Forsaken Hunger

by Nikki McCoy

  Rhys hesitated, then answered, “No. All of them got away. We were trapped by the sun and the Djinn claimed they were run off the road by the Drakon’s fire when they gave chase.”

  Gabriel shook with barely contained fury. With the information on the ledger and six specimens at his disposal, the Drakon could ruin him as well as everyone else involved in his operation. The house of Avram wouldn’t recover from the blow. The treaty would be as if it had never existed and his people would once again be plunged into the depths of war with him as the catalyst.

  Damn it! There had to be something he could use. Something he was missing.

  A leisonguarde burst into the office, panting from exertion. “Sorry to disturb you, sir. There’s a Djinn here demanding to see you. He says his name’s Forrest.”

  Gabriel felt the blood rush from his face. One of Forrest’s men must have informed him. The general was an unforgiving man and not likely to listen to excuses, no matter what the circumstance. “Give us a few minutes then show him in.”

  “No need.” A slim man in his early twenties pushed past the leisonguarde with an air of authority. His trim brown hair and austere features suited his tailor-made outfit down to the wingtips on his loafers. Forrest wore his new Vampyre host well. The last Gabriel had seen him, he was in an aging human male with only a few years left to his prime.

  With as much confidence as he could muster, Gabriel dismissed the leisonguarde then dipped his head to the general. “It’s good to see you, Forrest. I see you found one of the offspring to your liking.”

  Forrest moved languidly to the armchair on the other side of the desk. Everything about his demeanor was as cool and calculated as ever. It was only in his eyes that one could see his true character, and it chilled Gabriel every time he looked into them. “My men tell me the situation with this Drakon has escalated. They say he made off with several specimens and possibly evidence that could incriminate you. Should I be worried?”

  “Not at all,” he replied smoothly. “I have the situation under control.”

  “Then tell me what your plan is to deal with it, since your last one went over so well.”

  Gabriel cursed inwardly. This was not a conversation he was prepared for. He cleared his throat and sat down in his desk chair, struggling to think of anything that wouldn’t betray the seriousness of the situation. “Well, fortunately, I doubled the guard at all of the facilities, so it wasn’t a complete loss. We now know that the Drakon is working with a group of Rakshasas, but eye-witness accounts alone won’t be enough to discredit him. I think we…” His sentence trailed off as a thought occurred to him. Eye-witnesses may not be the only proof they had of the Drakon’s infiltration.

  Maybe…

  “Hold on a minute.” His fingers flew over the keyboard, typing furiously. If this worked, he might have all the leverage he needed to get rid of his nuisance.

  Rhys peered over his shoulder to get a closer view of the screen. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m activating the remote feed from the secondary security system. The one I had installed years ago upon your insistence, my good friend. I’m surprised it slipped your attention.”

  “The secondary cameras,” Rhys said as understanding set in. “They should’ve kicked in immediately after the main feed was shut down.

  “And so they did,” Gabriel confirmed triumphantly. The screen segmented into eight parts, each one showing a different angle of the current events happening at facility three. He rewound the video to the beginning then watched carefully for a clear shot of the Drakon. When it came, he paused and zoomed in. Shock registered at first as a ghost from his past stared back at him from the monitor. It couldn’t be. This man had died years ago.

  “Sir, is that your brother?”

  “No.” Mathis was dead. Gabriel had arranged the funeral himself. Which meant the identical face on the screen had to be… “That’s his son, Jeremy.”

  “Gods be damned,” Rhys whispered.

  A slow-burning hatred gradually replaced Gabriel’s surprise. So, the little whelp thought he would come back for revenge. Play his hand at a real man’s game. It was probably him who had reported seeing Gabriel dispose of the specimen’s body weeks ago to his Drakonem. Just waiting for Gabriel to screw up so he could make his move.

  Gabriel forwarded the frames then locked on to the image of the woman at Jeremy’s side. His hatred quickly turned to a boiling rage that seized his gut. It was Daneya Perodee. There was no mistaking the clean lines of her figure and stunning face.

  So it was true. She had taken up with the Drakon. Chosen to sacrifice her self-worth for the company of a forsaken betrayer. What else had she given him―her body, her cries of pleasure?

  He squeezed his eyes shut, blood pounding in his ears. None of that mattered. She was his. Had been from the day he’d first seen her in Marco’s house so long ago. Even then, at such a tender age, her challenging spirit had awakened something inside him that’d been missing since his mate had passed away.

  Marco hadn’t understood. He’d foolishly thrown away his chance to become a father in spite of his mate’s barrenness. Wasted his life in an effort to keep Daneya from Gabriel, but his actions had been in vain. Gabriel had found her years later and he would do it again. She belonged to him, and so did their daughter.

  “Is there a problem?” Forrest asked in a dangerous tone.

  Gabriel fasted through the rest of the video feed as his mind rapidly formed a plan. A slow smile spread across his face. “On the contrary, this couldn’t have worked out better. The Drakon is a former adversary of mine. It will be a simple matter to convince the Lady Ilsa and her council that he set up a false accusation against me to get revenge by sabotaging my research. With proof that he’s aligned with a member of the DCM and a group of Rakshasas, they’ll have no choice except to report it to his Drakonem. My case will be closed on that offense alone.”

  “The idea has merit. When will you contact your authorities?”

  “Right now. I don’t want to give him any more time to use the evidence he’s found against me.”

  Forrest rose and strode to the door. “Then I shall leave you to it. And, Gabriel, I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen if this new plan of yours fails.”

  The threat hung in the air after Forrest’s departure, but Gabriel was too excited to care. This would work. It had to. “Edit the film,” he told Rhys. “Take out the images of the specimens. I want there to be no doubt that the Drakon is doing this out of personal vindication. Then go to the laboratory on my land and replicate the damage from the scene at the facility in case Korvaute Weiss wants to investigate. Inform the men of the version they are to tell if Weiss decides to question them. You have one hour.”

  “Yes, sir. What do you want me to do about facility three?”

  “Repair it and make sure the specimens are settled. Things should go back to normal very soon. After I know the Drakon is taken care of, I want you to contact that woman of yours, Cherri. Do you think she’ll be open to meeting with you again?”

  Rhys grinned widely. “Absolutely. She’s as desperate to have a child as a bitch in heat. I’ll get on it as soon as I can.” He was barking orders to the leisonguardes outside before the door closed behind him.

  Gabriel poured himself a glass of vodka from his liquor cabinet and downed it in one swallow, relishing the sweet burn. He refilled it then tipped the glass in a silent salute to his nephew. Jeremy had proven more resourceful than Gabriel could ever have hoped for. Not only would his very identity give cause for doubt among the council, but he would also play a key role in returning Daneya to her rightful position—submitting to Gabriel’s control.

  Yes, everything would go back to the way it should be. The way it was meant to be all along.

  * * * *

  Daneya threw back the comforter and sat up on the side of the bed. She glanced at her daughter sleeping soundly next to her then stood to go to the bathroom. Her body was restless,
thoughts racing with the events of the previous day. After splashing cold water on her face, she stared at her reflection in the mirror, mind traveling back to her argument with Cherri.

  Her friend had been right. She had no business falling for a man she couldn’t have. When all was said and done, the past several days would be just a memory and everything would return back to the way it was. Comfortable and familiar.

  Then why did that life seemed so distant now? The bustle of the DCM. Days spent drowned in her work and nights filled with worry over her daughter’s future. For years, she’d told herself that her life was suspended only because of the threat Gabriel posed. That once he was eliminated, she could find happiness.

  Did that still hold true?

  Mckenzie would never be fully accepted for her heritage among the DCM community, which made Daneya an outsider as well. They could start fresh. Go to a place where no one knew of them and Mckenzie could practice her power without fear of discovery. Vincent was a good man, handsome in his own cavalier way, and might give up everything to follow her as Cherri so adamantly suggested.

  However, Daneya knew he would eventually come to resent her for it. And what of love? Whatever a relationship is, it should at least begin with love, shouldn’t it?

  Daneya laughed quietly. She and Saden had begun with the exact opposite, and look how that had turned out. Her lips tingled in memory of his earlier kiss on the outskirts of Riverside. It had been so full of possession and need. In that moment, nothing else had existed. Not Gabriel or the Rakshasas or even their futures. The thought of going back to what she once had and never feeling that kind of freedom again was suffocating.

  How could she find happiness knowing her sworn protector was watching alone from the shadows? Worse, that he wouldn’t be there at all, depending on how he chose to deal with their current situation.

  She threw on a robe then slipped from her bedroom with resolve and hurried to Saden’s room at the other end of the corridor. Inside, she flipped on the light only to find the bed empty. A quick search of the weapons and living room revealed nothing more. She went back to his room and walked out onto the balcony. The night sky was still pitch black, broken only by the glow of the crescent moon and shimmering stars. Gentle winds teased her loose hair and carried the scents of the woods surrounding the manor.

  Countless minutes passed, then the air beside her darkened. It shifted like a wraith made of fine mist then took the shape of a man. Saden appeared to her right. A tall figure steeped in darkness except for the green of his eyes reflected in the dim light.

  He moved closer until only a few feet separated them. “What are you doing out here?”

  A hundred reasons flitted through her mind, though they all came down to just one. “I don’t care. About what others think or what my life should be like. I’m tired of worrying that one mistake could cost me everything. If you think I could turn away from you now with no regrets, you’re wrong. This, between us, is the only thing I’ve been sure of in my whole life. Don’t take that away from me before you have to.”

  He stared at her for long seconds, his face the same stoic mask he’d worn when they had first met. When he reached out to grasp her neck, she let him pull her against him. His other arm snaked inside her robe and enveloped her waist in a solid embrace. Everything about him was firm, unyielding, and it made her entire body ache with need.

  This was what she had been missing all along. Not a normal life with a forgotten past. It was the acceptance of who she was in spite of her past that Saden gave her with just one touch. She could face the emptiness that would come afterwards. The knowledge of what she’d lost and might never find again. But not yet. She still had time, and she didn’t want to waste it by thinking of tomorrow.

  Their breath mingled as he leaned down, mouths only inches apart. “I don’t want to be a regret.”

  “Then shut up and stop making me wait.”

  His rumbling laughter vibrated through her. He brought their lips together in a slow, languid kiss. The heat of his mouth was scintillating, his tongue provocative as it danced with hers. She pressed flush against his warm body and breathed in the smells of musk and leather. At her neck and hip, his hands tightened with arousing pressure. Through the rough fabric of his jeans, he rubbed his growing length against her abdomen.

  It was a heady sensation to feel the evidence of his longing for her without the conflict of right or wrong. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding onto it until Cherri had pointed it out. Told her to choose between Saden and their friendship. Daneya hadn’t been able to do it. Her world was no longer black and white, and her desire for Saden no more wrong than the beat of her own heart.

  To hell with what everyone else thought. This was her life to live.

  He guided her backwards into the room, sliding her robe off and tossing it to the floor. She spanned her palms across his chest then pushed at his heavy coat. It fell away to reveal the thick lines of his muscles moving beneath his shirt. That went next, along with the belt harness for his knives.

  When the backs of her knees hit the bed, she stripped out of her own shirt and lay down, baring her breasts to him. The hunger in his eyes sent chills racing over her flesh. The way he looked at her was captivating. As if she were a treasure he wanted to explore inside and out. It made her blood rush as he began to trace every inch of her skin with his hands.

  He followed her down and took one of her puckered nipples into his mouth, sucking greedily and rolling it gently between his teeth. This time was different from the others. There was no hurry to his movements. No haste to find completion. Every sensuous touch was a slow burn that heightened her senses. She ran her fingers along the hard ridges of his sides up to his shoulders and arms, wanting to memorize the feel of him. It seemed impossible that anything she might find with another man could compare. A thought she didn’t want to contemplate.

  Would he find this again with someone else? Make love to another woman the way he did with her?

  Without realizing it, she voiced her thoughts, the words tumbling from her mouth before she could stop them. She wanted to squirm in embarrassment when he reared back with a frown. It wasn’t like her to dwell on hypotheticals, yet she couldn’t help but wonder.

  He studied her for long moments then buried his face in her neck. “We shouldn’t talk about this right now.”

  The way he said it piqued her curiosity further. Not because she was jealous. Rather because she didn’t want him to be alone for the rest of his existence. His tone was so empty. Final. She combed her fingers through his hair and said quietly, “I want to know.”

  When he rolled over with a groan, she propped her head on one hand to stare down at him. His expression was both hesitant and intense. “There was no one before you and there will be no one after.”

  The first part was believable. What his Drakonem had done to him would’ve left lasting effects no matter how strong he was. The second part, however… “You can’t cut yourself off entirely. There might—”

  “It’s not like that.” Saden reached up to tuck a lock of her hair behind one ear. A sad half-smile lifted a corner of his mouth. “Drakons are forbidden to create permanent ties to anyone in this realm. It’s considered a detrimental interference into the lives of decent people and a punishable offense.”

  “So what we’re doing really will carry consequences.”

  “If my Drakonem were to find out. Yeah.”

  Daneya looked away, a sudden pain piercing her chest. None of it was fair. The sacrifices he was about to make. His concern for her welfare when he was the one who would suffer most. Meanwhile, he took all of it in stride as though he’d expected nothing less from life. It infuriated her that there was nothing she could do about it.

  He cupped her jaw and forced her to look at him. “Hey, it’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  Whatever else she might’ve said was trapped behind her lips as he pressed them to his. She gave in reluctantly
and allowed him to pull her close. Gradually, his warmth seeped into her, melting her bitter anger. As he deepened the kiss, she shifted her body on top of his and sank into the feel of his arms banding around her. When she swiveled her hips, the material still separating them brought her back to awareness. She wanted to be as close to him as she could get. Tangled in his skin and lost in his touch.

  After easing her way down, she unfastened his pants and pulled them to his knees, careful to avoid the bandage covering the wound on his left thigh. His solid length bounced invitingly against his hard abdomen, beautiful in its masculinity. She couldn’t remember wanting anything more than the way she wanted him now. While she stood to strip out of the rest of her clothes, he quickly took off his boots and jeans. In the next instant, she was on him again, straddling him just above his knees and taking him into her hand.

  The loud groan he let loose was exhilarating. To hold his pleasure in her grasp gave her a sense of power that sent heat coiling deep within her womb. Her sex was damp and throbbing, eager for the feel of him driving into her.

  She moved forward and raised herself above him, guiding his tip to her entrance. They both gasped as they came together, his swollen cock filling her completely. His gaze when she met it was half-lidded and consuming. An anchor that tethered her to him. A low moan fell from her lips and she arched into his hands as he kneaded her breasts. Slowly, she slid up and down his length, the friction of their skin generating a blaze that flushed through her sensitive core.

  He urged her forward and took possession of her mouth in a searing kiss. The change in angle rubbed his bluntness against that intimate spot inside her, causing jolts of electricity to fire through her blood. His hands gripped her waist and hips surged up to meet each of her thrusts.