Dark Solace (21 page)

He collapsed on me, panting. I hugged him,
then kissed his forehead. “Loud, are we?” I teased.

Lash pulled back from me, grinning happily.
“Yes, we’re both going to be,” he said, kissing my cheeks and face.
“I couldn’t take loud noises before. My hearing was snake hearing,
because I was half changed, and that was as far as I came back to
human. I couldn’t ever yell out how good you felt to me, or scream
your name the way I wanted to. But I’m all the way back now, Sar.
Before tonight is done, I’m going to make you scream my name until
you’re hoarse.”

He began moving his hips, his hands cupping
my face as he kissed me deeply, his tongue caressing me gently, yet
with passion.

* * * *

“Lash,” I moaned, throwing my head back, the
delicious climax rushing through me. “Lash! Yes!”

Lash thrust up beneath me, then gripped my
thighs hard, his hips pistoning. “Sar...Ahh! Oh Sar! Oh God,
Sar!”

After catching my breath, I sat up on him,
leisurely stretching. “Has anyone ever told you you’re good?”

“In the last few hours? Oh, about ten times,
I think,” he replied, hugging me. “I think it was you.”

I snuggled against him, and he flexed gently
within me, shifting his hips the tiniest fraction.

“Aren’t you tired?” I said incredulously.

“I figure my physical age right now is about
twenty, twenty-one,” he drawled. “Between that and being were, no.”
He kissed my lips. “Do you hurt?”

“Not yet,” I said sexily. “But I could use
some water.”

“Stay there and don’t move,” he said, lifting
me off him. He was back shortly with a glass of water for me.

I drank it greedily. “Thanks.”

“Another?” he asked, taking the empty
glass.

“No, I’m good.”

“Another orgasm?” he offered, grinning.

I crooked my finger at him. “Come here, my
winding bedfellow.”

* * * *

Lash woke me. “Are you hungry for lunch?” he
asked, touching my arm gently. “Do you want me to bring you some
food?”

“No,” I said, stretching. “I’m not sure why.
But I feel a lot better. I want to get up, and maybe go for a walk,
get some sunlight.”

“You were afraid you might not see it again.”
He kissed me. “I wouldn’t have let you die, Sar.”

I shook my head to tell him that wasn’t what
I was saying. “I didn’t know if it would work,” I whispered. “I’m
part vampire now. There is some doubt as to whether the were virus
would work on me, with so much of the vampire one already in me.
Danial mentioned something like that to Theo, once.”

“The vampire one worked for me, with the
demon blood as catalyst,” Lash said thoughtfully. “It would have
worked, Sar. Titus gave you his blood hoping it would save you. If
it didn’t wake you, I was going to bite you. The were virus from
me, with the demon blood as catalyst from him would have worked,
even if his blood or my bite alone didn’t. I wouldn’t have let you
do it, if I wasn’t sure I could save you, if it came to that.”

I took a deep breath then, and let it out.
“I’m glad it worked. That’s as close as I ever want to come until
it’s my time.” I looked at the clock. “God, its afternoon. When did
we stop?”

“We didn’t,” Lash said with a snort. “Someone
fell asleep in mid-fuck—”

I bit my lip, affronted. “Don’t call it that,
please.”

“I’m sorry,” Lash said contritely. “Come
outside with me,” he asked, taking my hand. “We’ll lay together in
the sun. Let me hold you like I did that day months ago.”

“I’ll burn,” I said, making a face.

“Not this time of day,” Lash answered. “Or I
can get you some sunscreen.”

“I thought you didn’t have any cash?” I
asked, furrowing my brow.

“I have my truck stash, for emergencies,”
Lash replied. “I’d forgotten about it.”

“I should shower first,” I said, running my
hands through my hair.

“Please don’t,” he said softly, squeezing my
hand. “I like smelling my scent on you. We can shower when we come
back, if you want to. But let me hold you for a while, and breathe
in the scent of us. Please?”

“All right,” I said. “I think I have some
sunscreen in my purse, actually.”

“I’ll take care of this, too,” Lash said,
folding up the snakeskin in a bundle.

“What do you usually do with it?” I asked,
wondering if he’d let me keep a piece of it.

“Sorry, but I have to burn it,” Lash said,
catching my look. “It’s part of me, Sar, and it could be used by
someone to hurt me.”

“Who would—?”

“Titus, for one,” Lash hissed angrily. “It
will only take a minute to burn. We’ll pick a spot with a fire pit
or a grill.”

We went out into the bright sunlight. The
warmth felt wonderful on my skin, and I basked in the light. We
were overdressed again, but that was good, as the day was
uncharacteristically cool for southern Florida. Lash found us a
grassy spot, then he gathered up the snakeskin, and took it to a
nearby grill. He lay it on the top, putting a stick over it to hold
it down, and then he struck a match from a book he removed from his
pocket. The second Lash touched the match to the skin, it caught
like gasoline. In seconds, there were just ashes scattering on the
wind.

Lash came back to me, sat down, and took off
his shirt, baring his chest. I sat down beside him, happy that last
night’s rain had already dried.

Lash moved closer, putting his arm around me.
“There is nothing like the Southern sun,” he said happily. “Here,
lay down.”

“I know what you mean,” I laid back on the
grass and closed my eyes.

Lash leaned back next to me on his arms.
“Sleep if you want to. And tell me when you’re ready to eat
again.”

“Later,” I said. “It feels too good here to
move. The sun’s going to set before long as it is.”

“Yes, it is,” he said softly. Giving me a
light kiss, he settled back down on his hands, watching the
ocean.

I dozed for a while, luxuriating in the sun’s
heat. Too soon, Lash was squeezing my hand, telling me we needed to
go.

“
Answer me something first,” I asked
softly. “What does the symbol on the knife mean?”

Lash was silent.

His silence, although it said volumes, was
not an answer. “Do you not want me to know? It clearly was a mark
you put there. You carved it there in the steel. What did you
write?”

“Leave it,” Lash answered reluctantly. “I
believed I was never going to see you again, that I was dying.”

I didn’t pursue it, though I concluded what
the symbol likely meant, given the tone in his voice.

Chapter
Seven

“I’m sorry if I offended you earlier,” Lash
said, contrite. “I was just teasing. I didn’t mean to imply any
disrespect.”

I had felt disrespected, but I should know
his sense of humor by now, and his fondness for the word fuck.
“It’s fine, just don’t call it that again.”

“I won’t,” Lash hissed softly in my ear. He
leaned closer. “Please tell me I don’t have to call it intercourse,
though—”

“Stop it!” I said, cracking up laughing. “But
I do want you to tell me something. What do I smell like to you,
that you like it so much?”

Lash didn’t hesitate. “You smell like this
day,” he sighed with deep longing. “Like the best day there could
be, with the sun shining down, and the warmth of it making me feel
so good. I didn't smell it the first few times I met you. You were
covered in Danial’s, and later Devlin’s scent, then. I smelled a
trace of it the day I first brought you home from Hayden, though I
thought it was some kind of perfume you were wearing. I only
smelled it for what it was the first time we were together.” He
paused. “I couldn’t get enough of it. I didn’t need to be in the
room with you all those months I guarded you, Sar. I was there
because I wanted to be near you. It must be what Devlin means, when
he says you taste of summer. Because you smell of it, at least to
me.”

I waited to hear him say he smelled the taint
of vampire as Theo had, but he didn’t. Maybe he couldn’t smell it
because he had his own similar taint. Lash smelled like autumn
leaves, leather, and musk, but the earth scent under it had
increased from what it had been. The scent of his sickness was
gone.

* * * *

“
Sar, even if you aren’t hungry, I am,”
Lash said, waking me. He was already dressed in his shirt. “It’s
close to seven. I need to eat something.”

“I am, too,” I said, offering him my hand.
“What do you feel like?”

“Let’s decide after we shower,” he said,
slipping his arm around me.

It was obvious he was after more nookie. I
thought up various rebuffs in favor of eating as we slowly walked
back to the hotel room. Then to my shock, Lash offered me the
shower first, telling me he’d go pack up the tent gear while I
dressed.

Mystified, I showered, and then dressed. By
the time he returned, I was perusing the room service menu to see
if they had anything they could make fast so I could snack as I
waited for him.

“I’ll be fast,” he promised. “I meant to be
quicker, but the storm played hell with the tent. Some of the poles
were bent.”

“That’s okay. Was all your stuff there?”

Lash nodded. “Including clean clothes. Give
me ten minutes.”

I watched the clock, sure it would take him
longer. Instead, it took him nine minutes to emerge dressed, his
weapons in place, his hair still wet.

“Do you want to go out?” he asked, leaning
against the wall.

I put down the menu. “What do you want to
do?”

“That depends on how you feel,” he said,
grinning faintly. “Are you too sore for more of me after this
morning?”

It was time for the hard question. “How long
do we have?” I asked, biting my lip.

“Titus is prompt. He’ll be here at midnight,
or at most, a few minutes later,” Lash said, his grin fading. “We
have about four hours, tops.”

“I want to again, before he comes,” I said
quickly. “But the truth is I won’t be able to for very long. I’m
not hurt, but there comes a time—”

“It’s okay, Sar,” Lash said hurriedly,
cutting me off. “I know I pushed it this morning with you. I wanted
to take you out anyway, if you were willing to go.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Was there
something you wanted to try at the restaurant?”

“No more restaurants. There’s only one bar
here, but it’ll do. I’ll get us some food and you can have your
wine, and we’ll enjoy ourselves.” He held out his hand to me.
“Let’s go.”

As we walked to the Buttonwood, I got eaten
by mosquitoes. “Why do they ignore you?” I asked, jealous.

“They are not ignoring me,” Lash said
winningly. “I’m just handling it more in stride.”

I rolled my eyes and he laughed.

There weren’t many people in the Buttonwood
Lounge. We got a nice booth in the bar.

“Ready for wine?”

“Hell, yes,” I said.

Lash ordered us a bottle, and two baskets of
fish and chips for himself. I looked at the food offerings, but
again, didn’t feel that hungry. Lash looked worried, until the food
came and I ended up eating the entire contents of one of his
baskets.

“It smelled good,” I said apologetically.

“Another basket,” he said to the waiter. “And
bring her some more fries, a lot more. She’s in desperate fry
straits.”

The waiter gave him an odd look, then left
with the empty baskets.

“You seem a little nervous,” Lash said, after
he left. “Is it me?”

“It’s the way you watch me,” I said
breathily, meeting his dark eyes.

Just the edge of his mouth curved upward.
“And what way is that?”

“With wicked glee,” I said, drawing another
delicious shuddering breath. “That as soon as I drop my eyes or
turn, you’re going to grab me and make everything I’ve ever
fantasized real.”

Lash grinned. “You want me to, here and
now?”

I dropped my eyes, because he’d meant exactly
what he’d said. “No, we’ve got an audience.” I reached for his
hand. “But I’ll take you up on that as soon as we leave.”

“
Just tell me when you’re ready,” Lash
hissed, relaxing back into his seat. “I’ll behave until
then.”

“Good,” I teased. “Because I remember what
happened last time we were together in a bar.”

Lash cracked up laughing. “Which time?” he
said, smirking. “Not that both weren’t enjoyable—”

I blushed deeply, then kicked him under the
table, connecting hard. He yelped.

“Not that time,” I replied loftily. “The time
we were just sitting there talking and The Lust first rose in me.
That first time with you.”

Lash downed his glass of wine, then looked
over at me. “I’m sorry for what I said to you that night. I did
want you then, as you saw later on. I was trying not to give in to
it.”

Guilt rose up in me. “And I’m sorry for what
they said to you in the parking lot, back—”

“You didn’t say the words, Sar,” Lash hissed
softly, rubbing his face with his hands.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, downing my wine.
“I’m sorry for them all the same. They weren’t true, and I should
have said something then.”

“You couldn’t have, without telling them that
I’d been with you again,” he said quietly, pouring us each another
glass. “Besides, I don’t care what either of those fucks say. What
matters is you kept secret about how weak I was.” He paused. “He’s
good with a blade, Sar. I might not have won if Theo had been
lucky, and cut me deeply enough. It was good you stopped us from
fighting.”

If Theo faced him now, Lash was sure he would
win. He was right. He had the skill of a century in the body of a
twenty-year old. Curiously, the old hatred was missing now from his
tone. Lash talked of Theo more like a familiar colleague. Maybe he
was just mellow from all the sex he’d had earlier today.