Dark Alpha's Night_A Reaper Novel

by Donna Grant

  Because he had Ettie in his arms, claiming her as his.

  Her lips formed a silent O. It was the subtle stiffening of her body that let him know she was about to peak. He moved faster, drove inside her harder until he felt her walls clamp down around him.

  She screamed his name as her body jerked with the force of the orgasm. He never stopped moving, continued to pound into her until he felt his own climax.

  There was no stopping it once it had begun. He gave a final thrust and held still. As his seed filled her, he realized this was the first time he’d ever had sex with a human or a Halfling. And he wondered if he’d gotten her with child.

  That thought should’ve scared him, but it didn’t. He didn’t want children, but he did want Ettie and everything that came with her.

  He looked down at her as she lay there with her eyes closed. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It made him wonder how he could’ve ever imagined himself with anyone else. Ettie was . . . special.

  “Can we do that again?” She smiled and slowly opened her eyes.

  “I’ll happily make love to you for as long as you let me.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  He pulled out of her and rolled to the side. She moved with him, resting her head on his chest. Daire looked up at the stars and smiled.

  “You’re smiling,” Ettie said.

  Chuckling, he glanced at her. “You did that.”

  “You know exactly what to say.”

  “It’s the truth.”

  She idly ran her fingers over his chest. “I wish we could remain like this.”

  And just like that, Bran and the war intruded. The smile melted from Daire’s face. He wasn’t angry with her for bringing it up. It was a fact neither of them could escape.

  “How long can we stay here?” she asked.

  He put his free arm behind his head. “A little longer.”

  “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

  “It’s fine,” he told her and kissed the top of her head. “We’ll return to the cottage, and I’ll call the other Reapers in. We’ll figure out a way to stop Bran.”

  She blew out a soft breath. “I could be an asset if only I could touch a Fae weapon. Does that happen to other Halflings?”

  “No. There has to be a reason for it, and we’ll get to the bottom of that, as well.”

  “You’re so confident,” she said as she tilted her face to him.

  He smiled at her. “I’m a Reaper.”

  “You say that as if it says it all.”

  “It does. I was always reckless, but I was good in battle.”

  Ettie licked her lips. “You said Death chose each Fae because of their skill, but also because they were betrayed before they were killed.”

  “Yes. I was betrayed by a group of friends.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  A betrayal, no matter by who, was one that cut deeply and left a scar that never fully healed.

  Ettie’s heart broke for Daire and the way he casually said those words. He spoke them as if they no longer wounded him, but she wasn’t sure that was the case.

  She raised her head to look at him. Clear, silver eyes met hers. She ran her fingers through his hair, starting at his forehead and combing back.

  “Don’t be sad for me,” he said.

  “How can you ask that? You were betrayed by friends.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “I use that term loosely to describe those individuals. You see, I was known for being wild and irresponsible. I was careless and hasty and often reacted without thinking things through. A classic case of recklessness.”

  She propped up on her elbow and rested her chin on her hand. “You liked trouble.”

  “Not really. But it always seemed to find me. It wasn’t until I was dying that I realized I constantly found myself in difficult situations because of my decisions and the crowd I hung with.”

  “You talk as if you blame yourself for your betrayal.”

  He shrugged, a crooked smile tilting his lips. “In a way, I do. All the signs were there, telling me what was coming, but I didn’t heed them.”

  “What happened?”

  His gaze slid back to the heavens. “I hated conformity of any kind. If there was a rule, I was going to break it.”

  “That isn’t true. You didn’t turn Dark.”

  There was a slight grin upon his lips when he glanced at her. “True, but I imagine my father would argue with you. My mother abandoned us after my youngest brother was born. She left my dad to raise five boys on his own. I was the middle, and pretty much left to my own devices. The older I got, my father tried to get me to take more responsibility, but I refused. And my two younger siblings followed my example.”

  Ettie inwardly winced. She could only imagine what Daire’s dad had gone through being left by the woman he loved and then having to go on with life while raising five boys.

  “My situation wasn’t as bad. My mother died instead of leaving, but it did a number on my father,” she said. “I often heard him crying late at night when he thought we were asleep.”

  Daire ran his fingers up and down her back. “Mine refused to talk about my mother. He never stopped us from talking about her, but he wouldn’t speak her name. He shut down those emotions.”

  “He likely had to in order to raise all of you.”

  “Yeah,” Daire murmured. “I think he did. And I didn’t help matters. It got to the point that he told me to either straighten up or he was kicking me out.”

  She bit her lip and scrunched up her face.

  Daire turned his head to her. “I left without a backward glance. After six months with the group of Fae I was with, I realized I wanted to go home. They were doing things that were coming closer and closer to the side of the Dark, and it wasn’t a place I wanted to be.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I distanced myself from them.”

  She raised her brows. “That’s great.”

  “Not completely, though I didn’t realize it until it was too late. You see, when I left them, they brought in my younger brothers.”

  “Oh.”

  “They thought recruiting my siblings would get me back. What it did was piss me off. I went to my brothers and told them what would happen if they stayed with the group. One returned home, but the youngest remained.”

  Ettie pushed up on her hand to look down at him. “At least you got one to realize what those Fae were.”

  “It would’ve been better if I hadn’t. The gang threatened my youngest brother, so I went after them. I fought many, but in the end, I realized it was a trap. But it was too late. My brother had returned to our family without me knowing it. The group wanted me.”

  “How many stood against you?”

  “Ten. I killed four before they got me.” He looked back to the stars. “As I lay dying, they told me how they had killed my brothers and father. My family was dead. Because of me.”

  She leaned down and placed her lips on his for a soft kiss. “I’m so sorry.”

  His arms came around her tightly. They remained that way for a long time before he let out a shuddering breath. “My first assignment as a Reaper was to help Cael and Eoghan execute the rest of the gang.”

  “Good,” she said. “You had closure. Everyone needs that.”

  “Even you.”

  She leaned up, her arms braced against his chest. “What do you mean?”

  “Your question when we first met.”

  “Ah.” She sat up and tucked her legs against her while still leaning on him. “I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever know, and I’m not sure it matters anymore.”

  He quirked a black brow, one side of his mouth curving into a smile. “Really?”

  “Okay. So maybe that’s a tiny lie,” she admitted with a laugh. “After all you’ve told me about the Fae, I don’t understand why we’ve never seen one before you and Bran.”

  “It’s odd, I’ll grant you that. I walked Killarn
ey twice while veiled and didn’t spot one Fae besides Bran.”

  She drummed her fingers on his chest. “Do you think there’s something about the town that keeps others away?”

  “It didn’t keep Bran or me from coming here. Yet, there’s no doubt the Fae know something we don’t. I think it’s time to find out what that is, though you might be better off without the Fae.”

  She looked across the moon-drenched waters to the lights on the mainland of Greece. “Or we find out the reason so other cities can implement the same thing. Whether it works on Reapers or not, it seems to on the regular Fae.”

  “I agree. We’ll look into it as soon as Bran’s taken care of.”

  Ettie couldn’t help but grin as he included her in on the plans. It felt amazing to be a part of something as grand as the Reapers. Perhaps it was a bit naïve of her, but she wasn’t afraid of Bran with Daire there.

  Of course, part of that might be the fact that she was still glowing from their lovemaking.

  “Do you really believe we can beat Bran?”

  Daire nodded. “Of course, because to even consider the alternative is to allow him a victory in the first step to defeating us. I refuse to give him that.”

  “The locked cabinet you asked about, I want to show you what’s inside,” she said.

  “All right.”

  “I don’t know why it’s locked. It always has been, though.”

  He smoothed a lock of her hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear, holding it there when the breeze threatened to yank it away. “Usually, there’s something important when someone puts a lock on something.”

  “I’ve looked at everything inside.”

  “It could be that you didn’t know what you were looking at.”

  She had to admit that was a possibility. “That’s why you need to have a look for yourself.”

  “You make it sound as if you want to do it now.”

  “I don’t, but I’m afraid to wait.”

  He brought her head down to kiss her deeply. When she leaned back, her clothes were back in place, as were his. Daire then sat up and took her hand, bringing her up with him when he stood.

  “Ready?”

  “Only if you promise to bring me back here.”

  He yanked her against him and held her with one arm. “You have my word.”

  She held his gaze as Greece fell away and her home came into view. After only a few seconds, she regretted leaving Greece. There, it had only been the two of them, and if she didn’t have her sisters to worry about, she might have remained. But the right thing to do was to return.

  They walked to the cottage and then went inside. Carrie was taking a bath, while Jamie was on the phone with her beau. Ettie left Daire by the cabinet while she got the key.

  She sat after she’d unlocked it and opened the doors. One by one, she pulled out the books and journals and handed them to Daire to inspect. He carefully looked through each one before moving on to the next.

  They were there for over two hours before her sisters joined them. The four of them sat in a semi-circle, their gazes locked on Daire.

  He found very few things in the journals that were of interest. Ettie was shocked to learn that most of what was inside them was erroneous findings about the Fae. And, for some reason, she thought about the journal her father gave her when she turned sixteen. She hadn’t written one word in it, but perhaps now it was time for that to change.

  The only thing left in the cabinet was a jar of what looked like dirt.

  “Yuck,” Carrie said. “We should throw that out.”

  But Daire shook his head. “Not until we know what it is.”

  “You said yourself, most of the stuff in the journals is wrong,” Jamie said. “That’s probably just regular dirt.”

  Ettie, however, agreed with Daire. “Better safe than sorry.”

  When Daire kept looking at the dirt, Jamie and Carrie left and went to their rooms since there was nothing else. Ettie watched the frown on his face deepen.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I can feel some magic in it.”

  Now that surprised her. “Really?”

  “It’s faint, but it’s there.”

  “In dirt?”

  He shoved his black locks out of his face and looked at her. “It’s true this dirt could be from your land, but the fact that it has magic within it is intriguing. I want to learn where it came from.”

  “I want to know why we have it. Papa never mentioned it. It’s like he forgot it was even in there.”

  “I didn’t see it until you brought it out,” Daire confessed.

  Now, wasn’t that weird.

  She took the jar and tilted it this way and that as she looked at the dark granules within. It even still looked moist, as if it hadn’t been in there for who knew how long. If her father had brought it, he would’ve spoken to her about it.

  That meant the dirt was even older than she’d first thought. It could’ve come from her grandfather or even her great-grandfather.

  There were so many questions running through her mind about a simple jar of dirt. Then, she calmly returned it to the cabinet, because in the back of her mind, she somehow knew it wasn’t time for her to learn those answers yet.

  Daire helped her replace all the journals and books. She relocked the cabinet out of habit and got to her feet. Daire stood and took her hand as they walked to her room.

  He stood in the doorway as she put the key away beneath her socks. She closed the drawer and looked at him. They stared at each other for several quiet minutes before he pushed away from the doorway and moved to her.

  “Will you stay?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  There was a smile on her face and in her heart as she undressed and put on her pajamas. He was already in the bed when she lifted the covers and slid in beside him.

  He pulled her down onto his chest and kissed her forehead. “Get some sleep. I’ll be here.”

  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, giving in to the slumber quickly wrapping her in its embrace.

  Chapter Fourteen

  There were defining moments in everyone’s life. One of those was when Daire made love to Ettie. He’d known it as soon as he tasted her kiss, but once their bodies were joined, the moment became etched in his mind.

  He remained near all night. Most of it was by her side, but he also patrolled the O’Byrne property as well as sent out a call to the Reapers.

  His gaze moved to the window as the first rays of the new day filtered through the window and into the bedroom. He followed the beams as they ran over the floor to the bed and across his legs to Ettie’s.

  He couldn’t help but smile at her while she lay on her back, her face turned to him, and her arm stretched out beside her. But that smile died when he saw the sword in her hand.

  The long, slightly curved, black blade sparkled in the sunlight. The longer he looked at it, the more he knew it was Fae.

  Ettie took a deep breath and opened her eyes. As soon as she did, the sword vanished. Daire didn’t move, he didn’t even breathe.

  “Good morning,” she mumbled and turned to snuggle against him.

  “Morning.” He held her, his gaze still locked on the spot on the bed where the sword had been.

  What the hell was going on? There was no way Ettie had been faking her distress about not having a weapon to fight Bran. That meant she had no idea about the black blade.

  And he wasn’t sure he should tell her.

  “We should get up soon,” he said. “The other Reapers will be here shortly.”

  After a big yawn, she rolled out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom. Daire sat up and said, “Cael.”

  He knew Cael would hear him and come immediately. Daire rose and walked into the kitchen to find the leader of the Reapers at the table eating one of Carrie’s scones.

  “How long have you been here?” Daire asked.

  “About five minutes,”
Cael said before popping the last of the treat into his mouth.

  Daire looked over his shoulder at the bathroom door that was closed. The shower was running, but Carrie and Jamie were also moving about in their rooms.

  “Daire?” Cael said as he got to his feet.

  His head swung back to Cael. “Have you ever heard of a black Fae blade?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  Daire noticed that Cael hadn’t exactly answered his question. “Ettie has trained her entire life for battle. She’s quick and very good, but she didn’t have a weapon. I tried to give her one yesterday, but every time she touched it, it disappeared.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “I didn’t think so either. I was going to have you give her one to see if it happened again.”

  Cael crossed his arms over his chest. “What does this have to do with a black blade?”

  “She was holding a sword of solid black as she slept, but when she woke, it disappeared. It was Fae. I’m sure of it.”

  At that moment, Carrie’s door opened, and she walked out dressed for the day, only to stumble to a halt when she spotted Cael. In the blink of an eye, she changed from a sweet girl into a sexy woman.

  “Who’s this, Daire?” she said as she walked up, all smiles.

  Daire gave a shake of his head in frustration. “Carrie, this is Cael, the leader of the Reapers. Cael, Carrie.”

  Cael dropped his arms to his sides and bowed his head to her. “Hello.”

  “If I’d known we’d have such a hunk in the kitchen, I would’ve gotten up earlier,” she said, batting her lashes at Cael.

  Her gaze fell to the plate of scones before swinging back to Cael. She then walked to him and reached up, wiping the corner of his mouth where a crumb was.

  “Did you like my scones?” she asked in a husky whisper.

  Unperturbed, Cael smiled. “Very much.”

  “Shall I cook you something?”

  “Perhaps later.”

  Daire stepped in before Carrie could go on. “Tell Ettie we’ll be at the top of the mountain.”

  With a look at Cael, Daire teleported to the peak where he’d first shown himself to Ettie. Cael was right behind him, and then Kyran, Talin, Neve, Fintan, and Baylon appeared.