Shadow Keeper

by Feehan, Christine

  She dropped her hands and the loss of support set her breasts swinging. The chain followed suit, as did the heavier sapphires. More fire. More liquid. This time she felt the inside of her thighs dampen. It was hot. It was sexy.

  “You’re so gorgeous. Look in the mirror.” Giovanni indicated the wall across from the bed, the one that was mirrored from the floor to the ceiling.

  Sasha turned and walked over to it. Every step she took set her breasts swaying. She’d never felt anything like it in her life. Her breasts were on fire, so was her sex. She looked … enticing. Sexy. Her body was flushed beneath the gossamer gown. Her hair was still piled on top of her head, leaving her shoulders bare. Nothing was really left to the imagination, yet the stretch fabric seemed to enhance her natural beauty. If nothing else, it gave her courage.

  Her gaze was drawn immediately to her breasts. Giovanni’s marks were all over the soft mounds. The blue of the gemstones caught the light and sparkled. The chain was loose and swung with every movement. If there had been music, she would have been tempted to dance.

  “Come here and eat something, baby.”

  His voice. She loved the way he sounded. She tried to think about the conversation she’d planned on having with him, but the fire shooting from her nipples to her clit short-circuited her brain. It was easier to follow his instructions. She went back to the bed slowly, loving the way his gaze was glued to her body.

  He patted the middle of the bed, and she crawled up. Even that was sensual, her breasts swinging as she went to all fours. The weight of the sapphires sent fire licking over her nipples and breasts. She was deliberately slow, wanting him to be as aroused as she was. The tray held strawberries and whipped cream along with cheeses and honey.

  “Scoot all the way to the headboard, Sasha. It will be more comfortable.” He put the tray beside her and then stood up to unbutton his shirt and remove the rest of his clothes.

  She took cheese and smeared the slice with honey before eating it, all the while watching him. He was definitely every bit as aroused as she was. He moved back up the bed and nudged her legs apart. She accommodated him but it wasn’t enough. He pushed her thighs much wider, caught the little panties and yanked. They hadn’t been doing that much good anyway.

  She took another bite of cheese. It was delicious. Really delicious. A glass of ice was on the tray and a bottle of water with the cap on it. He’d thought of everything. His hand moved up her inner thigh to settle over her entrance.

  “I love that you’re so ready for me.”

  She was. Just his touch brought more heat. He dipped a strawberry in the whipped cream, put it in his mouth and leaned over to kiss her. His chest brushed her breasts, and she gasped as fire burst through her like a roaring conflagration. Instantly the strawberry was in her mouth, and he was rubbing ice all over her breasts and around her nipples. The contrast of fire and ice bordered somewhere between pain and pleasure. Maybe both. It didn’t matter. She wanted more.

  Her clit pulsed and throbbed. Her sex wept and clenched. He caught her hand and brought it down to her dripping, slick sex. “Put your fingers in. You feel that scorching heat? That’s all mine.” He brought her hand to his mouth and licked her fingers.

  She had no idea why she found everything he did so sexy, but his every action just made her want him more. He let go of her hand and took a finger full of whipped cream and painted her with it, then pushed more inside her. He chased it with his tongue, and she couldn’t help the cry of need that escaped.

  He took his time, devouring her, making it impossible to do anything but push into him, desperate for more. Giovanni kept all control, refusing to do one single thing other than torment her with his fingers, his tongue and his teeth. He used the ice on her clit and then flicked her, nearly bringing her off the bed. The fire was in reverse now, rushing from her sex to her breasts. That didn’t seem good enough for him. He suddenly reached up, caught the chain and pulled it to him.

  Her nipples had been settling but that movement caused explosions to go off, both through her breasts and deep inside her core. Her sheath spasmed. “Giovanni!” She cried out his name, uncertain whether she wanted him to stop or go on forever.

  He smiled and tugged a second time. His smile was pure sin. Pure wickedness. Her breath rushed from her lungs and her body nearly went over the edge. She was close. Tension coiled tight. She needed … “More.”

  He moved the tray, setting it on the floor, and then his fingers pushed an ice cube deep into her. She cried out, her bottom lifting off the bed, when his teeth raked her clit. He caught her waist, dragged her down the bed and flipped her over. The moment her clamped nipples hit the mattress, the weight of her body on them, a burst of fire radiated outward. He caught her hips and dragged her to her knees. Now her breasts swung free, the sapphire gems pulling, stretching. Fire poured over her skin, until every nerve ending in her body was alive.

  His mouth was everywhere, his teeth, his fingers. He took full advantage of her position, claiming every inch of her as his own. She tried to impale herself on his hard cock. It was so close, at times pressed against her buttocks as he kissed his way down her spine. His hand smacked hard on her firm cheeks. Her sex spasmed. Her breasts rocked. The sapphires swung. The smacks grew harder as she bucked her hips, seeking more.

  “So close. I’m so close.” She sobbed it. Chanted it. “More.” She just needed.

  Her brain was gone and some part of her knew it, but it didn’t matter. Her body was going up in flames. Then he was inside her, a brutal, shocking invasion, one she welcomed. The cry turned to another sobbing demand. “More.” He had to move. He had to be as out of control as she was.

  His fingers tightened on her hips and then he was driving into her, over and over. His ferocious thrusts jolted her breasts, sending them swaying and bouncing. The sapphires danced with the heavier chain, tugging and pulling, pinching the way his fingers tugged and pulled. The nerve endings on her reddened bottom sent heat flaring through her. There wasn’t a place on her body that wasn’t his.

  “More.” He was taking her to a place she hadn’t known existed and she wanted to go there with him. She needed to.

  One hand slid up her back, caught her around the throat and tilted her head back. That arched her back even more, increasing the fire streaking through her nipples to her core. Her body tightened around his cock.

  “No. Breathe through it. It will be worth it, I promise,” he said. “Don’t let go yet.”

  She tried to breathe. His palm, curled around her throat, restricted her air somewhat. She didn’t care, she loved that her head was pulled back and her breasts were on fire. It was a good fire. It was pleasure beyond her imaginings. She fought off her orgasm, concentrating on making it every bit as pleasurable for him. Thinking only of him. What he wanted. What he needed.

  “So fucking hot,” he whispered. “That’s my girl. So beautiful.”

  She felt like molten lava. She hoped it felt that way to him. She tightened her inner muscles, tried to strangle him with her sheath. She could count his wild heartbeats right through his cock. He was stretching her, growing wider and longer as he pistoned into her. So deep. So much a part of her. Swelling. Pushing at her inner walls. His cock was hot steel, scorching her, branding her.

  “Giovanni!” She wasn’t going to be able to hold back.

  “Now, baby.” He smacked her buttocks again as he slammed his cock deep. Hard. Jolting her body. Her breasts jolted, too, gems tugging while the clamps pinched tighter. Heat radiated outward, seemed to encompass her entire body. She couldn’t catch her breath, feeling dizzy and on fire. Then she was exploding, fragmenting, rocketing out to space. It went on and on, long vicious but luscious waves that kept her gasping and shuddering—that kept her body clamped down on his, milking every drop of his seed from him.

  She eventually collapsed, and the burst of fire as her nipples dragged over the mattress triggered another massive tsunami. His cock was still hard and very sensitive. The
scorching wave of liquid honey bathing him made him shudder right along with her. He collapsed over top of her, adding his weight, crushing her, but she didn’t care. Her body still pulsed and throbbed, as the aftershocks shook her. She floated somewhere, maybe with the stars, they seemed to be all around her. Giovanni threaded his fingers through hers and they lay like that for a long while.

  He moved first, rolling off her and gently turning her over. “Stay still, baby,” he said, his fingers at the clamp on her left nipple. He took it off and pain rushed through her, a thousand needles, each one hotter than a flame. She cried out and he latched on, his mouth engulfing her, sucking gently, his tongue lashing occasionally so that deep in her core her muscles spasmed in delicious reaction. He kissed her breast, and then his fingers were on the other clamp.

  Sasha held her breath. He leaned down and bit the side of her neck. “Breathe, baby.”

  She forced air through her lungs, and he removed the clamp. The blood surged in and a thousand matches flared against her tender nipple. His mouth took that sting, too. He spent time on her breasts, each strong pull of his mouth or flick of his tongue on her nipples sending another spasm through her sex.

  “Can you sit up?”

  She did so reluctantly. She was tired and sated, although his cock was still semihard. She couldn’t believe he could still need more. She pushed into a sitting position.

  Giovanni took ice into the palm of his hands and held it over her nipples. “Did you like the clamps?”

  She had. She was fairly certain she could have come just from the clamps alone. She nodded. “They’re beautiful and they make me feel sexy. I like the pinch. It feels like your fingers on me. I think I could get addicted to them.”

  “I like the way you respond in them, but I don’t want you too sore.”

  “Sore can be good. It reminds me of being with you whenever I move. I like that.”

  His smile told her he liked that as well. “You wanted answers regarding my family, Sasha. I want to give them to you, but you’re going to need an open mind. I want you to think about what I tell you before you react.”

  She couldn’t think. She was still a little dizzy and she wanted a clear head when he talked to her about his family. The way his hands were moving on her breasts, swirling the ice around, making little patterns, and as it melted following the drips with the pads of his fingers, was distracting. Still, she didn’t want him to stop. She liked looking at his erection. He was impressive, and thick. Even resting he was thick. Unbidden, she thought about taking him in her mouth. How would she make all of him fit? She wanted to be able to take all of him.

  “Baby, are you going to pay attention?”

  She nodded her head and pulled her gaze back up to his. He was looking at her breasts, stroking his fingers over her nipples gently, as if to take away any lingering ache. Instead, he was producing an ache. It was deep inside her core, small, but persistent. Pulsing there.

  “Sometimes, there are people—criminals—who get away with their crimes. For some reason, they’re able to fall through the cracks, or a jury finds them not guilty when in fact they are. Oftentimes they are powerful individuals, men or women who buy or threaten their way out of trouble. The crimes can be petty or they can be serious, anything from rape to murder. When our justice system has failed, that’s where our family comes in.”

  His hand moved down her rib cage to drop to her thigh. She was acutely aware of the heat. His palm seemed to burn right through her skin. She needed to focus on his words, not his hands. Again, she couldn’t summon up the strength to tell him not to touch her. She wanted his touch. She loved the way he stroked and caressed her skin as if she meant something to him. As if he couldn’t stop any more than she could stop him.

  “How would someone know to contact you, and how do you keep the police from coming after your family, if you’re the ones to carry out justice when no one else will? That has to be done by illegal means.” She knew it would have to be. More than just intellectually knowing, it was the blatant aura of danger and mystery surrounding his family that gave them away.

  “Anyone can make an appeal for a meeting, and all meetings are conducted in person.”

  “That’s risky, Giovanni. You could have a cop or FBI agent investigating your family.”

  “Ssh, baby.” His hand slipped around to her inner thigh. “Let me tell you how it works and then you can give me any objections.”

  She nodded, since the hand caressing the inside of her thigh distracted her from being able to breathe, let alone speak.

  “Eloisa takes those meetings. She, like all of those with what Francesca calls ‘shadow blood,’ is able to hear lies. Most of us have other gifts as well, but that one in particular is extremely important. That allows her to weed out any potential threat to us. She chats casually with a potential client. That establishes a pattern in breathing. Heartbeat. Inflections in their voice.”

  Her gaze jumped to his face when his finger began to make circles on her inner thigh. The circle took him very close to her now throbbing mound. Her heart seemed to beat right through her clit. He wasn’t looking at her face, but at her breasts. The moment she realized where he was looking, her nipples tightened. Just that little movement sent a fresh flood of liquid to coat the walls of her sheath in anticipation.

  His finger swiped across her entrance, collecting the liquid. He brought his finger to her left nipple, smeared it with her cream and leaned in to suck it off. She closed her eyes. He was so naturally sensual. Everything he did made her feel as if she was the sexiest woman in the world. He couldn’t keep his hands or his gaze off her.

  “I love the way you respond to me.” He kissed his way up her throat to her mouth. He spent a good deal of time kissing her over and over. When he finally lifted his head, he gave her a mock glare. “You have to quit distracting me. I need to tell this to you.”

  “I’m not taking responsibility,” she denied, but she shifted her legs, drawing them up tailor-fashion, which opened her thighs for him just in case he wanted to keep making those little circles that were driving her out of her mind.

  He cleared his throat. “Eloisa is considered a ‘greeter’ now. Greeters can be anyone in the family born with the gift to hear lies. There are normally two greeters so that the petitioner can be heard by both. The greeters need to be in agreement about whether or not an investigation is warranted. Phillip, my father, is gone now, so she does it alone.”

  “That’s so sad for her.”

  He didn’t comment on that. “The greeter listens to the potential client. Once they get casual conversation out of the way, the greeter will ask the client why he or she came. After that, they remain silent. They don’t encourage or discourage any part of the client’s story. They don’t comment one way or the other. That way, if they do miss someone from law enforcement, no one can say they did or said anything that could be construed as illegal. Once the client has finished, the greeter simply thanks them for coming and escorts them to the door.”

  “So even the client doesn’t have a clue if your family will help.” She wanted to take his hand and put it back on her thigh. Instead, she reached for the water bottle. The action had her breasts swaying. Once again, she was totally aware of every nerve ending in her body.

  Her gaze dropped to his groin. He was beautiful. There was no question about it. If she could have drawn, she would have drawn him. Or sculpted him. He was that beautiful.

  “That’s right, they don’t,” he continued. “The greeter makes up the report, and if he or she thinks it’s warranted, they pass the information on to the investigators. Each family has two teams of investigators. My aunt and uncle form one team, and two male cousins form the other. I have two female cousins who are hell on wheels with computers. They do all the necessary research into the crime and pass it on to the investigators.”

  “Why are there two teams?”

  “One team works the crime, and the other learns everything they can about the c
lient. The investigators hear lies, but they also can compel others to talk, to open up and tell them anything they want to know. They investigate quietly and with great patience. It’s important we don’t make mistakes. We have to know everything there is to know about both the client and the criminal. We need to know routines, where they live and work, who lives with them, who works with them. Every detail of their lives. Both teams of investigators have to agree that the criminal did in fact commit the crime and the client wasn’t just trying to get back at someone they didn’t like.”

  Sasha was fascinated with Giovanni’s cock. She was listening, taking in what he said, and that was fascinating, too, but just the way he was formed made her mouth water. She really thought that she could listen while she tasted him. She was that talented. She let her hand slide up his thigh while he dipped a strawberry in whipped cream and fed it to her. Her tongue slid around his finger the way it wanted to do around his cock. His cock jerked. So receptive.

  “This is where we come in. My family. We’re riders. That’s what you and your brother would have been had you been born in our family. Your training would have started at two. One has to start early or the tearing at the body can be deadly.”

  Okay, that distracted her. Her palm rested on his inner thigh, nestled close to his velvetlike balls. She could feel the heat on the back of her hand. “What would tear my body apart?”

  “People like us are capable of riding the shadows. Essentially, we can move from one shadow to the other unseen. The shadows form tubes. You can see how your shadow throws out tubes, or connecters. It’s very different from other people’s shadows. Our shadows connect and take us inside those tubes. We can go anywhere in a city. A door can’t keep us out if the shadow moves under the door. It feels almost as if …”

  “Your body is flying apart. The pull is very strong.” She said it absently, as if it came from some memory long ago. She raised her eyes to his. “When I was little, I used to feel that sensation sometimes. Sandlin told me it was the pull of the shadows. It never took me anywhere, but both of us could step into the shadows and kind of disappear. Not really, but it was very hard to see us.”