Transcending Darkness

by Airicka Phoenix

  “I’ve already reserved a room,” he told Celina without taking his eyes off Juliette.

  He gave over his license and waited while his name was searched. Juliette glanced over as Celina pulled up his reservation and her eyebrows rose at the six figures he’d paid for one night in the executive penthouse suite.

  “Why do you need a room?” she demanded. “You live twenty minutes away.”

  “I told you,” Killian said calmly as he took his room key and ID. “It’s Halloween.”

  With a devilish grin, he gave her a wink before stalking with fluid grace to the elevators.

  “We do not ask guests why they need a room!” Celina hissed once he was gone and Juliette was alone with her once more.

  Juliette ignored her, too busy wondering what Killian was up to.

  By midnight, there were no more children barging through the doors, but there were plenty of drunken adults. The majority stumbled their way to the counter, demanding keys to their rooms, but had no idea which room or where they put their wallets. It was an absolute nightmare trying to determine if they were really guests in the hotel or lost individuals that needed someone to call them a cab. She was in the process of assuring one man that yes, he had his pants on and no, she had no idea where his wallet had gone to when the phone rang. Juliette lunged on it before Celina could even think of moving.

  “Front desk. Juliette speaking.”

  “Come here,” the dark, husky voice murmured in such a gravely purr that her pussy automatically clenched in response.

  “I can’t just come up,” she hissed into the receiver, careful to keep her voice low and her back to Celina. “I still have—”

  “Now, Juliette. I want my pussy.”

  Christ.

  Hot liquid need rushed free of her body to soak into her panties.

  “Killian…”

  “I won’t ask again. Bring her to me or I’ll come down there and fuck you where you stand.”

  The line went dead.

  Juliette swallowed hard. Her fingers tightened around the plastic as her entire body vibrated with excitement. She knew he wasn’t joking. She knew he would do exactly what he promised.

  “Who was that?” Celina demanded.

  Breathing uneven, Juliette turned to her. “A guest.” She licked her lips. “He has a complaint about the room, asked to have someone come up and—”

  “Bullshit.” Celina narrowed her eyes. “It’s that guy that was here, isn’t it?”

  Juliette darted a frantic glance at the clock behind the desk; he hadn’t specified just how much time she had, but it couldn’t be very much.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she told the other woman. “I’ll be right back.”

  “I’m reporting this!” Celina shouted after her. “You can’t just fuck your boyfriend while you’re still on the clock.”

  Slivers of anger worked through the arousal thrumming through her. Part of it was aimed at Celina for being such a monumental bitch, but the majority of it was aimed at Killian for summoning her like some … whore when he knew she was working. Didn’t he know her job wasn’t like his where she could just take an hour off for a quickie? He was going to get her fired damn it!

  Fuming by the time she reached his floor, Juliette stormed down the plush corridor to the only suite with the door standing ajar. She slapped it open and marched inside.

  Darkness met her. She stumbled into it and staggered to a stop as her eyes struggled to adjust.

  “Killian?”

  Silence as thick as the endless black crackled around her. Her heart began to hammer as fear crept through the array of emotions she seemed to be going through in a matter of a few minutes. Sweat slickened her palms as she moved them through the space around her, blindly fumbling for something solid.

  “Killian, this isn’t fun—”

  A bang from behind her made her jump six feet into the air. Her scream was swallowed by the hand that clapped over her mouth. Terror coursed fast and hard through her, isolating everything else as she was forcibly dragged deeper into the darkness. She fought, punching and kicking and digging her heels into the carpet. But her captor was stronger.

  With a powerful shove, she was sent sprawling face down on what felt like clouds. Her entire body sunk into the folds of what was a mattress. She would have marveled at its softness if her body wasn’t humming with adrenaline.

  She scrambled up on all fours and made a wild dash to the other side of the bed, not caring if she tumbled off the edge and broke an arm. But her captor, who seemed incredibly apt at seeing in the dark, grabbed her ankle and hauled her back. The momentum sent her down on her face once more. She tried to scream, but the hand was back. The bed dipped as her captor climbed on top of her, straddling the back of her legs. A hard chest pressed into her heaving back as he bent in close.

  “Quiet,” a painfully familiar voice whispered directly into her ear. The hand on her mouth lifted and stroked lovingly against her cheek, another familiar gesture that had her heart racing with a mind numbing sort of relief. “Or I’ll have to punish you.”

  “Killi—”

  A bit of twisted fabric was forced between her lips, silencing her. It was fastened at the back of her head. Her wrists were caught off the mattress and chained together at the small of her back with rope. It was all done so quickly. She had barely taken two breaths and she was restrained.

  Behind her, something heavy struck the floor. There was a rustle of fabric and she knew he was undressing. She heard the tear of foil, the snap of rubber and shivered.

  They had never played this game before, but she would play her part.

  Twisting over, she kicked out, not hard, but hard enough to earn a pained grunt when her foot caught some part of him. Not waiting to see what would happen next, she rolled sideways towards the other side of the bed. But he was faster. His hands twisted in the material of her skirt and she was dragged back to him, kicking and screaming. She was forced onto her back and crushed by the weight he settled over her. He was naked and hot. And God she wanted him.

  Heart palpitating in a tangled mess of excitement, arousal and fear, Juliette thrashed, ignoring the pain in her shoulders from having her arms trapped under her. She garbled insults at him that he no doubt couldn’t understand. The fabric was soaked with her spit and was chaffing the corners of her mouth, but she didn’t care.

  “Naughty lamb,” he growled into the side of her throat, his hips grounding a rock hard cock against the apex of her thighs. “I warned you.”

  The tear of fabric echoed through the room as he tore her clothes apart with his bare hands. Her cry of outrage was not fake this time. She bucked wildly, but he was on her thighs and her arms were useless.

  “I am going to kill you!” she shrieked, but it came out unintelligible and was ignored.

  Sharp teeth closed around her bare nipple. The sweet pain scattered across her skin and added to the fire roaring in her belly. There was nothing gentle about the way he was assaulting her. Every nip, suck, caress was designed to leave marks and she was whimpering for more.

  She gasped when his hands were on her again, pulling and adjusting her across the bed, twisting her around so her face was mashed into the mattress and her ass was in the air. The cool air whispered against the wetness between her legs, sending a shiver through her.

  Then he was inside her, fast and hard and without any warning. Her muffled cry burned into fabric. The familiar feel of his cock stretching her sang up her spine and her body immediately tightened around him, welcoming him, sucking him in deeper.

  Her captor groaned. His grip cut bruises into her hips as he pistoned wildly inside her. Blunt fingers reached around and fondled her blood filled clit, coaxing her over the edge with him. She came with his name burning into the gag. Her channel rippled around his cock, triggering his release.

  He withdrew and moved away just long enough to snap the lamp on. Juliette groaned as the sudden explosion of light punched
her in the eyes. The bed dipped once more and Killian turned her over gently. He pried the gag free and wiped the sides of her mouth with his thumbs.

  “All right?” he asked, searching her face intently.

  She glowered at him. “No, I’m not all right!” she snapped. “You tore my clothes, you animal!”

  The asshole actually smirked. “I warned you not to fight me.” His hand closed around her ankle and she was dragged lower on the mattress. Her leg was tossed across his lap so she was splayed open wide with him between her calves. “I told you to be a good girl and let me…” He bent over her pussy and kissed her lips. Juliette groaned, her hips reflexively twitching. “Fuck you.”

  He worked her clit with his tongue until she was thrashing all over again. Her heel dug into the mattress as she writhed and pushed against him. It was harder to do with her hands bound and one foot resting in his lap, but she was sure she’d die if he stopped, which he did. Then he rose and stood over the bed to study her.

  She must have looked an absolute mess what with her clothes in tattered pieces hanging off her and her legs lewdly thrown open wide. With her arms at her back, her chest was pushed out, the nipples sharp points begging for his attention. But the way he was watching her, she could have been a giant steak and he was starving.

  He took his cock in hand, full reawakened and leaking. Juliette watched the steady pump of his fist, her core muscles flexing. Her hips wiggled across the sheets, wishing her hands were free so she could at least ease some of the pressure. Killian grinned, knowing perfectly well what he was doing to her. He reached for the dresser and pulled on a new condom. Her knees parted wide even before he climbed over her.

  “Now!” she breathed, desperate. “Now, Killian. Please!”

  Without missing a beat, he joined them. Slowly. So very slowly. It took ages for his full length to be sheathed inside her. Ages that had her head spinning and her whole body quivering wildly. Killian watched her as though she were some experiment he just couldn’t understand. His features never lost their dark hunger, but it was underlined by fascination and something else. On either side of her head, his arms trembled with his restraint, but he seemed in no hurry to end either of their suffering.

  He pulled all the way out before feeding himself back in. He did this so many times Juliette was practically in tears.

  “No more!” she begged. “Please. Please, Killian.”

  His elbows creaked as he lowered himself on his forearms. His weight settled more comfortably over her. He bent his head and kissed her, gently at first. But the kiss increased as his thrusts did, until both were brutal and angry. Juliette welcomed it all as her body finally caught the release it had been begging for.

  Against her neck, he muttered something she couldn’t understand as he came. His body shuddered and went momentarily limp before he quickly shot up and reached to untie her hands.

  Relief prickled the raw skin around her wrists and the soreness in her shoulders. The lines were faint, but she rubbed them anyway and peered up at the man watching her.

  “That was different.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “Thought you’d like it.”

  She shrugged, her mouth twisting up at the corners. “I did once I got over being scared out of my mind. Thanks for that, by the way.”

  His hand lifted to the side of her face in a loving caress that made her insides flutter. “I would never let that happen. I would kill anyone who ever touched you like that.”

  Not sure what possessed her to do it, maybe it was just the tangle of fierce anger and determination glowing across his face, but she scooted over to him and climbed into his lap. Her arms went around his shoulders and she nuzzled into his neck where the skin smelled of spices and something wild she could never put her fingers on.

  He held her back. He closed her up in his arms and cradled her to his chest.

  It was a rare thing, this moment of absolute intimacy. He hadn’t really held her since the afternoon he told her he’d saved her from Arlo. Being held during sex or a few minutes after wasn’t the same thing. Normally, she never initiated it either for the same reason she couldn’t look at a calendar without her stomach hurting. It was mind fucking and dangerous. But neither of them pulled away.

  “I should go,” she murmured at last. “I have an hour left, not that it matters.” Carefully, she got to her feet. “I’m pretty sure I’m fired.”

  “You’re not fired.” He rose and moved to a chair pushed up next to the window in the corner of a beautiful bedroom. He picked up a pretty black and pink box and returned to her. “And you’re not going back tonight. I have other plans.”

  Frowning, she took the box and set it on the bed. Killian moved aside to let her push back the pink tissue paper.

  The fabric shimmered as she drew it from its resting place. It spilled through her fingers in a ripple of white satin woven through with fine, silver threads that matched the thick silver straps that ran lengthwise from under the left arm down the right hip. It circled around the back in three ropes that hooped over the right shoulder. At a first glance it almost reminded her of the light dresses Greek women used to wear, but the front was plated beneath the strips and there was a long cut up the right leg that went dangerously close to her hipbone.

  Dress still in hand, she turned to Killian. “This is a bit … fancy for a hotel clerk.”

  Beautifully naked, Killian moved with fluid confidence to the settee opposite the chair and hooked a finger through the hanger of a garment bag. He lifted it to study closely before turning to her.

  “I told you, you’re not going back tonight,” he told her simply.

  “Killian…” Her exasperated sigh was met with a carefully neutral expression from him. “By now, Celina is probably having a fit in Harold’s office about me running up here to screw my boyfriend, which by the way, I did not appreciate!”

  An eyebrow rose. “Getting screwed by your boyfriend?”

  “You know what I mean!” she shot back. “You calling down there and threatening to fuck me in the middle of the foyer just because you were horny and couldn’t wait two hours.”

  “Oh sweetheart.” He moved towards her and stopped once he had her face properly tipped up to his. “That wasn’t a threat. That was a very clear promise.”

  “Killian!” She set the dress down before she dropped the thing that probably cost more than her entire house. “This is my job! You can’t just—”

  “I can when your shift was over and you were free to get fucked.”

  Juliette frowned. “What are you talking about? I know my schedule. I had two hours.”

  “I promise you didn’t.”

  Leaving him watching, she stalked to the phone on the nightstand and called down to the front. She braced herself for Celina’s sultry purr to answer.

  “It’s me, Celina,” Juliette said, doing her best not to grit her teeth. “Can you check my schedule for tonight?”

  “I made an official report!” the woman retorted venomously. “So it doesn’t really matter—”

  “Can you please just check?” Juliette snapped.

  She heard Celina’s huff. Then the click of keys. Then there was a too long silence that made her nervous.

  “This can’t be right…” Celina muttered at long last. “I checked yesterday and it said you were working until three.”

  “So, I’m not working until three?” Juliette asked cautiously.

  “It says you were off at one.”

  Juliette turned to look at Killian who was watching her with an almost catlike grin.

  “This doesn’t make sense!” Celina said. “I saw it—”

  “Thank you, Celina.” Juliette hung up and faced the man behind her fully. “What did you do?”

  Killian blinked. “Why do you always assume I did something?”

  “Because Celina and I both know I was supposed to work until three. Somehow, mysteriously, that time was changed so I could get off early, which is convenient
since you arrived and summoned me upstairs.”

  “I didn’t summon,” he mumbled, looking genuinely offended. “I requested your presence.”

  “Killian, you can’t do stuff like that!” She hated the frustrated whine in her tone, hated that she wanted to stomp her feet and scream at him. “You are going to get me fired and I am going to be so pissed that I might set all your clothes on fire.”

  He visibly recoiled. “That’s a little excessive, isn’t it?”

  “No!” she barked. “It’s not. It’s self-preservation and since you like to meddle in my affairs … you know what,” she broke off, realizing something. “In the contract you stated perfectly well that I was not allowed to interfere with your business. So why do you get to come meddle in mine?”

  The garment bag was tossed down on the bed next to her dress and he folded his arms, his posture as angry as hers.

  “I have not meddled in your business,” he said with a deadly calm that almost made her back down.

  “Then explain the lost two hours,” she shot back.

  “Poor scheduling. A typo.”

  The anger washed out of her, not because there was a possibility that he could be right, which he could have been, mistakes happened. But because she was inexplicably exhausted. No part of her wanted to be upright anymore. Maybe it was adrenaline from being scared wearing off or the rush that always came with having mind blowing sex finally waning, but all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep.

  Instead, she walked over to where he’d tossed his white dress shirt neatly over his folded trousers and pulled it on. Then she gathered up her ruined clothes and tossed them into the trash. Half under the bed, a pair of heavy duty night vision goggles lay forgotten. That must have been the thud she heard and how he was able to see so clearly in the dark. She left them there.

  “Juliette…”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine,” she lied.

  “You’re angry,” he argued.

  She stopped to meet his gaze. “I’m not. I’m not sure what I am.”

  He studied her with those calculating eyes, no doubt trying to assess just how to go about handling the situation.