The Darkling's Desire (6 page)

“Do it.” His stare flickered to her eyes, questioning. She
repeated her words. “Do it. I want you. I want this, and everything that comes
with it.”

Everything that comes with it…
like
her newfound powers. But that would be a worry for another time. Here and now
there was nothing but the two of them.

Jasper laced his fingers beneath her head, cushioning the base
of her skull. He began to move inside her again, slow, sensual rocks of his
hips. When her breathing again became irregular, and her pulse again spiked, he
slid his fangs into the tender skin below her ear.

Anastasia’s world went Technicolor. Rainbows danced behind her
closed lids, twined tightly with the dark grey of pleasure-pain. The two
sensations blended together, and as Jasper pulled her life’s energy into his
body, Anastasia came, flying higher than she ever had in her life.

As one pleasure ended, another began. Her skin began to tingle,
her flesh to swell as if absorbing some substance that filled her every cell.
Sparkles of white light danced in the air above her head as she felt magic fill
her being. She crested again, Jasper moving inside of her, staring down at her
with awe.

Her release this time was buffered by magic, and as it screamed
through her she was certain that she left her body for a moment, floating for
seconds on end, suspended in pure bliss.

When she came to, Jasper had his head propped on one hand and
was watching her with that same look of awe. She felt awe herself, felt the
magic of both sides of her heritage in her flesh.

She also felt the magic of love. Her love, Jasper’s love.

She couldn’t ask for more than that.

The golden light of day had faded into night once again, far
too soon for Anastasia’s liking. She wanted to stay there, in that small
room—that little world that she and Jasper had created together.

They couldn’t.

Rain drizzled down from the gray clouds overhead, dampening
Anastasia’s hair as they stepped out of the room, hand in hand. Across the
parking lot she immediately picked out the two figures that were standing still,
watching them.

Only the day before she would have had to squint, to see if
what she thought she saw was real, or simply shadows. Now she could see the
couple in high definition without any effort at all…the amethyst veins running
beneath Aubrey Hart’s skin, the droplets of water in Gavin Thibodeau’s spiked
hair.

The day before, too, she would have felt nerves. Jasper had
contacted the couple through Esme, had communicated enough that they all
understood that change had to begin with them.

Was she ready to buck the Council, to initiate change to the
supernatural order of things?

Turning, she looked up at her very own Darkling. His jaw was
set in the stoic expression that she knew now was just his way. The shadows of
early evening made the planes of his face stand out in sharp relief, and the
rain dampened his hair to dark gold. Her insides melted a bit as she looked at
him, and she couldn’t help but feel giddy.

She had always been strong, and that hadn’t changed. But
whatever lay ahead, whatever had to be done, they would face it together.

* * * * *

Read Aubrey Hart and Gavin Thibodeau’s
story in
The Darkling’s
Surrender
by Lauren Hawkeye,
available now
from Harlequin Nocturne Cravings.

Two weeks ago, Dr. Aubrey Hart had still been alive. Now
she’s a vampire, undead and starving, with a maker who shows no interest in
helping her adjust to her new abilities.

Forced to either feed or die, Aubrey is drawn to her former
supervisor Dr. Gavin Thibodeau—a man who arouses both hunger and desire. Her
irresistible cravings lead them to an explosive erotic encounter
and
her first feeding. But when her attempt to erase
the memory of their night together from Gavin’s mind fails, it becomes clear
that their passion may have unleashed a force she never could have ever
predicted….