Darkness Comes (32 page)

“You loved your son,” she whispered.

“He was my flesh and blood,” he shook his head, as baffled and lost as she was. “It is similar to the love I have for my brother. Loving you… loving you terrifies me.”

“So your solution was to end it before it even had a chance?”

“It would have been less complicated,” he admitted. “Loving you changes everything, Malorie; don’t you see that?”

The corners of her mouth curved upwards and she shook her head no, “I don’t.”

“What can I do to show you, to help you understand?” The color drained from his face even as he asked the question. He knew what she was going to ask a heartbeat before she did but he did not hesitate to agree. Lowering his voice, he took her hands in his, “Make love to me at the same time; let me show you everything.”

Watching him, trying to determine how sincere he was, her own doubts raced through her head. Did she truly want to see how he felt about her? No matter what, she was forever bound to him, whether she wore his mark or not; if she didn’t do this, she would always wonder.

She took a deep breath before she slid her hand into his; after this everything was going to change. Holding his eyes, she murmured, “This isn’t a good idea.”

“I disagree,” he purred. “It’s a very good idea.”

He led her up the stairs to her bedroom door where she paused. When he looked at her, a question on his face, she shook her head, “Not in my bedroom.”

Acquiescing, he nodded and led her to one of the guest rooms. It was done up in pale green and gold and the bed was large, as were all of the beds in the house. She realized that it was how she would have decorated it had she been given the chance; it had been done with her in mind. The entire house had been designed for her pleasure, her happiness. The only thing missing had been him.

As soon as they were through the door, she pulled her hand from his and walked away, twisting her fingers together. She kept her eyes on the bed, absurdly nervous as she was about to learn… everything. “So, how do you want to do this? Do you want me to just strip and climb up onto the bed?”

“Yes,” he said simply, slowly closing the door behind them. Anger flared within her and she shot him venomous glare which turned into a question when she saw the naked hunger on his face. The mask had disappeared and she was seeing him, seeing Feryn.

Letting out the breath she had been holding, she held his eyes as she removed her clothes: a t-shirt and a pair of shorts and her undergarments. When she was completely naked, she climbed up onto the bed as he asked; she was practically panting as she spread her legs and exposed her sex to his gaze. Nerves and excitement and anger battled for her attention; desire won. “Is this what you want?”

“Yes.” Slowly, he walked towards the bed, shedding his clothes as he walked and she let her eyes roam over his beautiful body, the long, muscled legs, the narrow waist and the smooth plane of his stomach, the thick and heavy penis that stood proudly erect from between his thick thighs; she could stare at his body forever.

She was so damned aroused; all of those dreams returned in a rush and she was already wet. He licked his lips as he climbed towards her until her legs were beneath him and his face was inches from her sex. Her body stiffened when she realized his intent; Jack had asked her if he could do this to her but she had been reluctant; it was so… intimate. “Relax, Malorie; I promise you that this will be good.”

She started to huff out a sarcastic laugh but it turned into a moan as he slid his tongue along the seam of her sex. Concentrating on her swollen clitoris, he slid a finger into her heated depths, then added a second finger, stretching her pleasurably.

Her back arched off the bed and she was panting, so responsive to everything he did to her. As he stroked her, finding the extra sensitive bundle of nerves within her sex, she thought she was going to die of pleasure.

The walls of her sex clamped down on his fingers a moment before she began to shudder in orgasm. Sliding his fingers from her body, he placed a small kiss on her inner thigh before sinking his teeth into the femoral artery. Her body bowed and a scream was torn from her throat. Her fingers were in his hair, convulsing erratically as she held him to her; he was the only thing keeping her from coming apart at the seams.

She felt her body open for him and while the orgasm continued to tear through her, he took his fangs from her thigh, slid the rest of the way up her body and entered her in one heavy thrust. “Open your eyes, Malorie.”

Slowly, she blinked, bringing him back into focus. As she watched, he pressed the palm of his hand to his fangs, letting her see the drops of red blood. Holding her gaze, he lowered his hand until the palm pressed against the bite on her thigh, forcing her leg to open. His hand was sandwiched between their bodies, pushing down on her limb even further until she felt as if she were going to break in two.

In unison, they both looked down to see his darker body covering hers, his hand so golden against her paler skin. It was so erotic and she shivered in delight. His muscles flexed as he pulled out and slowly pushed back in; his penis filled her as his blood began to mingle with hers and their eyes met once more, his gaze turbulent.

Her eyes widened as painfully intense emotions washed over her; he wasn’t holding anything back. His lips moved but his voice was from a great distance away, “You have all of me, Malorie; everything. I love you.”

Thousands of years of history, of his history, overwhelmed her senses with visions and scents and smells. Everything that she had taken from him before and trillions of moments more tore through her; it was too much. She couldn’t make sense of everything.

“It’s too much.” She pushed against his shoulders, trying to break the connection, unable to breathe, unable to think, to comprehend all that she was experiencing.

“We’ve just begun,” he growled. Pressing his hand down even more, spreading her wider, he overpowered her resistance and flooded her senses, drowning her in pleasure and memories. "You haven’t seen what you need to see.”

Visions of her swirled together, every moment that he had spent with her; her brain couldn’t process the wealth of information it was receiving and she struggled against him. He didn’t let her go; instead his voice narrated what she was seeing; her at the mall, turning away from him. “I wanted you the moment I saw you.

“You resisted me, even when you wore my mark. And when I removed it, you did not hesitate.” She watched as she jumped up from the bench and blindly ran, feeling the surprise and reluctant admiration he had felt for her in that moment. His arms came around her and they were falling forward and she experienced his body hardening, the lust searing his senses as he looked down at her.

Her eyes stared back and as she watched her pupils dilate she felt her lips quiver beneath his. The simple kiss stole her soul and left him reeling. “I have never had such a reaction to anyone before; and then you struck me and I wanted you even more. It was madness and I would have given into it had I not seen my brother out of the corner of my eye.”

Malorie turned her head and saw Jiro standing there, his expression grim as he met his brother’s eyes. Overwhelming lust flooded her and all she could think about was fucking the girl beneath him…. She tried to break free from the memory, but he wouldn’t let her go. “Observe.”

The scene shifted and they were in the small room, the plant bursting with life as he tried to understand what she had just done. “Look at yourself, Malorie; you are beautiful and fierce and still fighting me. Even then you enthralled me and I was too blind to realize it; I tried to push you away but it only caused suffering.”

The memories swirled to the moment she was standing in front of him, talking about his son. “But this… this is the moment that I first began to love you, the moment I saw you, Malorie, the person you are. Before this moment I lusted after you and justified that by telling myself you were a Breeder, a means to an end.

“You stood there, innocent and generous, telling me how you came to my son’s aide and I saw it in your eyes,” he continued as she saw herself through his memories; the way she softened, became more beautiful. His hand brushed her face and his voice deepened, “In that moment you had loved my son and I loved you for it.

“I love your strength when you feel weak, your bravery when the world is falling apart; I love your compassion to a stranger, your devotion to your son.” She saw herself walking through the gardens, smiling down at Toby, looking around for Feryn. Every moment, she felt his heart swell with greater and greater love and it frightened her. Him. It frightened him. Aradians didn’t love their bed partners, the mothers of their children. It would be better to end it before he sank even deeper.

“I tried to do the right thing, the safe thing, and let you go but then you asked me to make love with you and I couldn’t deny myself; I wanted you more than my next breath.”

The raw honesty of his memories overwhelmed her, consumed her.

He bent his head and captured her lips in a hard, possessive kiss. Her lips parted and she was kissing him back, taking his tongue into her mouth and Feryn into her soul. Her arms wrapped around his neck, holding him to her and he wanted to shout his triumph. A thousand images of fucking her filled his head, her head. He’d kiss her on the front lawns, feasting on her wet cunt until she screamed; he’d lick her sweet nipples in the middle of the pool, suckling them until she writhed against his wet body. He’d take her in the forest, mounting her from behind like the animals do, thrusting into her until she cried out her release.

And he could no longer hold back, thrusting into her over and over, loving the mind-exploding ecstasy of her sweet body. He felt her flesh tightening around his cock, squeezing and caressing. And then he felt the rush of fluid as her body arched off the bed and she came, dragging him over the edge with her.

Malorie screamed as her orgasm erupted throughout her body. When she finally returned to her body, she was no longer in Feryn’s head, but her thoughts were still spinning wildly out of control. He was staring down at her and she wondered how she could have ever imagined his gaze being inscrutable and distant.

Swallowing the emotions that were boiling up within her, she could only manage, “Wow.”

His lips curved upwards in a slow, sensuous smile as he brushed the hair from her face. “I love you.”

Chapter 15

Malorie wrapped the robe around herself, not able to look at Feryn in all of his naked glory as he lounged on the bed, his arrogant smile making her lose her train of thought. If she looked at him, her resolve would weaken and she wouldn’t think, just give in to physical desire. But they had spent hours making love, avoiding everything that needed to be discussed. When he had crashed, she longed to give into sleep as well. Unfortunately, without Feryn to distract her, her brain went into overdrive, and she wasn’t able to sleep at all.

She had lain awake, staring at the ceiling, as random memories started pinging her consciousness, compelling her to follow the trail back to the source. And what she discovered had rattled the foundation on which she stood. Feryn had kept so much from her, about his plans, about her father; but then he had shared his memories and she was of two minds, warring within herself.

“Come back to bed.” His voice caressed her from across the room and she wanted to return to bed, return to his arms, to not think at all. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw his hard body relaxing on the bed; his biceps bulged provocatively as he crossed his arms behind his head and watched her with those glorious green eyes. His long legs were spread apart, drawing her attention to the thick penis that rested against his muscled thigh. As she watched, it began to harden and she blushed, quickly averting her eyes. His low chuckle curled around her, drawing her in, making her want to forget.

Tightening the belt, as if it would shield her from Feryn’s magnetisms, she sat down in the big chair by the bed. Watching her hands as the twisted the ends of the tie in her lap. She murmured, “We need to talk.”

“Haven’t we said all that needs to be said?” she could hear the smile in his voice.

“Why did you share your memories with me?” Her voice was soft as she swallowed the sorrow. “Did you think my brain was too small to deal with everything all at once? Did you think I wouldn’t learn what you did, what you plan to do?”

He was silent for a long time and when he spoke his voice was rough with feeling, “I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you and it was only a possibility.”

Confusion wrinkled her forehead and she looked at him, “What are you talking about?”

Color burnished his cheekbones as he held her gaze, “Converting you.”

“What?” she was out of the chair and pacing the floor, trying to understand the words he was saying; the man she loved was going to turn her? How… horrifying!

“It would mean going against everything I believe in, Malorie,” he explained, the pain in his voice making her pause and listen to what he was saying. “If you agree, I will be giving up so much of what I worked for but it would be worth it to have you.”

“And would you bring me humans to feed from?” she sneered.

“I couldn’t do that to you,” he whispered. “You would feed off me and only me.”