Born in the Shadows (In the Shadows Series Book 1)

by Courtney McPhail

  ***

  Gabe came awake slowly, doing his best to fight off consciousness. He didn’t want to leave behind the dream he was having. He was comfortable and warm and Cordelia was in his arms.

  He slid his hand up the smooth skin of her stomach, the tips of his fingers touching the underside of her breast. He nestled his groin further into the curve of her ass, feeling his cock stir against her soft flesh. He groaned as he buried his nose in the hair at the nape of her neck, breathing in her familiar scent of vanilla and lavender. God, she felt so good in his arms.

  His hand moved higher and he palmed her breast, her nipple hardening at his touch. Her warm flesh felt good in his hand as he massaged the heavy globe. Cordelia sighed dreamily when the pad of his thumb began to circle the tip of her nipple and Gabe groaned in response.

  The arousal flowing through him shook off the last dregs of sleep and he came fully awake, realizing that he hadn’t been dreaming about her after all. Cordelia really was laying next to him and he had his hands all over her.

  As she stirred from her own sleep, he quickly pulled his hands away and rolled over on his back. He stared up at the canopy, praying for his erection to go down. A raging hard on poking you in the hip wasn’t the way you wanted to wake up next to someone who was just a friend.

  She rolled over to face him and he felt his heart skip a beat. Her hair was a riot of copper curls that served as a halo for her angelic face. Her features were softened by sleep, eyelids half hooded, cheeks flushed and pink lips swollen. She had never been more beautiful than at this moment.

  In the faint light from the bathroom, he could see that she was smiling up at him. “Hey.”

  “Hey yourself.”

  “Did you sleep well?”

  “Yeah,” he replied. I kept dreaming about making love to you and I woke up with my hand on your tits. Definitely a good idea to keep that truth locked up tight in his head.

  “Good. You were pretty much dead on your feet before.”

  He wasn’t dead anymore and all he could think about was the fact that less than a foot of space separated their bodies beneath the blankets. Yeah, not helping. If he kept up that train of thought and he’d be tenting the sheets in no time. Damn, he really should go in the bathroom and take care of himself or something. Except he didn’t want to leave her side.

  “Did you sleep okay? I didn’t snore, did I?” he joked lamely, trying to get his brain to focus on something that wasn’t his cock or her warm body.

  “I slept fine, no snoring,” she said with a smile before suddenly wincing, as if she was in pain.

  He instantly forgot about his dick, worry for her shaking off the last cobwebs of sleep. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing,” she said, shaking her head and taking a deep breath. “I’m just hungry is all. It’s fine, it’ll pass.”

  “Why don’t we just go down to the kitchen?”

  “I’m not hungry for food,” she told him and he saw her fangs beginning to poke out from beneath her lips. He realized that she wasn’t looking at his face but instead her eyes were glued to his neck. What she was hungry for became crystal clear. She winced again; this time her body jerked in pain and she tried to suppress a groan.

  “Do you want me to get Nicky?”

  She shook her head. “It’s fine, really.”

  “You don’t look fine,” he said. “When was the last time you ate?”

  “In the alley.”

  That had been two days ago. Well shit, he was an asshole. He had made her stay here with him, forcing her to starve herself.

  “Cordy, you need to eat. You’re in pain.”

  “I don’t want to bother Marcus, not after everything that has happened.”

  Yeah, he definitely didn’t want her bothering Marcus either. The idea of her biting anyone else made him sick to his stomach. Her lips and her hands on someone else’s body. Someone else’s blood inside her. Someone else taking care of her. All of it flared a burning jealousy inside him. He wanted to be the one that she touched. He wanted to be the one who fed her. He wanted to be the one who was inside her.

  Except the last time he had offered that, it had blown up in his face. But she was in pain and needed it. Maybe she wouldn’t get pissed at him now.

  “Marcus isn’t the only human here. I know things didn’t go so well the last time I offered but this time, I’m doing it because you need it, not because I want it.”

  He held his breath as he waited for her response. Her eyes stayed on his neck, as if she was mesmerized by the pulse beating there. She blinked a few times, seeming to clear her head before she met his eyes again.

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded his head. “I hate seeing you in pain.”

  She smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

  He sat up, leaning back against the headboard and Cordelia rose up on her knees, her eyes on his throat, her fangs flashing in the dim light.

  “Just relax, I promise it won’t hurt,” she told him, placing her hands on his shoulders as she leaned into him. At her touch, his body jumped into overdrive, his cock getting painfully hard and he was glad that the blankets effectively hid his lower half from her. What he couldn’t hide was his racing heart and his laboured breathing and she gave him one last questioning look. When he nodded his reassurance, she lowered her mouth to his neck.

  The tips of her fangs rasped against his skin and he felt his sac pull tight against his body as a bolt of arousal shot down his spine. Before he could fully register the sensation, her fangs were plunging into his neck and a rush of endorphins lit up his circuit board.

  His mind instantly cleared and what he wanted came into sharp focus. He didn’t just want his blood inside her; he wanted every part of him inside her. He wanted to plunge his tongue into her mouth and between her legs, to know what she tasted like there. His erection throbbed with wanting to feel her silk heat clinging around him as he filled her.

  With each pull of her mouth on his neck, he felt an answering pull in his hips, his cock twitching with a life of its own. Oh fuck, it felt good.

  He was distracted by the feel of her lush breasts brushing against his naked chest as she fed on his neck. The only thing that separated them from making skin-to-skin contact was her flimsy tank top and he wanted to tear it from her body. Instead of shredding her wardrobe, he went the easier route, reaching up and pulling down the front of her top so her naked breasts spilled out into his hands.

  He cupped them, testing their weight as his thumbs zeroed in on her nipples. Soft circles had the flesh puckering and pinching the hard nubs had her groaning against his throat and gasping for breath.

  “Gabe, I need…”

  “What, baby, tell me what you need,” he whispered in her ear as he rolled a nipple between his fingers.

  She bucked her hips, grinding against his cock as she whimpered. “I need you to touch me, right there. Please.”

  Her pleading voice caused his cock to jump but he did his best to ignore it. This was about making her feel good. He slid one hand from her breast down to the waistband of her shorts, quickly slipping it beneath the fabric. He palmed her smooth mound, his middle finger slipping between her folds and finding her dripping wet. They groaned in unison when he found the hard nub there, stroking it with the pad of his finger.

  “Yes,” she hissed, her eyes squeezing shut. “Right there, Gabe.”

  He put a hand on the back of her neck and urged her back to his throat where she latched on. Her hips began to swivel unconsciously with the rhythm of her mouth and his hand. He let a long finger slide inside her slick channel and her muscles gripped the invading digit tightly as it moved inside her.

  She released his neck, her tongue lapping at his flesh before she moved her lips to his ear, her rasping breath tickling his skin.

  “Please Gabe, don’t stop.”

  Her breathless words spurned him on and he pushed another finger inside her marvelling at the way she squeezed around him, as i
f her body was afraid he would leave her unsatisfied.

  Fat fucking chance.

  Damn, she felt good. He wanted to strip her naked and plunge his cock inside her and stay there forever but the way she was panting told him she was close. He pressed his thumb against her swollen button, moving in tight, fast circles and he felt her entire body tense above him.

  “Come for me, Cordy.”

  As if at his command, she shot over the edge, her body trembling above him as she cried out from her orgasm.

  She collapsed half on top of him and he pulled his hand out of her shorts so he could wrap his arms around her and pull her against his side. She murmured softly as her head came to rest on his shoulder and her arm banded across his chest, hand splaying over his pectoral.

  Her eyes were closed and a satisfied smile graced her lips. She looked absolutely gorgeous. He could not help but grin smugly. Damn straight, he had put that look on her face and he had never been prouder.

  As her breathing evened out, he became hyper-aware of his own arousal that he had ignored in favour of getting her off. He glanced down his body, realizing that at some point, they had dislodged the blankets and his lower half was bared. His erection strained against his boxers, his swollen head peeking through the slit in the front, the tip glossy. Christ, did his balls ache.

  He glanced down at Cordelia’s peaceful face and figured his best course of action would be to leave her here to sleep while he went in the bathroom and relieved himself. If he stayed in bed with her a minute longer, he knew he was going to take her.

  Decision made, he began to shift away from her but her hand gripped his chest and he froze, looking down to see her eyes wide open.

  “Where are you going?”

  “The bathroom…uh, I just need to take care of…me.”

  Well, wasn’t he an idiot. Not like there was really a right way to tell a woman you were going to go beat off in the bathroom.

  “Uh uh,” she said, shaking her head in disapproval. Her hand moved from his chest, trailing its way down his stomach before it disappeared beneath the waistband of his boxers. His eyes grew wide and he moaned mindlessly when her hand wrapped around his shaft. She grinned at his reaction and licked her lips.

  “You aren’t going anywhere.”

  ***

  Cordelia felt as if she was stuck in the most wonderful of dreams. Her body was still tingling from the orgasm that Gabe’s fingers had coaxed from her and her hand was wrapped around the hard length of his arousal. His arousal for her.

  She tightened her grip and let her hand slide up his shaft, twisting her wrist as she palmed the head. Gabe hissed and thrust his hips up, nestling his cock further into her hand. She smiled at his reaction and felt a liquid heat begin to bloom between her thighs again.

  She remembered his whispered words from earlier, his wish that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. He had been so wrong. She most definitely wanted him and to know that he felt the same just added fuel to the fire. This wasn’t happening because she was making him do it. He wasn’t doing it for the bite. They were both here because they wanted to be.

  She smiled as she pulled her hand out of his boxers and he groaned, his face crumpling like a puppy being scolded. She rose up on her knees and hooked her thumbs under the hem of her shorts.

  “You lose the boxers and I’ll get rid of these,” she told him.

  She jumped as he rocketed up into a sitting position, his hands flying to his boxers and yanking them down his legs. She paused to stare down at his naked body, her eyes zeroing in on his bobbing erection.

  God, he was big. She didn’t have that much experience but she knew a big boy when she saw one. Her sex throbbed with anticipation to feel him inside her.

  “Your turn.”

  His voice was raspy as he stared at her. She did as he asked, pulling off her shorts and tossing them somewhere behind them. His gaze dropped to the juncture of her legs and as he studied her most intimate place, the throbbing heat there grew until it was nearly painful.

  He reached out and grabbed the backs of her thighs, pulling her towards him and urging her to lift one leg so she could straddle his hips. The white-hot heat of his erection against her slick mound had both of them gasping.

  She rose up on her knees, breaking contact so she could slip her hand between them and grip his shaft, ready to guide him inside her. But before she could, he took advantage of the fact that her position had put her breasts in line with his mouth. She cried out as his tongue darted out to lick one of her nipples. He began to suckle her in earnest, his teeth even getting in on the action. His long fingers went to work on her other nipple, pinching and pulling in time with his tongue teasing the other one.

  She fought to focus in the fog of arousal, her hand tightening on his hard length as she brought him to her entrance. His mouth faltered on her breast as she lowered her hips and he slid home.

  He filled her completely and she was shocked by the orgasm that ripped through her body as his length stretched her. The aftershocks rocked her but not as much as the knowledge that he could make her feel like this. It had never been this easy to come.

  “Baby, let me do the work now,” he whispered into her ear. She nodded mindlessly, still drowning in the haze of her orgasm. It took her a moment to realize that Gabe had rolled them so that she was on her back and he was hovering over her.

  His hand gripped the back of her knee, spreading her legs wider to accommodate him as he surged forward, pushing himself deep inside of her. She thought she had gone numb after the last orgasm but she was wrong. Each thrust of his hips built the pleasure inside her and she moved with him as he stroked her hard and strong.

  She could feel her fangs punch out of her mouth as she got close to the edge. Gabe’s head was resting against her shoulder, his ragged breath in her ear, the throbbing vein in his neck right by her mouth. She could feel it pulsing with his racing blood as he pumped inside her. Her fangs throbbed painfully, demanding she take his vein again but she was worried she had already taken too much from him.

  But instinct had a way of winning out over rational thought and when he shifted so he was pushing even deeper inside her she bit him. The taste of him on her tongue triggered her orgasm, her muscles clamping down on his shaft and she felt his body tense above her.

  It hit her like a tidal wave as he released himself inside her. The pleasure that crashed through her was a million times stronger than anything she had ever felt and she threw her head back to cry out. An echoing groan filled her ears as Gabe shuddered above her.

  He collapsed on top of her but she barely noticed his weight. She was lost in her own haze of blissful contentment. They stayed like that for a while, silent except for their laboured breathing, basking in the afterglow.

  Eventually she felt Gabe stir above her, shifting his body to stretch out on his side so he took his weight off of her.

  “Sorry about that,” he said, his voice rough. “I didn’t crush you, did I?”

  “Nope, I’m good. You okay?”

  “I’m great, baby,” he said, leaning over to press a kiss on her lips. “That was amazing. It’s never been like that before.”

  “Same for me. I think it was like that because of the feeding.”

  “You Shadow Walkers really are the lucky ones. Immortality and great sex.”

  She laughed and he smiled at her for a moment before something seemed to pop into his thoughts and his expression darkened.

  “I have to ask, do you do this with Marcus?”

  “You mean, when I feed on Marcus, do I have sex with him?”

  He nodded his head.

  “Would it matter?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I want to know if this is something you do whenever you feed or if this meant something more.”

  “No, I don’t do this when I feed on Marcus. Yes, this meant something more.”

  “Good.” His smile was more feral than happy, a hi
nt of possessiveness to it and she felt her heart skip a beat. It was like a dream. Not only did he want her, he wanted it to mean something. Or at least he wanted her to feel that. He had kind of left her hanging and pretty exposed by not confessing his feelings on the matter.

  She turned her head to stare at him across the pillows. “What about you? Does this mean something more for you?”

  He propped himself up on an elbow and stared down at her, reaching out to brush her mussed hair off her brow tenderly. “What happened between us means the world to me. It’s been hell to be just your friend when I wanted so much more with you.”

  “You know, we could have gotten to this a lot sooner if you had just told me that in the first place,” she smirked up at him.

  “I thought you were gay,” he replied. “I wasn’t going to embarrass myself by hitting you or, worse, end up fired for sexual harassment.”

  “I guess we’re just stuck with making up for lost time then.”

  She closed the distance between them and kissed him softly. The tenderness of the kiss didn’t last long as their tongues began to tease each other. His hand slid down her body, brushing over the tip of her breast before skimming over her stomach. His touch caused an unconscious reaction in her body; unfortunately, it wasn’t the one she would like. Her stomach growled loudly and she couldn’t help but laugh when his stomach answered in kind.

  Gabe’s hand stilled and he laughed. “I think we’re hungry.”

  “How about I go get us some food?” Cordelia said, pulling away and sitting up in the bed.

  “I think the gentlemanly thing to do would be for me to go get you food.”

  “I took a lot of your blood. I don’t want you to pass out on your way there.”

  “Thank God, I was just trying to be polite. I don’t think I could walk anyway.”

  She jumped up to look him over; worried that she had hurt him in her passion. “Shit, I must have taken too much. I’ll go get Anne.”

  He laughed. “The not walking doesn’t have anything to do with the blood loss. It’s from everything else.”