The Darker Side of Me (Ravana Moon Book 1)

by S. L. Perrine

  “You brought me to a den?”

  “Red. Open-mindedness, love. This is not a den. Think of it as an apartment building, with an open floor plan.”

  He was right. I looked up and noticed the second floor was separated into partitions, but the front wall parallel with the landing was conveniently missing all the way around the horseshoe that was the upper floor. One staircase and one entrance outside meant everyone had an open view of anyone coming and going. The wall that stood between each dwelling gave them minimal privacy. While the first floor was completely open filled with makeshift tables in the middle. Around the walls were cardboard shelters, blue tarps draped over them for better privacy.

  “No, this is clearly a den. A group of vampires living under one roof. A den.” I elbowed him in the ribs and stalked past, making my way to the second floor. I didn’t say I wasn’t intrigued. By the time I reached the top of the stairs I followed movement to a particular apartment, and upon recognizing the men inside I headed their way.

  When I put my foot to the floor in front of the male’s apartment, neither took a breath to look at me. Nunzio was holding his mate from behind, his back to me. I could see the muscles move along his back as he shifted his weight when his arm moved. A light moan from the man in front of him made me giggle, but I kept my face hard.

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake. I’m no prude, but you live on top of at least fifty vamps and there is no wall here.”

  Nunzio didn’t reflect until he’d laid a trail of kisses down his mate’s bare shoulder. “Heaven help us all if any male were to call you a prude, Ravana.” He turned back to his partner who was panting and clearly upset for the intrusion as Nunzio stood to face me.

  He must have been surprised to see me, and I’m sure he would have had more to say if not for Massimo finally coming to a stop at my side. He was facing us both, hands on his hips. His long blond hair touched the middle of his biceps, and the muscles on his chest and abdomen rippled as he flexed his manhood, which hadn’t gotten the memo that playtime was over.

  “See something you like?” Nunzio looked back as Jeffery laid panting on top of their bed. A thin mattress laying on the floor in the middle of their space. Clearly, they had no cares about privacy.

  I took a look through their apartment. A small kitchenette along the back wall was just a waste of space for vampires who don’t eat food. Unless they heated bagged blood, I doubt they had a need for the stove or assortment of cookware that was proudly displayed on a ceiling rack. A small room protruded into the room on the opposite corner. It at least had a door; the bathroom I presumed.

  “Not really. It’s a bit cramped for my liking,” I said with a sneer.

  Nunzio took the hint and retrieved his pants. His mate still laid prone on the bed. A thick blanket was tossed over his lower half, leaving his pale white chest visible. The male clearly wasn’t tan before his transformation, and now lacked the melanin to make him look as if he were living. If it weren’t for the subtle movements from under the blanket, I would have thought him dead.

  “Nunz,” Massimo finally spoke as his friend zipped his jeans and turned back to face us. “We’re looking for information. There’s a new vamp in town. He’s trying to make a name for himself.”

  “Oh yeah, how’s that?”

  I turned standing in the doorway of the space, leaned against it and placed my heeled foot on the wall behind me. “He’s making all the other vamps go into hiding. We can’t find Sebastián or Kyron anywhere.”

  “Kyron? That’s odd, but Sebastián, that’s nothing new. That male runs at the sight of his own shadow.” He moved to the stand beside his bed and lifted a small box from it. He placed a cigarette in his mouth and looked like he was thinking hard about something. “What’s this bloke’s name? The new one?”

  “Torrid,” we answered in unison.

  “Sounds like an over-priced clothing store.”

  “Now that you mention it…” I had to laugh.

  Massimo nodded toward Jeffery who obviously had no intention of being interrupted. He moaned on his own in the bed, keeping himself covered in the process. Nunzio shook his head and turned back to me.

  “So, if you can’t find ‘em, then what’ll you want lil’ol me for?”

  Before I could say anything, Massimo jumped in, “It was my idea to stop in. I thought maybe you’ve heard some things about this new male in town. Besides that, were still searching for Emerick.”

  “Oh, now there is a bloke I don’t want to mess with. That Kyron fellow said he was descendant of the Count. I told you, I’m not messin’ with him.”

  “I know, I know, but this Torrid. Can you keep an ear on the ground? Please?”

  “Sure, mate. I’ll put some feelers out. Ask around a bit.”

  I kicked away from the wall and slithered over to Nunzio. “I’ll be extremely grateful. There are many ways I can thank you later.”

  He pushed my hand from his chest and looked at his mate. “I kinda bat for the other team, lass. Or else I’d take you up on that.”

  “No, you wouldn’t.” I thought I heard a growl come from Massimo as he spoke.

  “Sure, Mo. Your right. I wouldn’t.” He took one large step away from me, and I couldn’t help letting my lips turn up at them. “I’ll ask around a bit. See what I can find out.”

  “Great, in the meantime, would you and your…friend, like a more private room?”

  “If word got out that I was shaking up with the big bad, Ravana, none of them would talk to me.”

  “It’s a room, there will be no shacking up,” Massimo said, and I knew I heard a growl deep in his chest that time.

  “I have other establishments in the city. Across town from my building.” I eyed Massimo and started heading for the stairs.

  He’d told me about my family, about my life. I didn’t think one roll around on my bed, was enough to make him the jealous type. It was cute for a minute, but when he started the possessive crap I had enough. I stomped my heels against the metal stairs as I departed the warehouse. I stood outside, the night went cool after the rain. Autumn was approaching, and I could smell snow in the air. I contemplated waiting it out and then just as the door banged open, I turned to leave. Massimo caught up with me and grabbed me by the bicep to spin me around.

  “What is your problem?”

  “Me? What’s your problem? I never gave you any inclination that we were…you know.”

  “I didn’t think you had.”

  “Yet, any chance you got up there, you made it perfectly clear I was off limits.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “Why? Even if I gave myself to you, I have given myself to many men, males, and a couple demons. That doesn’t make me their property.”

  He stood still staring at me. I could hear the way he ground his teeth together. “I know, you’ve been promiscuous. Not like a human girl.”

  “I’m not human. Emerick made sure of that. So, whatever innocence you think you saw in that human girl, died when I was re-born. Don’t you get that?”

  “I know. I am extremely aware of that. Doesn’t mean I like it.”

  “What?”

  “There’s more I haven’t told you. I was waiting until…”

  “Until, what?”

  “Until your memories came back on their own,” he shouted at me.

  I turned away from him. This was not a conversation I wanted to have. Not in public with a den full of vampires as witnesses. “Save your breath.”

  I tried to keep out of his reach, but no matter how much faster I was than him, he’d just use the gifts being a vampire afforded him and blurred to my side.

  “If you would just listen.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this. I’m over it. It was another lifetime. You’d be well pressed to come to terms with that. I only care about this life.”

  I followed her back to her apartment. The sun wasn’t due to rise for a few hours yet. The moisture from the late rain shower covered every su
rface. Water lifted with our steps and soaked our shoes. By the time we sauntered into the elevator I was slipping on the tiled floors.

  When I didn’t hit the button for my floor, she gave me a sideways glare. “I told you I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “I’m not trying to talk about it.”

  She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. Then with a jerk, she let the scanner read her eye. When she leaned back against the wall, she gave me another sideways look and then stared straight ahead at the doors. Her rain-soaked shirt allowed me to see her skin where the shirt pressed against her. Her black bra showed through the white fabric, and I could see her nipples were erect and something stirred inside of me. The look of contempt in her features made my manhood whistle awake.

  Before I could think, I hit the button on the elevator and pushed into her at the same time. I rubbed my erection against her, letting her know I had no questions about her innocence. I pushed her into the wall behind and lifted her closer to me. Her hips rocked against me, and she moaned as I pressed the tips of my fingers into her thighs, pulling them up. She hooked her ankles around me, and I crushed my mouth against hers. Her lips moved and separated allowing our tongues to mingle together.

  She tasted like peppermints and nightmares, everything I could have ever dreamed of, and I had a sudden thought of how differently this would have been when we were still both human.

  That thought alone made me drop her to her feet and back up to the opposite wall of the elevator on one fluid movement; allowing the elevator to continue its climb to the top floor.

  To my surprise, she didn’t say a word. Instead, she waited till the elevator opened and grabbed my hand. She pulled me through the apartment toward the kitchen then into the back. Once she got me in the infusion room, she pushed me down on the table and began hooking me up to her machines.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making sure you get enough blood. You haven’t fed.”

  “I have blood bags in my fridge.”

  She stared at me, but her hands kept move methodically. The rubber band snapped tight around my arm, and the prick of the needle made me jump only in the slightest. Not being able to reach the pole on the other side to hang up the bag, she climbed on top of the table and straddled over me. I let my head fall back against the table as she pierced the bag.

  Once the blood started pouring into my veins she moved. Her clothes made a squishing sound as she peeled and then dropped each article of wet clothing to the floor.

  “Now, what are you doing?”

  “Getting out of my wet clothes. Is that okay with you?”

  “Sure.” I let my head fall again.

  Each time I looked at her I saw the light brown hair of the girl I would have—. No, I couldn’t think about that. My throat felt tight, my eyes started to water, and my chest constricted. I felt her move closer to me, her hand touched my chest where my heart should be. I obviously didn’t have one if I were able to hand over the woman I’d loved to a monster…to make into a monster.

  “What’s wrong? Is the blood wrong?” She moved over to the bag. “O negative,” she mumbled to herself. “Massimo?”

  I shook my head with my eyes shut tightly. I can’t. I can’t see her like this. My memories kept flooding into me, and I choked on them. I pried my eyes open. Her hair was still down and hit just past her bottom. The bright red a constant reminder of the monster she was supposed to be. A blood-sucking fiend just like the rest, but so much more. She was Christmas time, wrapped in a bow.

  She wasn’t a crazed monster. I supposed I should be grateful for that. However, she also wasn’t the sweet, innocent girl from our home village either. The one who trained twice as hard as her brothers to prove to her father that she was worthy of his pride in her.

  Raindrops still clung to her skin. The sky had opened only a few blocks from the building, soaking both of us. Her clothes were pooling water on the floor. When the bag hanging was finally empty, she pulled the needle from my arm.

  “All you wanted to do was talk, and now you won’t even look at me.” She threw the tubing and empty bag in the silver can next to the table. “Fine. I’m going to bed.”

  The little bows in the middle of her breasts and just under her belly button on the hem of her panties gawked at me. They called to me, and before I could stop myself I pushed down the image of the sweet and innocent Annabelle and hooked a finger into her waistband; pulling her to me. I let my head rest just under her breasts. The small red ribbon against the black fabric jumped out at me. I looked up and she was looking down. Her thumb grazed my cheek, just under my eye to remove a drop of water that could have been a tear.

  I stood, and with my hand against the back of her head I guided our mouths together and lifted her into my arms. She broke free of my mouth and looked at me bewildered. I was being so much gentler than I had in our previous encounters. She was about to ask me something, but I shook my head and carried her to her room.

  Delia was nowhere to be seen. So, there was nobody to dodge around with a half-naked Ravana in my arms as I carried her through the apartment. I pushed open the door with my back and let my eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. Heavy drapes kept any light from outside from showing through.

  I pushed the door closed and stalked over to her bed setting her on her feet next to the footboard. My hand cupped her jaw and I ran a thumb pad along her cheek. Then I traced her milky smooth skin along her neck, across her shoulder and hooked the strap of satin pushing it down her arm; replacing the satin fabric with the heat of my lips. I felt the sting of her nails against my skin. Once again, they were laced with iron and I didn’t wince as the pain shot through me. She pulled back, murmuring an apology, but I placed a finger against her lips.

  “Shhh.”

  Fear ripped through me, my body slightly trembling as I grabbed hold of her body swiftly and placed her lightly on her bed positioning myself over her prone form. My sight evened out and I could see the light in her eyes. I let my gaze soak up her features. She still had high cheekbones, but the rest of her features had changed. They were nothing of the girl from before, and I was determined to show her I could still be that man before she remembered she’d lost him once. If I had it my way, she’d never lose him again.

  Leaning on one arm I raked my hand through her hair and kissed her lips. Her hands sought me, greedily. My shirt came up over my head and I leaned down to place kisses along the line of her breasts where fabric met skin. She arched her body into mine, her thigh pressed against me. A moan escaped my throat, and her hand moved to clasp around the fabric that sheathed me.

  My nails scraped against her as I pulled the straps down her arms further, the clasp of her bra snapping with the force.

  “That was my favorite.” Anger laced her words, but laughter shown in her eyes.

  “I’ll buy you ten more. All that color.”

  She raised an eyebrow and pulled the button from my jeans, making the zipper slide down and freeing my erection. Her hand wrapped around me and I pushed down into her. Nails raked my scrotum, and the teeth of the zipper chided at my sides. Her hand went lower, a single nail slid across my skin, but she was careful not to break it. I looked up at the teasing look in her eye and realized she wasn’t satisfied with the gentleman side I was showing her. I shimmied enough to relieve myself of the jeans, and I was naked against her. All that stood in my way were the black lace panties with the little red bow. I gave her a devil may care look as I slid down her body.

  One leg flung over me, and I grabbed the other to do the same, but she planted her foot on my shoulder instead. Moving toward her I circled her belly with kisses. All while my hand assaulted her thigh. My fingertips pressed and massaged. Just above her mound I stopped and looked up, giving her an opportunity to tell me to back off, but she twisted my hair in her hand and pushed my face down to her.

  My hand pressed against her, my lips trailed her skin from her stomach to the inside of her leg until I met w
ith her heat. My tongue assaulted her, inside and out. Between her lips, and then dipped down into her core. Her juices flowed steadily. Her hips rocked, her moans increased until she had no control over whether her nails bit into my skin. I expected it. I deserved the pain, and I would gladly accept it.

  Once her backside squeezed with release, I moved up her body. Her legs wrapped around my waist and she sat up, pulling herself to me by my shoulders. She positioned herself over me and I guided her hips, slowly until just the tip of my cock entered her. Her eyes opened wide and she smiled. Then without preamble, she loosened her legs and slowed herself until I was fully inside her. She settled for a moment, then her hips began to buck. Her body moved so she slid up and down in a slow methodical motion that drove me wild. Her insides squeezing and releasing against me.

  I lost all sense of why I was going slow. Why was I trying to be so careful with this woman? All I wanted was to ravage her body, take her to peaks she’d only imagined going. I wanted to thrust into her and make her insides tingle and roar. When she took the lead again, I found it hard to remain upright. I lost hold of her backside and one hand fell to the bed. She flipped me over then. I was sprawled on my back, but I’d never slipped out of her.

  She settled on her knees and smiled that devilish smile again before she put her body into motion. Her hands moved behind her to settle on my thighs. Her nails dug in but didn’t break skin as she rocked her hips. I grabbed her waist and thrust myself further into her and lost all control. The slow, careful movements did me in more than they did her, and I exploded without warning.

  If I didn’t know any better, I’d have said he was holding back for a reason. I wasn’t going to let him, but after the fourth time we exploded with each other, I realized it was a damn good thing I went along with it. I’d never been so gentile, nor have I ever felt like I’d been…savored.