Microsoft Word - 1606017438-Of-Night-and-Desire-Bailey.doc (31 page)

He scowled as he looked at her chest. She looked down at the ripped bodice exposing her breasts clad in her lace brassiere. Hastily, she used her arms to cover herself. Tracing the outline of the red finger marks and bruising on her arms, he growled low. Before she could say anything, he looked down the length of her body. She dropped her arms to use the remnant of her skirt to try and cover the bruises and scratches on her legs.

He clutched her upper arms. She looked away, not daring to meet his eyes, but he shook her until she looked him in the face.

“What happened!” he demanded.

“It’s nothing, Valya. I’m here with you now.”

“I can smell the stench of another man on you! I want to know what happened!” She felt his mind probing hers so she swiftly erected a wall. She

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didn’t want him to see, didn’t want him to know. He would overreact and never allow her to be out of his sight if he knew. He kept trying to get past the blocks, but she held them effortlessly, causing him to become more agitated.

“Please, Valya. You’re hurting me.” She made the comment

nonchalantly, but he released her as if she were on fire. She slid down off the counter to open the door and head for the kitchen for a glass of water, also, to put some distance between them as she could feel his energy vibrating off him like a tuning fork. Without turning, she could feel him following her, watching her with the eyes of a hunter.

Richelle stepped carefully around Shadow, asleep on the floor, as she took a glass from the counter and filled it half full with tap water. After finishing it, she went around the bar on the opposite side from Valya, not wanting to get too close. But he was not letting her off the hook.

“I want to know what happened, Richelle.”

“It was nothing. There were some Believers at the carnival, that’s all.

Jonathon and I had to hide for a while until we could get away.”

“There’s more to it than that. Jonathon was hurt. Your dress, your arms, your…legs…” Valya snarled. “They
touched
you!
My
woman! Tell me what happened, Richelle!”

“Let it be, Valya. It’s over, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“From now on, when you leave this apartment, it will be with me! You will not be alone again!” His nostrils flared as he issued his command.

He continued to try and see inside her mind, to see what had really happened. He couldn’t penetrate the wall she had built around her thoughts, but Richelle could feel his fury.

She stood defiantly against him, her eyes flashing in anger as she defended her actions.

“You have no idea what it’s like, Valya, to live your whole life in secret, in hiding. To not be around other people because their thoughts are painful to you. And to have every person you ever cared for ripped away from you.”

Her body was trembling, not in fear but in resentment as she continued on with her tirade. “I’ve missed a lifetime,
my
lifetime. And now those doors have been opened and I can finally step out into the world and be a part of it.”

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He grunted his disapproval. The air tingled with electricity as well as their rampant emotions. His rage was flagrant, his body shaking with rage as she saw a flicker of his animalistic nature in his eyes. She held her ground.

“And now you want me to go back into hiding, forget everything I’ve seen and done, forget being a part of the human race because it’s too dangerous? The world is dangerous, Valya. As long as men are consumed by their own pettiness, jealousies, and lust, the world is dangerous. But it’s also exciting and wonderful and beautiful. And I want to be a part of that beauty. Can’t you understand that?”

His eyes narrowed, fixating on her as his tone lowered to an ominous pitch.

“I understand that there is a crazed madman searching for you. No, not just searching,
hunting
for you. He has spent
his
lifetime hunting for you. If he finds you, if he takes you to Luka, then you will be lost to me forever. I have searched for you for centuries. I waited for you until you became a woman and could become my life mate. I will not allow you to be taken from me. And I will kill any man who dares try.”

She felt a shudder run through her at his bold words, not doubting for a moment their sincerity or his ability to carry out his vow of retribution. But despite his authoritarian manner, he had to allow her freedom. She refused to live life as a bird in a gilded cage. She had just found her wings and wanted to learn how to fly. In the end, she knew she would succumb to Valya and his mastery of her heart but not now.

She raised her chin in a weak show of bravado. He was powerful and potent. He was her life mate, and she could deny him nothing. If he commanded her, she would obey because he was powerful, and she truly loved him with all that was in her. But she would not obey meekly. Her self-respect demanded she show how strong she could be even though in the end she knew Valya would win.

“You will obey me in this, Richelle. I will not let you put yourself in danger.” His hands were clenched into tight fists. “You are my heart, Richelle, and I will never harm you. However, there is punishment for disobedience, even among Immortals.” But she was not an Immortal. She was human, born with free will.

“You must trust me, Richelle. Your safety, the safety of our children takes precedence over anything else. Obey me.”

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“No,” she replied quietly. He stared at her in disbelief. His knuckles turned white as he clenched and unclenched his fists at her refusal. She felt his anger simmering just beneath the surface ready to explode, but she held fast.

“No? What do you mean ‘no’?”

“What part of ‘no’ didn’t you understand? I will not be treated as a child to be sent to her room without dinner. I am a grown woman and I will do as I like.”

He rumbled at her insolence, his eyes becoming bright, colors swirling before them. She knew how difficult this was for him. No one had ever defied him over the centuries. He was a Guardian used to everyone bowing to his will.

But she had a will, and mind, of her own and she refused to let him take it away from her. He would have to learn to trust her as well. He had to understand that, as his life mate, she would look to him for protection and surrender her love to him, but he could not arbitrarily take her freedom. She lowered her chin and softened her words in the hopes of swaying him in his demand for obedience.

“Valya, please, I want you to teach me to fly. Show me all the wondrous things in this world there are to enjoy. But, please, don’t lock me away like a nightingale in a gilded cage. Please. Let me sing.”

* * * *

Furrowing his brow, he searched her eyes as if he would find the answer there to all the emotions churning within him. How could he give her leave to come and go as she wanted, as she needed, to find and define the woman she was becoming and yet, have her stay where she was safe from the world and from those bent on destroying her?

The beast in him roared his displeasure.
She is mine. Mine to cherish, to
protect, to love!
The man he was wanted to be reasonable and compromise.

He didn’t want Richelle to hate him. But the beast wanted his mate, he wanted to fuck! And the beast didn’t care about understanding or approval or love. All the beast wanted was her obedience and submission. His face became taut, the harsh lines giving the appearance of a fearsome scowl as he drew his lips back, baring his fangs and emitting a low growl.

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“You will obey me in this, Richelle.”

“No.”

He focused on Richelle, her small gasp barely audible as he listened to her rapid heartbeat thrumming in his head. He was slipping into the maddening bloodlust fed by her intoxicating pheromones laced with her mounting fear.

“You will obey me in this, Richelle!”

“No!”

His anger vibrated through the room. She made the mistake of taking a step back toward the door, and he sprang like a wolf at her.

He crossed the room separating them in a blink of an eye, grabbing her roughly by her shoulders and pulling her to his chest. One hand fell to the small of her back, pressing her body against his, while the other fisted into her hair, turning her head to face him.

In that moment, she let the walls down surrounding her mind, and Valya was able to glimpse what she had been so desperately trying to hide. He saw the other men’s hands on Richelle, trapping her into their embrace. He saw how one man pawed her breasts as the other rubbed his cock against her ass.

And then how he leaned down to capture her mouth, taking… The beast within him roared, and he released her only for a moment to rip the offensive clothing from her body.

There was no shimmering to remove them nor any gentle peeling to reveal the skin he loved to taste and touch. He tore her clothes to shreds, destroying what
that
man had touched so it would never again touch her before gripping her, his fist pulling tightly on her hair, pulling her head back and baring her throat to him.

Her naked skin became sensitized, the buttons of his black silk shirt rubbing unmercifully against her aroused nipples. He gave her no choice as he wedged his leg between her thighs. Her clit rasped against his leather pants causing her labia to grow thick and swollen. Her juices flowed until she felt the slickness along his pants leg.

And then his mouth came down on hers in a fanatical possession, his tongue thrusting into her mouth as she whimpered against the sensual assault. He had an intensity simmering just beneath his skin much like an electric shock from shuffling across the floor wearing wool socks. No, it

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was fiercer, like when your skin felt prickly during an electrical storm. No, like being struck by lightning.

She should have been frightened with all that power humming between them, but all she could do was moan in ecstasy at his possession, so complete and commanding. She knew he would never hurt her. So while he was reasserting his ownership of her body, she reveled in the knowledge she controlled his heart.

She mewled as her body softened against his, trying to soothe the savage beast, but Valya was not having any of that. She sensed only the beast and his need to dominate and fuck his mate - there would be no pacifying him back into his cage. The bloodlust rode high and hard, running like hot lava through his veins as he imprisoned Richelle’s lips beneath his own questing mouth. He was unrelenting and unyielding in his demands with the need to mark Richelle permanently as his. His body demanded he mark her with his scent, to sate his hunger with her blood and body, and fill her with his seed so that no man would dare come near her. Before the night was through, she would know the punishment in her defiance and the ecstasy he could give her for obedience. Abruptly, he released her, pushing her away. As she struggled to regain her balance, he turned and tore the shirt from his body, and buttons flew across the room. She stared in awe at his manly chest, broad and smooth as it tapered to his slim waist and washboard abs. He was mouthwatering in his masculine beauty, so virile and so…male.

He tossed his shirt aside and reached for her again, crushing her to his frame. His chest abrading her nipples elicited another long moan. His hand fisted in her hair; pulling her head back, he leaned down and began to devour her neck. His fangs scratched the delicate tissue and then his tongue and lips came and laved the hurt away. It was a delicious torment, one she didn’t want to stop as her hands drifted down his back, his sinewy muscles twitching beneath her touch.

She pulled at his hair, trying to draw his lips to hers, to have him possess her mouth as he did before. He threw his head back, hissing as he bared his fangs in savagery. He gripped her wrists, pulling them from his hair and then covering her mouth. His tongue forced his way between her lips to battle with her tongue for dominance. She was no match for him as he plundered her mouth, and all the while, one thought ran through his fevered mind…
mine
.

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He tightened his grip to the point of pain as she tried to pull her wrists free. It was to no avail.

“Valya, please,” she pleaded. He didn’t respond to her plea. Instead he demanded her mouth, kissing her fully with a fevered obsession. She wasn’t sure of what she was pleading for. His actions should have her terrified with his strength and power. But instead of being frightened, he had aroused her to a point where she felt mounting pain as she tried to reach a rapture he had only begun to show her. He could never truly frighten her, understanding his primitive reactions better than he did with what she had learned about Immortals.

They had lived through the times where women had no rights and were considered to be no more than chattel—to be picked up and discarded at the whim of a man, be it her father, brother, or husband. But because their race was dwindling in numbers due to the lack of females, the survival of their women had become the utmost priority. An Immortal female became more than just a possession. She became the most prized treasure a man could hold, and he would go to any length for her protection.

Little wonder an Immortal viewed the protection of women as a sacred duty. No sacrifice was too great to ensure the survival of their females or of any female. Each male took it upon himself to protect their race, their future progeny. For each female held the future of her race in her womb, in her ability to bear children. And if an Immortal found his life mate, then he would take ownership of her life, not allowing her to come to any harm.

As a child, Duncan would tell her tales of Immortals who had lost their life mates and chose to perish beside them, not merely because of their bonded life forces and love, but also because they could not live with the guilt of failing to protect the one they cherished most.

Pride and love—taken to excess—were considered two of the seven deadly sins.