Dangerous (Courting the Darkness Saga) (15 page)

“You, sire, don’t play
fair,” she said as she sat up and stilled his hands, clasping them in front of
her. “You cheated.”

He laughed softly. “I didn’t
cheat. I’m just trying to maintain order in my kingdom and keep my queen happy
at the same time.”

She scoffed, “Yeah,
right, like you really care whether I’m happy or not as long as you get your
way.”

Drake frowned.
“Lights dim.”
The lights illuminated to a soft glow. He
gazed into her eyes. “Why would you say something like that?”

She shrugged. “You are
the king, and naturally you take what you want. At the moment you think you
want me—”

“I think—”

“Yes, you have never
taken my feelings into it. Never once have you asked me if I want any part of
this life. This….” She threw out her hand then let it drop back to her side. “This
forced confinement. And you think I should be happy about it.”

“Yes, I have, and yes,
I do.”

She shook her head.
“You have never asked—”

“I never had to.”

Narrowing her eyes, she
said, “Why, because you’re king and that makes you exempt somehow?”

“No, love, I’m not
that
self-centered.” She sputtered and he
continued before she could respond. “I’ve known what you’re thinking and what
you feel from the moment I took your blood.”

She cocked an eyebrow
and glared. “Care to tell me what I’m thinking
now
, sire?”

He smiled. “You’re
thinking that I’m a self-centered ass and a few other very descriptive words.”
Her eyes widened and his smile grew as he continued to read her mind. “You also
love my—”

Oh my God, he’s reading my mind.
She felt the heat flood to her cheeks. “Okay, I
believe you,” she interjected before he could finish, and she was completely
humiliated. She hadn’t intended for her mind to stray to the luscious parts of
his body. “You
can
read my mind.”

“Yes, vixen, I can. And
for the record, I am a vampire king, not a god.”

You are to me
,
flitted through her mind before she could stop it.

He tilted his head and
disengaged his hands from her tight grasp, then ran his hands up her body to
cup her breasts. The nipples pebbled at his gaze and soft touch as he ran his
thumbs over the heightened peaks. “I guess that makes you my goddess queen.”

She took a quivering
breath as need rippled through her body. Closing her eyes she savored the
feelings. “I believe you—that you can read my mind, I mean.
But
my feelings?
How can you know what I feel when I don’t
know myself?”

“
Hummm,
let me see….” He rolled her nipple between his fingers. “I sense your desire....”
Her eyes flew open and she cocked an eyebrow. His smile returned.
“And your irritation at me.”
The corners of her mouth turned
up in a small smile. “You feel confused. Your heart wants to believe me, but
your mind is filled with distrust.” He frowned. “You’ve been hurt in the past,
and don’t feel yourself worthy of love.” His eyes flashed red. “I will hunt
this mortal down and rip his throat out for hurting you like that.”

She caught her breath.
“Drake, no!”

“He has hurt what is
mine. He must pay.”

Sherry reached out and
caressed his face with her fingertips. “It was a long time ago. He’s now just a
bad memory and means nothing to me; please let it go at that.”

“If he means nothing to
you, then why—”

“Because he’s human, and
we’re supposed to be civilized. We don’t rip each other’s throats out just
because we can…or most of us don’t anyway.” He opened his mouth to object and
she interjected, “I would feel guilty.”

He expelled a long
breath as his eyes turned back to blue. “I will spare him then. I will not have
you feel that way.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s time we rid you
of your confusion and mistrust.”

“I honestly don’t see
how. I’ve felt this way for a very long time. It’s easier said than done.”

“It is actually quite
simple.” His eyes locked with hers. “Complete the bond and you won’t have to
guess or doubt. You will know.”

“What if I’m
disappointed?”

“You won’t be.”

He looked sincere so
she smiled.
“My way?”

He laughed and hugged
her to him.

Chapter Sixteen

She sat up next to him
on her knees, and when he reached for her she said, “Do something with your
hands. Place them behind your head or whatever, just don’t touch me. I get too
distracted when you touch me.”

He placed his hands
behind his head, interlocking his fingers.
“As you wish, sire.”

She smiled at his
remark as she gazed at his body, his cock hardening under her stare.

“If you keep thinking
those thoughts I won’t be able to keep my hands to myself.”

“You keep your hands
where they are,” she said as she reached out and wrapped her fingers around his
cock. It grew, swelling further beneath her fingers. “My way, remember?” she
said,
then
ran her tongue up the vein in his cock,
starting at the base, up to the head. Pre-cum pooled at the tip.

She wrapped her lips
around the head, taking his thick cock into her mouth. Bobbing her head as she
took him deeper with every stroke of her tongue, her hand wrapped around the
base. Her own need coiled between her thighs.

He growled his approval
as his hips surged with her movements.
“A little faster,
vixen.
Yes, that’s right.” He made a move to unlace his fingers,
then
thought better of it when she paused and cut her eyes
at him. “Since you won’t let me touch you, let me watch you touch yourself.”

She nodded once, then
closed her eyes and continued. With the other hand she reached between her legs
and rubbed herself. She felt the wetness beneath her fingers, and just the
thought of him watching her made her ache more.

“Spread your legs a
little further and insert a couple of fingers.” She spread her legs further,
slipping two fingers between her folds, brushing the swollen nub as she did.
“Deeper, love, pleasure yourself while I watch you.”

Her inner walls
clenched around her fingers, plunging deep as he watched, keeping rhythm to her
mouth taking in his cock. She felt the peak build with each movement.

“You are so wet.
Cum for me love.
I want to watch your body clench around
your fingers as you cum for me.”

She did as he commanded
and a million sensations pulsed through her body as she plunged her fingers in
as far as they would go for him. Her juices dripped across the back of her
hand.

He roared out his
release as he thrust one final time, coming down her throat.

She released her hold
on his still semi erect cock,
then
laid her head down
on his thigh. She remained on her knees, spent, as her body’s pulsations
gradually slowed.

***

As Drake gazed at her
wet curls, the scent of her arousal filled his nose, and he felt his erection
swell again fully. He had agreed to let her have it her way, but her way was
about to kill him. He wanted to bury himself deep inside her. “May I touch you
now, sire?”

She turned her head and
grinned. “Yes, you may, sire.”

He moved so fast she
squealed when he flipped her over onto her back and covered her body with his. “That
was the sexiest thing I’ve ever witnessed, and I will never underestimate the
talent of this beautiful mouth,” he said, then devoured her mouth with his,
plunging inside and tasting himself on her tongue. He broke the kiss and stared
intently into her eyes. “I’m not near finished with you yet, vixen.”

She looked up at him as
the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile.

“My turn,” was all he
said as he rolled over toward the nightstand and then back with a dagger
suddenly in his hand.

Her eyes rounded. “What
are you going to do with that?”

“When the time is
right, I’m going to place a small cut here.” He pointed to the soft spot on his
neck, near the shoulder,
then
he placed the dagger
next to her pillow. “It only takes a small taste to seal the bond.”

She grimaced as she
looked at the dagger then back at him.

He brushed his fingers
along the side of her face in a tender caress then placed a soft kiss on her
lips. “It’s not as bad as you’re thinking, love.” Through their bond he felt
her fear. He had hoped that the non-demanding kiss would relax her, and it had
some, but if she didn’t trust him this would never work. He needed her trust to
complete the connection between them; his soul craved it. “Remember when I took
your blood this morning?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“What did you feel?”

She hesitated as she
thought about it. “I felt….” A trace of a smile graced her lips as she
remembered and her body relaxed beneath him. “Actually it was kind of…erotic. I
thought it would hurt, but it was a little euphoric instead.”

“That’s just a small
taste of what you’ll feel again, love, only this time it will be stronger
because you’ll be feeling what I feel too.”

She looked into his
eyes and came to a decision. “I’ll make a deal with you, Drake. You’ll have to
agree or I’m not going through with this. It would kill me to walk away from
you, but it’s all or nothing.”

“I really don’t see
where either of us has a choice, but…your terms?”

“
If
what you say is true and I can see through the bond that
connection that you say is there is actually there.
And
that you are truly sincere with your thoughts and feelings,
then…well…I’ll remain by your side in whatever capacity you want. I’m not one
hundred percent sure of the feelings I have for you other than I want to jump
in bed with you whenever we’re alone for longer than two minutes. I know that I
care for you a great deal, and I can tell you that I have never cared this much
for anyone before; you have grown very important to me. The last thing in the
world I would want to do to you is hurt you, but love? I’ve never been ‘in love’
before so I’m not really sure what I’m feeling.”

“So far what you’ve
said is agreeable,” he said then smiled, and humor laced his voice. “And I find
no objections to you jumping in bed with me every time we’re alone.” Returning
his smile, the blood rushed to her cheeks. “So far you haven’t said anything
negative that we have to bargain for, so there must be a ‘but’ in there somewhere.”

“
But,
if I don’t see that you’re sincere and I feel like you’re just
stringing me along…well…it would kill me, but I’d be out of here and I’d expect
you to allow me to leave. No strings attached.”

“Agreed.”

Her mouth gaped. “No
arguments?”

He placed his finger
under her chin, closing her mouth,
then
kissed the tip
of her nose. “No.”

“You’re either overly confident
or don’t care if I leave. Which is it?”

“Neither. I know
exactly how I feel about you, and based on what you said, you’ll be with me for
eternity as my queen. I’m not going to argue with that, love, so yes, I agree.”

“About that…you’ve mentioned
eternity several times now, and—”

“Don’t worry about the
eternity issue. I hear your questions, but I don’t have all the answers yet.”

“But Drake, I’m human…I
won’t live—”

“The Fates have planned
this from your birth. The sisters can have a wicked sense of humor, but somehow,
some way, you will be immortal and by my side.”

“How do you know? I
mean, you are putting a lot of faith in legends. Why do you believe so
strongly?”

He kissed her forehead.
“I have met the sisters and they told me of my destiny,
and
that I would rule for eternity.”

She searched his eyes.
“When?”

“Three hundred years
ago, when I was still human, I lost my wife to childbirth. I never got to know
my unborn son. Everything had been stripped from me. I was alone and had no
desire to continue living, so I lost myself in the bottle.”

“It must have been
awful.” Her voice caught, and a tear trailed down her cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“A few days after they
died I drank myself into a drunken stupor.
I woke three days later, in a dark
barn, covered in my own blood and vomit, with the stink of the livestock
surrounding me. My life as I knew it was over. I somehow knew that I was alive,
but not. A feral rage now consumed me…I was lethal and ravenous. Life, human or
otherwise, meant little to me. I had nothing left to hold on to my humanity.
The lust for blood was all I cared about. Instinctively the only thing I feared
was the sunlight.

“My sire was Reginald Loxley. At the command of the Fates he
took advantage of my drunken state, and was ordered to convert me rather than
end my pitiful life. He left me to
wreak
whatever
havoc a newborn could inflict on an unsuspecting society. He was reputed to be
a rogue, an outlaw, and as vicious as they come. He cared for no one but
himself. I’m surprised he managed to follow orders. When a vampire sires
another, we are supposed to be responsible for our progeny, but Reginald didn’t
stick around long enough to even see if I survived the conversion.