Darkness Awakened

by Katie Reus

  He couldn’t heal any of her inner agony. Only finding her daughter could do that. But he could make her sleep.

  Reaching between them, he shoved at her tiny black sleep shorts covered with glow-in-the-dark red vampire lips. If it had been any other situation he’d have laughed at the adorable nightwear but now he could only think about Lyra’s pleasure. And feeling the heat between her legs was freeing his most animalistic side in a way she’d only ever done to him.

  Once she was free of the shorts, he cupped her mound while still kissing her. She rolled her hips once against his hand and when he thrust two fingers inside her sheath without warning, she bucked wildly.

  Normally he would have worked up to this. Taken his time and kissed and teased every single inch of her sweet body. Not now.

  She was wet, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Drawing his fingers out of her, he shuddered at the feel of her inner walls clamping around him. Being with her like this was almost torture. He might want a second chance with her, but deep down he knew she’d never give him one.

  And he couldn’t blame her. When he’d left her, he hadn’t been cruel, but he had been clear that they had no future together—and maybe he had been harsh. It had been the only way to keep her out of his life.

  Keep her safe. Keep her alive.

  A dark weight settled in his gut but it had no place there at the moment. Mentally shaking himself, he inhaled her familiar sweet scent and was swept back to almost two decades ago.

  When he nibbled along her jaw she let out a tiny moan that tore through him, making his entire body tense. What he wouldn’t give to strip off his clothes and push more than his fingers into her.

  Remembering how tight she’d been, how perfectly his cock had fit inside her made him a little crazy. “Tell me what you want,” he murmured next to her ear, inhaling her scent. Her scent had always reminded him of caramel and raspberries. So much so that he couldn’t eat either food without thinking of her.

  “Make me sleep. Make me forget,” she panted out, a frantic, desperate note in her voice.

  Moving his way to her collarbone, he didn’t bother removing the formfitting black T-shirt. He shredded the front until her breasts were displayed. What little brain function he’d been clinging to dissipated at the sight of her perfect dark pink nipples.

  He’d sucked and kissed them so many times in the past, but seeing her now splayed out before him made something primal inside him wake up. The part of him he’d had to bury in order to survive the last seventeen years. There had been no one for him since her. The thought of taking another woman to his bed had been wrong on so many levels. He’d tried to kill his dreams and fantasies of her, but they’d always crept into his subconscious. Having her underneath him now was like sensory overload.

  This might be about her right now, but she was still his. His brain and purely animal side clawed at him, telling him to claim her. To plunge inside her and rake his teeth along the gentle slope of her neck. To extend his canines and pierce that delicate skin, letting everyone know she belonged to him.

  Shutting down that part of him took willpower he was surprised he still had. As he dipped his head and sucked one hardened nipple into his mouth she let out a strangled sound that went straight to his cock.

  Gently raking his teeth over the tightened bud, he growled in satisfaction when he felt her tight sheath clench around his fingers.

  When he flicked her nipple again, he got the same reaction. Knowing it wouldn’t take long to bring her to climax, he continued his assault on both breasts. Licking, laving, teasing, he didn’t give her any respite as he used his tongue on her.

  Her hips were bucking against him in a frantic rhythm. She was murmuring something he couldn’t understand but her eyes were closed and her fingers dug tightly against his head. Using the heel of his palm he rubbed against her clit, creating more friction against the sensitive bundle of nerves.

  She sucked in a deep breath and her inner walls began convulsing around his fingers. Her climax was fast and hard and the animal side of him wanted desperately to strip away his clothes and push into her. He wanted to feel that tightness pulsing around his hard length. Wanted to connect with Lyra in a way he’d dreamed about for almost two damn decades.

  As her cream rushed over his fingers and her orgasm ebbed from her body, she fell almost boneless against the floor. A sense of triumph rumbled through him as he watched her. He’d put that pleasure on her face.

  Her eyes opened to slits that he could just barely see in the dim room. Lyra let out a long, whooshing breath and it appeared as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the energy.

  When she tried again, he shook his head and scooped her up. Laying her on the bed, he stretched out behind her and wrapped his arm possessively around her waist. He pulled her tight against his chest. His inner wolf calmed when she didn’t even attempt to struggle. Just moved into his embrace and let her head rest on the pillow. He thought he heard her murmur “thank you” but couldn’t be sure.

  In mere seconds her breathing and heartbeat were steady. Despite his hard-on, he was exhausted too. After killing those demons and dropping Lyra off, he’d been on the move ever since. Generally, he didn’t need as much sleep as humans considering his regenerative abilities. All shifters were like that, but more so for him since he was an Alpha. Since he knew sleep might be elusive for both him and Lyra in the near future he decided to take advantage of the next couple hours. The sun would be setting soon and the moment it did, the hunt for Lyra’s daughter would continue.

  But if he was truly honest with himself, he stayed in the room not for sleep, but simply to hold Lyra close.

  Chapter Five

  Lyra held her purse tight against her body, using it as something to ground her. Butterflies danced like mad in her stomach.

  A positive pregnancy test was tucked deep inside next to her wallet. Not that she needed proof or anything. Finn would believe her. She just liked looking at it. Part of her was terrified that she was actually pregnant with a shifter’s baby, but mainly she was just excited. She and Finn had been seeing each other for over six months and she knew him better than anyone. Despite her lingering worries over his possible reaction, she knew deep down that he would embrace this. It might not be something either of them had expected, but she trusted him to be supportive.

  As she waited on the steps of the local library where they always met before heading out anywhere, she fidgeted with the strap of her purse. When she saw his familiar form striding up the stone steps her stomach plummeted.

  Something was wrong. She could see it written in every line of his face.

  Wake up! She yelled at herself to open her eyes. This dream had been haunting her for what felt like forever. Wake up, wake up. Finn’s scent twined around her and she could feel the sluggishness of the dream weighing her down, taunting her.

  Suddenly everything morphed, jerking the horrible memory away and shoving something else right in her face with the intensity of a stinging slap.

  “Mom?” Vega’s voice tickled lightly against her senses.

  Then Lyra could see her face, even if it was blurry and faded, like watching a really old film. They’d had just two connections like this very recently—ever since Vega had turned sixteen—though only while sleeping. Lyra had no psychic abilities whatsoever. She was incredibly strong and fast—more so than most vampires because she was a blood-born—but the recent psychic connection was all from her daughter.

  The first time her daughter had reached out to her by accident. That time Lyra had had a clear vision of her daughter, not this blurry image. As Vega was getting older her psychic powers must be growing—possibly because of her mixed heritage, they just didn’t know.

  Lyra clung to the remnants of sleep now, not wanting to wake up.

  Reaching out psychically, she said, “Vega? Is that you?” Please don’t be just a figment of my imagination.

  “It’s me…drugs making me out of it…”
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br />   Even though Lyra wanted to ask her daughter a hundred questions and apologize for fighting with her, she knew how fragile this moment was. How easily it could slip away from them. “Honey, where are you?”

  “Dunno exact…didn’t go far. Heard one say…still in Biloxi.” Even Vega’s voice in their dream was slurred.

  Her heart jumped at that. Her daughter was nearby. “Have they hurt you?” Lyra’s throat tightened at the thought of anyone harming her.

  “No…guy guarding me is kinda nice…can hear the ocean,” she mumbled.

  Everything started to fade. The vision of her daughter’s face was dissipating. Reaching out, she tried to grab onto the fuzzy image of Vega but it was useless. “I’ll find you!”

  Jerking upright, Lyra found herself clutching onto a pillow in the middle of Finn’s giant bed. He was gone, she realized as she looked around the room. Her entire body shook and she had to fight back the tears. Her daughter was alive and unharmed. That was the most important thing. She needed to tell him Vega was in Biloxi. It was a big city but Lyra didn’t care. They would find her.

  Swallowing convulsively, she looked down at her naked body and cringed at the thought of how Finn had helped her get to sleep. One more thing she could add to her list of stupid decisions. Getting involved with him in any way right now was just plain insanity.

  She slid off the bed and slightly pulled the curtain back. When she saw pink and orange streaks fading across an increasingly gray sky, she rushed to Finn’s bathroom. Not bothering to look at herself in the mirror she took a quick shower then towel dried her hair. After dressing in dark pants and a dark sweater, she began tugging on her boots. As she zipped up the second one, the bedroom door flew open.

  Finn looked just as big and intimidating as ever and she couldn’t stop the heat that rushed to her cheeks as she remembered the way he’d very recently stroked her to orgasm.

  Immediately she stood. “I spoke to Vega.”

  His dark eyebrows rose as he shut the door behind him. “Did her captors call again?”

  “No…she came to me in a dream.” Lyra knew she should be more thankful to Finn for helping her sleep, but she didn’t want to even think about that.

  “What did she say?”

  “They haven’t taken her far, she can hear the ocean—and she’s still in Biloxi. She also said that whoever is guarding her is nice.” Which slightly soothed Lyra’s panic. If Vega wasn’t being mistreated or abused, Lyra could better find the focus to track her daughter down.

  He was silent for a beat then said, “One of my guy’s tracked her cell to its last known location but it was just outside the hotel we already checked so it’s a dead end.”

  Hope jumped then faded inside her so quickly she felt as if she was on a rollercoaster.

  Finn continued. “But, we might have a lead. Got a call from a jaguar shifter who lives around here. Said he needed to talk to me about the missing girl, but wouldn’t do it over the phone.”

  “Did he say her name? Did he know anything about her location? Are you sure it’s even Vega he’s referring to?”

  His expression was grim. “All he told me was he needed to talk to me about the ‘vampire chick’s daughter’ and that it was important.”

  “Where does he want to meet? And when?” If her daughter was still in Biloxi she was ready to rip the city apart, but knew that was a stupid impulse. They had be smart, move quietly, especially after that warning from one of her captors.

  Finn glanced at his watch even though she was sure he knew exactly what time it was. “Now, but—”

  Hands balled at her sides, she took a step toward him. “If you think you can stop me from going with you, you’re out of your mind.”

  “Lyra—”

  “Don’t. This is my daughter. You can leave without me but I will follow. And if you or any of your people try to restrain me, I will rip you to shreds. I’m not some weak female who needs protecting. Vega is my daughter.” Her voice was barely above a whisper and her claws had begun to dig into her palms as she tried to steady her breathing.

  He scrubbed a hand over his face then shook his head sharply. “You can come, but you will be quiet the entire time. I talk to him and you listen. There’s no room for emotion in this. We need to keep a level head.”

  She gritted her teeth and nodded. “Fine.” She could be as level headed as he wanted, but if this guy knew where her daughter was, he was going to tell them. Or he’d lose his head.

  * * *

  “Tell me about your daughter,” Finn said as he steered out of the main gates to his home. He’d wanted to ask earlier but it hadn’t been the time. She’d been too distraught, but now he could see she was better focused. The psychic connection with her daughter had obviously helped. He hoped talking about Vega would help Lyra’s focus even more.

  “She’s smart, resourceful, beautiful and…so young and vulnerable.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

  “What about school? How’s she doing?”

  Lyra glanced at him, a touch of surprise on her features. “Very well. She graduated from high school early and decided to take a year off until she figures out where she wants to go to college.”

  “Did she go to a regular high school?” He frowned, wondering how that was possible.

  Lyra nodded, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders. She slightly tilted her face away from him, as if she was hiding her expression. “She’s free to walk in the daytime because of the genetics from her father. Of course she’s had to hide some of her abilities, but we’ve made it work. When I was… when we moved out on our own it was a conscious choice to give her the kind of childhood I never had.”

  Something about the tone of her voice and scent was off. “On your own…how long have you lived away from your coven?” It was one of the answers he’d been trying to find out through discreet inquiries.

  She swallowed hard enough that he heard it, her face still turned away from his. “A while.”

  He wanted to press her for more answers but didn’t want to upset her before they made it to Bo Broussard’s club. It was the only neutral place Rene Bellanger—the jaguar shifter who’d contacted him—would agree to meet. Finn had decided not to point out that whether it was ‘neutral’ or not, he ruled all of this territory and could rip his throat out in the middle of the club with no repercussions if he saw fit.

  “So what do you think about this guy we’re meeting?” Lyra asked, smoothly changing the subject.

  He could let the matter of her daughter and whatever she was hiding from him drop—for now. And he knew she was keeping something from him. He could scent subtle half-truths rolling off her when she spoke about Vega. Not that it would stop him from helping Lyra. Nothing could do that. “His name’s Rene. He’s a jaguar shifter who lives in my territory. He’s always kept to himself, but he called me frantic and refused to talk about anything over the phone. He sounded terrified. It’s odd that he wanted to meet in person.”

  “Do you think he has something to do with Vega’s kidnapping?”

  Finn shook his head. “I can’t imagine him being involved, but…” He shrugged. He couldn’t afford to rule anything out.

  She was silent as she settled against the seat, but she turned her body more toward his. Crossing her legs in his direction, he watched out of the corner of his eye as her foot bounced up and down. She’d never been able to sit still when she was nervous.

  “How has it been being Alpha of such a large territory?” she asked quietly, the question taking him off guard.

  His hands tightened on the wheel. There was another question she didn’t ask, but he heard it just the same. Did he regret leaving her before taking over as Alpha? He’d asked himself the same question too many times to count. But there was no simple answer. Yes, he regretted leaving her, but he didn’t regret it at the same time. Not when he knew in his gut that he’d kept her safe, kept her alive and away from his uncle. “Rocky at first, but anyone who disagreed with my rul
es had the choice to leave the territory.” They’d also had the choice to challenge him. Some had. They hadn’t survived.

  “Hmm.”

  He shot her a sideways glance.

  The look in her gray-violet eyes was frosty. “I guess your pack’s stance on vampire-shifter relations has changed considering you’re helping me.”

  It wasn’t formed as a question, and he knew what she was implying. Unfortunately he couldn’t afford to get into any of that now. If he did, they would miss the meeting and they’d just arrived at the club. He kicked the truck into park. “We’re here.”

  Hurt flashed across her face for a brief second before she got out of the vehicle. By the time he’d rounded the truck, her expression was completely unreadable. Now that darkness had fallen there were a lot more cars in the parking lot. Even so, with his over-sensitized hearing he still couldn’t hear any music from inside the club. Bo had some serious sound proofing.

  “What is this place?” Lyra asked, looking around.

  “You’ll see,” he murmured. The same bouncer from earlier opened the door for them. This time he didn’t say anything, just nodded politely.

  The place was packed. Finn was surprised by the sheer number of vampires there, but after a quick scan of the place, wasn’t remotely threatened by anyone. After ordering a couple drinks, they headed to the private booth he’d reserved—and Lyra had sucked hers down before they’d even reached it. He’d just bought a drink to be social but she’d ordered blood.

  “You should have told me you were hungry,” he snapped out, harsher than he’d intended to sound.

  She snorted, the sound so inelegant it made him laugh. Lyra seemed startled by his reaction, but gave him a tentative, almost nervous smile that reminded him so much of the first time they’d met. It pierced his heart with a jarring kind of pain that stripped him bare. Some days he wished he could turn back time. Maybe if he’d made a different choice things would have turned out differently. Or maybe he’d have gotten her killed because of his selfishness.