Dark Solace

by Tara Fox Hall

  “You’re beautiful,” I said, stroking him with one hand. “But I need to lay back. You’d better move.”

  Lash again moved like lightning, leaving my body and coiling himself up on the bed beside me, his glossy new skin shining brightly in the light of the lamp. His scales had an intricate pattern of brown, black and tan. It made sense now why he had wanted to see me in those colors.

  “Hold still,” I said.

  He moved his head under my hand, rubbing against me softly. I picked what I could of him up, and lay back with him on the bed, settling his body down on my lap. He was surprisingly heavy, so much dense muscle just beneath the warm scaly skin. He seemed content to lie there, not moving except for flicking his tongue every minute or so. I held him for a while, running my hands over him affectionately

  I couldn’t coil with him as he had wanted me to. This would have to do.

  All at once, I felt him convulse under my hands and he began to shift back to human form. He shortened and thickened, and then his tail split, becoming legs, as his arms appeared to grow from his sides. Then his scales faded, to be replaced by his tan skin and black hair. I held him more and more loosely as he shifted, but soon I had a very human-looking Lash in my arms, lying on his side next to me.

  “Thank you,” he said, relieved. “I hate when I have to shed, and can’t see. Devlin usually helps me with it.”

  “It’s okay,” I said softly, kissing him gently on the forehead. “It was neat, to see you as a snake. I’d always wondered how you looked, what pattern your scales would have—”

  He gripped my arm hard with his hand, and whispered softly. “Is your invitation still open?”

  I knew I shouldn’t. That was a given. But he wanted me, I wanted him, and I didn’t care about anything else.

  “You know it won’t be the same with me now,” I said gently, touching his shoulder. “I’m a lot more reserved usually, when I’m not under the control of The Lust.”

  “You are still who you are,” he said gently, running his hand down my arm. “I would want you just as much if you were covered with mud and sweat as you were that day at Hayden.”

  “I’m saying you may find me not as exciting—”

  He looked up at me, rolling his eyes a little. “If I was any more excited, I’d be vibrating. You’ve seen my body ready for yours for the last twenty-four hours, Sar. And it’s more than ready for you right now.”

  “So is mine,” I said softly, bringing his hand to my thigh.

  Lash slid his hand up my leg, then touched below my thatch, feeling my skin wet with desire. Instantly he shivered, his body contracting against mine. But instead of kissing me or making a move, he stayed where he was, his head raising to look up at me.

  “Sar, tell me you want me,” he said huskily, his eyes black with lust. “That it’s okay, if I do this, that you want this to happen. Say the words.”

  “Why? Isn’t it obvious—?”

  “Because I know what Dev did to you last fall,” Lash said reluctantly. “I know it wasn’t your choice, at least at first.” He clasped my hand in his. “The other times between you and me...they weren’t either, not really, though you were nice about it. I know you don’t have a lot of choices in your life now. I’m giving you this one. Don’t say yes unless you really want to.”

  By the time he finished, I’d made my decision. My words were heavy with emotion as I whispered them, my eyes a little blurry with unshed tears. “Yes, I want to—”

  Lash pulled me beneath him with a swift tug, and looked into my eyes. “Stop me, when it gets to be too much,” he said seriously. He kissed me passionately, shoving my nightgown up and easing my legs apart, moving himself into position. With a loud cry he was in, and then he was thrusting rapidly, letting out guttural moans as I wrapped my legs around him, trying to pull him deeper into me. He buried his head in my neck, his arms winding around me to hold my body tight to his. Within seconds he came screaming my name, shoving himself deep as he let go. “Sar! Oh God, Sar!”

  He collapsed on me, panting. I hugged him, then kissed his forehead. “Loud, are we?” I teased.

  Lash pulled back from me, grinning happily. “Yes, we’re both going to be,” he said, kissing my cheeks and face. “I couldn’t take loud noises before. My hearing was snake hearing, because I was half changed, and that was as far as I came back to human. I couldn’t ever yell out how good you felt to me, or scream your name the way I wanted to. But I’m all the way back now, Sar. Before tonight is done, I’m going to make you scream my name until you’re hoarse.”

  He began moving his hips, his hands cupping my face as he kissed me deeply, his tongue caressing me gently, yet with passion.

  * * * *

  “Lash,” I moaned, throwing my head back, the delicious climax rushing through me. “Lash! Yes!”

  Lash thrust up beneath me, then gripped my thighs hard, his hips pistoning. “Sar...Ahh! Oh Sar! Oh God, Sar!”

  After catching my breath, I sat up on him, leisurely stretching. “Has anyone ever told you you’re good?”

  “In the last few hours? Oh, about ten times, I think,” he replied, hugging me. “I think it was you.”

  I snuggled against him, and he flexed gently within me, shifting his hips the tiniest fraction.

  “Aren’t you tired?” I said incredulously.

  “I figure my physical age right now is about twenty, twenty-one,” he drawled. “Between that and being were, no.” He kissed my lips. “Do you hurt?”

  “Not yet,” I said sexily. “But I could use some water.”

  “Stay there and don’t move,” he said, lifting me off him. He was back shortly with a glass of water for me.

  I drank it greedily. “Thanks.”

  “Another?” he asked, taking the empty glass.

  “No, I’m good.”

  “Another orgasm?” he offered, grinning.

  I crooked my finger at him. “Come here, my winding bedfellow.”

  * * * *

  Lash woke me. “Are you hungry for lunch?” he asked, touching my arm gently. “Do you want me to bring you some food?”

  “No,” I said, stretching. “I’m not sure why. But I feel a lot better. I want to get up, and maybe go for a walk, get some sunlight.”

  “You were afraid you might not see it again.” He kissed me. “I wouldn’t have let you die, Sar.”

  I shook my head to tell him that wasn’t what I was saying. “I didn’t know if it would work,” I whispered. “I’m part vampire now. There is some doubt as to whether the were virus would work on me, with so much of the vampire one already in me. Danial mentioned something like that to Theo, once.”

  “The vampire one worked for me, with the demon blood as catalyst,” Lash said thoughtfully. “It would have worked, Sar. Titus gave you his blood hoping it would save you. If it didn’t wake you, I was going to bite you. The were virus from me, with the demon blood as catalyst from him would have worked, even if his blood or my bite alone didn’t. I wouldn’t have let you do it, if I wasn’t sure I could save you, if it came to that.”

  I took a deep breath then, and let it out. “I’m glad it worked. That’s as close as I ever want to come until it’s my time.” I looked at the clock. “God, its afternoon. When did we stop?”

  “We didn’t,” Lash said with a snort. “Someone fell asleep in mid-fuck—”

  I bit my lip, affronted. “Don’t call it that, please.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lash said contritely. “Come outside with me,” he asked, taking my hand. “We’ll lay together in the sun. Let me hold you like I did that day months ago.”

  “I’ll burn,” I said, making a face.

  “Not this time of day,” Lash answered. “Or I can get you some sunscreen.”

  “I thought you didn’t have any cash?” I asked, furrowing my brow.

  “I have my truck stash, for emergencies,” Lash replied. “I’d forgotten about it.”

  “I should shower first,” I said, running my
hands through my hair.

  “Please don’t,” he said softly, squeezing my hand. “I like smelling my scent on you. We can shower when we come back, if you want to. But let me hold you for a while, and breathe in the scent of us. Please?”

  “All right,” I said. “I think I have some sunscreen in my purse, actually.”

  “I’ll take care of this, too,” Lash said, folding up the snakeskin in a bundle.

  “What do you usually do with it?” I asked, wondering if he’d let me keep a piece of it.

  “Sorry, but I have to burn it,” Lash said, catching my look. “It’s part of me, Sar, and it could be used by someone to hurt me.”

  “Who would—?”

  “Titus, for one,” Lash hissed angrily. “It will only take a minute to burn. We’ll pick a spot with a fire pit or a grill.”

  We went out into the bright sunlight. The warmth felt wonderful on my skin, and I basked in the light. We were overdressed again, but that was good, as the day was uncharacteristically cool for southern Florida. Lash found us a grassy spot, then he gathered up the snakeskin, and took it to a nearby grill. He lay it on the top, putting a stick over it to hold it down, and then he struck a match from a book he removed from his pocket. The second Lash touched the match to the skin, it caught like gasoline. In seconds, there were just ashes scattering on the wind.

  Lash came back to me, sat down, and took off his shirt, baring his chest. I sat down beside him, happy that last night’s rain had already dried.

  Lash moved closer, putting his arm around me. “There is nothing like the Southern sun,” he said happily. “Here, lay down.”

  “I know what you mean,” I laid back on the grass and closed my eyes.

  Lash leaned back next to me on his arms. “Sleep if you want to. And tell me when you’re ready to eat again.”

  “Later,” I said. “It feels too good here to move. The sun’s going to set before long as it is.”

  “Yes, it is,” he said softly. Giving me a light kiss, he settled back down on his hands, watching the ocean.

  I dozed for a while, luxuriating in the sun’s heat. Too soon, Lash was squeezing my hand, telling me we needed to go.

  “Answer me something first,” I asked softly. “What does the symbol on the knife mean?”

  Lash was silent.

  His silence, although it said volumes, was not an answer. “Do you not want me to know? It clearly was a mark you put there. You carved it there in the steel. What did you write?”

  “Leave it,” Lash answered reluctantly. “I believed I was never going to see you again, that I was dying.”

  I didn’t pursue it, though I concluded what the symbol likely meant, given the tone in his voice.

  Chapter Seven

  “I’m sorry if I offended you earlier,” Lash said, contrite. “I was just teasing. I didn’t mean to imply any disrespect.”

  I had felt disrespected, but I should know his sense of humor by now, and his fondness for the word fuck. “It’s fine, just don’t call it that again.”

  “I won’t,” Lash hissed softly in my ear. He leaned closer. “Please tell me I don’t have to call it intercourse, though—”

  “Stop it!” I said, cracking up laughing. “But I do want you to tell me something. What do I smell like to you, that you like it so much?”

  Lash didn’t hesitate. “You smell like this day,” he sighed with deep longing. “Like the best day there could be, with the sun shining down, and the warmth of it making me feel so good. I didn't smell it the first few times I met you. You were covered in Danial’s, and later Devlin’s scent, then. I smelled a trace of it the day I first brought you home from Hayden, though I thought it was some kind of perfume you were wearing. I only smelled it for what it was the first time we were together.” He paused. “I couldn’t get enough of it. I didn’t need to be in the room with you all those months I guarded you, Sar. I was there because I wanted to be near you. It must be what Devlin means, when he says you taste of summer. Because you smell of it, at least to me.”

  I waited to hear him say he smelled the taint of vampire as Theo had, but he didn’t. Maybe he couldn’t smell it because he had his own similar taint. Lash smelled like autumn leaves, leather, and musk, but the earth scent under it had increased from what it had been. The scent of his sickness was gone.

  * * * *

  “Sar, even if you aren’t hungry, I am,” Lash said, waking me. He was already dressed in his shirt. “It’s close to seven. I need to eat something.”

  “I am, too,” I said, offering him my hand. “What do you feel like?”

  “Let’s decide after we shower,” he said, slipping his arm around me.

  It was obvious he was after more nookie. I thought up various rebuffs in favor of eating as we slowly walked back to the hotel room. Then to my shock, Lash offered me the shower first, telling me he’d go pack up the tent gear while I dressed.

  Mystified, I showered, and then dressed. By the time he returned, I was perusing the room service menu to see if they had anything they could make fast so I could snack as I waited for him.

  “I’ll be fast,” he promised. “I meant to be quicker, but the storm played hell with the tent. Some of the poles were bent.”

  “That’s okay. Was all your stuff there?”

  Lash nodded. “Including clean clothes. Give me ten minutes.”

  I watched the clock, sure it would take him longer. Instead, it took him nine minutes to emerge dressed, his weapons in place, his hair still wet.

  “Do you want to go out?” he asked, leaning against the wall.

  I put down the menu. “What do you want to do?”

  “That depends on how you feel,” he said, grinning faintly. “Are you too sore for more of me after this morning?”

  It was time for the hard question. “How long do we have?” I asked, biting my lip.

  “Titus is prompt. He’ll be here at midnight, or at most, a few minutes later,” Lash said, his grin fading. “We have about four hours, tops.”

  “I want to again, before he comes,” I said quickly. “But the truth is I won’t be able to for very long. I’m not hurt, but there comes a time—”

  “It’s okay, Sar,” Lash said hurriedly, cutting me off. “I know I pushed it this morning with you. I wanted to take you out anyway, if you were willing to go.”

  I looked at him in surprise. “Was there something you wanted to try at the restaurant?”

  “No more restaurants. There’s only one bar here, but it’ll do. I’ll get us some food and you can have your wine, and we’ll enjoy ourselves.” He held out his hand to me. “Let’s go.”

  As we walked to the Buttonwood, I got eaten by mosquitoes. “Why do they ignore you?” I asked, jealous.

  “They are not ignoring me,” Lash said winningly. “I’m just handling it more in stride.”

  I rolled my eyes and he laughed.

  There weren’t many people in the Buttonwood Lounge. We got a nice booth in the bar.

  “Ready for wine?”

  “Hell, yes,” I said.

  Lash ordered us a bottle, and two baskets of fish and chips for himself. I looked at the food offerings, but again, didn’t feel that hungry. Lash looked worried, until the food came and I ended up eating the entire contents of one of his baskets.

  “It smelled good,” I said apologetically.

  “Another basket,” he said to the waiter. “And bring her some more fries, a lot more. She’s in desperate fry straits.”

  The waiter gave him an odd look, then left with the empty baskets.

  “You seem a little nervous,” Lash said, after he left. “Is it me?”

  “It’s the way you watch me,” I said breathily, meeting his dark eyes.

  Just the edge of his mouth curved upward. “And what way is that?”

  “With wicked glee,” I said, drawing another delicious shuddering breath. “That as soon as I drop my eyes or turn, you’re going to grab me and make everything I’ve ever fa
ntasized real.”

  Lash grinned. “You want me to, here and now?”

  I dropped my eyes, because he’d meant exactly what he’d said. “No, we’ve got an audience.” I reached for his hand. “But I’ll take you up on that as soon as we leave.”

  “Just tell me when you’re ready,” Lash hissed, relaxing back into his seat. “I’ll behave until then.”

  “Good,” I teased. “Because I remember what happened last time we were together in a bar.”

  Lash cracked up laughing. “Which time?” he said, smirking. “Not that both weren’t enjoyable—”

  I blushed deeply, then kicked him under the table, connecting hard. He yelped.

  “Not that time,” I replied loftily. “The time we were just sitting there talking and The Lust first rose in me. That first time with you.”

  Lash downed his glass of wine, then looked over at me. “I’m sorry for what I said to you that night. I did want you then, as you saw later on. I was trying not to give in to it.”

  Guilt rose up in me. “And I’m sorry for what they said to you in the parking lot, back—”

  “You didn’t say the words, Sar,” Lash hissed softly, rubbing his face with his hands.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said, downing my wine. “I’m sorry for them all the same. They weren’t true, and I should have said something then.”

  “You couldn’t have, without telling them that I’d been with you again,” he said quietly, pouring us each another glass. “Besides, I don’t care what either of those fucks say. What matters is you kept secret about how weak I was.” He paused. “He’s good with a blade, Sar. I might not have won if Theo had been lucky, and cut me deeply enough. It was good you stopped us from fighting.”

  If Theo faced him now, Lash was sure he would win. He was right. He had the skill of a century in the body of a twenty-year old. Curiously, the old hatred was missing now from his tone. Lash talked of Theo more like a familiar colleague. Maybe he was just mellow from all the sex he’d had earlier today.

  “I am a little nervous,” I admitted.

  Lash gave me a surprised look. “Are you sorry?” he asked seriously.