Stefan (Lost Nights Series Book 1) (12 page)

“What’s wrong?” he demanded, his hold not loosening. In fact, he’d tightened his grip on me as if he were afraid that I would suddenly slip away from him.

“We can’t do this.”

“Why?”

“A woman was killed in here. I can’t do this.”

Stefan looked utterly dumbfounded by my statement, but his arms eased from their death grip. Faint bruises would appear later, but that didn’t bother me. He hadn’t meant to hurt me and in truth, I felt touched by his concern.

“People die all the time. You can’t stop enjoying life because another’s life has ended.”

“Her life ended in this room and in some way, her life ended because of me. I feel like I should... stop,” I finished a bit lamely because I just didn’t know what words I needed to explain my current dysfunction. I didn’t know when I’d feel like it was right to be happy again after Sabrina had been killed in my apartment. Maybe after I had some answers.

Stefan released me so that he could bend down and sweep me up into his arms. A little squeak of surprise escaped me and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me into the bedroom and kicked the door shut, covering us in complete darkness. I blinked, waiting for my eyes to soak in what little light was coming in through a crack in the curtains.

He gently placed me on my feet again and took a step backward. The nightwalker didn’t make a sound and yet the air in front of me carried an almost electrified charge so that my skin tingled in anticipation.

“This is our room. No one else has been in here, correct?” Stefan’s whisper took on an almost mocking lilt, as if he half expected to discover that I’d had a parade of nightwalkers coming to see me since he’d stepped into my life.

“There’s been no one else,” I confirmed, biting back a smile. “Turn on a light. I can’t see anything.”

A soft chuckle rose from Stefan. “But I can see you perfect.”

I reached out to touch him and caught only a bit of his shirt on the tips of my fingers as he dodged my outstretched hands. He moved as silently as a cat. I swung my hands out again, trying to locate him, but found only air. My heart pounded in my chest as a mix of fear and excitement teased my mind. I went still, straining to hear anything that might give him away; a whisper of cloth or the scuff of his shoe on the floor.

A pair of large hands came around me from behind and cupped my breasts, squeezing them as I was pulled back against Stefan’s chest. A deep moan rose up from my throat as I tipped my head back to lay it against his shoulder.

I could feel his hard cock pressed against my back and a low groan rumbled up his chest. Reaching up, I threaded my hands through his hair, pulling him down while twisting my head to capture his lips in a rough kiss. It was a short kiss because something snapped inside of Stefan.

Jerking away, his hands dropped from my breasts to quickly unbutton the shirt and pull it away from me. His lips grazed along my shoulder as he turned his attention to my pants. He stripped them off along with my underwear in record time, but when I tried to turn around to face him, he grabbed my wrists and pulled me forward until my palms were pressed into the wall directly in front of me.

“Forgive me,
ma petite
, but I cannot wait tonight,” he said, the words sounding as if they were being ground between his clenched teeth. There was a whisper of clothing moving behind me, but between the darkness and being turned toward the wall, I couldn’t see what he was doing.

Just when I was about to push away from the wall and turn to face him, Stefan returned to me. His cool skin was pressed to me from head to toe and I hissed at the unexpected contact. Using one foot, he spread my legs apart a little wider while his hands grasped my breasts

“I will try to be gentle,” he whispered in a strained voice.

His cock brushed against me once before plunging into me. We both cried out loudly, our voices filling the room as he filled me to the hilt. I hadn’t been completely ready for him but that changed in a heartbeat. His right hand dropped down between my legs so that his long, nimble fingers began to tease my clit, sending a gush of wetness to coat him.

Stefan moved inside of me, setting a brisk past so that I was coming by the third stroke but it wasn’t enough for him. His skilled hands and sweet lips on my neck kept bringing me back to the edge when I was sure I’d been completely rung out. As my body crested for the third orgasm, Stefan bit down on my neck. He thrust me past the blistering threshold of pleasure/pain so that every nerve ending in my body seemed to explode at once. My body instinctively clamped down hard on his, sending him crashing over the edge with me.

And then there was just a white light and the bliss of unconsciousness. When I awoke again, Stefan and I were snuggled in bed, the covers wrapped around out naked bodies just like so many other nights we’d spent together.

“I should be packing,” I murmured against Stefan’s neck. It really was just an observation, not a suggestion. My body had no desire to move from where I was nicely nestled up against Stefan. In fact, after my heavy meal with the hunter and athletic endeavors with the nightwalker, I was ready to settle in for a little nap, keeping my mind blissfully away from the problems that were popping up in my life.

“Soon,” Stefan whispered against my temple. There was tension in that single word that drew me from my relaxed state. His mind was already turning over things that I was trying to ignore, but they were creeping in.

“Can you be honest with me about something?” I asked.

Stefan released me and lay on his side so that he could look down on me. I still couldn’t see shit, but I could feel his steely gaze on me. “I can try.”

While it wasn’t the best answer, it was something I could accept. I didn’t get the feeling that Stefan had lied to me yet, but he was definitely withholding an ass ton of information. I was just going to be more diligent in prying that information out of him.

“Do you consider me your pet?”

“No, absolutely not,” he said fiercely. His lips came down on mine in a searing kiss that threatened to wipe my brain clean of any thought, but he quickly broke off the kiss and continued. “Even before Mira claimed you, I never saw you as a pet and I never intended to take you as one.”

“I’m guessing that the term pet is as distasteful as it sounds,” I said, arching an eyebrow at him. Or at least I tried. I noticed that it was an expression that he was fond of and I wished that I could pull it off with the same coolness as he could, but I doubted it.

Stefan reached past me and grabbed a blanket to wrap us both in as he spoke. “There are some humans who do not mind the term, but then they are enamored of the idea of nightwalkers. I blame too many silly books and movies.”

“But you don’t think highly of them.”

“Pets? No. Nightwalkers view them as playthings, willing victims. Pets are a meal when you need them and an amusement when you are bored. If you are lucky, you can train them to run your daylight errands…”

“But?” I prompted when he fell silent.

“Pets rarely live more than a year or two in a nightwalker’s company.”

“Why?”

Stefan’s hand skimmed along my side under the covers and I shivered. “Because nightwalkers play rough and humans break very easily.”

“And I am now Mira’s pet,” I whispered.

“She will not break you,
ma petite
.” Stefan instantly drew me close, his face nuzzling my neck. It was one of his favorite spots to kiss on. “Mira does like to play rough, but only with other creatures who can fight back. Mira directs her anger and amusements against other nightwalkers. She is very protective of humans and she will do what she can to keep you safe. It is why I was willing to ask her to take you in.”

“Then what am I to you?” A more accurate question would have been, “where the hell do you see this arrangement going?”, but I didn’t need to say it. His reaction was exactly what you’d expect from a man when asked the relationship question. It didn’t matter than Stefan was over a thousand years old. It just proves that some things don’t change.

Stefan pulled away from me so that only our legs were tangled up under the covers. “That is not an easy question to answer,
ma petite
,” Stefan said.

“It never is,” I bit out, glaring at him for a second before attempting to roll out the other side of the bed. I didn’t get more than an inch before dragging me back into his arms.

“It is a complicated question because nightwalker society doesn’t have names for things like this.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, not completely releasing my building anger but I was at least willing to hear him out.

“In my world, humans are either a meal or a pet. That is all.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“No. Mira has attempted to establish some other protective gray areas like the lycanthropes have, but it only works because Mira is the Fire Starter. Cross her and you will go up in flames. Despite my position on the coven, I’m still not as impressive as Mira.” There was a bite to his words that made me think that his ego was more than little hurt by that fact. It managed to impress upon me the seriousness of my situation that he was even willing to admit such a thing aloud.

“But Danaus isn’t a nightwalker and he’s not a pet,” I reminded him.

A soft sigh escaped Stefan and he laid down on his back beside me. Twisting around, I put my arms on his chest and looked down at him. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough that I could vaguely make out his features, but not his expressions.

“There are three different types of relationships among nightwalkers. The first and lowest is the pet. That role is almost always filled by a human, but it can also be a nightwalker.” Stefan reached up and gently threaded some hair behind my ear. It was like he needed to always be touching me when we were close. I’d noticed it even when we weren’t intimate. Just sitting beside me, he was always touching my hair or my shoulder or my hand, as if he couldn’t get enough of me. And like a cat, I drank the attention in. Not the best thought if I wasn’t supposed to  be a pet for him.

“The second is what we call a companion. While a human can fill this role, it is almost always a young nightwalker. Companions do the bidding of the one they serve. They are a trusted servant, an assistant, and frequently a spy. They have the protection of the nightwalker they serve, and if that nightwalker is a member of the coven, the position carries some clout within the court.”

“Do you view me as a companion?”

Stefan gave a little laugh. “No. While you are trusted, you would not be a very good servant. You question me far too much. A companion, as well as a pet, does whatever the master wishes without question.”

“Oh yeah, I’d definitely suck at that,” I said with a chuckle.

“But that reminds me,” Stefan said, turning serious in a heartbeat. “Do not ever question Mira’s wishes publicly. She is very tolerant, but doing so may force her to punish you to save face and to protect our ruse. There would be nothing I could do to protect you.”

“Got it. Keep my mouth shut,” I said with a nod. I might not like it, but I could understand it. There was a new level of politics going on among the nightwalkers and I was currently stuck in the middle. Keeping my mouth shut could very likely keep me alive. “Now what about the third?”

“The third is the consort. That is Danaus’s position in our world. He is also the first to attain this position and not be a nightwalker. It is usually used only by the members of the coven. The closest equivalent I can think of among humans is marriage. Danaus is viewed as Mira’s equal and he commands the same difference and respect that she is to receive.”

I smirked down at Stefan. “Why do I get the feeling that nightwalkers weren’t too thrilled when Mira announced this?”

“They weren’t and still aren’t,” Stefan said in a near grumble. “He hunted us for centuries and now he is nearly one of our rulers. I can think of only two reasons as to why Mira’s decision has at least partially succeeded. One, she is the Fire Starter and can enforce her will through fear. And two, Danaus has his own abilities that make him a very effective hunter.”

“He doesn’t seem the type to abuse his power.”

“He has not actually attempted to wield any power and that has allowed us to exist in a type of tense peace. His focus is Mira and maintaining the peace between the nightwalkers and the humans. He has kept out of nightwalker affairs.”

“Well, I’m obviously not a consort,” I said, resting my chin on his chest and closing my eyes. The words should have come out sounding relieved, but instead they were tinged with annoyance that didn’t exactly sit well with me and I certainly hoped that Stefan didn’t pick up on it.

“Consort is expected to be a permanent arrangement, which is why they have been so rare among our people. Despite my attraction and interest in you, I did not think you would welcome such an overture from me,
ma petite
. Especially since we have known each other such a short time.” Stefan’s tone was teasing, which helped to soothe my ruffled feathers, even if I couldn’t exactly explain why they’d been ruffled in the first place.

“I think nightwalkers need to expand their social structure a little more.”

“Yes, I have noticed that humans have terms for nearly every development.”