Shifting Darkness

by Kate Wendley

  His breathing quickened and she could feel him slowly losing control, even as he kept a firm hold on her. He kissed her neck more desperately with every change in tone of her growl, his hard erection pressing mercilessly against her as he continued to stroke her heated center. She was wet and ready for him, right here, right now, but when she tried to push him back so she could do more than just touch him, he only held her more firmly against himself.

  Her growls turned demanding as he continued to hold her in place, setting the pace of what he wanted while leaving her to languish in need. When his own rhythm grew quick and disjointed, she hoped he’d finally let her do more, but instead he stopped stroking her and leaned down to suckle her breast.

  His masculine whimper made her growl even more, which only made him more frantic. She was desperate for him by the time he finally stood up and gave her a bruising kiss, his firm grip on her neck suddenly gone while he cupped her cheeks and ate at her mouth.

  Her hands were frantic to touch him everywhere, but ended up wrapped around his erection as his anxious hips tried to keep rhythm with her movements. Another growl from her, or maybe from both of them, and he quickly stripped her of her pants and panties with no complaints from her except that he should’ve done it sooner.

  He huskily said, “I’m not going to last long.”

  As much as she wanted him in her arms right now, she wasn’t going to last long either, so she hustled them the few steps to her couch and bent over the arm rest. He immediately thrust into her from behind and her mind nearly exploded. Movement caught her eye and she looked up to see their reflection in the large wall mirror that was meant to make her place feel bigger. Right now it perfectly framed Vince’s gorgeous, sexy body thrusting in and out of her aching center as she lay bent over for him. They both looked frantic and desperate as Vince held onto her hips with his strong hands, and Penny’s breasts bobbed in time to his powerful thrusts.

  Vince finally noticed their reflection in the mirror and caught her eye, his chest swelling as he looked over the scene. His eyes glowed as brightly as she’d ever seen them while his hips feverishly rocked back and forth, her body aching for more from him. His masculine groan grew louder until it turned into a growl, so she pressed harder and faster against him, her eyes focused on his face in the mirror. She desperately wanted to look in his eyes while he came for her, and he didn’t disappoint. His expression turned feral as he gave a jerky thrust and held her tight, his jaw slackening as his back slightly bowed. She reached down to help herself, not wanting to be the last one to the party, and quickly brought herself to climax to the feel of Vince coming inside her.

  She almost closed her eyes to revel in her own ecstasy, but she caught Vince’s reflection in the mirror again, and he was staring straight at her. His breathing was heavy, and he looked anxious as she quietly cried out her orgasm.

  When they’d both come down from their high, Penny nearly wilted over the arm of the couch, and Vince seemed just as weak.

  Her voice was husky when she said, “Let’s go to the bedroom.”

  Vince helped her up, then limped with her to the bed, both of them dropping onto it with a chuckle.

  They rested for about a minute as they eyed each other as if they were holding back. A warm touch here, a tickle there, and they were at it again. This time she was on top, but the third time he got his way again, all growls and wordless demands.

  By the time they’d worn each other out, she was cradled in his arms, his big body surrounding her as he lay peacefully by her side. He didn’t speak as his heavy breathing calmed, though he did purr for a time. When he abruptly stopped, she realized he’d fallen asleep.

  As she lay smiling to herself, on the edge of her own sleep, she marveled at how catlike he was tonight. He didn’t act that way very much, so she usually completely forgot he was jaguar, which was weird. Tonight he was sleek, smooth, and hit all the right buttons. Her last thought before drifting off was that they should hang out more often.

  **

  Penny shifted in her sleep, the heavy feel of a large male body wrapped around her startling her awake. Strong arms pulled her closer and kept her from escaping just before a purr started rumbling in his chest.

  Her heart calmed. Vince was in her bed. He was still sleeping, his hands kneading her flesh like a cat would until his purrs died off and he was calm again. She smiled to herself at that. She’d never dated a cat before. She wondered if they were all as cuddly as Vince was. Or as energetic. He was hands down the best lover she’d ever been with.

  His purring started again and she cursed herself for thinking about their night together. The cats were incredibly sensitive to people’s emotions, and he was no doubt waking up because she was getting excited.

  She willed herself to go back to sleep, content with being held by Vince as if she were the most precious thing in his world.

  **

  Anthony felt the presence of a jaguar coming closer just before she hesitantly knocked. He faced the door as it slowly opened and Vince’s mother entered the room.

  “Miss LaRue. What can I do for you?”

  Kaia lounged with her feet up on the sofa in his office, but she put her book down and sat up, giving Charlotte her full attention. Good. He was glad she understood she needed to take her safety seriously here, around everyone, though he didn’t like that she had to think about things like that.

  She straightened her new crescent moon, sapphire necklace he’d given her for Christmas, and he liked the way it looked on her. Charlotte gave her a glance and an obvious scenting in the meantime, and he could see in Kaia’s eyes that she still found that strange.

  “Kaia, have you met Miss Charlotte LaRue? Vince’s mother?”

  “Vince’s mom? No.” She immediately popped up and reached for her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you. Vince is such a great guy!” Anthony didn’t like her that close to the jaguar and was beside her in an instant, just in case.

  Charlotte lifted her chin defiantly while keeping her eyes on Kaia. “I hope you’ll remember that once you’re vampire.”

  She frowned in confusion. “Excuse me?”

  Well, this wasn’t starting off great. Anthony nudged Kaia behind himself, hoping to quickly get on with whatever Charlotte needed from him. The less time Kaia was around anxious shifters, the better. At least until she was vampire and could protect herself.

  Charlotte thankfully ignored her and turned her attention to him instead. “I know Zach coordinated us moving in here, but this is your family. Thanks for all the nice stuff, but if you want things to be right between us, I want to see that red headed bitch vampire. I want to see for myself that you punished her.”

  “Of course. I’ll arrange a time−”

  “No. I want to see her right this second. You could do anything between now and whenever. I want to see that you told me the truth.” Charlotte pursed her lips and stared him down, though she had to look up at him to do it. Brave woman.

  He wished she’d come to ask for this just a little later tonight, after Kaia had gone to bed. He hated to give up any of his time with her even if all they were doing was sitting in the same room together while she read and he worked. Having peace between the vampires and jaguars was important, though, so he’d do what he had to do tonight.

  “Of course.” He turned to Kaia and said, “My sweet. If you wouldn’t mind spending some time with Jade while I attend to Miss LaRue’s request.”

  She stepped closer and looped her arm through his. “Unless it’s honestly too dangerous for me, I’d like to go with you two. This is family business and I’ll soon be your wife.”

  No, please no. He stared at her as panic raced through him. If she saw what he’d done to Bethany, she’d finally see how inhuman he could truly be. She’d leave him tonight and never come back.

  He must have been staring at her too long because she frowned, then tapped her forehead. He reluctantly used his power to open a link between their minds so they could sp
eak without Charlotte hearing them.

  ‘Can you hear me?’

  ‘Yes my sweet. Please−’

  ‘Take me with you.’

  He sucked in a heavy breath. ‘I don’t want to. You won’t like what you see.’

  ‘Will you?’

  ‘Of course not.’

  ‘Then take me with you. I know you sometimes have to do things you don’t like to do, like whatever this vampire’s punishment was. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be by your side.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘How can I get to know you better if I don’t know what your life is really like? And how can I learn to fit in around here if I don’t understand what’s going on?’

  So she was trying to be rational. That was good, but the test would come when she finally saw Bethany’s shriveled up husk of a body. He couldn’t deny Kaia this, though, because he truthfully did want her to know everything. He wanted someone in his life that he didn’t have to keep things from, so he gave her a defeated smile and closed his mind connection to her.

  He stepped closer, placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, and quietly said out loud, “Ok.”

  **

  Anthony led them down the stairs from the club to the sub-basement, where many of the vampires in his family slept in safety each day. He kept her in front of him as Charlotte took up the rear.

  Kaia was hesitant as she walked, probably because she’d never actually been further than his apartment, which was the first door at the bottom of the stairs. It was also much more dimly lit down here, so he put his hand on her shoulder to let her know she’d be all right.

  They rounded a corner, and the wolf guard assigned to Bethany’s room quickly stuffed his phone in his pocket and stood up. “Sir.”

  “Quinn. Bethany has a visitor. Please wait here in the hall.”

  He stepped away so Anthony could unlock the solid wooden door. He was the only one with a key, but he’d also put a spell on it to make sure no one could go against his orders and try to help her. He didn’t sense that anyone had tampered with the door or the spell, and once opened, he didn’t smell any new scents in her room.

  He kept Kaia behind him, closer to Quinn than Charlotte while he reached around and flicked on a light switch, then gestured for Charlotte to enter. The woman gave him a wary look, but peeked her head inside. After a brief moment she stepped more fully into the room and Anthony followed her in. He kept his hand firmly on Kaia’s shoulder the whole time, guiding her to exactly where he wanted her.

  The room was small, a studio apartment like almost all the others down here. It had a bed, a dresser, a wingback chair and a small bathroom, but combined with the dark, wood furniture that was all just a little too large, everything in here seemed more appropriate for an expensively rebuilt cabin in a mountainous community than it did in here. Add in the three of them and Bethany on the bed, and it was a cozy fit for them all.

  He kept his eyes on Charlotte and Bethany, mostly because he didn’t want to see Kaia’s expression once she got a full look at what he’d done. He kept his hand on her while she twisted around him to see more fully what they’d all come to see… Bethany. The woman he’d finally put in her place for years and years of irritating him. If she hadn’t stepped over the line with Charlotte all those years ago, perhaps she wouldn’t be here now. Or perhaps she’d done other things he didn’t know about and the run in with Charlotte was only the tip of the iceberg.

  She lay on top of her bed in a full dress that was too large on her emaciated, gray skinned body. Her bright red hair had turned pure white, and she still had all her jewelry on, which looked tacky and oversized for her frail body, let alone the expensive heels she still wore. He wasn’t sure how any of her accessories had stayed on her that night of her punishment, and didn’t care enough to think much about it.

  Kaia gasped when she finally realized what she was looking at, but he kept his eyes forward and his grip firm on her arm.

  Charlotte didn’t seem nearly as disturbed. “Is she even alive?”

  “Yes. You can’t sense her?”

  Charlotte studied her emaciated form with cautious curiosity. “I can feel her, but it’s not strong. How long will she be this way?” She turned and looked straight at Anthony. “How long will you forbid her to heal?”

  He felt a jolt go through Kaia and he cringed inside. This was not what he wanted her to see. At least not until she couldn’t turn him away… until after she was already vampire.

  But that was a selfish, guilty thought and he knew it. It was only fair for her to see what kind of person she was agreeing to spend the rest of her life with. It was now up to her to decide if she could stomach it.

  “I haven’t decided how long her punishment will be.” Kaia tensed again, and he realized he was squeezing her arm too tight. He eased up on his grip, the stress of having her here distracting him from his usual carefulness with her.

  Charlotte’s mood shifted, anger suddenly welling up in her as she quickly stepped closer to the bed. Anthony had no choice but to leave Kaia alone as he raced up next to Charlotte.

  He towered over her as he stood irritably by her side. “Ma’am, just so we’re clear, Bethany is vampire so I will do the punishing, not you.”

  She looked up at him with a challenge in her eyes, but finally curtly nodded.

  Her voice was almost as forceful when she said, “She should stay this way until Vince is healed.”

  Kaia screamed when Bethany suddenly scrambled towards them. Charlotte jumped out of her reach, and Anthony raced to Kaia’s side to keep her safe, but also to comfort her. He glared at Bethany, but with all the color gone from her eyes he couldn’t tell what she was looking at, or if she could even see anything anymore. His guess was that she was currently blind, but either way, she didn’t make any more moves towards them.

  Kaia shivered and Anthony finally looked at her. Her eyes fixed on Bethany as if she might still come after her, a look of horrified disgust making him feel like this was a mistake to bring her here. It didn’t matter that she thought she wanted to see this, he needed to get her out of this room.

  He put his arm around her and said to Charlotte, “Are you satisfied with her punishment?”

  Charlotte pulled her mesmerized gaze from Bethany and looked him straight in the eyes. “She stays this way until Vince heals.”

  “And if he never heals?”

  Charlotte winced, but jutted her chin out.

  Anthony carefully said, “You were pregnant with Vince the first time you sought help from the family, so she first denied you twenty seven years ago. I propose if Vince never heals, her punishment ends in twenty seven years.”

  Her face crumbled as she angrily said, “No. She could be the reason he would never heal. If he’d gotten help sooner…”

  “Perhaps. But there are still things we haven’t tried with Vince. Zach would like to try to force his shift on him at full moon. If that doesn’t work, and we exhaust all other remedies, then I’d be open to discussing a longer punishment.”

  “But−”

  He spoke over her, his voice firm and unyielding. “But until then, I will only give you twenty seven years, which is quite generous, Miss LaRue. I don’t deny Bethany’s wrongdoing, but she didn’t cause Vince’s disability. Without her interference we could’ve attempted to heal him sooner, but that wouldn’t change the fact that he’s disabled.”

  She more weakly said, “But he’s my child.”

  Kaia stepped cautiously forward and put her hand on Charlotte’s shoulder, though Anthony wasn’t ready to let her go yet. Charlotte looked at her in wonder, and when she didn’t back down, he reluctantly let Kaia go so she could give her a hug. Charlotte hesitated before finally embracing her, her arms shaking as she sniffled against her shoulder.

  After a few moments they released each other and Charlotte wiped at her face. “She stays this way until Vince heals, and if he doesn’t, we’ll talk after full moon about how long her sentence is
.”

  Anthony put his hand out for her to shake, and though she tensed and nearly took a step back from him, she finally reached out and sealed their deal.

  Chapter 18

  Penny woke to Vince sleeping like a rock beside her. He’d rolled onto his back sometime during the night, but was still pressed up against her with one hand resting on her naked hip. He looked so peaceful laying there, his dark hair tousled around his face while he took up over half the bed. She smirked at that as she spent a little time looking over his big, masculine body. He was a damn sexy man, and sweet and easy going, too. He could have any woman here… so how had she attracted him?

  She carefully extracted herself from the bed, every movement earning her a possessive grasp from Vince. She almost didn’t want to leave with this hot man wanting her even in his sleep, but she was too restless to lay here any longer, plus she needed to get ready for work.

  As quiet as she could, she threw on a t-shirt and shorts, then closed the bedroom door behind her.

  **

  The smell of bacon and the sounds of pans on the stove woke Vince. He blearily opened his eyes, vaguely aware he wasn’t in his own bed. The last remnants of quickly forgotten dreams scooted from his mind as the sounds from the kitchen woke him more fully.

  Penny’s. He was at Penny’s. That made him smile, the smell of their love making still thick in the air. He looked around, the sun trying it’s best to peek in through the blinds and curtains on her window. He hadn’t noticed last night, but her room was decorated in an offbeat mixture of feminine and punk rock styles. The dark pink, flowery curtains with slashes of paintbrush strokes coordinated with a purple comforter and throw pillows where the flowers melted into skulls. And then there was a nicely framed picture of Buddha on the wall above a dresser with a statuette of a coyote. Nice.