Darker (Alexa O'Brien Huntress Book 6)

by Trina M. Lee

  Again, he looked me over, lingering where my arms covered my breasts. I was ready to argue now so oozing sensuality wasn’t going to work in his favor just yet. I stood my ground, prepared to let him have it.

  “I can’t help but notice you keep saying we,” I observed. “I didn’t agree to pal around with Shya. You did.”

  “That’s right. I did.” He nodded, fire smoldering in his eyes. “I told you I would do anything to make sure you’re safe, and you are not going to make me feel bad about it.”

  Frustration shook me. I was ticked that he had gone behind my back to talk to Shya. After the night I’d just had, not to mention my week so far, this was the last thing I wanted.

  “Safe? Until Lilah’s out of the way, and then what? Then he follows through with that little promise to kill me. Did you forget about that?” My words came fast and furious.

  I remembered the demon’s sly threat very well. Shya was uneasy with me being the light half of a twin flame union. He threatened to kill me, so I would rise as a vampire, so Arys’s darkness would tip the precarious balance between us. Maybe there was more to it.

  “Of course not.” Arys scowled. “You should really stop underestimating me, Alexa. I always get what I want. That won’t be any different with Shya.”

  “Your cocky attitude is going to get us into trouble. One of these days,” I warned, “you won’t be right. And then, you’ll be sorry.”

  We stared into one another with fierce intensity. Arys reached to brush the hair back from my face. A mischievous smile graced his lips.

  “One of these days,” he echoed in a low murmur. Then he dropped to his knees before me and pressed his lips to the intimate place between my legs.

  My breath caught. A rush of sudden desire thrilled through me. What a crafty way to end an argument. “This doesn’t mean you automatically win.”

  “Doesn’t it?” His mouth moved against me, stirring my arousal.

  The touch of his tongue sent jolts of electricity through me. Instinctively, I buried my hands in his soft tousle of hair. My knees weakened, and he gripped my hips to steady me.

  “You play dirty, Arys.” My throaty whisper coaxed a chuckle from him.

  He flicked his tongue over me, hitting that sensitive spot that had my breath coming fast. I shuddered and clung tighter to him. The way he touched me was softer than usual, a gentleness that was rare for Arys.

  “You love it,” he said, guiding me down to the grass.

  It was cold against my back but felt nice due to the heat flooding my limbs. I stretched languorously on the soft cushion of green. Arys kept up his tender worship of my body. He lifted one of my legs, propping it over his shoulder so he lay nestled between my thighs. Holding my hips tight, he licked me with a persistence that had me crying out.

  Our fights could be downright scary, but there was always that wild element of eroticism to it. This was different. Instead of the fiery coupling we so often enjoyed, this was a delicate expression of love rooted in a deeper place. It was as strong as it was intimidating.

  The dizzying explosion of climax had me seeing stars. Arys brought me over the edge to bliss. I watched through a pleasure-filled haze as he stripped off his clothing and aligned his body with mine.

  Gazing into my eyes, he said, “I love you, my beautiful wolf. No matter what happens, don’t forget that.”

  As much as I loved to hear endearments from my dark vampire, this one struck me as cryptic. Kale’s forceful actions, I was certain, had truly frightened Arys. Before I could over-think it, Arys gathered me close and slipped inside me with a gentle thrust. He decorated my face in fevered kisses. I held tight to him as we moved together, uniting as one.

  The power rose between us, fuelled by the passion of our actions. Arys guided our rhythm with slow, steady strokes. Buried deep within me, he claimed me with total abandon. The guard Arys held firmly in place shattered, exposing his rarely seen tender side.

  A sense of anguish was in his energy; the tortured desperation in the way he held me conveyed something that he would never let out in words. I could feel it as if it were my own, crushing and almost painful. Tears welled up in my eyes as it overwhelmed me.

  I felt it deep in my core, a twinge of the fragile humanity he’d once had but now knew only through his link to me. The kind of love Arys had for me came from a place of light that had gone dark long ago. The trace of me that he carried inside him always, that was his weakness. In that moment of desperate lovemaking, I was certain that Shya knew it, too.

  Arys rolled us over so I was on top, disrupting my thoughts. He pulled me down hard, thrusting up to force a cry from me. He touched my chin, drawing my gaze to his. Raw, unbridled need shone in his eyes. The power spiralled around us, trapping us in the eye of the tornado. I moved atop him, instinctively matching his stride. White noise built to a deafening roar.

  Many times, I resisted how solid our connection had become. However, moments like this made it undeniable. I was completely his.

  I threw my head back to stare up at the sky. The darkness had thinned as dawn approached. It wasn’t far now. Soon, it would chase us indoors. I closed my eyes and focused on the way Arys felt inside me. Each slick stroke brought me closer to ecstasy. For a brief time, nothing else mattered.

  Collapsing on his chest, I gasped for air as the waves of climax swept me away. His arms went around me, holding me with a possessiveness I’d come to know well. I relaxed into it with his name on my lips.

  “I trust you,” I whispered, pressing tiny kisses to his chest and neck. “But, I don’t trust any deal you make with that demon. He’s dangerous, Arys. Maybe more so than Lilah in some ways.”

  “Don’t let him ruin this moment.” Arys ran a hand through my hair, stroking it lovingly.

  I swallowed hard. I couldn’t help but say what I was feeling.

  “Don’t let him ruin us.”

  Chapter Nine

  “You know I would never let anything happen to you.” Arys’s voice thundered through the house. “You can’t punish me for doing what I feel is best.”

  “I’m not trying to punish you, Arys. I’m trying to warn you.” I moved around the kitchen in my bathrobe, making a much-needed latte. Sunrise had driven us inside where our argument had picked up right where it had left off, much to my dismay.

  Arys sat at the island watching me. His glower was both sexy and frightening. This was going to be a hell of a long day if we were at each other’s throats the entire time.

  “And, I’m trying to make you see that right now we need to choose the lesser of two evils. And, that is Shya. We can bargain with him. There’s no hope of bargaining with a woman who has already killed to get to you.”

  The afterglow had been short lived. No amount of sensual lovemaking could eliminate the ever-burning conflict we shared. In light of everything that had gone on lately, I wanted to feel united with Arys. It wasn’t happening.

  Shirtless, his hair standing up in disarray from our backyard romp, Arys flipped through a newspaper flyer. He turned the pages angrily, as if the paper itself had dared to defy him. Stifling a sigh, I turned back to the coffee machine, tapping my fingers on the counter as a stream of steamed milk filled a mug. I found it increasingly difficult to suppress my growing irritation.

  “There is no lesser of two evils,” I said quietly. “Not this time.”

  “It’s better to have Shya working with us rather than against us. You’ve got to pick your battles, Alexa. This is not the time to battle him.”

  I stirred a splash of Irish cream into my coffee and lifted the cup to my lips for a sip. Heavenly. I would miss many things when I became a vampire. Caffeine and liquor would be high on that list.

  “What about battling each other?” I quipped. “When does that stop?”

  Arys ignored my question, feigning interest in a flyer for a furniture sale. “Shya won’t harm you. He swore not to.”

  “Oh yeah? What did you have to promise him in return for th
at oath?”

  “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” His evasiveness worried me. Hiding things wasn’t new for Arys, but it was rarely ever good.

  “Don’t play this game with me.” My temper flared. The urge to smack him with my coffee mug was strong.

  Arys dragged his gaze to mine. It was guarded, impossible to read as he decided how much to tell me.

  “I promised to torture some information out of someone for him.” He tried to come off as flippant, like it was no big deal. It didn’t work on me. I’ve been inside Arys’s mind. I knew how he worked.

  “Who?”

  I drank my coffee, staring at him over the rim of the cup. Tension had me gripping it a little too tightly, and I had to force myself to relax.

  “Bianca,” he said with a shrug. “I can’t imagine why you’d have a problem with that.”

  I was conflicted. She was one of the few people I truly despised. I would have the image of her atop Shaz burned forever in my memory. Still, it felt wrong to stand back and allow Arys to do horrible things to her.

  “She saved my ass from Kale,” I uttered the words in a hollow tone.

  “So what? She also fucked and bled your wolf. Several times.” Arys laughed bitterly. “Too little too late. Isn’t that what you said to Briggs? Some actions can never be forgiven.”

  My gaze dropped to the granite counter top. I didn’t know what to say. Too much had gone on recently. With Shaz’s indiscretions, my own rash actions and Arys’s readiness to kill without a second thought, forgiveness was a touchy subject. One we ultimately had to accept, or live always with walls between us.

  I walked over to the heavily draped patio door and split the blinds apart an inch with a finger. Arys was far from where the beam of light fell inside the kitchen. I peered out at the sunlit backyard. Sparrows and chickadees fluttered about the patio, ducking into the small birdhouse filled with seeds. It had been Kylarai’s idea.

  I watched as a squirrel scampered up, lacking stealth but making up for it with speed. It swiped some seeds from the bird feeder and disappeared across the lawn with several birds chirping harshly at its retreating form. The sense of calm I got just from watching the activity of nature out my door was instant. I took a deep breath before turning back to Arys.

  “What information does Shya want from Bianca?”

  “He’s looking for something. He thinks the FPA knows where it is. That’s all I know. I didn’t ask a lot of questions. He didn’t volunteer a lot of answers.”

  That triggered a memory of Lilah not so long ago searching Veryl’s office for a mystery item. Now, I was intrigued. If it was something everyone wanted, there had to be a good reason. My gaze darted to the laptop on the table. Veryl’s files might shed some light on this mystery.

  “You should know better,” I scolded. “You could be helping him get his hands on something he should never have.”

  “Honestly, as long as it doesn’t affect us, I don’t give a damn what Shya does.”

  I grumbled obscenities under my breath. With coffee in hand, I sat down in front of the laptop and turned it on. I could feel Arys watching me.

  “Always on the hunt for answers,” he observed. “You’re going to drive yourself crazy.”

  “Already halfway there,” I tossed back. “Every time I find answers, I only end up with more questions. I can’t stop looking. I’m sick of being in the dark. Especially now that I know my parents worked for the FPA.”

  Arys’s noise of surprise gave me some satisfaction… Until he followed it up with a snotty remark.

  “That explains so much, although it doesn’t explain why the hell you would willingly walk back into that building if you knew that. You’re reckless, Alexa. I get that. I grudgingly accept it. But, when did you become such a fool?”

  “Did you just call me stupid?” I spun in my chair to face him, a growl rumbling in my throat.

  A smirk curved his lips. “I did no such thing. Are you looking for a fight, my love? You know I’m always happy to comply.”

  “I noticed.” With a scowl, I turned back to the laptop. I was touchy and temperamental. I was mad at him for making a deal with Shya, certain it would come back to haunt us.

  “Are you really that pissed off at me? I only want to protect you.” His tone was serious; all sense of playfulness had vanished.

  “I feel betrayed,” I confessed. “You warned me about Shya. You gave me shit for accepting the Dragon Claw from him. Now, you’re making deals with him. It’s shady. It makes me ill.”

  The silence hung heavy and long. I stared at my laptop. I was afraid to see what expression he wore. The truth was I felt insecure. I’d already lost Shaz. Kale had gone from forbidden lover to murderous enemy. Arys was mine in the deepest sense, yet the promise of trial and conflict between twin flames had me worried. We weren’t meant to live happily ever after.

  There was a squeak as Arys slid off the island stool. He joined me at the table, dragging a chair close to mine. “What is it you’re not saying?”

  “I miss Shaz like crazy.” I sighed; those words carried a heavy weight. “I watched us fall apart, and I was helpless to stop it. I can’t go through that again. Not with you.”

  “That will never happen,” he insisted, but I could see the doubt in his eyes. He knew as well as I did that being bound to one another didn’t guarantee us anything. Arys was quiet, thoughtful. After a minute he added, “Shaz misses you like crazy too, you know.”

  I stiffened. The files momentarily forgotten, I turned to him in shock. “Has he been in touch with you?”

  Arys froze. If the vampire could have paled, he would have. Realizing the error of his words, he shook his head and swore.

  “He’s called a few times.” The admittance fell from his lips like acid. It burned. “He needed to know you were ok.”

  “Then why didn’t he call me?” It stung that Shaz would stay in touch with the man he could barely stand but not with me. “And, why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

  Arys reached to take my hand, but I stood up and walked away from the table. I felt betrayed by both of them. How many other things were the two of them hiding from me? Maybe I was blowing it up bigger than it was. I’d been missing Shaz for weeks now, fearing that he would never come back. This hurt.

  “He asked me not to tell you. He knew if he called you, he wouldn’t be able to stay away. It’s killing him not to be here with you, but he’s feeling better now. The urges, the need for a fix, it’s not consuming him anymore.”

  My shoulders slumped and I sighed. “That’s good. I’m happy to hear that. I’m just feeling sorry for myself. And, it irks me when you guys talk about me. It’s stupid, I know.”

  I felt remorseful. I couldn’t begrudge Shaz the time and space he needed. I owed him the same understanding he’d shown me so many times.

  “You don’t want us fighting, but you don’t want us talking.” Arys forced a dramatic sigh. “Make up your mind, woman.”

  I smiled, a painfully tight action. “Yeah. Good luck with that.”

  Knowing Shaz was doing well would go a long way in helping me sleep easier. It didn’t erase the irritation I felt toward Arys for hiding the information. He knew how desperately I’d been missing my wolf mate. He’d had the ability to ease my mind, but he chose not to.

  My phone rang before I could further vent my frustration. The fast-paced strains of “Gangnam Style” filled the room, and I flipped Arys the bird. He made no attempt to hide his glee. The bastard was always changing my ringtone to the most ridiculous songs. He’d do anything to embarrass or annoy me.

  It was Brogan, not entirely unexpected but possibly worrisome.

  “Brogan, hey,” I answered. “Everything ok?”

  “Fine. I didn’t wake you, did I? I wasn’t sure if you’d be asleep or not.”

  “Nope. Not yet. What’s up?”

  Her voice was tight, pitched a little higher than normal. “Gabriel’s mother called. She said he never came hom
e last night. I’m worried about him.”

  “Shit,” I cursed. “Any idea where he may be?”

  “At the moment? No. But, I know his buddy’s band is playing a gig tonight at The Spirit Room. I think there’s a good chance he’ll be there.” There was hesitation on the line. “Would you mind coming with me to check it out? I know you have more pressing things to deal with. No worries if you can’t make it.”

  I didn’t have to consider it for long. Gabriel was practically a kid but a powerful one. Shya wanted him; therefore, I wanted to make sure Shya never got him. Plus, I still had to put the squeeze on Gabriel myself. He had a vision when he touched me, and I damn well wanted to know what it was.

  “I can make it. No problem. What time should I meet you there?”

  When I hung up, Arys was giving me the look that meant he was going to shadow me all night while ridiculing my decision.

  “Don’t start with me, Arys.” I held up a hand, cutting him off before he could speak the words that accompanied the look.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” The look he shot me oozed the sarcasm his tone did not convey. “Just be careful, ok? I know you want to save the kid, but don’t forget you need some saving yourself.”

  I laughed scathingly; I wasn’t willingly playing the victim. Between Lilah’s sick attempt to force my hand and Kale’s blatant abuse, I was done with it.

  “Wrong. Maybe it’s time for everybody else to need a little saving from me,” I snarled, angry with no one in particular but angry just the same. “I’m sick of pretending I’m not one of the monsters. Maybe it’s time to start acting like one.”

  A frown blended with a scowl to adorn Arys’s face in a dark expression. “Careful what you say, love. We both know you don’t mean that.”

  “Like hell I don’t.”