Dark Caress (The Fallen) (14 page)

He came back to stand in front of her. “Amber. I’m not someone you want to play with.”

“I’m not playing with
you.”

A powerful tingling sensation started at the base of Amber’s head making her eyes go dreamy. Soften. That
voice
. There was something so magical about it, so different, so
hypnotic
.

Drawn to Kane, she focused on his rugged face, the cleft in his chin, his long straight nose, and the sinister curve of his lips. Dangerous. Sexual. Awareness coursed through her
body and dipped low to caress her pussy.

She gasped
as her panties wet. The corner of his mouth hitched. No longer worried about Chris’s safety, she moved in closer. He had a really
nice
full and sensuous mouth. Her hands slipped beneath his leather jacket, and she pressed her body to his. Hot, hard lines seared her curves. They fit so perfectly together.

She loved his dark gray eyes.
“Your eyes change colors.”

“They do when I feel love.”

Warm fingers moved over the small of her back. She shuddered. He coaxed fingertips beneath the edge of her dress and trailed further over her bare skin.

That
voice
.
What was he saying?
She couldn’t focus on the words. Only the melodic cadence penetrated the foggy side of her brain. He was seducing her to be obedient and to be submissive to his commands. She wanted to be his only lover.

She felt her core muscles flutter like butterfly
wings. The beating intensified. She sucked in her lip and bit down hard. She suckled harder on her lip and felt her pussy wet more.

“Good, Elemental. You comply willingly.”

He growled as her hips moved around his pulsing erection. The roughness of his voice sent vibrations down her body, catapulting her over the edge. Her hands twisted into his shirt as her body was rocketed into the stars. The orgasm was powerful, quick, and throbbing.

Her nails raked the skin of his abdomen. Her hips twisted closer until one of his long thick legs shot between her thighs. She gasped at the pleasure. From far away, she heard her voice drop.

“You can’t control me,” she said.

“Wake up
, Elemental. You’re in my world. You will let me protect you.”

Amber awoke in Kane’s arms. Confused. Her body echoed passion and surprise. Lust had her wet at the crest between her thighs. Her hands were clinging to his shirt. Both were breathing hard.

He had charmed her. The realization was a bucket of cold water over her system. Amber’s breath came fast. She retaliated the only way she knew how. Energy flowed through her hands chilling them to ice. The water in her skin was enough to manipulate the element to her advantage.

She reached out and
caressed his temples. The empathic connection was an electrical storm she could read. Ice formed on the sides of his head. Amber focused on reading him. Loneliness, sadness, fear, and despair washed through her heart. He was not what he seemed. He felt human. Love lingered within his
beating
heart, and he worked to keep the others of his kind from knowing.

Hot lips moved over her ear. The sharpened point of his fang nicked the sensitive curve
, and he lapped the tiny drop of blood running down. Amber shuddered as he sampled her, but she didn’t push him away. She
wanted
to explore the forbidden with him again. She closed her eyes and took a steady breath in that tasted so much like him.

Their gazes locked
when she opened them again. The darkness of his pupils shuttered and clicked closed, completely disappearing. Blood lust twisted his lips, and she was mesmerized by the changing hue of his eyes.

“You want me,” he said.

“I’m an Elemental. I’m easily charged.”

“I can have you again
, and you’d say yes to everything I’d do to you.”

She would.
“Perhaps.”

Hot lips moved rhythmically down her neck
as he kissed her. His breath scorched sensitive skin, and she went limp within his arms. He hesitated.

“What’s wrong?”
she asked.

Their gazes locked. “I’m feeling
murderous
right now. I don’t like you being around that human.”

“
Who?”

“Your partner.”

Amber knew that now was not the time to change Kane’s mind about Chris. “How did you find me?”

“I can scent you a mile away. You smell like peaches.”

Amber shuddered at the erotic possibility. Footsteps sounded deep within the hallway. Amber glanced over her shoulder to see Chris and Sean coming down the hallway. Her friends were possessive of her due to her past. They only wanted to protect her from making a mistake. Kane needed to understand that it had nothing to do with him.

“Amber? Are you okay?” Chris asked.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look okay,” Chris said.

“Back off. She’s mine,” Kane said.

Kane’s fangs retracted beneath his lips
, but his nostrils flared. Awareness faded, and she was left with the frightening realization that she was the only one who stood between the leader of the Fallen and her friends. Chris and Sean had no idea that the Fallen even existed.

He
slowly lowered Amber to her feet but kept his arm locked around her hips when her heels fumbled. He splayed his hand, and Amber enjoyed the feel of his fingers explore the lush curve of her hip. Kane cinched Amber closer. Her fingers tightened of their own desire on his shirt. He looked down at her and she up at him. He smiled and ran his fingers through her hair possessively.

“
Kane
,” Amber said.

“I don’t like
the look in his eyes,” Chris said.

“Get used to it,” Kane
said.

“For the love of God, will both of you stop!” Amber focused on
her friends. Pell was now joining them in the hallway. Out of all her friends, Pell was the only one who knew about the Fallen. “This is my boyfriend, Kane.”

“Lover.”

Kane’s correction seemed to put Chris off a little more. Chris looked at Kane as though he wanted to take the fight outside.

“
Well, she’s my partner,” Chris said. “We’re protective of her.”

“I can see that.”
Kane flashed his fangs. “I’m capable of protecting what’s mine.”

Amber shook her head.
“I’ll catch up with you guys at work.”

“Are you sure?” Pell asked.

“I’ll be fine. Kane isn’t going to hurt me.”

“I’ll explain the situation to Chris,” Pell said.

“Thanks.”

Chris didn’t look happy, but there was nothing Amber could do about that.
Sean just looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She stepped back into Kane’s arms. Kane wrapped his arms possessively around her and dematerialized as her friends watched. They materialized in Kane’s bedroom. Amber pulled away, whirling on him.

“Did you have to do that?” she asked.

“What?” he asked.

She found the boyish grin on his lips distracting.
“You know what. Taking me like that is only going to piss my friends off. They’re going to think that either they’re going crazy or that you’re a vampire!”

Kane smiled
as he headed toward the bathroom. “Good. Enlightenment is good for the soul. Pell will explain it to them.”

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“To shower. I feel dirty.”

She followed him into the bathroom. He stripped before her eyes, causing her heart to do funny things.

“If you’re going to love me, you have to love my friends and not mess with my coworkers, too,” she said.

“We can negotiate this.”

“How?”

“I’ll try to like your human friends,” he said.

“Try being nice to them.”

The hard corners of his gorgeous face softened. She could see that she won this round.

“I would do anything in this world to make you happy, Amber. Anything.”

She swallowed the lump that surfaced in the back of her throat. “I know. I can feel your love for me.”

Kane walked across the bath and gave her a sweet kiss. “I’ll be out in a moment.”

Amber went to his bed and
lay down. She felt her world turning upside down, but righting fast.

When Kane came out of the shower, he found Amber asleep on his bed. He dressed. Headlights cut across the windows. Kane went to look out at the front gates. Chris had found them. How had he tracked them here?

Kane needed
to find out how the hell he had. No one had ever tracked any of them back to the Armory before. Kane willed the gates open and allowed Chris into
his
kingdom. As he drove up the long driveway, Kane noticed that he came alone.

Outside the howling
of the wind whined louder. Kane wasn’t about to take control of things going on outside right now. There was no way Chris was going to get her tonight. Kane heard the engine cut off in the driveway. The slam of the door came next. Kane cocked his head to the side. The human’s footfalls were nearly silent.
Why was he here?

He moved fast through the long hall. Kan
e stepped into the inner foyer and willed the doors open. Detective Chris Malik was leading with his emotion. Kane was going to use it to bring him down. Coiled and spoiled for a nasty fight, Chris came charging in and didn’t stop until he was up in Kane’s grill.

“How did you find us?” Kane asked.

“Amber’s GPS in her phone.”

Chris’s
animalistic side was driving the car. The human’s blue eyes flashed with heat. This human was going to be a problem. The question Kane was asking himself was how much of a leash he should give before wrapping it around his neck?

“Where
is she? I want to make sure she’s okay.”

“
She’s just fine.”

“Don’t play with me.
Where is she?”

“Amber
is exactly where she wants to be. In my bed.”

The
human paced away and came back hard with his finger in Kane’s face. A slew of curses rang from his mouth. “You’re holding her hostage with your powers.”

Kane inclined his head. “What makes you think I’m going to give her to you?”

Chris cursed again, pacing back and forth, back and forth. An alarm on his watch sounded. He shut off the alarm. “She’s not a pet.”

“You really think I can make her submit to my will?” Kane asked.

Silence. The reasonable side of the human was finally paying attention. It didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to be a major problem though.

“Let me see her.”

“No.”

Chris started toward
the stairs, but Kane stopped him with a hand on his chest. “No, my man. You’re not going to wake her. She’s sleeping.”

They stared at each other.

“Move,” Chris said.

“
We have a problem, my man. We need to work it out for Amber.”

Chris
blinked several times. “Let go of me.”

Realization dawned way late on Kane’s brain.
He was so new to this love thing. “Are you in love with Amber?”

Pain twisted over Chris’s face. “It’
s not like that.”

“Then tell me how it is,” Kane said.

“I’m gay.”

“
Then why the fuck are you here?” Kane asked.

“Amber’
s been in a tough spot before. I don’t want to see her brought down again. It would kill her.”

“
You’re going to have to get used to us. She’s mine.”

“Fuck you.”

Chris charged. Kane’s fangs sprang out defensively. He took the brunt of Chris’s attack in his shoulders and arms. Kane pushed back easily, sending Chris flying backward across the hall and skidding into the great room. Kane lifted him up by the collar. 

“You need to calm down,
” Kane said.

“Fuck. You.”

Kane sighed. He was really trying to be nice to this human, but the man was not making it easy. Alcohol poured from his breath, giving Kane a buzz from being so close. “You’re lucky Amber is on your side.”

“Let me go!”

“Not going to happen. You’re not going to drink and drive, my friend.”

Kane had enough of this game. He willed Chris into submission. He needed to teach this human a lesson.
He only hoped Amber would understand.