relationship with a human happened two hundred years ago. But for me, being together with someone I cared about was not work. In fact, it would have been infinitely harder to stay apart.”

  My chest tightened from the simple truth in his words, and I inhaled deeply before breathing out the acknowledgement, “Derek was the wrong man for me?”

  Ivarr just shrugged his shoulder.

  “Like I said, I’m not an expert, but it might be time for you to let go of your guilt and get over that man.”

  “Who told you I’m not over him?”

  “I don’t need to be told. I see it, remember?” he replied, matter-of-fact.

  “Just because you can see emotions doesn’t mean you can read thoughts.”

  “Thoughts are connected to emotions. It takes some practice—every person is different—but sometimes I can figure out what you may be thinking while you’re feeling a certain way.”

  “So, since I have some lingering guilt about my breakup, it means I’m not over my ex? Is that what you mean?”

  “Something like that. Emotions are often attached to people in your life. Let go of one, get over the other.”

  “Really?” I narrowed my eyes at him but was unable to stop the corner of my mouth from curling up in a smile. Despite the topic of our conversation, I didn’t seem to be able to stay sad for long tonight. “Sounds so simple.”

  “I may be wrong. What do I know, I’m just a demon.” A teasing glint in his eyes betrayed his good humour. “But human life is so heartbreakingly short, and your youth is evanescent. It seems a shame to waste them both, obsessing over things you can’t change and a man you don’t need.”

  “Well, if you put it that way . . .” With a smile on my face and the glass of champagne in my hand, I considered his words for a minute, swaying a little to the restaurant music.

  “Dance with me?” Ivarr asked, completely out of the blue.

  “What?” A blues melody played softly in the background, luring me into its rhythm. “Ivarr, this is not for dancing. There isn’t even enough space here—”

  “We’ll find space.” He tossed his napkin on the table, getting up. “Come.” He tugged at my hand still held in his.

  “I—” I glanced around the restaurant nervously. It wasn’t busy this late at night, but a few tables were occupied, people already giving us curious stares.

  “It’s just you and me tonight, Queen Katherine,” Ivarr reminded, his expectant gaze on me. “No one else.”

  No one else.

  My stomach fluttered with excited anticipation.

  Wine might have played a big part in it, but for once, I didn’t want to be the quiet, sensible Kitty. Suddenly, I was Katherine—the daring, fearless queen in a blazing red dress and golden shoes.

  Quickly, I grabbed his glass from the table and took a swig. Whiskey burned my throat like molten lava.

  “Fine.” I got up resolutely. “Let’s go.”

  “You’re not charging into a battle, my queen.” Ivarr chuckled, taking my hand. “It’s just a dance,” he murmured, tugging me forward.

  My skin tingled from being this close to him, as though a wave of champagne bubbles rushed through it.

  Hand on the small of my back, Ivarr maneuvered me between the tables towards the open space in front of the bar. Mindful of my injured arm, he lifted my hand in his and stepped even closer, almost flush with me.

  The first few steps were unhurried, following only every other beat of the music, as Ivarr led me in a slow dance. The confidence of his movements betrayed his skill. As soon as he sensed that I was able to keep up, he increased the tempo and took a few more complicated steps.

  “You’re a great dancer, Katherine.” His voice held an approval that warmed me from the inside. He extended his arm to the side, prompting me to twirl.

  The silk of my skirt swirled around my legs, hugging my hips in a twist before cascading down in soft folds again when he caught me back in his arms.

  “Thank you, but I wouldn’t say great.” I laughed. “Just whatever the few years of dance lessons through middle school taught me. Besides . . .” I admired the blue of his eyes above me. “Everything is easier with a good partner.”

  Following his confident lead, I allowed myself to get completely lost in the melody. The whole world seemed to fall away, leaving me with him—the only place I wanted to be at this moment.

  The soothing flow of music.

  The feeling of being safe in his strong arms.

  An effervescent swirl of happiness curled through me like luxurious gossamer silk.

  I was in a fairy tale, completely detached from reality, above any worry or fear. Right now, I truly felt like a queen.

  Ivarr’s queen.

  As if in a dream, I felt him release my hand. He wrapped both arms around me, pulling me into him. I rested my head on his chest, enjoying the feel of the hard muscle concealed under the crisp material of his shirt against my cheek.

  He slid his hands higher up my back, and I felt the warmth of them against my shoulder blades. His thumbs skimmed the edge of my neckline on the back, teasing my skin, as he led me in a slow dance.

  I turned my face to burrow my nose in his chest, breathing him in. Wrapped in his scent and body, I suddenly understood acutely the meaning of his words ‘life is so heartbreakingly short.’

  People had hardly any time to do what they wanted, and I’d wasted so much of it doing what I believed others expected me to do.

  Right now, I knew with absolute certainty what I wanted. Or rather whom.

  “I want you, Ivarr,” I whispered into his shirt. He was so much taller than me, I would never reach to his ear, and I didn’t expect him to hear me. But I felt his body tense and his arms flex around me as soon as my words left my mouth.

  Tilting my head back, I met his gaze. His eyes darkened to the colour of the ocean before the storm. The hungry heat in them sent my heart flutter, fanning sparks down through my belly.

  Sudden applause brought me back into the restaurant, making me aware that we’d stopped dancing. I swept the room with my gaze. The few people present clapped their hands smiling at us.

  “A bow, my queen?” Ivarr said, his voice low and raspy, then extended his arm to lead me to his side.

  My cheeks flushed hot from the acute awareness of the silk of my skirt swishing against the heated skin of my thighs when I dipped in grande révérence to our small audience.

  “Let’s get out of here?” Ivarr tossed a few large bills on the bar counter.

  “Let’s,” I agreed, breathless.

  Chapter 19

  WE ONLY MADE IT OUT the door and into the short wide hallway that led to the lobby, when Ivarr swung me to the side, pressing my back against the wall.

  “Don’t go out tonight,” I exhaled quickly, searching his eyes, as my pulse thundered in my ears. “Stay with me.”

  I lifted my hands to his shoulders, as his large body covered mine, and dug my fingers in his hard muscle, bringing him to me.

  “Tonight, feed off me.” My voice was firm, carrying my determination. There was no way I could let him go out right now in search of someone else. No way at all.

  “I couldn’t feed off another,” he rasped, leaning with his arms on the wall above my head. “While you slept, I went to the bar and . . . I couldn’t even talk to anyone there. I knew I had to, but the taste of your emotions in me—I couldn’t bring myself to soil it with anything else.”

  He slid his hands along the wall, to cage me in, and buried his face in my hair. “What are you doing to me, my queen?”

  “Me?”

  “I’ve been watching your feelings for me change and grow into a delicious mix. There are so many emotions in it now. Just for me. Too powerful to resist . . .”

  “Don’t resist.” I linked my fingers behind his neck and lifted my face to his. Champagne might have given me the courage to voice it now, but I kne
w I’d felt it all along. “I want this.”

  “There’s always doubt in you.” He groaned low, and I felt his arms tremble with restrain.

  “Oh God, Ivarr, of course there is! Doubt, anxiety, fear . . . But there is this overwhelming need for you, too. I know you can see it. I want this to happen. Even if only once.”

  This entire night might feel like a dream. But if all I was left with at the end was just a memory of the dream, I had to have it. “I want to know what it’s like to be with you.” I rose to my tiptoes to bring our lips closer. “I want to feed you.”

  Without saying another word, he lowered his mouth to mine, swallowing my gasp in a scorching kiss. His teeth grazed against my lower lip as he parted my lips with his tongue, demanding access with the desperate hunger of a starving demon.

  Swept into his kiss, I ran my hands up his hard chest, the fine fabric of his shirt smooth under my palms. Arousal heated my inside, licking up my inner thighs and swelling in my breasts. A moan escaped from my throat into Ivarr’s kiss.

  “My dinner,” he rasped against my mouth, his expression wild. “Now.”

  I hugged his neck as he swept me off my feet and carried me to the elevators.

  As if through a haze, I caught a curious glance cast our way by the night receptionist at the desk of the otherwise deserted lobby and hid my face in Ivarr’s shoulder.

  “You’re a true Viking with caveman tendencies.” I giggled softly.

  He shifted me in his arms to press the elevator call button.

  “A true Viking would’ve tossed you over his shoulder and run, which would have been much faster, too,” he groaned. “I have to hold back and act civil to avoid questions that would slow us down.”

  He carried me into the elevator and kissed me again before the doors even closed.

  “There must be cameras in here,” I panted between his kisses, cupping the side of his face.

  He leaned away a little, and my breath caught at the sight of him. The passion of his eyes on me, the pools of blue rimmed with bright crimson. It didn’t scare me in the slightest to see the red glow this time.

  “Your eyes,” I whispered, gliding my hand up his smooth cheekbone. “They are so beautiful.” I smiled. “You’re too handsome to be a Viking. You need some ruggedness to go with your muscles. A couple of scars? A beard, maybe?”

  “Scars don’t stay on my kind. Everything heals eventually.” He kissed my hand at his face. “But I can grow a beard for you.” He chuckled. “Just say the word, my queen.”

  I wrapped my arms round him, bringing us closer as he kissed my neck—hot and urgent. My eyelids drooped, and I melted into him, cascading waves of warmth spreading through me with his every kiss. Breathless, I couldn’t get enough of his mouth on me.

  I was only half-aware of him unlocking the door of our room then kicking it shut behind us.

  Lowering me gently onto the bed, he trailed kisses down my collarbone while blindly searching through my expansive skirt with his hands.

  I felt his hot mouth close over my nipple through the fabric of the dress the same moment his large hands landed on my naked thighs. A sharp charge of desire shot through my lower stomach and pulsed between my legs.

  The need for him flooded my veins with liquid heat.

  “Ivarr,” I pleaded, curling my fingers in his hair as he rolled my nipple between his teeth.

  He flashed me a crimson glance and tugged on my underwear as I lifted my hips to help him slide it down my legs.

  Rising to his knees on the bed next to me, he clicked his belt buckle open.

  “This course will be fast,” he warned, pulling his zipper down. “Control is hard around you.” He grabbed my hips and yanked me to him along the bed then covered my body with his. “I’m starving,” he murmured against the side of my neck as his hand moved down between us. “And everything about you is so delicious.”

  I gasped when I felt his fingers parting my folds. His touch ignited a new fiery rush of arousal, and I eagerly ground my core against his hand.

  Dipping his finger inside me, he pumped it in and out, slowly at first, circling my most sensitive spot at the end of each thrust, until my legs trembled, and my inner muscles clenched with need to come.

  “Soon, sweetheart,” he soothed in response to my whimpers. His fingers left me, then I felt the heat of the thick crown of his shaft press against my entrance.

  With a guttural groan, I arched into him, prompting him to close the distance between us.

  Slowly, he eased in, stretching me and filling me completely.

  “Ivarr . . .” I breathed out, savoring the taste of his name on my lips along with the exquisite sensation of having him fully inside me.

  He paused for a moment, and a small shudder rippled through his powerful body.

  “What is it?” I slid my hands up and down the tight, corded muscles in his neck and shoulders, hard like rock under his shirt. “Ivarr?”

  “It’s just . . . been a while,” he whispered through his clenched teeth and pressed the side of his face to my temple. “And you . . . This is more than I could’ve imagined.”

  Gently, I caressed his back, chasing the tension out of his body. Slowly, he began to pump his hips.

  Long and sensual at first, his thrusts increased in speed and intensity.

  I yanked the leather cord out of his hair, setting it free, and fisted my hands in the golden mass. Burying my nose in his shoulder, I breathed him in, eager to absorb all of him as he took me higher with every thrust.

  “Now, my sweetness,” he whispered, and I felt his hand dip between us. One slide, one swirl of his dexterous fingers set the orgasm shuddering through me in powerful spasms, the rhythmic pressure of his thrusts extending it and making my climax feel like it would last forever.

  With a loud growl, he pumped his own release inside me, matching my rhythm.

  His arms tightly around me, he rolled us in bed, placing me on top, then let his arms drop wide to the sides. “You are incredible,” he panted.

  “Me?” I nuzzled his chest, the frantic excitement slowly giving way to the cozy afterglow inside me. “I didn’t do much.”

  “You did everything. You are everything.” Gently, he caressed my arm from wrist to the shoulder. “You make me feel—”

  “Fed?” I giggled.

  “No, not just fed, darling. You make me feel special somehow. Important. And your energy is . . . There is this flavour to it that I can’t seem to get enough of.”

  “How does it look?” I rose from his chest to see his face.

  “Mesmerizing.” His warm smile softened the receding scarlet in his eyes. “Like the tiny tendrils of a rainbow pulsing hot through every emotion you have. And it tastes—” He paused, as if in search for a perfect word. “Incredibly addictive.”

  The light caress of his fingers up and down my arm stopped at my shoulder where he hooked his thumb under the thin strap of the dress and slid it down, setting my breast free. The edge of the neckline tugged at my nipple on its way down. My breast immediately felt heavier as the tip pebbled.

  My breath hitched in the back of my throat, and my skin tingled with a renewed wave of anticipation. I shifted my hips a little, in an attempt to alleviate the achy need building up between my thighs again.

  His eyes immediately flashed bright red.

  “I want more,” he gritted through his teeth.

  “More?” I sat up. The skirt of my dress draped over our hips in scarlet waves of silk.

  “That was just the first course, sweetheart.” With a teasing smile, he lifted my skirt and slid the dress over my head then sent it flying across the room.

  “How many courses are there?”

  “Well, it’s a classy establishment.” He eased hairpins out of what was left of my up-do, tossing them to the floor one by one. “Seven? Eight?”

  “Eight!” I gasped. “That would never happen for me. Not even close.” Reaching two orgasms in one night was already a huge stretch in
my case.

  He cupped my breast and brushed my nipple with his thumb. I arched my back, pressing into his touch.

  “Make it nine,” he rasped before leaning in and sucking my other nipple between his lips. “Dining at its finest,” I heard him murmur between the nibbles and licks that quickly made heat spread in waves through me all over again.

  Chapter 20

  SOMETIME LATER THAT night, I’d lost count of Ivarr’s ‘courses.’ With relentless hunger and infinite passion, he reaped a never-ending cascade of orgasms out of me, rendering the world around us non-existent.

  For a few blissful hours, it was just he and I, lost in each other.

  Ivarr’s lovemaking was all-consuming. I never had anyone enjoy me so thoroughly inside and out, obviously savoring every touch, every taste, and every sensation. His relishing my body this reverently did extraordinary things to me. I felt appreciated, cherished, worshiped.

  Losing all inhibitions, I delighted in giving this joy to him, wanting to give more every time he took.

  “Full?” I asked softly, threading my fingers though the silk of his hair when he collapsed at my side, his face pressed to my shoulder.

  “Never,” he groaned against my skin, visibly struggling to catch his breath. “I don't think I could ever have enough of you.” He lifted his head, his eyes blazing red with the passion of every orgasm he’d given me. “But you need a break.” He smoothed the tangled hair out of my face.

  I stretched head to toe at his side, the delicious ache of thorough satisfaction rolling through me.

  “Mmmm. Feeding a demon is exhausting.” My eyelids half-closed, I snuggled into the warmth of his body.

  “I’ll have to ask you some questions, sweetheart,” he said softly, an apologetic note ringing in his voice. “You’ll need to stay awake for a few more minutes.”

  Turning on his back, he curled his arm around my shoulders, and I settled my head on his chest.

  “Fire away,” I mumbled, marveling at his high level of alertness when I myself felt as if I slowly descended into a warm pool of melted chocolate—soft, sweet, and thoroughly delicious.