Daric's Mate (8 page)

He caught her lips, his tongue thrusting into her mouth in the same rhythm as the phallus sinking into her repeatedly.

Daric’s overwhelming desire to bite her, to sink his fangs into the tender flesh of her neck inflamed her senses. Tearing her mouth from his, she begged, “Do it. I want you to. Please.” The carnality of the image of him sinking his teeth into her neck beckoned.

“Mine,” he snarled against the smooth flesh of her neck before sinking his fangs into her skin.

Daric’s reaction was so intense, so overwhelming, that Hannah didn’t even flinch at the initial strike piercing her skin. It was a mere pinch followed by such a surge of erotic pleasure that it had her imploding in his arms, so submerged in Daric that she could do nothing but spasm helplessly as she moaned, “Daric.”

He released her neck, licking at the wound, and then groaning fiercely as he buried himself inside her so deeply that Hannah wasn’t sure they would ever come apart again. Daric flooded her womb with his hot release, his massive body shuddering against her.

“Fuck!” The curse exploded from his mouth a moment before he teleported them to the bedroom.

Hannah’s head was spinning, and she closed her eyes as Daric gently untangled them and laid her on the bed. He joined her immediately, pulling her limp, sated body against his strength, covering them both with the sheet and quilt.

“I didn’t know it could ever be like that,” she murmured against his chest, her body still humming as she recovered her breath, waiting for the world that Daric had just rocked to settle back into place.

“Neither did I,” he answered in a husky, raw voice.

“But you must have had a lot of experience before…” Her voice trailed off, not really wanting to think about this extraordinary man with another woman.

“Never like that,” he shook his head, his expression intense. His arms tightened around her before he repeated, “Never anywhere near like that.”

Hannah snuggled against Daric’s strong chest, feeling sated and completely at peace in a way she had never known. If she had been lost previously, Daric had found her, surrounded her with a sense of belonging. “I was waiting for you. I just didn’t know it.” Even as the words left her mouth, she knew it was the truth.

“I’m glad you feel that way, love. Because you’re stuck with me. Forever,” he replied roughly, but his arms protected her, cradled her like she was someone precious.

Forever.

Hannah closed her eyes and smiled, deciding that as long as she had Daric, she could live with that.

Chapter 6

Hannah left
Temple’s
a week later with a wave to her employees and a broad smile on her face. It was nearly the dinner hour and she knew the little pizzeria would get busy shortly, but she had already done her paperwork and she felt comfortable leaving the place to her capable manager and employees. Taking a deep breath of the frigid air that greeted her as she walked out the door, she stopped to watch the sun setting, the massive fireball slowly sinking behind the enormous snow-covered peaks in the distance, allowing darkness to fall in a spectacular, cloudless sky.

Hugging herself tightly as she walked toward her new SUV, purchased by her mate for its elevated safety rating, Hannah’s thoughts drifted. Daric would wake soon, and she wanted to get home. He hated it when she went out while he was in day sleep, and his protective instincts grew worse with every day that passed. Usually, she waited until he woke, going to work in the evening. Sometimes he’d come with her, usually eating his way through the restaurant menu while she was doing paperwork. If he didn’t accompany her, it was because he had business to do with his healers, but he always showed up at some point in the evening, making sure she never left
Temple’s
by herself in the dark. His presence in the little eatery had chased away the shadows, breathing new life into
Temple’s.
Or maybe Daric was breathing new life into her, encouraging her to follow her instincts, supportive of anything she really wanted. Hannah went to the restaurant every day determined to keep her father’s memory alive by keeping
Temple’s
open, but she also wanted to make her own mark on the place, something she had been working on by changing some of the outdated décor and adding some new recipes to the menu.

The peace that Daric had surrounded her with a week ago remained, growing stronger every day she spent with him. Oh, not that life itself was actually peaceful living with a vampire prince. Her mate could be a royal pain in the ass when he didn’t get his way, most of his complaints revolving around her safety, her happiness. It made it hard for her to argue with him when his main concern in life seemed to be her happiness and well-being, even though he growled commands instead of really discussing issues when it came to safety. But even when he was surly and cantankerous, Hannah was happy, accepting her broody vampire prince exactly as he was, because he accepted her with all of her faults. All he seemed to want was her happiness. Like she could not be happy? She was nearly deliriously contented, and Hannah wanted Daric to feel the same joy she felt. It was impossible to put a finger on his feelings, but he was definitely fighting something internally, although he denied it. He was blocking some of his thoughts, and it bothered her, wondering what he was thinking that he couldn’t share or didn’t want her to know.

She halted at her SUV, pressing the button to open the doors of the vehicle. The lights blinked and the short beep sounded to deactivate the alarm, at the same time that what felt like sharp claws wrapped themselves around Hannah’s wrist, preventing her from getting into her vehicle. Hannah backed up in horror, her ass hitting the hood of her vehicle, as a mass of hideous creatures swarmed her, appearing one after the other. Despite her terror, she didn’t have to wonder what the ugly things surrounding her were or what they wanted – having seen a few of Daric’s darker memories, she already knew.
Fallen
. Vampires that had turned evil.

Hannah tried to break the hold on her wrist, but it only caused the claws digging into her arm to tighten, drawing blood. Despite her terror, thoughts of Daric popped into her mind.

I shouldn’t have waited to watch the sun set. I should have listened to Daric.

He had warned her, over and over, about the dangers she faced as the mate of a vampire prince. The
fallen
were preying on mates who hadn’t completed the mating process yet, and Daric had cautioned her about the creatures that might be able to sense her, even in a remote community like Temple, simply because she was the mate of a powerful prince.

I’m sorry, Daric. So sorry.

Hannah trembled as the horde grew larger, more aggressive, swarming around her until there were too many to count. With sunken, hairless faces and freakish red eyes, they were worse than anything she had ever imagined, even in her darkest nightmares.

Panicked, Hannah tried to close her thoughts. If these things were awake, then so was Daric. There had to be at least a hundred, maybe more, of the
fallen.
If rescuing her didn’t kill him, the backlash from killing so many just might. She had only seen the backlash in his memories, but she knew he had never killed this many
fallen
, and that the resulting backlash would be catastrophic. She’d die before she let these disgusting, ugly things take Daric to his death.

The beast holding her wrist moved closer, its fetid breath nearly causing her to retch. Kicking her legs up, she struck the
fallen
in the groin, twisting to get away, to somehow get out of its grasp. It didn’t falter, didn’t even seem to feel the pain, but it grabbed her shoulder with its other set of claws, slashing her flesh open.

Shit. These bastards are strong.

Male voices rang out in the night, some panicked and others forceful. Obviously, chaos had begun in the small town of Temple with the arrival of a large number of
fallen.

Blank your thoughts. Don’t think about this. Keep Daric away.

Claws pierced her flesh in other places on her body as she fought to get away, red eyes everywhere she looked. Heart slamming like a jackhammer against her chest, Hannah fought, but was no match for the
fallen
that pierced her skin with every touch.

Screams shattered the night, cries of anguish, pain, fear and panic. One shrieking voice was closest to her, loud enough to nearly pierce her ear drums. It was a voice Hannah recognized as her own as she finally succumbed to darkness.

*****

Where the fuck did she go?

Daric had woken from his day sleep edgy and alone, his only thought to find his mate. It was dark, and Hannah wasn’t in the house.

Dammit.
He loved his stubborn mate more than he ever thought possible, but there were times when she pushed him too far, tested his patience too greatly. He was nearing the end of his ability to stay in control, the overwhelming instinct to protect and mark Hannah as his, nearly making him insane.

I love her. Goddamit, I love her
.

As he stormed into the kitchen, bellowing Hannah’s name, he admitted that he loved his mate to the point of derangement, his rational mind leaving his body as primitive instinct pounded him. After having absorbed her memories and emotions from her body, he knew her, probably better than he knew himself. And he fucking wanted her more than anyone he had ever desired, making him fight the flare of the mating instinct that had occurred days ago, the overpowering desire he had to dominate and hold his mate to him.

In the beginning, he had tried to wait, had tried to give Hannah time to adjust, time to love him back, his love for her making him want to have her love in return. However, the time for all that had passed. He didn’t have the strength to hold back what destiny intended any longer.

Fucking need her. My mate. Mine.

Daric raked a trembling hand through his hair in frustration, his whole being on fire to find his mate, his rational mind completely slipping away.

Should have taken her earlier. Made her mine earlier. Now it’s bad. Really bad.

He had been so cocky about his ability to control the flare - the lunatic desire to brand his mate - even though it had grown worse with every passing day
. I wanted her to love me.
Now, he had pushed himself to the brink, he was more animal than vampire, unable to control any of his actions.

Fuck control! Hannah. Mine. My woman. She’s never getting away from me.

As he stomped into the living room, he stopped abruptly, his face turning red with rage, his eyes burning flame as he sought and found his mate’s mind.

Fallen! In Temple. Touching my mate, hurting Hannah.

His fury became a towering, overpowering violence as he saw his vulnerable mate in the hands of the
fallen
that were taunting her, injuring her.

Kill. Protect. Rip the bastards apart piece by piece for touching my mate.

Completely crazed, Daric summoned the power to teleport himself to Hannah, his wrath exploding from his body in a powerful howl for vengeance, his urgency to get to his mate nearly incinerating him.

“I’m the fucking King and nobody touches my mate!” he bellowed, his eyes wild, sweat pouring from his muscular body.

He growled, his mind so lost that he couldn’t do anything but grasp the sword that suddenly appeared in his hand, not even questioning how it had gotten there or how it had manifested itself into his grip. It was heavy, and it would kill well. That was all that mattered.

Daric disappeared in flames, his maniacal instincts finally consuming him, leaving nothing but a vampire in complete mating fury, ready to destroy anything and anyone that got between him and his mate.

*****

Hannah fought the darkness, trying to push into the light, forcing her eyes open. Large, muscular arms held her immobile, but they weren’t Daric’s arms, and she fought the imprisonment.

Fallen. Sunken faces. Brutal pain. Claws shredding my skin until my whole body felt like it was on fire.

“Let go of me,” she hissed, her arms flailing and her legs pumping to get free.

At that instant, Hannah registered that strangely, she no longer felt any pain. As she tried to free herself from the arms of the unknown man holding her, she realized that she had somehow been healed.

“Shhh…calm down, woman. My name is Liam. I’m here to protect you, not to harm you. Daric left you in my care after he healed you. He’d have my head if anything happened to you,” the unknown protector told her gently with a touch of amusement.

Hannah stopped struggling, looking up into a face that was anything but ugly. The vampire had dark hair and dark eyes, and she recognized him from Daric’s memories. “You’re the healer who recently found your mate?”

“Yes, with the help of our prince,” he agreed readily, his voice reverent.

“Where’s Daric?” Panicked, Hannah scanned the surrounding area, aware of distant voices and the sounds of battle.

She and Liam were some distance away from the battle, but she could see several unknown warriors in the street, all of them cutting through the horde of
fallen
. Her eyes frantically raked over the violent scene, finally finding her beloved mate. Sword swinging and dressed in nothing but a pair of jeans, he was cutting down
fallen
with dizzying speed. Mesmerized, she watched his muscles rippling as he wielded his blade again and again, his expression that of a man gone completely berserk. At his side, four additional men, dressed all in black, a belt of weapons around their hips, were fighting with skill, as though they had done this many times before, but Daric fought like a man possessed, taking down
fallen
at an alarming rate.