Midnight's Jewel (Siren Publishing Classic)

by J. Annas Walker

  The bathroom door crashed in, tearing it out of its frame. Sabrina did not look to see who her rescuer was. She stayed focused on resisting the pull. The room had started to spin. Her feet felt like the floor below them was not entirely stable. Cool hands grabbed her around the waist. Another pair wrapped around her shoulders and upper arms. The two heavy bodies anchored her. The spinning lessened and the floor felt stable and secure beneath her.

  A screech of rage filled the room. “You have no right to keep me from what is mine!” Sabrina chanced opening her eyes to see a furious goddess stalking toward the mirror’s polished, flat surface.

  The surface rippled as she chanted the words that turned the swirling mist into a vortex. Small white grains pelted the mirror from the direction of the destroyed door. Another voice rose and fell in a language Sabrina had never heard. It was coarse and guttural and emanated from a woman who clearly had never been human. The vortex stopped advancing into the room. The rippling stopped and the mirror’s surface went back to being smooth and flat.

  “Out of the way, demoness! It is not for you to stand between me and mine!” Diana’s fury was getting the better of her. All her outward beauty was lost with her fierce determination.

  “Sabrina is a creature of the moon and of the Earth. She wishes to remain, and so she shall,” the demoness said, her voice dripping with venom and malice. “I cast thee from this place and bar thee hence, Diana, Goddess of Night and Queen of Witches.” The woman held a lightly scaled hand up, palm facing the mirror. A wave of energy rolled off her and out of her palm. The mirror shattered.

  The pull ended abruptly. Sabrina fell backward, taking her two anchors with her to the floor. She landed on Hadrian. Brandon tumbled on top. She burst out laughing in relief. It was over. Her modesty kicked in and she checked that her towel was still in place.

  Brandon lifted himself off their piled bodies. Hadrian pushed her up for Brandon to catch. She was exhausted from resisting Diana and fell forward into Brandon’s arms. He held her close and kissed the top of her head. She continued to giggle. Hadrian hugged her from behind, wrapping his arms around both her and Brandon.

  “It’s okay, baby. We’ve got you. The building has been warded. No one is getting in this time,” Hadrian whispered.

  Sabrina took notice of the other woman in the room. Her coarse dark-brown hair was French braided with a red velvet ribbon intertwined. The braid stopped halfway down her back. Her face was thin with sharp features. Her catlike eyes were an odd yellow-green, which matched the pale seafoam-green tint to her skin. She wore a red velvet corset over a black velvet knee-length skirt. Black fishnet stockings and three-inch black velvet heels finished the outfit. Her jewelry was thick, heavy, old-fashioned gold with no stones. Along the tops of her shoulders, at her elbows, and the backs of her hands were small, thin, scales. Her long, sharp nails were a high-gloss blood red. An amused smile played along her darker, sea-green lips.

  “Well, this is cozy. What an interesting trio! Brandon doesn’t surprise me, but you, Hadrian, you do. I thought you were pining away for your lost love, and here you are, sharing a rather tasty tidbit,” the demoness smirked.

  “She is not a tasty tidbit. She’s my daughter. Please, address her as such, Delila,” Hadrian admonished. “Your wire transfer has been completed. If you would, please, finish warding the cars down in the garage on your way out, I would appreciate it.”

  “What? Nothing for fending off an irate goddess?” Delila pouted her lips and gave Hadrian a hurt look. “I thought you would appreciate my efforts more than a simple thank-you.” She put her hands on her very curvy hips. Her large breasts heaved up as she inhaled deeply to sigh. “It would have been far more expensive to mount a rescue operation than to prevent this dear one from being taken in the first place. Now, wouldn’t it?”

  “Yes. You’re right. What does your heart desire, Delila?” Hadrian sounded as though nothing would please him more than to give her whatever she named.

  “How about a new Ferrari 458 Spider? Something in a sleek black, maybe?” The playful smile turned into a wicked grin. Her super-white, sharp teeth glowed against her dark lips and tinted skin.

  “Consider it a gift,” Hadrian conceded with an air of delight and gratitude.

  “And there will be no reason to report this to anyone higher up?”

  “Certainly not! For all I know, you’ve been saving until something came along that suited you. I just placed the order because I live in Italy. In fact, while I’m visiting my daughter, you’re welcome to use my Tuscan estate while it is being custom-built to your specifications,” Hadrian countered.

  “Oh, I do love doing business with you, Hadrian. Brandon, it was nice to see you again. Now if you will excuse me. I was on a date when you called.” Delila made a curling, twisting motion with her hands. Flames came from the floor around her feet and engulfed her body. In a momentary whoosh, the flames took her and disappeared. Only a light discoloration on the tiles was left of the demoness.

  Hadrian let go of Sabrina and stepped back. He cleared his throat. “Well now, I suppose you would like for me to leave. I’m sure this is not how you want to be seen by your father. I’ll just find myself something to do. Brandon, if you’ll excuse me.” He gave Brandon a wink and walked briskly out of the bathroom.

  “What is it with you and wrecking my bathroom? First the flower garden and rain. Now a shattered mirror, a broken countertop, and the door. I’m not sure my insurance premiums can withstand you,” Brandon teased.

  Sabrina tilted her face to look up at him and giggled. Warmth radiated out from his touch. It spread over her entire body and heated up to a slow burn. She saw the look in his eyes shift from knight in shining armor to lustful predator, and she liked it. His jaw clenched, as it always did when he needed to restrain himself in some way.

  “I think I need to go back to bed,” she said. “Would you come with me?”

  Without answering, he scooped her up into his arms and breezed into his room. Carefully, he placed her on his bed and locked both doors. Slowly, he stripped his shirt off, dropping it in the floor. He undid his jeans as he moved to the bed.

  Sabrina recognized the returned item. “When did this get back?”

  “It was here when we got back. Now is not the time to worry about such things,” he said.

  “Well, what time is it?” she asked with faux bashfulness. The heat had sunk into her skin and was gathering into a molten pool. Dewy drops of fluid were gathering on her bush. Her pussy was already quivering with anticipation. Her nipples were hard peaks beneath the chilled, damp towel.

  In a movement almost too fast for her to see, he freed himself from his denim. His cock was already so hard, the veins were bulging along the sides of his shaft. He reached over her stomach and clenched a fistful of towel. Tugging gently, he slipped the towel from her body, revealing her flesh in steady increments.

  Running his hands up along her legs, he nudged her knees apart. She opened them, giving him complete access. He leaned in to nuzzle the insides of her thighs, teasing her clit with the tip of his tongue. She gasped as he made contact with the sensitive pearl. She could feel it swell under his cool, wet tongue. The teasing became sucking and licking. Pleasure was building, threatening to overflow. He slipped first one finger, then two into her dripping snatch. Working them in and out, he found just the right spot along the top of her tunnel. She gasped as he pushed her over the edge. As she came, more hot juice washed down, coating his fingers and hand. He pulled out to lap it all up. When he had licked her clean, he sucked the fingers he had used and groaned.

  “You have the sweetest pussy, Sabrina.” He positioned himself over her. “If there were more time this evening, I would teach you more about the fine art of oral sex, but as it is, I need you like this.” He plunged his shaft into her pussy. As he slowly pulled out, he took a nipple into his mouth, allowing his fangs to bite into her flesh before plunging back into her body.

  Sabrina inhaled sha
rply. The pain mingled with the pleasure and excitement. The smell of blood mixed with the musky scent of sex, perfuming the air. Brandon lifted his head. A thin trickle of blood trailed down from the corner of his mouth. He picked up the pace, thrusting in and out of her quivering cunt. Their breathing turned to heavy panting. Over and over he pounded into her, and the more he did, the more she wanted him. She knew she would never want anyone as much as she did him. Her legs could never part wide enough, could never take him deep enough, to be satisfied, to have her fill of him.

  She could feel his cock throbbing, begging for release, inside her soft pink walls. His face held both determination and intense need. The throbbing thrusts lost their rhythm as he lost control. He pressed in as deep as he could and cried out. Spasm after spasm of cool, sticky cum filled her pussy. It pushed her back over the edge and she came around his thick shaft.

  He collapsed beside her, pulling her in to cradle under one arm. He stroked her thick blue-black curls from her face and kissed her forehead. She relaxed, enjoying the feel of his bare skin against hers. She twined a leg in between his.

  “I love you,” Sabrina said softly. She closed her eyes, wishing she could hear his heartbeat.

  “I love you, too,” Brandon replied.

  Chapter 18

  After a moment’s pause, he added, “There is something you should know.”

  “Yes?” Her curiosity was piqued. She shifted so that she could make eye contact. There was tightness around his eyes indicating anxiety or worried stress. “You can tell me anything, you know.”

  “They’re never going to stop looking for a way to get to you. You know that, right?”

  Sabrina knew he meant the remaining two Ancients. She nodded.

  “Before she left, your mother made me promise to do anything in my power to prevent that from happening,” he confessed. He hesitated but appeared to need to say more.

  “There’s more?” Sabrina wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the rest and learn his secret or live in blissful ignorance. Either way, she had not been consulted. Again, someone else had decided what was best for her. A thread of annoyance worked its way into the warm molten pool in her chest. Her heart gave a flutter. He gave her a curious glance. He had heard the different beat but did not bring it up.

  “She suggested I fake your death and we go into hiding. That was their plan, she and Hadrian. He wanted to turn her, but she couldn’t die. It wouldn’t work,” he explained.

  Sabrina gave him a baleful glare. She had spent nearly the last century in hiding. That had not worked out so well, in the end. She had still been found. Many people had been used to track her, and they did not have the sort of connection to her Diana did. It would be a relentless life of running. She wasn’t going to agree to live that way again. She played his words over in her head. Then it struck her, a more permanent solution.

  “No. I have a better idea. You love me, right?” She sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees. He regarded her with suspicion.

  “Yes. I love you,” he replied.

  “Do you love me enough to live with me forever?” Deep down, she knew the answer to the question, but part of her still wanted to hear him say it.

  “Yes. I want you like I’ve never wanted anyone else. Forever would be a good place to start.” The suspicion evaporated, leaving behind a peaceful look.

  “Turn me.”

  “Wh–what?” Whatever he had expected to hear, this was not it.

  “You heard me. Turn me. My mother is a goddess. I’m not. Eleanor is proof that a demigoddess can die. Make me a vampire. Make me a vampire and let me stay with you for eternity,” she begged. She bit her bottom lip and held her breath.

  He froze with stress. There was no breathing, not that he needed the air. There was no blinking. His face was expressionless. Sabrina could not make out what emotion he was feeling. Had she asked for something unspeakable? Was he going to reject her request? Had she asked for too much too soon, prompting him to contemplate bolting? Her imagination ran away with her, doing its best to rationalize his lack of response.

  “Please, Brandon, please answer me,” she requested timidly. She crawled up to meet his eyes, those bottomless dark-brown pools. She ran her fingers through his dark hair and touched her nose to his. He still did not move. Tension held his body rigid. “Please speak to me. You’re scaring me!”

  The stress trance broke. He wrapped his arms around her and rolled her onto her back. “I’m not saying no, but I’m going to say this for both of our goods. Your father will kill me. Like really kill me. I would have a better chance telling him I knocked you up than telling him I turned you. Please, consider what will happen to you, what you ask,” he pleaded.

  “My magic will die with me. I won’t be of any use to either Diana or Apollo. I’ll be immortal, like you. I’m already half-vampire. I’ll just be embracing my other half. Besides, I’m tired of having someone else live my life for me. For the better part of the last century, I’ve lived in hiding. I was the outcast no one wanted, the source of malicious gossip about my heritage. I am never living that way again. Do you understand me? Never. Again.” She was determined he was going to see this thing her way.

  “Do you know what Hadrian is doing right this minute? Picking out what part of the next floor down he is going to renovate for his own use. As Emperor, he could have asked for my penthouse and made me move, but he didn’t. In fact he said I had better make you very, very happy. I don’t even want to know what the ‘or else’ part of that sentence would look like,” Brandon told her. A passionate plea for her to reconsider was lodged in his tone.

  “Make me happy, huh? Well, not looking over my shoulder all the time would make me happy. Not being called to the Castle of Night or Helios against my will would make me happy. Being with you would make me happy. Not being the odd little freak everywhere I go would make me happy. Not getting those things will make me exceptionally unhappy. You leave my father to me. I’m not a child. I can make my own decisions,” Sabrina explained.

  “Fine, but you better not get me killed. Forever is a long time to be alone,” he warned. He swept the curly hair from her neck. He nuzzled the soft tissue with his nose, kissing her pulsing artery.

  She gasped with anticipation and excitement. He twisted a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. A wave of pleasure rode its way down to her groin. Her insides tightened, and her pussy became wet. She could feel her clit swell. Without another thought, she spread her legs enough to allow him to drop between them. His erect cock brushed against her slit as he moved.

  He reached down to position the tip against her opening. He whispered in her ear, “If you want to change your mind, it’s now or never. Is this really what you want?”

  “Yes. Oh, yes,” she said in a breathy whisper.

  He slid his cock in as far she could take him. Her pussy gripped the length of his shaft, and he groaned against her neck. He ran his hands up her body and into her hair. She was so wet, so ready. Pressing her hips up, she enjoyed the fullness of his body in hers. Ensuring maximum contact of her breast against his chest, she lifted her chest. If she could have merged into him, she would have.

  He started working his cock in and out of her. The sticky juices trickled down her thighs. She could feel them coating his balls as they pressed against the outside of her body. Sliding her arms under his, she held herself to him as tightly as she could. His hips bucked and pushed her legs farther apart as he thrust, ensuring there was contact with her clit.

  The molten pool in her chest rose, erupting over her entire body. The fire in her blood made its way to her pussy, sending the quivers into full spasms. As she came, she lost all sense of time and space. Nothing and no one mattered in that moment but him.

  “Brandon! I love you, Brandon!” she cried out in her pleasure.

  His own spasms began. He could no longer hold back. She felt him fill her with more cool cream. There was a pinch at her neck. His lips pressed hard against her over the sti
nging pinch. She could feel the world slipping away but did not care. He was with her, in her. They were together, no matter the journey.

  Darkness overtook her in a dizzying spin. For a moment, she thought she was traveling. Just out of hearing were voices she knew. Clay and Eleanor were whispering in the darkness. Elderly witches from her past. Humans she had known from long ago. The smell of sweet fresh-mown grass and summer flowers filled her nose. In the distance, she could see a bright light breaking up the darkness.

  She could hear her heartbeats slowing. Lub-dub. Lub. Pause. Dub. Pause. Lub. Nothing. If she wanted, she knew she could follow that light and find peace. Peace and tranquility. All cares would be gone.

  Behind her, someone was calling her name. The calling was getting louder, harder to ignore. A strange metallic taste hit her tongue hard. It was like having a penny in her mouth, but it was not unpleasant. In fact, it was good. It was blood.

  The blood and the voice called her away from the warm, peaceful light. Her name became distinct. It was Brandon. Her heart swelled. She had to find his voice in the darkness. The instant she knew she wanted to find him, the light faded away. There was nowhere to go but to the voice.

  “Sabrina! Can you hear me? Honey, can you hear me? Come back to me,” Brandon called to her. She wanted to go.

  When she wandered to where the voice was the loudest, she called out, “I’m here!” Nothing happened. No air. No sound. Nothing was there but the void.

  “I love you, Sabrina Rivers! Don’t you leave me!”

  “I love you, too!” Nothing. She called out and took a deep breath to call out again. This time the air actually came in a cold gulp.

  “I love you!” she said. Her vocal cords vibrated. She could feel herself alive but changed. The heat was gone. Brandon felt warm against her body.