Enslaved In Shadows (Shadow Unit Book 1)

by Tigris Eden

  23

  Draven’s raw strength scared her at times, but like this, drenched in sweat, his brows creased in concentration as he pumped into her, an endless machine with no off switch… This didn’t scare her. It did, however, do things to her body that should’ve been outlawed. She ached in all the right places. Tried to hold on to his shoulders, but the sweat on his skin didn’t give her enough purchase. The sounds of their bodies connecting, skin slapping against skin, took her to the edge and threatened to take her over. They were on the floor, body’s burning, pushing, straining for release. She was reaching for explosion number two, but who was counting? Her leg kicked out and hit the chair, which toppled over; Draven barely gave it notice as he canted her hips up tunneling deeper. The heat of his cock sent exorbitant amounts of ecstasy spiraling through her body. One leg over his shoulder, the other dug deep into his left ass cheek, her hands gripping his sweat-soaked shoulders as she begged for mercy.

  “I can’t take any more,” she cried out when he ground his dick into her soaked pussy. There was just so much of him. Too much man for her it seemed.

  “I didn’t ask if you could.” The sweat collected on his chin, dripping in an endless beat as it hit her bare breasts. This was so overpowering, emotionally and physically that she couldn’t comprehend most of what her senses were telling her. Immense heat; love saturated with bliss consumed her. Her body tightened and her gut spasmed with the telltale signs of what was surely going to be the biggest orgasm of her life. Her body stressed in exertion, causing seizure-like tremors to take over her muscles. She took a deep breath, tried to stave off the coming storm. She needed to hold out a little longer. Draven rose up high above her and dropped his head, taking her nipple into his mouth. The pressure he applied pulled on the invisible string that led right to her clit. He tugged, she moaned. He bit gently, then more fiercely. Jes screamed, trying to hold off, determined to wait for more. Her body was being finely prepped to break over the top of a ride she didn’t want to get off of.

  “Draven, fuck me harder… deeper,” she wailed into his shoulder, biting down to stop the screams from stripping her throat raw. Their sweat-soaked bodies slammed into one another over and over again as his thrust picked up speed, taking her senses up another level. Everything from the hairs on her head, to the tips of her toes tingled, sex in sense-a-color. She could feel it all, the amazing sensory overload of him taking possession of her body. Draven pulled her other leg over his shoulders, and she knew she was a goner.

  “What a pretty sight this is.” His voice was soaked in molasses, slow and controlled as he watched her open for him, waited. She watched in awe as he rose, high above her, pulling back to where only the head of his cock lay at her opening, pulsating against her skin. Time stopped, suspended in the moment of ardent anticipation. Her breath ceased. His arms twitched as muscles bunched from the strain of holding himself up. Ropes of muscles marked his stomach, and his breath sawed in and out of his chest, cooling her skin.

  He rocked forward, brought her hips up off the carpet with the force of his body, and fucked her in earnest. She couldn’t hold on, so she braced her arms under her thighs holding herself open to his thrusts. The carpet burned. She could feel her tailbone hitting the floor under the carpet, denting the pad beneath. Draven’s animal counterpart was pulsing beneath his skin. She could see it in the way his muscles bulged. His eyes were wolf-like now, a penetrating green bathed in gold. The pit of her stomach expanded, trying to accommodate the need that built inside, taking her to another level she hadn’t known existed. An abysmal pit of lust, never ending lust, broke the strongest of her walls. Right when she thought she was going over the edge, he took one of her legs and bit down on the inside of her calf. Jes’s throat would never be the same. The scream erupted with such force she almost choked. His biting was going to get her killed. And it wouldn’t be a little death either, it’d be huge. Colossal!

  “Fuck!”

  The pressure of his teeth and the sharp tip of his canines sent her crashing over the edge, free falling out of the sky into the depths of her orgasm. Her throat was raw, gutted, torn to pieces. She screamed until she couldn’t scream anymore. Her body tried to relax and couldn’t, she was strung so tight she vibrated, shattered over and over as mini-orgasms rocked her to the core. Draven pushed her legs down into the crook of his arms and bent his body forward grinding his hips, putting more pressure on her clit. He took her over the edge again before her first orgasm even had a chance to ebb. He threw her out into the universe, brought her back to earth, only to tilt the very axis of her existence. She was given to this man; there was no denying that. She was ruined and she knew it

  Jesminda tugged him down for a kiss before the tears could leak from her eyes. She savored the feel of their lips touching, their tongues sliding against each other. She could hear the blood pounding between her ears. The waves of her orgasm spread from the center of her stomach out to touch the edges of her being. His strokes became bruising as he continued to pound into her flesh. She opened her eyes and could see the muscles in his neck bulge. Draven broke the kiss and dropped his head into the crook of her neck, biting down hard on the skin between her neck and shoulder. Her entire body pulled taut from the bite and soon little tremors began to ripple across her skin and burrow into her muscles. She felt the tip of his penis swell to an almost painful pleasure. The fullness of his cock pulsed with his release.

  The walls of her pussy clamped down hard, and Draven let out a ragged moan of ecstasy as he slowed his thrusts. One, two, three, short jabs and his movement stopped. His big warm body collapsed on hers. He hugged her close to his chest; their hearts rapidly beating as one, as she knew it would from now own.

  If she took the chance to see where this led them, would the outcome still be the same as it was with Marcus? Stop punishing yourself, and him. They both deserved a chance, right?

  Sighing deeply she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

  “Okay,” she whispered. Small baby steps. Really tiny ones.

  “Just okay?”

  She giggled. Men and their egos.

  “More than okay. I mean, I was just saying, okay.”

  Draven lifted his head to stare down at her lifting a brow in question.

  “Didn’t read minds last time I checked.” He sniffed the air, trying to sort out her emotions, but when he didn’t say anything and stared, it made her uncomfortable. She pushed back on his shoulders and scooted back from their joined hips to displace them. They both hissed at the separation and loss of warmth.

  “You’re not making this any easier for me you know?” she said.

  “I can smell your resolve, but again, I’m no mind reader. What have you decided?” He sat up, crossing his arms over his chest. All that muscle, hell all that man. He would drive her to distraction for the rest of her days.

  “Men are daft!”

  “No, I am just not a mind reader,” he said softly. He reached forward, pulling her into his lap, They were sticky from their lovemaking, but he didn’t seem to care. Lovemaking? That was some intense lovemaking, more like love crashing.

  “Tell me what you’re okay with. I know it’s not my lovemaking skills. I’m a beast in bed.” He grinned and she punched him in the stomach. Draven grabbed both her hands and brought them to his mouth for a kiss. He looked down at her from underneath his lashes and pinned her with a stare. He wanted the answer to the million-dollar question. What was she okay with? Them? Not completely, but she’d try.

  “I’m saying that yes, okay, everything will work itself out in the end. I’m saying that I want to try this thing between us out, see where it takes us.” She wasn’t about to lay her heart out for him to see, not yet.

  “Ah, I see.” His voice was dark, filled with hunger. He kissed the top of her head and turned her in his arms for a hug.

  “Just so we’re clear. This is going to take time. I’m not saying we’re together now. Or that it will end up that way. I�
�m agreeing things will work themselves out. I can’t make you any promises,” she continued.

  “I love you, Jesminda.”

  Shit! He fucking said the words. Jes waited for the fear and panic to set in. Nothing. She was still in his arms; she’d flinched a little but…No, there it was, waiting to strike her speechless. Jes’s body tensed and small shoots of pain radiated from the center of her body, attacking her nerves. Things happened so fast, tested her limits. She didn’t get the chance to stop and take a break, or smell the roses for that matter. He had the finesse of a damn rattlesnake. His mouth was quick and his words always got straight to the point. What did he want? Was he really expecting her to just lay it all out on the table? You need to say the words. She knew she needed to say them, wanted to, but they got stuck in her throat and burned. Inside her body threatened to explode. There had been so many crossroads, too many, and him at the apex of most, if not all of them.

  “This thing tests us, baby. I tried to stop the fire from spreading.” Draven’s chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath and she watched in horror as words she wanted to say, needed to say, wouldn’t surface. Still he held her, even though she’d flinched. Her body rejected the words. What the hell is wrong with you? Speak up, say it before he leaves.

  “I tried to stop the fire from spreading,” he said again, her hands in his. “Distance and time and so many choices were left to make, but in the end--” He hesitated. “In the end, it will always be you. There will never come a time when the choice will be different, Jes. Never.”

  So much conviction and feeling in those words. Her insides melted and her entire body was ready for round two. Still, she faltered. Say the words. Jes cleared her throat, and Draven stared down at her, cradled her in his lap.

  “The fire is here, Jes.” He placed her hand over his heart.

  “It burns for you, for Faith, and for our bed.”

  Why couldn’t she say the fucking words! Coward.

  “Are you going to say anything, anything at all?” His voice shook. She was hurting him by not saying the words he wanted to hear. She saw it in his eyes.

  She watched his throat work as he swallowed and his jaw tightened in irritation. How many times was she going to leave this man hanging? Just say the fucking words! Her mind screamed at her, but her voice was trapped, beating down the walls of her throat trying to break free. Each pounding her throat took as the words tried to escape, her heart would thrash harder. She was killing herself from the inside out and still couldn’t even whisper the words she knew he wanted to hear.

  “I… it’s really,” she staggered the words even as she berated herself for not saying them. Tears began to fall heatedly down her cheeks and her body shook from the sobs she tried to hold in.

  Draven tugged her into his chest. Wrapped both hands into her hair and tugged down, forcing her to look up at him. She didn’t know what she saw on his face, pain, disappointment, or betrayal. All those terms were correct in her case, and deep down, she knew she loved this man on a visceral level. Just like he’d tried to stop, she’d tried to block the storm of emotions that continuously battered her heart over and over, trying to break in.

  Once she’d let the floodgates open, so much raw sensation had put her into constant overload just being near him. Her body was attuned to him in all ways. He had to know she loved him, had to! Deep down she knew he did, but a man needed to hear the words just as much as a woman did.

  She lived to love him, beyond her past and after her future. Draven and Faith were her world. Telling him she didn’t have room for him was a bold face lie. How in the hell had she managed to screw this shit up?

  “I gotta go, baby. But when I get back, we’ll talk,” he sighed into her hair, his body slowly deflating of the anger he was holding back. She shook her head into his chest and sniffled a few times. The conversation wasn’t over, but he needed to leave. There were only minutes left before he had to meet up with the rest of the team.

  “Can I go back to your parents’?” Jes rubbed her hands on her legs then wrapped her arms around herself, his warmth now gone. He’d stood and sat her to the side. Not discarded, but there was definitely distance between them now. His patience was wearing thin. She was a stupid cow for not telling this man she loved him with everything her heart had to give. She even had a reserve marked special for him in the deep, dark corner of her soul, a soul Draven had opened and shed light on.

  “Of course, baby. I’ll get Gabe to take you home. He’s going to hang back here and give us intel on the warehouse.”

  She watched as Draven scraped the side of his jaw with his fingers, he was thinking about something, but then thought better of it. When he saw her staring, he quickly went to the dresser in the corner and grabbed a fresh pair of black BDUs. He dressed quickly and finger combed his hair.

  “What?” Jesminda asked hopefully. Hopeful of what? He was mad. A small part of her thought maybe he was trying not to hit her, but she quickly squashed the idea. He was not Marcus.

  “Nothing, just know that I love you, okay?” He said the words again. He was making her get used to them. He knew they had a negative effect on her.

  The words she should say were stuck, beating at the walls of her throat until she began hyperventilating. Why? She just couldn’t say them. Draven quickly walked over and grabbed her by her shoulders to get her attention. He lifted her hands above her head with one hand and rubbed her back with the other. God, she was a hot mess.

  “Gods, baby I won’t say that again. Not until you’re ready to hear the words.” He stepped back when she was able to catch her breath. She watched as he walked to the kitchen to get her some water. His strength and his love should be more than enough for her. He wouldn’t put hands on her, not with force or hate. He’d care for her, put her first above all things.

  He sat the cup in her hands and watched her drink. Satisfied, he took the cup setting it in the sink. Jes watched him walk from the kitchen to the door. Life with him would be similar, the two of them moving in tandem with the other. He was what she wanted but too scared to take. He turned back as the door opened and smiled tightly.

  “This conversation is far from over, Jes.” He was halfway out the door yet she still heard his next words.

  “Things will never be finished between us.”

  24

  Jesminda walked into Draven’s mother’s house. He’d given her the spare key. It was late, and the men were headed out to the location Draven had said wasn’t necessary for her to concern herself with. Men and their misguided conceptions about women and strength! Bells wasn’t with the men either, she’d decided to stay on at the station to get some sleep. Belinda didn’t want to go to Draven’s parents’ because she felt uncomfortable. She couldn’t argue that logic, people weren’t supposed to assume they were welcome at a house with complete strangers. If it weren’t for Faith being asleep here, she’d have stayed at the station, as well. Walking silently down the hall, Jesminda passed the couch Faith had slept on. She felt along the wall for a switch and when she found it, clicked it on and continued towards the back of the house to the kitchen.

  She was pouring a glass of water into a cup when she felt the cold press of metal against the back other head.

  “My dearest, honey,” the voice purred behind her. It didn’t take rocket science to figure out it was Marcus. How was he able to get to her here? Draven had said not even the station had his parents’ address.

  “This is how it’s going to be, you little whore,” he spat. The anger poured off him like a tidal wave. She could feel the violence in his words. Her body froze and waited for the blow she knew was coming. He grabbed her painfully by the hair and pulled her head back. Pain shot through her neck, it was minimal, but more was coming.

  “Walk to the front of the house and get in the fucking car, or I’ll blow your brains out right here in the middle of the kitchen. Now, start walking.”

  Jes sucked in a breath and did as she was told. She still did
n’t understand how, but she needed to know the condition of her daughter. And what about Draven’s parents?

  “Where’s Faith, you bastard?” she snarled as she headed down the hall to the front door.

  “Funny, baby, very funny. I was going to ask you the same question. Since neither of us know where your little brat of a beast is, I’ll go hunting. I know she’s here somewhere, but don’t worry, baby, I’ll find her.” He grabbed the back of her hair tighter and pushed her forward. She tried to catch herself as she went down, but the rug beneath her slid and sent her sailing into an end table. Pain spread through her limbs and sucked the air from her lungs. She tried to catch her breath but Marcus didn’t give her the chance. He caught her in the ribs with his booted foot. Her body took the position it took so many times before and wrapped itself into a ball. Spots appeared in her field of vision and her eyes watered from the pain.

  “I told you never to leave me! Yet you did, even after all we’ve been through. I fucking love you, Jesminda. Love you!” Another boot to her rib cage and she heard the crack. Her ribs were broken. Marcus began a rapid succession of kicks until her tears dried up and darkness started to claim her. Her first real thought was that Faith wasn’t in the house, so maybe she was safely tucked away with Draven’s parents. Then another thought hit right before darkness swallowed her: she’d never gotten the chance to tell Draven she loved him. Now she never would.

  # # #

  Draven and his team surrounded the warehouse where the other vampiri were being held. This was also the location of The Red Sun. What a cheesy name, The Black Hand, maybe, but The Red Sun? Totally ridiculous. “Can you be any more anti-super villain?” Draven said to no one in particular.