Devoured By Darkness (7 page)

Uriel’s fingers twitched on the hilt of his sword at Tane’s unconscious display of his talent.

He was a Charon who could find his prey with unerring skill.

“Victor was forced to travel to Dublin to meet with Lansbury, the current Prince of Fairies,” he grudgingly confessed.

“Trouble?”

“There are whispers among the fey that there have been sightings of Sylvermyst.”

“Impossible.” Tane instinctively denied the nasty possibilities. The Sylvermyst were the distant cousins of the fey with a taste for evil that made vampires seem like boy scouts. “They were banished centuries ago along with the Dark Lord.”

“So were any number of creatures who’ve managed to make unwelcomed appearances over the past year,” Uriel said dryly.

Tane grimaced. “True enough.”

With a sudden motion, Uriel whirled the sword over his head and shoved it into a leather sheath strapped to his back. “Why are you here, Tane?”

More amused than offended by his companion’s blunt approach, Tane smiled.

“Obviously Victor didn’t hire you for your diplomatic skills.”

“He hired me to keep peace.” Uriel’s jaw tightened. “Something that’s been difficult enough lately without tossing a Charon into the mix.”

Tane flicked a brow upward. He sympathized with Uriel’s predicament. The growing unrest throughout the demon world was a bitch for everyone. But he was here with a purpose and no one was standing in his path.

“Are you trying to imply I’m unwelcomed?”

“Having you here is like throwing gasoline on a smoldering fire.”

“It’s not my fault you can’t control your peeps,” Tane mocked. “Peeps?”

“Minions? Flunkies? Sycophants?”

Uriel made a sound of impatience. “Our minions aren’t the only ones who are restless. It feels like the entire world is sitting on a powder keg. Your arrival …” Uriel bit off his words, shock widening his eyes. “What the hell? Is that a Jinn? And gargoyle?” He glanced over Tane’s shoulder. “Shit, do you have a death wish? Victor is going to kill you.”

“Many have tried.” Tane stepped forward, done with the polite chitchat. He needed to get Laylah to safety. “I seek asylum. Will you offer it?”

“As if I have a choice,” Uriel muttered. “Styx has commanded that his Charons be given whatever they request. That’s a pretty big trump card to carry around.”

Tane curled back his lips to flash his fangs. “I have bigger.”

“Fine,” the younger vampire grudgingly conceded. “You can stay in the dungeons.”

“Uriel …”

“Hear me out.”

Tane narrowed his gaze. “Talk fast.”

“As I’ve said, the natives have been rumbling and it’s my duty to keep complete chaos from erupting,” Uriel pointed out. “The dungeons are wrapped in illusions and protected by hexes. It should keep your presence in London concealed. At least until Victor returns.”

“And an effective means of locking me in an inescapable cell.”

Uriel’s sharp laugh echoed through the cramped tunnel. “And risk the wrath of our Anasso?”

Tane allowed his power to bite through the air. “Styx’s wrath would be the least of your worries.”

“Bloody hell, I got it.” Uriel held up a hand. “Trust me.”

Tane shoved aside his initial reaction and forced himself to consider the suggestion. He truly didn’t fear that Uriel would try and trap a Charon. Despite his skirmish in the cave, few vampires were that stupid. And the dungeons would offer Laylah the concealment she so desperately needed.

For now he could put aside his massive pride.

“I suppose they would provide a temporary protection. Are there any prisoners?”

“Not currently.”

He nodded, his decision made. “I want a room with suitable comforts.” “Of course.”

A sudden smile curved his mouth. “And privacy.” “Privacy?”

“Thick walls, convenient chains on the wall, soundproof privacy.”

Uriel’s expression was unreadable. “I assume you’ll be sharing the room with the Jinn?”

Oh, he intended to share more than a room with the Jinn.

He’d been suffering with a primitive need to claim Laylah from the moment he’d caught her scent in the tunnels. Now his all consuming need threatened to overwhelm everything, including his sense of self-preservation.

He had to get her in his bed.

And soon.

“I will.”

“And the gargoyle?” Uriel demanded.

Tane shrugged. Laylah was done babysitting the obnoxious little demon. Even if she didn’t know it yet.

“That’s your call, although I highly suggest the bottom of the Thames.”

Uriel shuddered. “Why do I have a nasty suspicion that I’m acquainted with this particular gargoyle?”

Laylah glanced uneasily over her shoulder, cursing Tane for abandoning her in the dank tunnels.

With every passing second her scent was spreading through London, attracting demons like a homing beacon. The knowledge was making her itch. As if there was a pair of unseen eyes watching her from the dark.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, her arms were beginning to ache from carrying the unconscious Levet.

It was like toting around a cement truck.

Thankfully, just when she was considering the possibility of finding her own shelter, she watched as Tane stepped out of a side tunnel along with a tall vampire with the face of an angel.

“Laylah. This is Uriel.” Tane moved to stand at her side. “Victor’s second in command.”

Uriel’s gaze remained averted, as if he couldn’t bear to glance in her direction.

“I have arranged for your privacy.”

She frowned in confusion. “Privacy?”

Without warning Tane plucked the sleeping gargoyle and shoved him at the reluctant vampire.

“Here.”

She watched in confusion as Uriel grasped a stunted horn, allowing the gargoyle to hang at his side.

“What are you doing with Levet?”

“He’s an old friend of Uriel’s,” Tane assured her. “The two of them have a lot of catching up to do.”

Uriel flashed Tane a glance that should have struck him dead.

“You’re in my debt, Charon.”

With his warning delivered, the vampire took off down the opposite tunnel while Tane steered her through the tunnel he’d just exited.

“What’s going on?”

“I have negotiated the safe haven you demanded of me,” Tane explained, pausing to shove open a heavy lead door that blocked the passageway.

Laylah grimaced as she stepped into the vast dungeon that held a number of iron-lined cells.

“Here?”

He grabbed her hand to urge her past the cells. “Were you expecting the Ritz?”

“Of course not.” She shivered, not prepared to confess the dungeon forcibly reminded her of the nightmarish months spent as the mage’s prisoner.

A smart demon didn’t flash childhood traumas in front of sinfully gorgeous vampires. Not when they were masters of emotional manipulation.

Besides, she hated looking weak.

At last reaching the far side of the dungeon, Tane pushed open a door and stepped aside for her to enter.

Warily she entered the room, relieved to discover an effort had been made to add a few comforts.

There was a wide bed with a hand-stitched quilt, and two wingchairs set near a brick fireplace. There was even a bookcase with leather-bound volumes stacked on the shelves.

It was either a room used by a guard, or for …

Conjugal visits.

A stab of excitement pierced through her. Sweet, treacherous excitement that made her long to forget she was in a damp dungeon with a vampire who would haul her to her waiting death the moment he slipped his leash.

She slowly turned to discover Tane closing the heavy door and leaning against it with a negligence that mocked her own tightly clenched muscles. The breath was wrenched from her lungs.

He was magnificent. From the raven satin of his mohawk, to the bare chest and flat stomach that rippled with muscles, to the thrust of his powerful legs, he oozed with male potency.

And sex.

He oozed lots and lots of sex.

Her stomach clenched as his honey gaze traveled down her stiff body with slow appreciation, lingering on her hardening nipples that were visible beneath her T-shirt.

Gods. She wanted to toss him on the bed and rub against that hard golden body until he pinned her beneath him and took her with raw hunger.

Easily aware of her surging arousal, Tane pushed from the door, uncoiling like a predatory cat who was on the scent of his prey.

Laylah instinctively backed away, her mouth dry and her heart thundering in her chest.

“Are you …”

“Yes?” Tane prompted as her words faltered.

“Do you have rooms nearby?”

With a liquid grace, he tossed the dagger onto the floor beside the bed, then with a tug of a button, dropped the khaki shorts to reveal his male glory that was already fully erect and anxious to please.

“You could say that.”

Heat seared through her veins, pooling in the pit of her stomach. She had pathetic little experience when it came to men, but she was fairly certain Tane knew precisely what to do with that fine, fine instrument.

And how to make a woman beg for more.

“What are you doing?”

He smiled to reveal the fully extended fangs that gleamed in the darkness.

“Changing into something more comfortable.”

Comfortable? There wasn’t a damned thing comfortable in the sensations assaulting Laylah.

Her skin was too tight for her body, her breasts were heavy and her nipples aroused to painfully sensitive peaks. And there was a hollow ache between her legs that was demanding to be filled.

She swallowed a moan.

A damned shame he was her enemy.

Otherwise …

Otherwise he’d be on that bed and she would be fulfilling a few dozen fantasies.

“Well, go and do your striptease in your own rooms,” she muttered.

“What’s the point of a striptease if there’s no one to enjoy it?” he drawled, abruptly wrapping her in his arms and smiling down at her wary expression. “Besides, I intend to have my wish granted.”

Skimming his hands down Laylah’s back, Tane savored the rich scent of her arousal that spiced the air.

She could huff and puff and glare all she wanted, but she couldn’t disguise the truth. She desired him with a fury she couldn’t contain.

“What are you talking about?” she demanded, her breathless voice making Tane smile. He was a vampire famous for his sexual prowess, but this demon managed to make him feel as uncertain as a fledgling. “I got you out of the mists.”

He lowered his head to fill his senses with her scent of fresh rain.

“But that wasn’t my wish.”

She trembled. “You …”

“I wished to be at your side.”

“Tane.” There was another tremble as he found the spot at the curve of her neck that made her pulse pound and her breath ragged. “I command you to go to your rooms.”

“Your wish is my command,” he murmured, scooping her off her feet to lay her on the nearby bed.

Her eyes widened as he followed her down, stretching out beside her reclined form.

“Why aren’t you going away?”

“It could be because these
are
my rooms.” He traced the outline of one puckered nipple through her T-shirt. “But more likely it’s because you don’t truly want me to leave.”

“Arrogant ass,” she husked, even as her back arched in silent invitation.

He chuckled, burying his face against the heat of her throat.

“Stubborn mongrel.”

Hunger spiked through him and his cock gave a painful jerk. He could smell the sweet blood that rushed just beneath the satin heat of her skin. It was maddening.

Murmuring encouragements in his ancient language, he abruptly grabbed the neckline of her T-shirt and with one jerk had it ripped from her body.

Her lips parted in protest, but before she could punish him with her sharp-edged tongue, he loosened a trickle of his power as his fingers cupped the soft curve of her breast.

She gasped as she bucked in helpless pleasure, her beautiful eyes wide with shock.

“What the hell was that?” she breathed.

He smiled. He had several specialized talents. His kick-ass hunting skills. His raw strength. His cunning. And a rare ability to concentrate his power until it was just on the right side of pleasure as it raced through his partner.

He shifted over her, his tongue outlining the lush curve of her lips.

“I do have talents beyond killing, my sweet.”

“Oh.”

Her eyes fluttered shut as he crushed her lips in a kiss of utter possession. Tane groaned as he tasted her sweet fire, struck by an odd regret that they were in a damp dungeon rather than surrounded by the elegant luxury Laylah deserved.

She should be stretched across satin sheets with velvet pillows beneath her head and champagne spilled across that magnificent ivory skin.

Later, he silently promised himself, completely ignoring the fact the only plans he should be making for the future was turning the renegade female over to the Commission.

He was a vampire in lust.

He wasn’t supposed to be thinking clearly.

Plundering her parted lips over and over, he teased her nipple with the pad of his thumb, his cock pressed against her slender hip.

“Again?” he murmured.

She shivered in anticipation. “Yes.”

With care he released a flare of power, covering her mouth with a fierce kiss as she cried out in passion. He growled in warning as she squirmed against him, rubbing his erection and threatening to hurry matters along in a quicker pace than he’d anticipated.

“Laylah.”

With an effort he gentled his kiss, his hands skimming down the dip of her waist and the flare of her hip. His fingers curled into her soft flesh, attempting to hold her still. Holy shit. Who would’ve thought after so many centuries a tiny mongrel could threaten to unman him?

His lips swept over her cheek, tasting her perfect skin with a slow appreciation. His tongue traced the outline of her ear, nipping the lobe before seeking the tiny hollow below. She felt perfect in his arms. Slender, but with a hidden strength that made him throb in painful anticipation.

Already he could imagine her legs wrapped around his waist, holding him prisoner as he drove deep into her willing body, sending them both to paradise.

His fangs scraped over her shoulder, sharply reminding him that he had more than one hunger he ached to satisfy.

Not yet, a voice cautioned from the back of his mind. Feeding during sex was an intimacy that took absolute trust.

Something sadly lacking as far as Laylah was concerned.

With a groan he resisted the compulsion to slide his fangs through the silken skin, and instead shifted to suck one of her straining nipples between his lips, using his tongue to make her arch and moan in rising passion.

He would eventually have the sweet taste of her blood on his tongue.

Until then, he could sate at least one craving.

Using the tip of his tongue to circle her tightly budded nipple, Tane allowed his fingers to loosen their grip on her hip and stroked down her thigh. He shuddered as she readily parted her legs, allowing him full access. She was already wet and slick, in preparation of his entry.

Thank the gods.

On the point of rolling her onto her back so he could mount her, Tane was caught by surprise when he instead found himself being shoved backward with Laylah straddling him.

“Dammit,” she muttered, her spiked hair a crimson halo about her beautiful face and her eyes smoldering with a savage desire. “Let’s do this.”

He studied flushed cheeks with a narrowed gaze.

His body was screaming with outright approval at her wicked impatience. He rarely bedded aggressive women, but the sight of Laylah perched naked above him, her firm breasts within easy reach of his mouth and the entrance to her body pressed tantalizingly against his fully aroused cock, was enough to make him grit his teeth against the looming climax.

The slightest shift and this would be a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kind of deal.

“Easy, my sweet,” he coaxed, his fingers cupping her ass as she squirmed against him.

“Easy?” She glared into his tightly clenched expression. “Do you know how long it’s been for me?”

He frowned, something primitive and possessive stirring deep inside him. He didn’t recognize the emotion, but it violently protested the thought of any hand but his touching this woman.

“The cur?” he demanded. He’d intended to leave Caine for Salvatore to kill, but if he’d had his hands on Laylah, then he would drain the bastard himself.

“A convenient partner in crime, but not in bed.” She shivered, her breath coming in tiny pants. “God, I … ache.”

His fingers tightened on her hips. “Hold on.”

She frowned with impatience. “What?”

“You’re not going to pretend you want me just because you’ve been going through a dry spell.”

“What’s wrong, Tane?” she taunted. “Did I hurt your fragile ego?”

“You shouldn’t challenge me, sweet Laylah,” he growled in warning. “Or what?”

A slow smile curved his lips. “I promised I would make you beg.”

“Not even in your wildest … oh … oh …” Her head fell back, her eyes squeezing shut as he released a jolt of power. Her nails dug into his chest, the tiny pain making his hips jerk upward in pleasure. “Dammit,” she muttered. “That’s not fair.”

Gripping her hips he stroked her over the hard length of his erection, hissing at the exquisite sensation.

“But you like it,” he said, his hand skimming up the curve of her waist to cup her breast.

“I didn’t say that.”

His smile widened as her soft sigh of encouragement filled the room.

“Your moans of pleasure gave it away.”

She sucked in a deep breath, her eyes opening to reveal a dangerous sparkle in the dark depths.

“Did they? Well, maybe we should discover what you like.”

Before he could guess her intent she was bending forward, deliberately rubbing her breasts against his chest before brushing her mouth over his lips.

The caress was as soft as a feather, but Tane jerked as if he’d been punched in the gut. It was
this
woman. Her touch, her scent, her soft sounds of pleasure. It all combined to send his lust into hyperdrive.

Just as gently she parted his lips, running her tongue down the length of his massive fang. He groaned, wondering if she knew what the hell she was doing to him.

“Be careful that you’re not starting something you’re not prepared to finish,” he husked.

“I’m making sure you’re prepared.” She laughed, spreading kisses down his clenched jaw. Then, with an evil disregard for his shattered restraint, she forged a brazen path over his chest and journeyed southward.

His hands clutched the sheet beneath him as she tormented him with light nips and nibbles, touching him everywhere but where he most ached.

Sadist.

Lifting his head off the pillow, he glared down at his tormentor, his words of protest dying on his lips as he caught sight of her beautiful features intent as she concentrated on her self-imposed task and her brilliant hair shimmering like fire.

The mere sight was nearly enough to make him come.

Then her tiny tongue peeked out and she licked him from root to tip.

Tane roared in pleasure, his fingers threading through her hair as her lips parted and she closed around his head, her tongue doing things that threatened to enslave him far more effectively than her Jinn magic.

With an obvious intent to punish him, she explored him with her lips and tongue, her caresses a slow, deliberate exercise in torment.

He moaned, at last grasping her shoulders and hauling her up his body.

“You prepare me anymore and our fun will be over before it’s begun,” he muttered.

She gazed down at him, a smug hint of amusement shimmering in her dark eyes as she straddled his hips.

“What about the famed stamina of vampires? I suppose it was too good to be true?”

His predatory instincts flared. A direct challenge.

With a motion too swift for her to anticipate, Tane rolled so her slender body was trapped beneath him, her hands pressed to his chest and her eyes wide.

“You want stamina?” He brushed his lips along the stubborn line of her jaw and scraped his fangs down the length of her neck. He smiled as she shuddered in reaction. “I can give you all the stamina you’ll ever need.”

“Tane …”

Her words broke off with a sigh as his lips closed over the tip of her breast, his tongue teasing the puckered nipple before trailing down the center of her body, pausing to dip into her belly button before he was arranging himself between her spread legs for the most delectable feast.

Drowning in the scent of her arousal, Tane nibbled at her inner thigh, a smile curving his lips as her soft whimper filled the air.

With deliberate care, he turned his head to slide his tongue gently into the waiting heat of her body. He stroked through her slick honey, once and then twice, his hands pressed against her legs as she bowed beneath the fierce pleasure. Tane had barely found the tiny nub he’d been searching for before Laylah had reached down to grasp his mohawk and struggled to yank him upward.

“Please.”

Tane had every intention of making her suffer as he had, but his cock was ready to explode, threatening to embarrass him.

Rising upward, he studied the woman spread below him, her eyes dark with passion and her lips parted in anticipation. His gaze slid down the perfect ivory form, with the rose-crested breasts and softly flaring hips.

A stunningly beautiful creature.

That was his.

All his.

“Your wish is my command,” he softly swore, his hands shifting beneath her legs to tilt her upward.

Their gazes locked as he slid into her welcoming heat with one smooth stroke.

Tane froze as a stunning ecstasy combined with a sense of … rightness blazed through him.

God almighty. He would have sworn that he knew everything there was to know about sex.

The women he’d bedded had been entertaining companions for a few hours and he’d done everything in his considerable power to make sure they both enjoyed their time together. But this …

This was touching him in dangerous places. Places he had deliberately kept shut off since the night of the god awful bloodbath.

Ignoring the perilous sensations, Tane softly groaned as he pulled back his hips before pushing slowly back into her tight channel. His hands cupped her ass as he watched her dark lashes lower, her teeth biting into her lower lips as he pressed back into her body.

Magic. There was no other word for what was shimmering through his body.

Pure Laylah magic.

His slow, deliberate pace gradually quickened as her hips rolled upward to meet his thrusts, his initial desire to make this last the entire night being undone by the looming promise of paradise.

Laylah stretched her arms over her head, her soft pants as beautiful as any music as she climaxed.

His fangs ached as he felt the ripples tug at his cock, the compulsion to claim her with his bite almost overwhelming.

Then his own orgasm overtook him, making him forget everything but the shattering pleasure.

They were left to cool their heels in the dungeon until the following evening. Not that Tane protested.

He was recklessly content to share the tiny cell with his beautiful mongrel. An attitude that might have made sense if he’d spent the past hours sating his persistent lust. What vamp wouldn’t enjoy several hours of uninterrupted sex?

Especially when it was mind-blowing, balls-to-the-wall, best-sex-ever sex.

Instead, Tane had held Laylah tightly in his arms as she had tumbled into a deep slumber, clearly exhausted by the past few days.

Hour after hour, he had watched over her, refusing to allow anyone to enter the dungeon, including Uriel, in case they disturbed her.

Dusk was falling when he sensed that Laylah was beginning to stir and realizing she might feel awkward at having him hover over her, he left the cell so she would have privacy to pull on the jeans and T-shirt that Uriel had sent down earlier.