Light Shadows (6 page)

“Scream!”

I feel Dorian’s heartbeat radiate throughout my body, his life sustaining mine. Tears roll down my cheeks into the sweat-slicked hair that sticks to my face. I want to cry out. I want to tell him how good he feels.

I want to scream.

I’m at the brink of insanity, looking over the edge, preparing to fall. But I want him to come with me. I need Dorian to hold my hand as I plunge head first into boundless bliss.

“You feel that, baby?” he asks, panting harshly, fighting his own climax. The tempo of his hips increases, pulling at the orgasm pulsing within me. I know he needs this—I know he wants me to let go. And God…I need to. I can’t hold on anymore.

“Dorian!” I rasp, my voice strained with a sob.

“Dammit, Gabriella!” His fingernails score the skin on my hips and he swells within my walls, thrusting deeper than he ever has. It hurts so damn bad…so damn good. More tears fall from the pain of him breaching my womb, but I scream out with sheer, immeasurable pleasure.

We come together—me crying his name over and over, him growling like a vicious, wild beast devouring his prey. It lasts so long that my knees buckle, and Dorian has to hold me up, his arms encircling my body protectively, as we ride out the violent waves of orgasm.

Exhausted and sore, my head lolls back on his shoulder. Dorian kisses my face and neck softly, tasting the salt of sweat and tears.

“I love you, little girl,” he whispers, so sweet and tender.

“I know,” I barely squeak out. I feel so heavy, so helpless. My whole body is under his rule.

He turns my head so I can see the sincerity in those sparkling blue irises. “And you’re mine, as I am yours. That’s all, Gabriella. There is no one else. Forever.”

I swallow, ingesting the gravity of his words. “I know.”

With very little effort, Dorian scoops me up into his arms and carries me into the scalding hot shower. He places me on shaky feet, winding my arms around his neck so he can support my weight while he washes me.

“You were rough,” I mutter into his chest.

“Yes. You wanted me to be. And I needed to be.” His tone is level, not at all brusque or cold like I expect. Like it was just minutes before while he ruined me to the point of pain.

I lift my head to pin him with a scowl. “You wanted to hurt me?”

“No, Gabriella,” he answers, his soapy hands massaging my back. “I wanted to hurt
with
you. And I wanted you to feel the way you hurt me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Dark part of you…the part that craves carnage and hedonism, it needs to be fed. If you let it go hungry, it may consume you. And you may end up looking for other ways to sate your needs.”

I frown with curiosity. “Like what?”

Dorian lets his soap-slickened hands travel down to my backside, and gently eases his hand to slide against my crease. “Violence, rage…sex.”

“Sex? But I have you—”

“It’s acceptable for our kind to take more than one lover. However, it is not acceptable for me.”

His fingertips caress my puckered flesh and I instantly go still in his arms, distracting me from his earnest declaration. It’s not something I’ve ever tried with anyone, and I’m not sure if I ever want to venture into the backyard.

“Relax, baby,” he coos, circling the rim with a single finger. “Trust me. Lay your head down.”

I do as he says, and he holds me tighter to him, the muscles at his shoulders going tense. He kisses the crown of my head, tucking me under his chin.

“Good girl,” he murmurs in my hair. He applies a little pressure with the tip of his finger, causing me to jerk, yet he holds me firm against his chest. “Shhhh, it’s ok, baby. I’ll take care of you. I promise.”

“Dorian, what are you—”

“Breathe me, Gabriella. Take me inside you. And when I do, your body will open to me, just as my power will open to you.”

“But I…I don’t know how,” I whisper, both afraid and exhilarated to feel Dorian’s magic inside me. He’s given me himself before, as I have given him me. But we’ve never done it like this.

“Just breathe, baby. Take me. Feel me flowing deep inside of you.”

Again, I do as he requests, and as the first lungful of Dorian’s magic caresses my senses, I feel the very tip of his finger penetrate my forbidden tightness. I yelp in surprise, and Dorian stills his advance, yet doesn’t retreat. I inhale the base of his neck again, stifling the burn with the sheer bliss of his essence. It doesn’t really hurt, but it feels wrong to have him
there
, pressing into my most private place.

I smother my face in the warmth of Dorian’s neck, and we both gasp as I take another draw of his power. Every part of me tingles with sensation, and I moan at how good he feels living inside of me. I’m high on his love, drunk with his magic. So much so, that I don’t even protest when I notice his finger slowly moving in and out of me.

I open my mouth to tell him to stop, but find myself moaning instead. Arms still wrapped around his neck, I mute my cries of passion by biting into his shoulder. Dorian groans, but answers my violence by slipping his finger in deeper, stretching me, pushing me to my limits. I quiver in his arms, feeling the fiery coils of pleasure snake up my spine. I don’t fight it this time; I don’t even try. As soon as his other hand slides between our slick, naked bodies and presses against my sensitive mound, I fall apart against his chest, pulsating wildly around Dorian’s finger, stunned and baffled at my body’s reaction to the foreign feeling.

“You did wonderful, baby,” he smiles down at me once I’ve stopped shaking enough to stand up on my own. Dorian laughs.

“What’s so funny?” I pout.

Dorian sucks my protruding bottom lip into his mouth, raking his teeth over it. “Maybe you’re more ready than I initially thought. I expected more resistance from you, stubborn girl.”

I raise a questioning brow. “So you
want
me to fight?”

“Maybe. Maybe I just like to make you squirm.” He smiles crookedly, and I feel myself melting into a puddle at his feet.

“Maybe you just like to control me,” I say playfully, although there’s something solemn in my words. “Maybe you want to ruin me just so you can make me whole again. So I’m completely dependent on you for pleasure…and for pain.”

Dorian smirks, sex and sin gleaming in his eyes. “Maybe.”

“I NEED TO go to Paralia and check in with Morgan. She probably thinks I’m laying in a ditch somewhere. Can I borrow your car?”

“Absolutely not,” Dorian answers brusquely.

Huh?
I yank a t-shirt over my head and cross my arms in front of me, awaiting his answer with more than a touch of attitude.
“Well, would you mind giving me a ride?”

“I’ll take you, but I’m not leaving you there alone.”

I roll my eyes and let out an exasperated breath.
Here we go again.
“Dorian, that’s my home. I’m going to be there alone sometimes. Besides, it’s protected, according to you.”

“Protected from Otherworldlings. Not from humans.”

What the hell?
“Otherworldlings?”

Dorian takes a deep breath and tosses a black tee on the bed before striding over to me, his worn jeans still unbuttoned and displaying the sexy V of his defined torso. God, his body will never get old to me. I have to pinch myself just to keep from drooling in my lustful trance.

“Otherworldlings, Gabriella, are those like me. And like you. We are not of the human world. Our kind was birthed long before the existence of man.”

“Got it. Makes sense,” I nod.

“Paralia is warded from most Otherworldlings, Nikolai and Cyrus being the exception. After what happened today, I’m not taking any more chances.”

I roll my eyes. “Who’s going to hurt me, Dorian? Will Morgan attack me with a curling iron? Or will five-pound rat-dog Dolce yap me to death?”

Dorian runs a hand through his still-damp, methodically messy hair, rousing the style into something even more enticing. “Gabriella…”

“Gabriella nothing. And while we’re on the subject, I don’t appreciate you banishing me to the kiddie table either.”

He purses his lips, his nostrils flaring with annoyance. “I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“Um, how about,
“Gabriella, go take a long, hot bath. You don’t want to see this. The adults are talking.”
Seriously? I’m not a child.”

“Then stop acting like one,” Dorian snaps, his tone so cold I can almost see the condensation of his breath. He scrubs a hand over his face, taking a moment to contemplate his next words. “Gabriella, I lost you once. You died in my arms. I watched as your blood pooled and spilled over onto the floor, and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it. I don’t want to go through that again. I
can’t
go through that again.” He takes my face in his hands and kisses both eyelids gently before looking down at me. “You’re my life, little girl. You die, I die with you.”

“And you won’t. You won’t go through that again, Dorian. You have to trust that I can take care of myself.”

“I do, Gabriella. It’s the rest of the world I don’t trust.”

I look up at his earnest expression, seeing all the love I have for him reflected in his eyes. As barbaric and old-fashioned as he can be, I know that all he wants is to keep me safe. And if the tables were turned, I’d be the same way. See, 20-year old, human Gabriella would have stomped her feet until she got her way or defied him behind his back. Older, wiser, ascended Gabriella realizes how lucky she is just to have Dorian in her life. Hell, she’s lucky to even be alive.

“Fine,” I huff.

“Fine?”

“Fine. We’ll do things your way if you feel I’m really in danger. But no more hiding things from me, ok? I’m not so fragile anymore.”

Dorian pulls my body against his so we’re chest to chest, our heartbeats thrumming together in synchronized harmony. “No, not fragile. But I can still break you.”

WE STEP OUT into the living room to find that we’re alone. A wave of relief washes over me as I realize that our raucous shower session may not have been audible for both Alexander and Niko. Not only that, the room is completely restored into its usual meticulous state. The mahogany hutch is no longer reduced to a pile of splintered wood against the wall. Lamps and vases are neatly placed in their designated spots, fully intact. And the grand chandelier hangs above us, affixed with a thousand crystal teardrops.

I shake my head at the sheer brilliance that is my Dark Prince. Even if he is a little OCD, he is mine. Besides, his neurosis pales in comparison to my colorful circus of crazy.

“Nikolai and Alexander left to handle the…body. They’re waiting downstairs in the car,” Dorian says, grabbing his butter-soft, worn leather jacket. It’s overcast today, and with this many Dark forces inhabiting the town of Colorado Springs, I wouldn’t be surprised if it started pouring down rain.

When we arrive at Paralia’s gates, Niko pulls over to the shoulder before we can cross the threshold.

“You have to let Alex in, D,” he says from the driver’s seat. “You know he can’t get through.”

Dorian stares daggers at the back of Alex’s head from his seat beside me in the back. “Do I?”

I nudge him with my elbow. “Yes. You do.” I don’t understand his misplaced animosity. Alexander is his best friend, and my father. Why does he seem so wary of the man he spent the better part of a century with?

Dorian peers down at me from the corner of his eye, and the edge of his mouth twitches before he leans forward to grasp Alexander’s shoulder. The backseat window beside him descends just as a clap of thunder rattles the sky, slicing open the heavens. He closes his eyes, drawing strength and energy from the rapidly brewing storm, and begins to chant, a low hum in the Dark tongue.

“What’s he doing?” I whisper, scooting closer to Niko.

“Opening the ward and extending it around Alexander. Watch.”

As soon as he says the words, a pearlescent sheen manifests around the perimeter of the apartment complex, extending for almost two blocks. I watch in awe as it bends and shimmies, almost pulsating in an array of muted color. Dorian calls out to it, concentrating furiously to avoid breaking it as it stretches like a rubber band around the vehicle.