Forsaken Hunger

by Nikki McCoy

  “That’s how you knew my file was at Gabriel’s house,” she breathed. “You saw it and came after me, not him. Didn’t you?” When he nodded, a slightly hysterical laugh escaped her lips. This was insane. All of it. The connection she felt with him had just reached a whole new level of crazy she couldn’t deal with right then.

  Saden took another step closer. “I need to know the truth, leisontee. What happened to Marco while I was gone?”

  She raised both hands in a futile attempt to ward off his questions. “How do I know you’re even speaking of the same Marco I knew?”

  “He was a leisonguarde once with a family. Preyune to your sister, Emily. He said he lost his freedom trying to protect both of you.”

  The memories thrummed inside her now, clamoring for precedence. She’d thought Marco had died with her sister the night they were attacked. Only to find him alive when he had come to rescue her from her worst nightmare. Then he’d disappeared again and she hadn’t heard from him since. Saden’s claim made sense of everything she’d wondered about in the past.

  And it scared the hell out of her. Marco couldn’t have become a Drakon. He was a good man who deserved a fate worthy of a hero. Not a criminal.

  “I can’t do this.”

  “At least tell me who Kennie’s father is,” Saden pushed.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “No.”

  “Daneya, she could be in more danger than you realize. Tell me. Tell me the truth so I can help.”

  “It’s Gabriel!” she yelled, body vibrating with emotion. Her next words came out shaky and raw. “Her father is Gabriel. He impregnated me when he held me prisoner.”

  Saden was quiet at first, then let out a string of invectives that echoed along the walls of the room. His expression was furious as he strode away and swung a fist at the weapons wall. The staff he hit snapped in half and clattered to the floor, knocking loose a few other weapons near it. His outburst somehow helped to soothe her frayed nerves.

  “Tell me everything,” he growled.

  She should’ve walked away immediately. Demanded he let her go and never reveal what only Cherri knew. Would have if not for the honest compassion behind his rage that made her feel safer than she had in too long. Not since Marco had been a part of her life.

  After a deep breath, she said, “When Marco married my sister, they took me out of the foster home and raised me together. A year later, he told me what he was and I remember I didn’t care because he loved me and Emily so much. He gave us everything we had lost when our parents died. They tried for years to have a baby but there were complications. Emily couldn’t get pregnant. One night, Gabriel came to the house and said he knew of a way to get around Emily’s barrenness. Marco got angry and threw him out.”

  She shivered as that night came back to her. At fourteen years old, she hadn’t understood much of their conversation. Emily had sent her to her room when Gabriel and Marco had started to argue. She recalled all too clearly, however, the way Gabriel had watched her every move. The way his eyes had seemed hungry, like those of a predator.

  “As soon as Gabriel left, Marco packed our stuff and said we were going to a safe place where he would join us later. It was too late, though. Gabriel came back with a group of men and attacked us. My sister…” She cleared her throat around the painful lump that had formed. “Emily was killed trying to get me out. Marco got me to the car and told me to drive and never look back. I thought he’d died with my sister.

  “I was found and returned to foster care after that. When I turned seventeen, Gabriel came back for me. I was his prize, he said, for having to put up with Marco’s ignorance.” Acid burned on her tongue as the memories spilled out. They wouldn’t stop coming now that she’d opened the floodgates.

  “The other women there had multiple partners to ensure they became pregnant but Gabriel kept me for himself. He was obsessed with me. I met Cherri there and we supported each other through the worst of it. A few days after Mckenzie was born, Marco broke into the facility to rescue me. I made him take Cherri and my daughter as well. I don’t know how he got us out of there. Cherri was seven months pregnant and I was still weak. He did, though, and provided us with a house and enough money to start new lives. I never heard from him again.”

  “Cherri lost her baby, didn’t she?” Saden asked in a low voice.

  Daneya bit her lip and crossed her arms around herself, trying to stop the trembling inside. “The loss of Djinn energy was too much. Her baby died a week after we escaped. The doctors said there was no chance she would be able to carry again.”

  This time when Saden approached, she stood her ground. His face held none of the censure she was expecting, and when he wrapped her in a solid embrace, she melted into his warmth and strength. Tears she hadn’t known were there dampened the front of his shirt. As the humility and shame of her past threatened to drown her, he held her tighter and whispered comforting words. More tears fell past her wavering control, competing with the silent sobs that wracked her.

  They stayed like that for countless minutes until she finally came back to herself. “You must think I’m a hypocrite,” she mumbled against his chest, “for joining the DCM knowing what my daughter is.”

  “No. You were only doing what was best for her. They taught you the skills you needed to keep her safe. I’ve watched you both grow over the years.”

  “Yeah, that’s still creepy.”

  His deep laughter rumbled through her. “It makes sense now. Why you kept moving from place to place and why Marco never told me what really happened.” When she looked up at him with a frown, he added, “I would’ve killed Gabriel if I had known what he did to you.”

  The cold conviction in his tone made her feel treasured, and she couldn’t hold back the smile that curved her lips. It was little wonder why Marco, who’d loved her sister so much, had chosen this man to watch over her and Mckenzie.

  “Come on.” Saden kissed her forehead then pulled her to the door. “There’s something you need to do.” He took her to her bedroom where Mckenzie was fast asleep in the bed. “Vampyre children develop the power of their aethra at around three years old. It’s up to their parents to replenish the energy they expend while using their power. Mckenzie is early for a human hybrid, who usually don’t gain their powers until the teenage years. She needs you to restore what was spent when she healed me.”

  Daneya shook her head. “I can’t do that. I don’t want to hurt her.” She recalled how Gabriel had forced what he’d called ‘servicing’. Infusing her with the energy of the Djinn inside him while feeding off her fear and hatred. Each time had left her battered in the wake of his sexual lust.

  “The exchange of life force between Vampyres is natural,” Saden explained. “The fact that you’re human doesn’t change that. The love parents have for their children is the strongest energy there is. It’ll sustain her until she’s ready to absorb energy on her own. All you need to do is touch her and let your love flow through to her.”

  She stared down at her daughter, the perfect replica of herself, from the burgundy tresses to the strong will. Except Mckenzie was so much braver and free-spirited than she’d been at that age. It had never mattered who had sired Kennie or what she really was. Simply that she had been born innocent and deserved the kind of life that’d been stolen from Daneya.

  Dark bags ringed her eyes now and her skin lacked the healthy glow of youth. Daneya lay down and gathered her daughter close, touching as much of her as possible. She concentrated on the joy Mckenzie had always given her, the pride of having such a miracle in her life.

  Time passed without awareness. Eventually, Daneya opened her eyes and saw high color staining her daughter’s cheeks a rosy pink. Mckenzie was warmer as well and a small smile played on her lips. Daneya looked over her shoulder to Saden but he was nowhere in sight. She slipped from the bed and out of the room, intent on finding him to thank him somehow. He had given her this moment and she wanted to share it wi
th him.

  After checking his bedroom, she went back upstairs on a hunch. He was in the weapons room as she’d suspected. The blades that had fallen earlier had been returned to their mounts. Except for the broken staff, which lay near a pile of Saden’s clothes. He stood in the center of the room with only black jeans covering his lean body. His tanned skin glistened with a fine sheen of sweat as he wielded a pair of katanas with expert finesse.

  She watched silently, mesmerized by the art of his skills. Each of his moves was perfectly calculated and the katanas merely an extension of his long limbs. Every inch of his naked torso rippled with fine-cut muscles that spanned out across his backside.

  It was hard to believe that a man so handsome had come from such a brutal past. What must it have been like to crawl out from years of abuse at the hand of his Drakonem only to immerse himself in bloodshed in order to survive?

  She couldn’t imagine her Kennie, or even herself, going through the same and retaining the kindness Saden had shown them. A part of her wanted to shelter him from his life. To stop time until she could alter the finality of his future. She wasn’t ready for this, whatever it was between them, to end. She wasn’t sure she would want it to even after his business with Gabriel was complete.

  Saden seemed to glide over the floor in a lethal dance of combat then stilled abruptly. His gaze found hers unerringly and Daneya felt her breath catch in her throat. Her body responded in a way she hadn’t thought possible before the intimacy they’d shared the other night. As a woman did to a man she trusted with her heart.

  With Saden, there was no struggle for control or fear of consequences. He was her equal, and right then, that was all that mattered.

  She crossed over to him and leaned up to press her mouth to his. For a brief second, he didn’t move. Then the weapons clattered to the floor, his lips parted and arms circled around her, crushing her to him. His passion was like a living source of fire that raced through her blood and set her head whirling. It was one of the things she admired most about him. No games or pretensions. Just the desire he wasn’t afraid to show.

  She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer, needing to feel as much of him as she could. When the hard evidence of his arousal pressed against her belly, it shot her own desires to new heights. Without warning, he withdrew sharply and put her at arms-length. She clung to his hands, spinning in confusion.

  A shadow of pain etched Saden’s eyes as he panted for air. “We can’t do this again. I’m sorry. I don’t want to be the regret you take away from this when you leave.”

  Then don’t make me leave. The thought lingered in her mind, absurd yet more clear than any she’d had in the past week. It wasn’t fair that she should find what she had always longed for in a man she could never have. Her entire life was about rules and sacrifices. How could she be asked to give up one more thing that made her happy?

  She wouldn’t. At least not for now. Life owed her that much.

  “I won’t regret you.” When his face still reflected doubt, she removed his hands and closed the space between them. “I don’t know how long we have, or what will happen when we finish your job. But I do know I’ll regret it if I don’t take advantage of you right now.” She cocked her brow with a playful hint. “And I don’t lie.”

  A half-grin lifted a corner of his mouth. “I’ve discovered that about you.”

  This time when their lips met, the kiss was slow and sensual. It stoked the embers of the flame still burning inside her. His tongue slid along hers in a lazy caress, sweeping into the cavern of her mouth and drinking in her every breath. The rest of the world melted away as he embraced her once again.

  “What else have you discovered about me?” she whispered against his lips.

  He trailed his mouth down the curve of her neck, licking and sucking her earlobe then moving on to her collarbone. His hands slid inside her shirt and grasped her narrow waist tightly. At his urge, she raised her arms and let him strip the thin fabric from her. In the next heartbeat, his hands and mouth were on her again, touching everywhere he could reach.

  “I know that you love your friends like family.”

  The clasp at the front of her bra came apart under his nimble fingers. He swallowed her gasp with a scorching kiss and delved deeper into the recesses of her mouth. She leaned into the heat of his hands as they kneaded her breasts, sighing when he rolled and teased her nipples. Her own hands found the waistband of his jeans and unclasped the button. Another draft of cool air rushed over her as he pulled down her pants and yanked them off, leaving her utterly exposed. He quickly joined her by tossing aside his jeans.

  “You always stand up for what’s right, even if no one else agrees with you.” His breath tickled her throat and sent shivers rippling over her skin. He kicked aside the katanas then laid her down gently on the cold floor, covering her front with the warmth of his body.

  Daneya let the drugging sensations of his hunger wash over her. He was everywhere all at once, filling her with mounting pleasure so enveloping, she thought she might drown in it. When he flicked his tongue across one of her nipples then dragged it into his mouth, she arched up with a moan. The column of his shaft rubbed along her cleft and brought a fresh wave of arousal.

  “And you’re fearless when you fight. Not always a good thing when you’re going up against a den of Vanaras by yourself.”

  A frown creased her forehead as she tried to recall his reference. She’d only made that mistake once and had gotten lucky when a fortunate rockslide at the entrance to their cave had cut off their pursuit of her. Wait… Daneya tugged on his hair until he was staring up at her. “That was you?”

  The shade of his half-lidded eyes took on a different hue. Protective and fierce. “I would never allow harm to come to you.”

  Her own eyes pricked with moisture. She’d seen the truth of his statement earlier at Gabriel’s mansion. Heard it when he’d threatened Blade for speaking rudely to her. It made her feel all the more cherished and wanted despite the circumstances surrounding the situations.

  Saden skimmed down her belly to the triangle of dark curls covering her center. He bent her legs then buried his face in the crevice between them, igniting sparks beneath Daneya’s skin. She gasped when his tongue slid seductively over her most tender area then dove into her heat. Ripples of intense sensations vibrated through her. A coil of pressure took root in her gut and wound itself around her insides.

  He breached her entrance farther with first one finger, then a second. They slipped in and out, searching for and finding the spot that made her cry out in ecstasy. She grabbed onto his shoulders as her hips surged of their own accord, desperate to match the rhythm of his driving fingers. Over and over again his tongue flicked across her clit, teasing until she thought she couldn’t take anymore. The pressure increased to a maddening point and she dug her nails into his skin, holding on as the floor seemed to fall away.

  “Saden,” she breathed.

  He hooked his fingers inside her and rubbed mercilessly on her core. Her world shattered in an explosion of searing heat. Wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her, spinning her so far out of control she couldn’t think straight. The tremor of his groan sent another tide of electric shocks pulsating through her.

  Before she could react, he pulled her to her feet then lifted her. Instinctively, she hugged his waist with her legs and wrapped her arms around his neck. He walked her to the nearest wall, capturing her mouth with his. The taste of her on his tongue was intoxicating. Nothing had felt so intimate. Not even in her dreams had she imagined making love could feel this good.

  When her back met the wall, he hiked her farther up then guided his tip to her threshold. In one sensual move, he brought her down and filled her completely. They moaned in unison, caught in the scorching connection of their bodies. Saden set up a slow pace. The length of his hard erection swelled within her, rubbing against her sensitive walls.

  As he lowered his mouth to her neck, she
stared out at the mirrors around them, watching the way his muscles flexed with each deep thrust. It was captivating. The contrast of his large build to her smaller frame. The stretch of his sinews to her softer skin. It was almost impossible to believe someone like him had been hiding just beyond her sight to keep her safe.

  He quickened the force of his strokes, driving into her with increasing need. The coiling tension inside her returned. She swiveled her hips to meet his, reeling in the feel of his hardness buried deep within. His tip grazed repeatedly against her spot and sent ribbons of fire streaming through her. When her name left his lips on a growl, it tipped her over the edge. She arched back and shouted out her climax, shuddering in the strong circle of his arms. He found his own release seconds later and groaned into her mouth.

  After finally catching her breath, she smiled and chuckled softly.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just feel…”

  He leaned back to look at her and gave a lopsided grin. “Yeah. Me too. Can you stand?”

  A sarcastic grunt slipped out before she could stop it. Standing was debatable at the moment. As her feet reached the floor, she tested the strength of her legs and found it passing. Barely. When they were both dressed, he guided her downstairs to her room but she refused to go in.

  “I want to stay with you tonight.”

  He opened his mouth as if to say something then closed it. Once in his room, she tossed her clothes to the floor and climbed into his bed. Not quite sure what she was doing, yet knowing she needed to feel him beside her. After he shirked his own clothes and slipped between the sheets, she rested her head on his chest.

  A question came to her as sleep began pulling her under. Something she’d wondered earlier during their conversation. “What will you take away from this after I leave?”