Dead of Night: Book One in the Thorne Hill Series

by Goodwin, Emily

  “Yeah, she is. She just turned a year old and my sister invited me to the party.”

  “Why doesn’t your brother want you to go?”

  I set my phone down on the counter, afraid if I look down and read Scott’s words again, I’ll throw it.

  “The rest of my family…they…” I close my eyes and shake my head. “They don’t have powers.” I open my eyes and look directly at Lucas. “I’m the first and only witch in my family.” The emptiness swirls inside of me, pulling at my heart. “And they hate me for it.”

  I swallow the lump in my throat. “You asked why I left Chicago, well, that’s why. My family is ashamed of who I am. They want to pretend like I don’t exist, and my sister inviting me to her daughter’s birthday party is putting her at risk for ex-communication, I’m sure. God forbid someone finds out I’m—gasp—a witch.”

  “Why would they be ashamed of you? Your powers are incredible. You are incredible.”

  “Tell that to them,” I mutter, and the truth burns inside of me, wanting to come out. Only Kristy, Evander, and our High Priestess know the whole truth. But I can’t bring myself to say it. I don’t want to even think about it. White walls and bright overhead lights flash before me, and the smell of bleach burns my nose. I take another gulp of wine, force my eyes open as wide as they can go, and look around the kitchen, reminding myself I’m not there. I’m here, in a fancy kitchen full of expensive appliances, in the house of a vampire who doesn’t eat food.

  “My family has been into politics for years,” I go on. “My grandpa, my dad, and now my brother’s starting his career in it, and I’ll just say they are very conservative.”

  “They’re against vampires assimilating?”

  “Big time. And vampires are bad enough…can you imagine if it got out that there was a witch in the family?” I let out a heavy sigh. “I’m the shame of the family and was forced for years to hide who I really was. Trust me, leaving Chicago was the best thing for me. And now I have my coven, and they’ve become my new family.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lucas says, and he means it. His brow furrows, face tightening almost as if he’s fighting against the emotions he’s feeling right now. They’re foreign to him, and I get the impression he’s not sure how to process everything.

  “Thanks. And it’s okay now. Well, kind of. It obviously still upsets me, but I’m working on it.”

  “Do you want to go to your niece’s birthday party?”

  “Yes,” I say without hesitation. “I miss my sister, and it’d be great to meet my niece. If I have powers, there’s a chance she could too. And I don’t want her to go through everything I went through.”

  “What did you go through?” he asks slowly, knowing there’s way more to my story than living with disapproving parents.

  “That’s a story for another time.” I offer a small smile and take another sip of wine. “Now I’m the buzz kill. For real.”

  “No,” he says and takes me in his arms. “You’re not at all.”

  “I’m sorry, Lucas. Let’s pretend this never happened and get back to our date. Because I’m having a really good time.”

  My heart is hammering away and blood rushes through me. So many raw emotions are flooding my system right now, yet somehow, Lucas knows exactly what to do. He just gets me.

  Grabbing the bottle of wine, he tops off my glass. “Come with me,” he says and leads me to a rooftop patio. I take another big drink before setting it down on a cast iron table.

  “It’s peaceful out here.” I let out a breath. “More so than I thought.”

  “Yes,” he agrees. “It is.” Coming up behind me, he wraps his arms around my waist. “Do that thing you do with your magic.”

  “What thing?”

  “Where you hold the light in your hand.”

  I rub my thumb over my fingers and conjure a pink string of magic. It twists between my fingers, glowing bright in the night.

  “Anyone who is ashamed of you is a damn fool,” he whispers. “And anyone who thinks you need to hide who you are…I wouldn’t show them the mercy that you have.”

  “They’re my family.”

  “Family doesn’t treat each other like that. You could have anything you want. Make them cower. Make them bleed. You could rule over them.”

  “I don’t want to rule.” I shake my head and look out at the night.

  “What do you want?”

  My breath leaves me, heart swelling in my chest. I spin around, facing Lucas. The emptiness is back, opening up wide. But this time I don’t feel like it’s going to suck me in and bring me down to the abyss. Because this time, I’m not alone. “I just want to be happy.”

  “I do too,” he whispers. “I was starting to think it was impossible, you know.”

  “Do you still?”

  He pushes my hair back behind my ear and traces his finger along a vein in my neck. I inhale quickly, heat rushing through me.

  “No,” he tells me. “I don’t.”

  Chapter 18

  Lucas’s gaze meets my eyes, and I swear if his heart could beat, it would hammer right along with mine. The night stands still around us, and the busy city fades. All I can see is Lucas standing in front of me, looking at me with so much lust in his eyes it’s making me feel like I caught him in the act. Or rather…that he caught me in the act.

  “Your heart is beating faster.” His fingers are barely touching the flesh on my neck, in the slope where it meets my shoulder.

  “Yeah, it does that sometimes.”

  He steps in, bringing his other hand to the hem of my dress. Slowly, he bunches it up and slides his hand along my thigh. My eyes fall shut and I rest my hands on his hips so he can’t see them shaking.

  Inhaling deep, he presses his fingers into the flesh on the back of my thigh. Moving his other hand back up my neck, he pushes it into my hair and brings my head back a bit, exposing my neck to him.

  The wind picks up, blowing my hair around us. I open my eyes to see Lucas’s lips pull back a bit as he draws his fangs.

  “You,” he starts and puts his lips to my neck, gently kissing my skin. A shiver runs through me and my knees threaten to buckle. “Are.” He kisses me again. “Beautiful.” He pulls his lips back, letting his fangs graze along my skin. His hand is already in my hair. He could force me back and drink my blood, draining enough to weaken me in just seconds.

  And enough to kill me in less than a minute.

  He trails kisses down my neck and over my shoulder, pushing the thin strap of my dress out of the way. I tighten my hold on him, afraid of falling if I let go. My eyes flutter shut again, and he presses his fangs down, harder than before but not enough to break the skin. I gasp, thinking he’s going to bite me.

  Because I’m going to let him.

  I want him to.

  To have me.

  Taste me.

  But he doesn’t bite me, and instead kisses and sucks the spot on my neck that sends an instant wave of heat through me. I whimper as he rakes his hand through my hair, bringing his other hand up my thigh and under my dress until it rests on the base of my ass.

  “You didn’t agree with me,” he says and his deep voice rattles right through me.

  “I didn’t…what?”

  “You are exquisite. You’re powerful. You’re beautiful. You…you’ve surprised me more in the few days I’ve known you than others have in their entire lifetimes.”

  I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, trying to keep it from quivering. I’m feeling everything right now. Turned on. Vulnerable. I want to break down and confess everything I’ve repressed. I want to cry about my past, curse everyone who’s hurt me, and tell him about every single heartbreak. And at the same time, I don’t want to say a word. I want him to lay me down on the lounge chair behind us and fuck me hard, making it impossible to feel anything other than the pleasure his big cock brings me.

  “Lucas,” I start, but never get to finish. He puts his lips to mine and the heat rushing through me explod
es, sending tingles of desire to every nerve in my body. Opening my mouth, I deepen the kiss, wrapping my arms around him.

  Bringing his hand down, he grips my ass and pulls me to him. He presses his fangs against my lip just hard enough to send a jolt through me. When he said he was able to control himself, he wasn’t kidding. Though I suppose this is what sixteen hundred years of sex will do.

  Holy shit.

  Lucas has nearly two thousand years of experience. Of perfecting. Of knowing exactly what he likes. Of how to please others. He slides his hand around my leg, going between my thighs. “When I slip my fingers inside your panties, will I find your pussy wet for me?”

  I open my mouth, but it takes me a second to gather a coherent thought. Because his words are making me wetter than I already am.

  “Why don’t you find out?” I pant.

  A guttural growl comes from deep inside his throat and he turns me around so that my ass is pressed right up against his cock, feeling it harden. He gathers my hair in one hand and pulls it to the side. I tip my head, arching my neck and offering it to him. He brings his mouth down, kissing and sucking at my skin. His fangs scrape me as he kisses me, and the bit of pain mixed in with the pleasure makes me even hotter. He’s hardly touched me and I’m getting so wound up, so turned on I don’t know how much longer I can stand it.

  Gathering the hem of my dress in one hand, he brings his other hand down from my hair and between my thighs. Going slow to purposely tease me, he curls one of his long fingers up and sweeps it over my clit.

  The small movement is enough to make me quiver. He grips the inside of my thigh, splaying his fingers, making me desperate for more of his touch. But instead of working his fingers against me, instead of giving me what I want, he releases me and I almost stumble in the dark.

  His hands settle on my waist again, and the bunched-up fabric of my dress falls back around my thighs. I exhale, hyperaware of his every movement, his every touch. My pussy contracts, needing to feel him. His fingers. His lips. His fangs.

  And that big cock, which I’m not entirely sure will fit in me, but I’m craving to feel it push inside, to fill me completely and fuck me into oblivion.

  Kissing my neck, he unzips my dress and lets it fall with a whoosh to the ground around my feet.

  “Turn around,” he orders. “And don’t cover yourself up.”

  Standing in only black panties before him, I swallow hard and turn. My breasts are bathed in overhead light from the houses around us. The breeze blows my hair again, sending a chill through me. Lucas licks his lips, eyes going to my pert nipples, and I remember him saying he wondered how they’d feel against his tongue.

  He’s going to find out tonight.

  His lips pull up, showing off his fangs again. He’s not doing it to scare me, or to threaten me. He’s doing it because he wants me, and he’s having a hard time not throwing me down and having his way with me.

  Because there’s something magnetic between us. And even with all the experience he has, he’s struggling with his self-control right now. It’s not just a want. It’s a need, and we’re both feeling it. Sooner than later, we’re going to cave and give in.

  And it’s either going to be spectacular or disastrous.

  Lucas rushes forward, bringing me to him. My breasts crush against his firm chest. I widen my legs, feeling his cock through his pants. My breath leaves me as he takes a fistful of my hair, putting his mouth to my neck once more.

  This time, I’m sure he’s going to sink his fangs into my flesh and drink my blood. But he doesn’t, and the anticipation of the first bite builds even more.

  He trails kisses down my neck and over my collarbone. I let my head fall back, goosebumps breaking out along my flesh. His tongue lashes out, swirling around my nipple.

  “Ohhh,” I moan, tossing my head back. He circles my nipple again, giving it one hard suck before dropping to his knees. His hands go to my hips and he kisses his way down my stomach, stopping when he gets to my panties. I bring my hand up, sweeping my fingers over my breast, and steal a glance down at Lucas.

  He tips his head up, and the look in his eyes almost does me in. It’s full of lust and hunger, for both my body and my blood. But there’s something else, something that’s hard to explain, and something I don’t want to stop and think about.

  It’s one of the reasons I’m so drawn to him, and it scares me that I recognize that look, that I know that feeling.

  His mouth goes back to me, and he hooks a finger in each side of my panties, inching them down. I bring my hands to his head, burying my fingers in his hair. He pulls my panties down to my knees and then let’s go, letting them drop to the ground with my dress.

  Lucas moves his hands to my ass and brings me to him. He bends down, kissing my thigh. Hard. He bites down and it’s only then I realize he’s retracted his fangs. He’s strong enough to bite right through me without his fangs if he wanted to. But right now, all he wants to do is drive me near the brink of madness by this teasing. If he’s pushing me, seeing how far I’ll go before I turn into a puddle on the floor…he’s not very far off.

  Turning his head up, his nose rubs against me as he opens his mouth. My lips part and a tiny moan comes out. I grip his hair tighter, glancing down with anticipation. He flicks his eyes up, smirking when he looks right at me.

  Then he moves with vampire speed, picking me up and laying me down underneath him on the lounge chair.

  “I want you, Callie,” he growls.

  “I know,” I groan, running my hand along his thigh. My fingers sweep over his hard cock, begging to be released from the tight confines of his pants. “I want you too.”

  “You have to understand.” His voice is deep and gravely with need. “I don’t want to just fuck you. I want you, and fucking you is only the beginning. I. Want. You,” he says slowly. “I want you to be mine.”

  “I…I understand,” I say as a chill runs through me. He wants to claim ownership over me, to make it so no other vampire can drink from me. It’s the vampire way of asking to go exclusive, but with much bigger repercussions. I didn’t know vampires still abided by that rule, as it was very problematic. A vampire as old as Lucas could compel many to become his, and if another vampire laid a fang on them—even unknowingly—he’d have the right by Vampire Law to kill them.

  “I want to be yours.”

  “Do you?” he asks, fangs coming back down. “You know what I am. What I’ve done. What I still do.”

  “I know.” I bend my legs up, pushing my hips against his, and cup his face with my hand. “I know exactly who you are.”

  With that, he kisses me hard, fangs scraping the soft skin inside my lips. He’s not as careful as before, and a tiny bit of blood is drawn. I can taste it, so I know Lucas can too. He groans, slipping his arms underneath me as he grinds his cock against me.

  Suddenly, he flips me over and moves to my side, spooning his body around mine with one hand between my thighs. His finger goes right to my clit and he starts to move it in expert motions, reading my body like a book written just for him. After only a few seconds of touching me, he adjusts his hand, moving it to the perfect spot and hitting me at just the right angle.

  Putting his mouth to my neck again, he gently bites at my skin, still not breaking the flesh, and sucks hard. The sensation drives me crazy, sending a wave of pleasure to my pussy. Lucas feels me getting wetter and speeds up his movements.

  Need surges through me, and my mouth falls open as I feel the orgasm coming on fast and hard. No one has ever worked me up this much and gotten me off this fast.

  But Lucas isn’t anyone.

  I widen my legs, breathing heavily. He slips one finger inside me, slowing his movements down. He pushes it in, finding my G-spot in just seconds. He rubs it with just enough pressure, bringing his thumb back to my swollen clit.

  I’m aching for a release, heart hammering and breath catching. He can hear my heart beating, can tell when I’m right there before I do.
r />   And he stops.

  Stops stroking me.

  Stops moving his fingers.

  A few seconds tick by and I’m lying there, too stunned to move. And then he starts again, slowly rubbing my clit. The build-up comes on slower this time, and I realize what he’s doing as he slides two fingers inside me, rubbing against my inner walls. He’s drawing this out, giving me pleasure only to take it away just long enough to have it build back up even more until it intensely releases.

  And by now I’m desperate. By now, I need to come or I’m going to explode. I writhe against him, bringing one hand down to his wrist, keeping it there. He circles his thumb over my clit faster and faster, not stopping this time until my body shudders, coming so hard wetness spills from me, soaking his hand and the cushion beneath me.

  My ears ring and the string of lights hanging above us flicker. I’m panting, unable to move. The few times I’ve come hard enough to leave wetness beneath me have all been from some serious one-on-one time with my vibrator. No one has ever made me do it.

  Lucas scoops me up, holding me tight to his chest, and moves at vampire speed inside and to his bedroom. I’m still floating on pleasure, pussy still contracting wildly from the orgasm he just gave me as he lays me down on his bed.

  He moves between my legs, holding himself up with his elbows. Feebly, I untuck his shirt and start undoing the buttons. He kisses me while I fumble with the buttons, sitting up when I get to the last one. He takes his shirt off, and even though it’s nearly pitch black in this room, I can’t help but admire him.

  He’s a gorgeous man with pounds of muscle and a small patch of dark hair on his abdomen leading down to his cock. I shift my eyes lower and lick my lips. Using magic, I undo his belt and pull it from his pants.

  Lucas groans, watching me magically strip him bare, and then loses patience and removes his pants. He’s back on top of me, with the gleaming tip of his hard cock hovering over my entrance. I buck my hips, rubbing it against me and moan, not caring how loud I am. Arching my back, I’m ready to welcome his big dick inside me, to feel it fill me completely.