GOE 08 - Bound By Darkness

Chapter 12

Ariyal reeled beneath the impact of Jaelyn’s sudden kiss.

He couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d pulled out her gun and shot him directly in the heart.

What else could you expect from a cold-blooded leech?

Death and mayhem were her specialty.

But this ...

This was white-hot, all-consuming pleasure that bypassed his brain and sent his body up in flames.

Without giving himself time to question what the hell she was playing at, he grasped her around the waist and with one motion had her tossed over his shoulder. Ignoring her startled squeak, he headed directly toward the nearby house, entering through the screened-in porch.

A few long strides led him into the kitchen with its worn linoleum and white-painted cabinets. There was a forgotten china cabinet pushed against one wall and a matching table in the center of the floor.

A nice, sturdy walnut table.

With a flare of anticipation he kicked aside the chair blocking his path; then, leaning forward, he rolled Jaelyn off his shoulder and seated her on the edge of the table, tugging her legs apart so he could step between them.

His hands remained on her slender hips as he at last allowed his gaze to shift to the pale beauty of her face.

He’d half expected to find her fangs exposed and her eyes flashing with the cold promise of death.

Jaelyn was not the sort of woman a man went all caveman on.

Not if he wanted to keep his heart beating in his chest.

But while her expression was cold and diamond hard, she couldn’t disguise the hunger that smoldered in the depths of her indigo eyes.

He might not know why she insisted on being near him, but he did know she wanted him.

Even if the stubborn female would rather slice out her own tongue rather than admit it.

As if to prove his point she gave a toss of her head, placing her hands flat on the table so she could lean back to meet his heated gaze with a pretense of indifference.

“Do you feel better now you got to play macho man?” she demanded.

A slow, wicked smile curved his lips as he reached to grasp the stretchy fabric of her barely there top. With one ruthless tug he had it over her head and lying on the floor.

“Not yet, but I intend to feel much, much better.”

“Careful, fairy,” she hissed, her fangs suddenly visible. “I’ve killed men for less.”

He didn’t doubt the threat, but he was filled with a strange sense of reckless need.

In the distance he knew that Tearloch waited along with who knew how many of the Dark Lord’s minions to protect the child. There seemed a damned good chance he was going to die before the night was over.

For now he wanted to drown in his aching need for this woman.

“You started this, poppet,” he reminded her, his voice thick as his gaze lowered to the proud thrust of her breasts. “Are you just a tease or do you have the balls to finish it?”

Her expression became wary although her fangs remained fully extended. Insanely the sight of them was hot as hell.

“I didn’t start anything. I kissed you to try and keep you from storming off in a huff.”

His gaze narrowed. No. Hell no. She wasn’t going to hide behind a pretense of duty.

Not this time.

“What do you care if I storm off in a huff, Jaelyn?” He trailed a finger down the curve of her throat.

She shivered, her eyes darkening with the same craving the pulsed deep inside him.

“I don’t care.”

“I think you do.” His finger continued downward, tracing the curve of her breast. “Why else would you follow me? It’s obvious you can’t bear to be away from me.”

Ariyal watched the emotions that flitted over Jaelyn’s delicate features. Outrage, wariness, and ... fear?

Her tongue darted out to touch her lower lip, sending a shock wave of need through Ariyal and making him forget her odd reaction.

He had walked away from Jaelyn in the meadow, determined to leave her behind. Didn’t he have enough troubles without adding a beautiful female who made a sport of trampling his manhood?

Now any desire to be alone with his seething anger was seared away by the intoxicating scent of woman and cool, satin skin beneath his searching finger.

“You arrogant ...” She hissed as his fingers found the tip of her breast, tugging the nipple to a hard peak.

“You like that?” He growled deep in his throat as he continued to torment her nipple. He was already fully aroused, his erection pressing painfully against the zip of his jeans. “Tell me, Jaelyn. Tell me what you want.”

Her lips parted as she tilted back her head to meet his hooded gaze.

“Sanity,” she muttered. “Unfortunately it seems in short supply.”

She was right.

There were a thousand perfectly rational reasons why this was all kinds of a bad idea. But as he moved forward, pressing the hard width of his cock to the juncture of her spread legs, he couldn’t think of a damned one.

“Sanity is highly overrated,” he assured her, his head lowering to tongue the tip of her hard nipple. “Shall we drown in madness together, Jaelyn?”

Her lashes drifted downward as she shifted to clutch at his shoulders, her legs wrapping around his hips in silent invitation.

“Ariyal.”

“Tell me.” He blazed a path of kisses over her breast, lingering in the small valley before seeking out the tender bud on the other side. “Say the words.”

She moaned softly. “What words?”

“That you want me.”

“I ...” With an obvious effort she tilted back her head to regard him with a smoldering gaze.

“The truth, poppet,” he commanded softly.

She shivered against his tense muscles, her eyes raw with a stark need that slammed into him with brutal force.

“Yes, dammit,” she growled. “I want you.”

A fierce satisfaction jolted through him at her unwilling confession.

“Thank the gods,” he muttered.

“Not that I’m happy about it,” she continued.

He gave a short, humorless laugh. “Join the club. Do you think I want to be distracted by an arrogant leech? Especially one who happens to be bipolar?”

She frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You swing from hot to cold so fast you give me whiplash,” he rasped. “I have better things to be doing with my time.”

He swallowed a laugh as she narrowed her eyes. She looked offended by the thought that he might not be any more anxious than she was to be tormented by this ruthless craving.

Then, as if unable to resist his deliberate challenge, a small, tantalizing smile curved her lips, her body deliberately arching to press her soft breasts against the hard planes of his chest.

“Bipolar, eh?”

“Yes.”

Her legs tightened around his hips, rubbing against his cock with a promise that nearly sent him to his knees.

“And yet you’re desperate for me.”

He grunted, feeling as if he had just been kicked in the gut.

Yeah. Desperate just about covered it.

He had barely touched her and yet he was ready to explode.

It was downright embarrassing for a man who was known to make sex last hours, if not days.

“Careful, Jaelyn. Don’t start something you’re not prepared to finish,” he warned.

In answer, she reached to tug at the button of his jeans. “You are wearing too many clothes, fairy.”

His heart slammed against his chest as she tugged down the zipper, her fingers circling his straining erection.

A groan was wrenched from his throat at the sheer bliss of her touch.

His gaze skimmed over her pale, beautiful face and down the elegant curve of her neck to the small mounds of her breasts. A part of him admired her sleek lines and well-defined muscles. There was no mistaking the fact that she was honed to be a lethal weapon. But a greater part was busy savoring the perfect ivory skin drenched in the moonlight that was peeking through the kitchen window and the contrast of her rosy nipples.

“Gods, Jaelyn, you’re killing me.”

Without warning she leaned forward, circling his nipple with the tip of her tongue.

“Hmmm, warm skin ...” She nibbled a path to the center of his chest, lightly scraping his skin with the tips of her fangs. “A pounding heart.” She pulled back with a taunting smile. “You still have some life left in you.”

Their gazes locked and held as a tangible, branding awareness scorched the air between them.

Despite their bickering and sniping, there was a potent force binding them together that was bigger than both of them.

Destiny had entwined their fates for its own mysterious reasons.

And he didn’t have the sense to give a damn.

“Let’s find out just how much life,” he muttered, shifting to sweep a soft kiss over her lips, wisely taking the precaution of removing her holstered shotgun and tossing it onto the floor. One less weapon seemed like a good idea if things went to hell. “What do you say, poppet?”

“Yes.”

He deepened the kiss, sweeping his tongue between her dangerous fangs, his fingers tugging at her hard nipples with increasing urgency.

For a heartbeat Jaelyn stiffened beneath his onslaught of raw hunger, her fingers digging into the muscles of his chest. Ariyal groaned, but before he could leash the savage need pounding through his body, she was tangling her tongue with his, meeting his every thrust with a ready fervor.

Any hope of restraint was shattered by her response.

He groaned, drinking deeply of her lips as his hands ran an impatient path down her back until he reached the edge of her pants.

Still it wasn’t enough.

He needed more.

Slipping his hands beneath the waistband of her pants, Ariyal peeled them off her legs and tossed them aside, pausing only long enough to kick aside his own jeans before he slowly sank to his knees.

Jaelyn made a faint sound of surprise, but Ariyal was too enthralled by the sight of her spread before him to notice.

She was exquisite.

Perfect.

And, unable to resist temptation, he leaned forward to worship the very heart of her femininity with his tongue and teeth.

He wrapped his arms around her slender thighs, urging them farther apart as he relished the slick satin beneath his tongue. She tasted of cool shadows and stormy nights.

A heady combination that could easily become addictive.

Her faint moan whispered on the air, and Ariyal glanced upward to catch a glimpse of her as she gripped the edge of the table, her back bowed and her head tossed back in blatant pleasure.

Yes.

This was what drove men to conquer empires and destroy civilizations. It made reasonable men commit murder.

This exquisite, wondrous madness.

And he was lost, he inwardly accepted, capturing her clitoris between his teeth. She gave a keening cry as he tormented her tiny knot of pleasure. The sound echoed deep within Ariyal, stirring that primitive, possessive part of him that he wanted to ignore.

Mine ...

The potent word echoed through his mind, branding across his heart.

With a low growl he forced away the dangerous thought, concentrating on Jaelyn’s pleasure. He wasn’t going to ruin the moment.

Not when he couldn’t be certain it would ever come again.

As if to reward his dedication to his current task, Jaelyn moaned, her fingers plunging into his hair to pull it free of the braid. He gave her a last, lingering lick before he was off his knees and standing between her legs.

Grabbing her hips, he scattered heated kisses across her cheek.

“Are you ready for me, Jaelyn?” he breathed.

Her hands skimmed downward, grasping his cock and angling it toward her waiting body.

“I’m ready,” she said with an edge of desperation in her voice, her fingers stroking him from the tip of his erection to the thick base. “Please, Ariyal.”

Ariyal hissed as he battled back the looming orgasm. He wasn’t ready to lose himself in oblivion.

“Tell me, Jaelyn. Tell me you want me,” he commanded as he watched her eyes glaze with need.

“I already told you,” she rasped.

“I need to make sure it’s crystal clear between us,” he breathed, leaning down to brush his lips over hers. “I won’t be accused of forcing you.”

Her arms lifted to encircle his neck, her eyes glittering like jewels in the moonlight.

“No man could force me.”

“Then say the words.”

She cursed, but, tilting back her head, she met his stubborn gaze.

“I. Want. You.”

“Ariyal.”

“Ariyal.” Her nails raked down his back. “Happy?”

“I intend to be,” he muttered.

Sliding his hands over her breasts, he molded the firm mounds, lowering his head to taste the puckered tip. She quivered, her legs circling his hips as she urged him to put an end to their torment.

“Ariyal ... dammit.”

He chuckled, smugly proud of his ability to reduce her to begging. Then her fingers tightened around his cock and his laughter became a low groan of need.

Bloody hell. He was close.

Too close to continue his teasing.

“You win,” he muttered, his hands smoothing down the curve of her waist before slipping between her legs, his fingers closing over hers to guide his aching cock to her welcoming entrance.

“Always,” she breathed, her determination to have the last word ruined as she gasped in pleasure as he stroked deep into her body.

He gripped her hips, his features tight with retrained need.

“Hold on, Jaelyn,” he said. “This might be a bumpy ride.”

She flashed her fangs, moving her hands over his chest as she tightened her muscles to clamp around his cock, which was buried to the hilt.

“Bring it on, fairy.”

Barely recalling how to breathe, Ariyal claimed her lips in a possessive kiss, pulling out until he was once again poised at her entrance. Jaelyn muttered low words of protest, reaching down to grab his ass.

His soft laughter echoed through the empty house. “Slower is sweeter, Jaelyn.”

Sucking his lower lip into her mouth, she dug her nails into his flesh.

“Do you want me to beg?”

He eased back inside her, a thin sheen of sweat coating his body as he buried himself to the hilt.

“I want you to scream,” he commanded.

“Make me,” she whispered, her legs tightening around his hips.

He nibbled a path of kisses of her neck so he could whisper directly in her ear.

“A challenge?”

“Are you up for ... oh!”

Her words were forgotten as he pulled out and then rocked his hips upward, nearly lifting her off the table with the force of his thrust.

They cried out in unison, Jaelyn burying her face in his neck as he held on to her hips and briefly absorbed the sensation of his erection sheathed in her tight channel. Then, as she trembled against him, he repeated the forceful surge, keeping his pace just as slow and sweet as he promised.

Or at least that was the plan.

With every thrust Jaelyn lifted her hips upward, possessing the strength to meet his thrusts with an explosive impact. He’d never had such a powerful lover. At least not one who could meet him stroke for stroke with pleasure instead of pain.

It was ... intoxicating.

And unnervingly intimate.

It was as if they were being fused together. Not just physically, but in the passion that bound them.

In this moment they were one.

Her lips trailed down his throat, creating tiny jolts of electric excitement as he felt the sharp tip of her fangs brush his skin.

He grimly crushed the insane desire to feel those fangs sinking into his flesh, concentrating on the building tension that clenched the muscles of his groin.

“Are you with me, Jaelyn?”

Her nails dug into his skin, her head angling back to stab him warning glare.

“Don’t stop,” she growled. “Don’t you dare stop.”

He grinned with wicked enjoyment at her demands. “I told you I was going to make you scream, Jaelyn,” he reminded her, his hands shifting to pull her legs higher on his waist, angling her upward so he could plunge even deeper.

With swift, relentless strokes he urged her toward that perilous edge, his breath rasping through the air. Her eyes squeezed closed, her body clenched so tight around his cock that he was certain he would combust before giving her satisfaction.

Over and over he plunged deep inside her. Then just when he was certain he was going to embarrass himself, he gave one last surge and she gave a shout of release.

He claimed her lips in a branding kiss as he pressed her shuddering body tight against him and shattered beneath the maelstrom of exploding bliss.

Holy ... shit.

Still holding her in his arms, he spread tiny kisses over her face, continuing to pump into her as he sought to regain his composure.

Or his sanity.

Whichever came first.

Rocked by the tiny aftershocks of pleasure, Jaelyn had no choice but to hang on to Ariyal.

Or at least that was the excuse she used as her hands smoothed down the satin skin of his back and her face remained pressed into the curve of his neck as she wallowed in his warm, addictive scent.

Alarms buzzed in the back of her mind. Yeah, as if she needed to be reminded of the complete lunacy of giving in to her passions. But it wasn’t until the persistent ache of her fangs penetrated her fuzzy glow that she abruptly stiffened in his arms.

Not all her hungers had been satisfied.

And the violent urge to sink her fangs into his neck was all but irresistible.

With a hiss, she placed her hands against his chest, yanking her head back to meet his brooding gaze.

“Don’t,” he warned.

She scowled at his commanding tone. “Don’t what?” “Try to squirm away from me.”

“Are you always such a bossy lover?”

“Yes,” he admitted without apology. Typical. “Are you always so eager to leave your lover’s arms?”

Jaelyn shivered. Lovers.

Grimly she forced herself to ignore the possessive glow in his bronze eyes and the delicious sensation of his warm flesh still buried deep inside her.

She wouldn’t compound her stupidity by wishing that things could be different.

Even if he weren’t her current assignment, her position as a Hunter meant she couldn’t take a long-term lover. And certainly she could never have a mate....

She slammed the door before the dangerous thought could fully form. She soooo wasn’t going there.

“Vampires don’t do cuddling,” she said, coating her voice in ice. “Sorry.”

Anger tightened his exquisite features, but while he slowly pulled out of her body, his arms remained wrapped around her.

“It’s more than an allergy to cuddling,” he accused. “You treat me like I carry the plague.” A mocking smile curved his lips. “At least when I’m not making you scream in pleasure.”

She forced herself to meet his gaze, desperate to divert him.

“I had an itch and you scratched it.” She shrugged. “What do you want? A trophy?”

She’d intended her cutting words to bring an end to his questions. Didn’t men want their sexual encounters to be a no muss, no fuss deal? She was offering it to him on a platter.

But of course, Ariyal refused to behave as he should.

Aggravating ass.

“I want the truth,” he growled. “Something that seems a foreign concept to you most of the time.”

“I just told you... .”

His hands moved to grasp her face, his expression grim. “Dammit, Jaelyn, enough games.”

The scent of herbs filled the air as his power seared over her skin, but it wasn’t fear that shivered down her spine.

She pressed her hands against his chest. “This isn’t a game.”

“No, it isn’t. So stop jerking me around and give me a straight answer.” He resisted her halfhearted efforts to push him away. “Does it disgust you that I’m an evil Sylvermyst?”

Disgust?

Was the man mental?

She’d just literally begged him to take her on a dusty table in an abandoned farmhouse in the middle of freaking nowhere.

Did that seem like the actions of a woman who was disgusted by him?

She gave a sharp shake of her head, careful to keep her expression guarded.

“You aren’t evil.”

“That wasn’t what you said when I announced my intention to sacrifice the child before it could be used to resurrect the Dark Lord.”

“I have no intention of allowing you to harm the babe, but wanting to protect your people isn’t evil.” She grimaced. “Believe me, I’ve seen the difference.”

He scowled down at her. “Then why did you refuse to share your blood when I needed it?”

Dammit, was he still on that? Why wouldn’t he let it be?

“We have more important things to discuss,” she muttered.

His hands tightened on her face as she tried to glance away.

“No, I’m not going to be distracted,” he warned. “Tell me.”

They glared at one another in silence. Then with gritted teeth Jaelyn at last lifted her hands to grasp his wrists and pulled his hands away from her face.

“I was afraid what might happen,” she snapped, accepting that the stubborn Sylvermyst wouldn’t give up until he’d managed to drag the humiliating truth out of her.

Predictably the annoying man didn’t appear at all pleased with her confession.

“You didn’t trust me,” he said in flat tones.

“I didn’t trust me,” she huffed. “Satisfied?”

“No, I’m damn well not satisfied,” he snapped. “I don’t speak cryptic. What the hell are you talking about?”

She studied the perfectly chiseled lines of his face, her heart squeezing as if it had been put in a vise.

The Addonexus had done everything in their power to destroy her emotions. She was supposed to be a weapon, not a woman.

And she’d assumed they had succeeded.

Until this man.

This beautiful, powerful, truly aggravating man.

She didn’t know how or why, but he’d smashed through her defenses and threatened her in a way she didn’t fully understand but was smart enough to fear.

“I couldn’t take the risk that the blade would bind us together,” she forced herself to admit.

He glanced toward the sword that had been tossed on a wooden stool near the refrigerator.

“The blade merely absorbs your energy, it doesn’t actually steal your soul, regardless of the rumors.”

“Don’t be dense. I mean ...” She battled against a wave of embarrassment. Dammit. He was making her feel like an idiot. “Bind us. Forever.”

“Obviously I am dense. How could a few drops of your blood on my blade bind us together?”

“Because the blade transfers the blood to you.”

“And?”

“And it might very well be the same as if you took it directly from my vein.”

“I’ve never heard that taking the blood of a vampire is binding. Not unless ...” He froze, the bronze eyes narrowing with disbelief. “Not unless they’re mates.”

Ding, ding. Give the fairy a gold star.

A vampire needed blood to survive. And it wasn’t unusual to take the vein of a lover during sex.

But the exchanges were about body functions. Food and pleasure.

Nothing that a wise vampire couldn’t walk away from without a backward glance.

But for the rare few who found their true mate, the exchange of blood would entwine their souls.

They would be irrevocably connected.

Forever and ever and ever ...

Unable to bear his piercing scrutiny, she gave him a sharp shove backward, slipping off the table before he could regain his balance.

“We should be deciding what we intend to do next,” she reminded him in clipped tones, pulling on her clothes and belting her holster around her hips. “If you’ve healed I think we should concentrate on finding Tearloch and the child. We can worry about the cur who raised the zombies and his mystery friends later.”

Without warning he grabbed her upper arm and swung her around to confront his probing gaze.

“You’re babbling.”

She stiffened, sternly ignoring his gloriously naked body. Now was not the time to be thinking of how good it felt to have him between her legs, his heat seeping deep inside her as he plunged....

No.

She gave a sharp shake of her head.

“I do not babble,” she informed him, frost coating her words. “I was sharing a reasonable argument for a possible course of action.”

“You were avoiding the subject.”

“Because I don’t want to discuss it. That should be obvious even to a stubborn, pigheaded Sylvermyst.”

“Too bad.”

Jaelyn hissed in shock as he abruptly scooped her off her feet and carried her across the room to the door leading to a small cellar dug beneath the house.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Lowering her to her feet, Ariyal slammed shut the the door and leaned against it, trapping them in the dark, musty space that was lined with shelves holding hundreds of glass jars coated in dust.

Obviously the previous housewife had been dedicated to canning and juicing and pickling everything that came out of her garden.

Ariyal folded his arms over his chest, his expression brooding.

“One of us is always walking out just when the conversation is getting interesting.”

She snorted. “You and I clearly have different definitions of interesting.”

“You don’t think it’s mildly interesting that I happen to be your mate?”

The cramped space seemed to shrink even further.

Talk about awkward moments.

“You’re not my mate.”

The bronze eyes blazed at her denial. Almost as if he was bothered by her stubborn refusal to admit their growing bond.

“That’s not what you implied a few minutes ago.”

She shrugged. “What I said was ...”

“Yes?”

She glanced toward the shelf of pickled ochre. Yeah, time to split hairs.

“I said I didn’t want to take the risk. You might drive me nuts, but I feel ...” What was the word? “Aware of you. Like we’re connected on some level I don’t even understand.”

“And you think ignoring the connection will make it go away.”

Bingo.

“That’s exactly what I think.”

“And I don’t have any say in the future of our relationship?”

She turned back to meet his scorching gaze, fiercely determined to hold her ground.

It wasn’t like she had a choice in any of this, did she?

“There is no relationship.”

“That’s not how it felt when you were begging me not to stop.”

She shifted, just the memory of being wrapped around this beautiful Sylvermyst sending a heat swirling through her chilled body.

“Sex,” she muttered, ignoring the fact that she would happily beg again given the opportunity.

“No.” He shook his head. “It was more than sex.”

“It can’t be.”

“Why not?”

She hissed in frustration. Weren’t men supposed to want a female who didn’t expect “happily ever after”?

Ariyal acted as if he wanted her to claim him as her mate. As if ...

No. She shook off the mere thought.

What was the point?

“Because I’m a Hunter.”

“And?”

“And we’re not allowed to mate.”

He studied her with a grim expression. “Never?”

“Never.”

“What happens?” He sharply pushed away from the door, moving to tower over her. “You get voted off the island?”

“No.” She tilted back her head, her expression equally grim. “There’s only one way out of the Addonexus.”

The bronzed eyes darkened with swift comprehension. “Death.”

“Death.”