Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 03]

by Embracing Darkness (epub)

  “Just relax now, love, and enjoy the massage.”

  It was nice, yet… “I have to find Jonah, Basil.”

  “I know, and we will. But for now you need to relax.”

  She wished she could but the tension was like a rock inside of her refusing to break free. And to top it off, she was feeling aroused. Especially with the way he was rubbing his hands up and down her body, over her ass, and down her legs. The guy had marvelous hands. And when he skimmed them up the insides of her thighs, his fingers brushed ever so slightly against her lips. She spread her legs in hopes he would indulge her need to feel him inside of her.

  Yet he didn’t.

  “Basil…”

  “Yes, love?” he asked softly, running his hands along her sides, caressing the swell of her breasts with his fingertips as he moved to her shoulders.

  “Are you enjoying yourself?”

  “Immensely.”

  “Well, I would like a little more enjoyment myself. Think you could oblige?”

  He slid her damp tail of hair to the side and kissed her neck. “You’re not enjoying my massage?”

  “Very much. But I’d like more.”

  “More? How much more?”

  “Now you’re just teasing me.”

  He laughed as he nuzzled her neck then slid his hand down to her butt. “Tell me how much more you want?”

  “You know perfectly well what I want, now give it to me.” She yelped when he smacked her butt. “What was that for?”

  “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  “No.” She turned around to face him and took his dick in his hands. “And you know perfectly well what I want.”

  “Do I really?”

  “Don’t play coy. The massage was nice but I need something else to relieve my frustrations.” With a wave of her hand she shut the water off and stepped out of the shower, still holding onto him. She left him no choice but to follow her to their room where she proceeded to push him onto the bed and climb on top.

  “I love a forceful woman. Do me, baby.” He laughed, taking hold of her hips as she straddled him.

  More than happy to oblige, she gripped a hold of him, then lowered herself down. The instant she felt him slide inside she felt her tension subside. This was just what she’d needed. Sitting over top of him, she rode him with a wild abandonment as every ounce of her tension washed away. And when he sat up and bore his fangs, she more than willingly gave him what he wanted. And took what she needed.

  As one they clamped onto each other’s necks and drew blood as their bodies catapulted over the edge and beyond.

  She collapsed over top of him and for the first time in weeks, slept soundly.

  ***

  There was blood, all around him, pools of it, teasing him, calling to him, and all he wanted was to drink it. Yet the closer he got to it, the further it was away. The scent of it, like strong copper, filled his nostrils and tantalized his tastebuds.

  He wanted it more than life itself.

  Bolting awake, Jonah stared wide eyed into the room. Every part of him hurt.

  “Jonah? Are you okay?”

  He could smell her as if she were beside him. Her scent, her blood, called to him. “Stay away from me!” He felt his teeth ache and the urge to take grew tenfold.

  “What’s the matter? Do you have another cramp?”

  “No! Please, stay away from me.” Then she stepped up beside him and all he could think was take. He could hear her blood rushing through her veins, her heart as it pounded in her chest. With each whoosh his body responded. “Please, just stay away from me.”

  She clicked the light on over his bed and it was all he could do not to lunge at her and bite that supple vein at the side of her neck. “For God’s sake, Raven. Get lost!”

  She stopped, tilted her head, then laid her hand on his head. “You need to feed.”

  “Just leave me alone. Please. I beg of you.” If he could run away from her right now, he would.

  “This won’t get any better unless you give your body what it wants. Here, drink.” She thrust her wrist out to him.

  He slapped it away. “No!”

  “What you’re feeling right now will only become more intense the longer you wait. Just take my vein and drink. I’ll be fine. I’ve done this before.”

  He pushed her aside, then rolled himself off the bed. He fell with a thud onto the cold tiled floor but the pain was nothing compared to what he felt inside. It was more intense than anything he’d ever felt before. It felt like fire ants were clawing through his veins, his mouth was so dry his lips stuck to his teeth and his head…all he heard in his head was the whooshing of her blood pumping through her veins.

  It was going to drive him insane.

  “Take it, Jonah,” she demanded, falling down beside him on the floor.

  “I won’t drink from you.” He’d rather die.

  “If you don’t drink now, Jonah, you’ll go insane and I refuse to let that happen.” She jumped up onto the bed and when she came back down, she had the knife in her hands. “Now, drink.” She slid it across her arm by her elbow then thrust it out at him.

  “Stop it! What have you done?” But the blood, so red, so thick, so…juicy, called to him.

  “I can stitch myself up after. Just drink.”

  “Please don’t make me do this,” he pleaded.

  “I have to.” She grabbed his head and thrust her arm to his mouth.

  The instant the blood touched his lips he was compelled to take it in. He couldn’t help himself. She was delicious, so smooth, so gloriously sweet that he wanted to drink her up. And as he sucked on her arm, drawing in her blood, the ache began to subside.

  “Good, that’s it, drink from me.”

  Her voice was soft and soothing, so similar to her blood. She was nectar and he was parched. Then he felt her go limp and when he looked up, he saw her beginning to sway. Jonah pulled his mouth from her arm and captured her before she fell backwards onto the floor. “Damn it! What did I do?” Laying her on the floor, the first thing he did was check for a pulse. “Oh, thank God! Raven, Raven, talk to me. Say something.”

  “Tired…”

  “Don’t go to sleep. Shoot. Sorry…yeah, that’s nice Jonah, apologize for drinking her dry. What do I do, what do I do?”

  “Juice…” she mumbled. “I need juice, sugar.”

  “Right…right.” Okay, think Jonah. He’d have to go out in the hall to get her some. He just hoped the vamps were gone. The scent of her blood drew his attention and he saw she was still bleeding from the wound on her arm. Instinct ually, he pulled off his pajama shirt and tied it around her arm to stop the bleeding. “I’m just going to leave you for a minute to get you something sweet to drink. Okay?”

  “Vampires…”

  “I’ll be careful.” He rested her gently on the floor, then grabbed the blanket from his bed and yanked it down. He wished his damn legs worked properly. “I’ll be right back,” he promised after tucking the blankets around her.

  With nothing else to do but crawl, he pulled himself to the wheelchair and began the arduous task of pulling himself up and into it. The sweat built on his body, beading over his top lip as he struggled to get himself into the chair. He seriously needed to think about working with some weights to strengthen his arm muscles. Finally into it, he let out a long breath, then grabbed the wheels and hoped he could figure out how to work it. He glanced one last time at Raven lying on the floor before wheeling himself to the door.

  He needed a weapon.

  Wheeling himself back to Raven, he leaned over the side of his chair to grab the knife. It wasn’t as easy as it looked and his fingers continuously slipped off the knife before he managed to grab it. Laying it on his lap, he turned back to the door and took a huge
breath before opening it.

  It was dark, all but for the emergency lights along the walls. Fortunately he didn’t need light to see. His vision was perfect now. His senses were more acute as well he’d noticed. Taking in a deep sniff, he couldn’t smell anyone near. Grateful for that, he pushed forward. When he saw the vending machine, he wheeled himself forward, then realized it wasn’t working. With the power out, it was locked down and even if he had change, which he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to get into it.

  “Damn it!” He pounded his fist on the glass and was shocked when it cracked. “Hm…” With a wry smile on his lips, he lifted his fist and pounded it again. Glass splintered and crashed, raining down onto his legs and feet. He slipped his hand through the opening and grabbed a can of cola. It was sweet, plenty of sugar in it so it should help. Now all he needed was some food. Then he remembered the tray of food she’d brought in for herself earlier.

  Laying the can of cola on his lap along with the knife, he pushed himself quickly back to his room. She was still laying on the floor in the exact position he’d left her in and his heart tripped with the thought that she looked much too still to be alive.

  But then he sensed her breathing, shallow as it was, and the pumping of her heart.

  She was still alive. Thank you, God!

  Grabbing the tray of her food, he rested it on the arms of the chair and hurried to her side. Now what? How the hell was he going to do this without being able to stand up? Tapping his head, the thought finally came to him. He grabbed the tray and set it on the bed, along with the can and knife. Then he searched for the lever to lock the wheels of his chair in place. Now all he had to do was pull himself out of it and back onto the floor.

  Yeah, easier said than done.

  And while he was sitting here debating how to get out of his chair, Raven was possibly dying. To hell with it. Using the strength of his arms, hoisted himself up, then pushed himself forward. He slid from the chair seat to land on the foot pedals and rolled to the side until he flopped onto the ground beside her.

  Perfect.

  “Are you still with me, Raven?” Jonah asked as he scooted over to the bed for the tray. He was never going to look at a wheelchair bound person the same again. He had new respect for them and their courage to try to be as normal as they could. Holding the tray in one hand, he inched it off the bed, then set it on the floor. He pushed it forward, then dragged himself closer.

  “I have a cola for you, and some food. Looks like a…ham and cheese sandwich. Yummy.” Though it looked less than appetizing, he ripped the package open and set it back on the tray. “Come on, Raven, talk to me.” Before opening the can of cola, he pressed it to her face. It wasn’t ice cold, but cool enough that he hoped it would wake her.

  Which it did. Her blue eyes opened and he was struck by their beauty, “Good, good. Talk to me, stay with me now.” He popped the top then lifted her head and pressed the can to her lips. “Drink a little now, okay.”

  She sputtered when the cola hit her mouth and her eyes went wide.

  “That’s a girl, stay with me. Come on, open your mouth and take a sip.” When her lips parted, he slowly dribbled the cola into her mouth. She swallowed and her nose wrinkled up. “Yeah, not orange juice but its all I could find. Just drink a little more.” She took a few more sips before he pulled the can away. “Now some food.”

  “I hate pop,” she stated, her eyes drooping as they looked up at him.

  “No kidding? I can’t live without the stuff. Here, bite.” He held the sandwich to her mouth and watched as she bit into it. “Look, about what I did.”

  “You needed to feed,” she said between bites.

  “But not on you. Never again, okay.” He shoved the sandwich between her lips before she could protest. “I don’t think the vamps are still here. I couldn’t sense anyone.”

  She swallowed before replying. “Good. Hopefully they took what they needed and won’t be back.”

  “I’m doubtful of that. We’ll need to keep a watchful eye. How you feeling?”

  “I’m still a little weak but getting better. Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. I’m the one who put you in this position. You can take the bed and rest. Think you can manage to get up and walk to it?”

  “I think so.” She lifted her arm and tilted her head at the shirt tied to it. “You used your shirt on my cut?”

  “I had to tie it off to stop the bleeding. I should check it to make sure it’s okay.” He could smell the difference in it and knew it had stopped bleeding, still…

  “Just leave it. If you take it off now you’ll only open the wound. Let it heal

  “Okay. It was a spur of the moment thought. Do you need help to stand?” Not that he was much help.

  “I think I can do it, but thanks for the offer.”

  He watched her carefully as she pulled herself to a sitting position and teeter a little before crawling her way to he bed.

  “Room’s a little fuzzy.” She pulled herself up then plopped face first down onto the bed.

  “Raven?”

  “I’m good, just waiting out the dizziness.” Then she crawled all the way onto the bed. “Do you need help up?”

  “Up where?”

  “On the bed, silly.”

  “You need the bed more than I do.”

  “We can both fit in here. You need your rest, Jonah. You just put your body through a lot getting me what I needed to gain strength. Your body needs the rest. Come on, I won’t bite,” she teased.

  Yeah, but he might. “The only woman I have ever slept beside has been my wife.” He found himself saying.

  “It’s just rest, Jonah. Nothing more.” She patted the bed beside her.

  Drawing in a deep breath, he gave in and pulled himself into his wheelchair then wheeled himself to the bed. It wasn’t going to be easy pulling himself onto the bed, but he had to try. Once again, the workout caused sweat to form on his body as he pulled himself up with his arms.

  “Let me help.”

  Before he could say no, she’d wrapped her arms around his upper body and was pulling him up. They landed on the bed, he on top, pinning her to the bed. Once again their eyes met and once again his heart sped up just a little more.

  “Which do you prefer?”

  “Huh?”

  “Left or right side of the bed?”

  “Left,” he blurted out then pulled himself off of her and rolled to the left. What was wrong with him? How the hell could he be attracted to another woman when his wife was barely dead?

  He rolled over onto his side, and tried not to think of the woman directly behind him.

  Or his growing attraction to her.

  Chapter Six

  It was Dante’s turn to sit in the dungeon and watch over the prisoners. Since Trinity’s attempt to follow one of the vamps after releasing them had failed, debate had gone on about the reason for keeping them locked up. He was the fence about it. Though they only had six of Chaos’ men, one being Dante’s brother, Danny, it was still six vamps Chaos didn’t have. Sure, it wasn’t a strong number, and Chaos probably wasn’t hurting any without them, but it was the principle of it. They had six of Chaos’ men.

  And it was likely Chaos had one of theirs.

  It didn’t matter how many times Gypsy or the others told him it wasn’t his fault that Ariel had been killed and Jonah taken, Dante still felt responsible. And he always would. He’d been the one driving the car, and he’d been the one to decide not to turn the car around when they’d been struck and head back home to safety.

  Something he would forever have to live with.

  He just hoped Jonah would be able to find it in his to someday forgive him.

  Dante excused the guard on duty, taking the chair near the back wall and looked out at the row of
cells before him. Danny was in the middle one, and the instant he spotted Dante, his eyes narrowed. Though Danny had the youthful look of a seventeen year old rather than the thirty-three he actually was, they were still twins. And Dante knew Danny held the mentality of a seventeen year old as well. All cocky attitude.

  “What do you want?”

  “I’m only here to watch over you all,” Dante supplied and stretched his legs out in front of him, trying to look casual. Truth was, seeing his brother behind bars, knowing he wanted nothing to do with him, stung.

  “Yeah, see, I don’t get that.” Danny lifted himself off the cot to walk lazily towards the bars. “Why exactly do we need to be watched when we’re locked up. If we could break out, don’t you think we would have done it by now?”

  He had a point, still…

  “Maybe they enjoy watching us, hoping that they’ll catch us stroking the blue eyed monster,” one of the other vamps stated with a chuckle, grabbing hold of his crotch.

  “I think you might be right, Bud,” another quipped and he too grabbed his crotch.

  Dante simply crossed his arms over his chest and continued to stare blankly. They weren’t going to get a rise out of him.

  “You think by keeping me in here I’ll eventually break and give up my rowdy ways, bro?”

  Dante’s eyes flicked to his brother but he chose not to acknowledge the question. “You still call me bro.”

  “Old habits die hard.”

  “Isn’t that a fact? Like for instance, I notice you still chew your nails when you’re nervous.”

  Danny lowered his hand to his side. “I’m not nervous, just bored. So, how’s your sweetie treating you? Has she sucked on you yet?”

  Dante crossed his feet at the ankles and ignored that question as well. It didn’t bother him as much now, knowing Danny had been the one to sire Gypsy. “Do you remember when we were ten and we convinced Dad to build us a tree house in the back yard and you decided while everyone was asleep to start the job because you couldn’t wait until the morning for Dad to get started.”