Prince of Air and Darkness

by Jenna Black

  Jackson waved a brief greeting, then went back to tending his gourmet meal. He was looking mighty proud of himself. Hunter looked back and forth between the two of them curiously, and Kiera tried to think of a tactful way to tell him she hadn’t actually invited him to dinner. Jackson, unfortunately, thought tact was overrated.

  “I’m afraid I fibbed a bit,” he called to Hunter. “I’m the one who invited you tonight, not Kiera.” He came out of the kitchen, drying his hands on a paper towel. He turned his attention to Kiera, though not without giving Hunter a none-too-subtle visual once-over. “The sauce is ready, and the spaghetti will be done in three more minutes. I think you can take it from here.”

  “I am going to skin you alive next time I see you,” she growled at him, but he was undaunted.

  “Dessert’s in the fridge, and I see Hunter thoughtfully provided the wine.”

  Hunter opened his mouth as if to say something, then thought better of it. He still had a vaguely bemused look on his face, which Kiera decided was a good thing. It was probably safer for Jackson if he was out of sight by the time Hunter understood exactly what he’d done. She’d never seen Hunter really angry before, but she was sure it wasn’t a pretty sight.

  Jackson seemed to come to the same conclusion. He didn’t stick around to gloat, making a hasty exit instead. And leaving Kiera and Hunter alone in her apartment.

  “Hmm,” Hunter said, staring at the door through which Jackson had left. “I feel strangely like I’ve been run over by a bulldozer.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Kiera said. She hated to think just what shade of red her face was right now. “I had no idea he was doing this. He just showed up at my doorstep and took over the place. And I didn’t know you were coming until you rang the bell.”

  To her immense relief, Hunter looked more amused than angry. “I take it this is his idea of matchmaking?”

  “Apparently so.”

  The amusement slowly faded from Hunter’s face. “If he knew the truth about me, he’d be singing a very different tune.” Kiera hated the self-loathing she heard in his voice.

  “Um, actually, he does know the truth. I’m not sure he believes it, but he knows it.”

  Hunter shook his head in amazement. “He knows about me, and yet he still plays matchmaker? He’s a sorry excuse for a friend.”

  “He’s the best friend I’ve ever had,” Kiera said, quick to rush in and defend him even though she wanted to kill him at the moment. “It’s just that he’s an incurable romantic. I think he thinks that I can save you from the Unseelie Court and you can save me from a life of loneliness, or something like that.”

  Hunter’s smile was bitter. “It makes a lovely fantasy, but fantasy is all it is.”

  “I know,” she said softly, her throat tightening on the words. If she were sensible, she’d ask Hunter to leave now. Having him in her home was too dangerous to her mental health. But she supposed if his mother’s spies were watching him, he’d be much better off if she let him stay. The longer the two of them could maintain the illusion that he was still pursuing his mission, the more time he had before facing whatever dire punishment the Queen was going to dish out.

  “Should I leave?” Hunter asked as if reading her thoughts.

  “I’d hate to waste a home-cooked meal,” she said, meeting his eyes and no doubt conveying a much less flippant message.

  Hunter reached out briefly and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, that simple, light touch making her shiver with pleasure.

  “Thank you,” he whispered. Then he shook off some of the solemnity and took a step back. “I’ll open the wine, if you’ll take care of the food.”

  It seemed like a fair enough division of labor. Kiera hated the reality that she was allowing Jackson to manipulate the two of them like this, but if she wasn’t willing to kick Hunter out, then she’d just have to deal with it.

  ****

  The meal turned out to be surprisingly pleasant. True, it was just spaghetti and meatballs, but it had never been about the food anyway. Tension sang between Hunter and Kiera, but it wasn’t always the bad kind of tension. She kept trying to remind herself that Hunter was one of the bad guys, that his moral compass was seriously bent even if he hadn’t been able to bring himself to carry out the Queen’s plan. But as he sat there across the table from her, making no attempts to be flirtatious or seductive, she found herself drawn to him as much as ever. It seemed to her that he was a good man, stuck in a terrible situation, and she couldn’t help thinking it took an enormous amount of courage to maintain any kind of moral compass at all when he was raised in the Unseelie Court. It was the kind of upbringing that could turn people into serial killers, and yet Hunter had not lost his ability to empathize or care about others.

  Unless he was putting on a completely new act in hopes of getting her into bed, of course.

  Things might not exactly be comfortable between them, but they weren’t particularly uncomfortable, either. Until dessert.

  Hunter was politely clearing the table while Kiera opened the fridge to see what kind of dessert Jackson had left for them. She found a small white cake box, tied with ribbon. The knot in the ribbon was ridiculously tight, and by the time Kiera abandoned the effort to untie it and decided to cut it instead, Hunter had finished clearing the table and was looking over her shoulder.

  Kiera lifted the top off the cake box and found a chocolate-iced cake beautifully decorated with raspberries. At first, she didn’t realize what the gold foil package sticking up jauntily from the center of the cake was. It wasn’t until Hunter reached over her shoulder and pulled it out of the icing that she realized it was a condom.

  “Your friend is not a big fan of subtlety,” Hunter commented drily, and Kiera wanted to sink through the floor.

  “I’m going to boil him in oil first. Then I’ll skin him alive.”

  Hunter swiped his finger over the condom package, gathering up a generous dollop of icing. He wasn’t even looking at her when he stuck that finger in his mouth and licked the icing off, and yet Kiera felt an erotic jolt at the sight just the same. She couldn’t help picturing their last dessert together, before everything had gone to hell. The flush of color in Hunter’s cheeks told her he was probably thinking the same thing. He glanced quickly at her, then away, the color in his cheeks deepening as he hastily dropped the condom on the kitchen counter. His eyes had gone dark, and she’d bet anything that his heart was beating as fast as hers was. She’d also bet anything he’d try to pretend the power of suggestion was having no effect on him whatsoever—unless Kiera made the first move.

  This may be the dumbest thing you’ve ever done, she thought as she reached out and tentatively touched Hunter’s chest. His heartbeat raced under her fingertips, and his eyes widened with surprise—and, she thought, yearning. He stood absolutely still, as if afraid he might scare her away if he moved.

  Of course, there’s no way Hunter could have messed with this condom, her inner voice rationalized. She truly believed that Hunter no longer had any intention of impregnating her and fulfilling his mission. But even if she was wrong, she’d be okay as long as they used the condom Jackson had so graciously supplied. Besides, she was on the pill now. She hadn’t been on it long enough to rely on its protection, but then, she didn’t have to.

  “I still want to kill him painfully,” she said as she flattened her hand against Hunter’s chest and stepped closer to him, “but maybe Jackson had the right idea.”

  His heartbeat quickened even more under her hand as Hunter tentatively put his hands on her shoulders. His whole body was tense, ready for rejection as he looked searchingly into her eyes.

  “You really mean that?” he asked.

  Her hand slid up his chest and slipped around to the back of his neck. She wanted him so badly it was a physical ache. And she could have him, if only she was ready to take a risk. She didn’t have to completely trust him to have sex with him, not when they’d be using two forms of birth control. And, damn it
, it was time she reached out and took what she wanted!

  Instead of answering his question, Kiera tugged on Hunter’s neck, urging his head down to hers for a kiss. With a little groan in the back of his throat, he complied.

  His lips tasted of sugary icing, and they were even softer and warmer than she remembered. He put his arms around her and pulled her against him. The hard bulge that pressed into her belly told her just how much he liked where this was heading.

  He pulled back from the kiss way sooner than she would have liked, cupping her face in his hands so he could look into her eyes.

  “I want you more than I want my next breath,” he whispered, making her own breath hitch. “I can’t promise you a future. Hell, I can’t promise myself one. But I can promise that I will never again willingly hurt you. Can you accept me on those terms?”

  Kiera thought she’d made her acceptance fairly clear already. “Shut up and take me to bed,” she murmured as she grabbed the condom from the counter. “My bedroom’s this way,” she said, tugging him along after her.

  Before she’d taken two steps, he’d swept her up into his arms. “I know where it is,” he said, then sealed her mouth off with a kiss.

  Kiera had never had a man carry her to bed before Hunter came into her life. It felt rather nice, she decided as she clung to his neck and breathed in his scent. He moved swiftly, pushing her bedroom door shut with his foot and laying her down on her bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, his mouth was upon her, giving hungry, ardent kisses that made her head spin. She wanted to savor the taste of his tongue, but his kisses soon moved downward as his fingers deftly unbuttoned her blouse. She buried her hands in his hair, amazed by the amount of heat he generated in her.

  Hunter bared her breasts in record time, his hands eagerly caressing her as she pressed herself against him. When he took one taut peak into his mouth, she moaned loudly, digging her hands into his scalp.

  His mouth was relentless, licking and suckling until she thought she’d go mad with it. She writhed beneath him, wanting more even as she moaned in pleasure. As if sensing her need, he suddenly released her nipple and moved back up to capture her mouth with a kiss while one skillful, wicked hand worked her jeans open. She tilted her hips upward, and he impatiently swept both jeans and panties out of the way. The stroke of his fingers through her curls almost sent her over the edge.

  Hunter deepened his kiss, his tongue sliding slowly in and out of her mouth in an unmistakable rhythm. Blood pounded in her ears, and the anticipation became almost unbearable. His fingers began moving in time to his tongue, stroking the sensitive bud that ached for them. The unbearable anticipation felt so good Kiera almost hated to let it end, but the insistent strokes of his fingers and his tongue brought her steadily closer to the edge until she finally teetered over. She arched into him, crying out as best she could with his tongue in her mouth, her hands gripping him with desperate strength. The pleasure came in waves of heat, which the stroke of his fingers nursed for every drop of delight.

  When the spasms finally stopped, Kiera shuddered and went limp. Hunter broke the kiss and let her take greedy gasps of air. A velvet laugh escaped his lips, and his eyes glowed as he watched her, drinking in her pleasure.

  “I take it that was adequate?” he asked, his lips curled into a smug smile.

  Kiera put a hand to her chest, feeling the insistent pounding of her overexcited heart. “It was all right,” she said grudgingly as she grinned up at him.

  He sat up and loomed over her as he unbuttoned his shirt. “Well, I’ll have to find a way to elicit a more enthusiastic response,” he said as he shrugged his shoulders out of his shirt and unbuttoned his fly.

  “Any more enthusiasm might kill me,” she protested, lying limply on the bed as anticipation mounted once more. Then Hunter slid his pants off, and all thoughts of teasing and quips fled her mind.

  She had never in the past been much impressed with male nudity. She enjoyed a well-toned body as much as the next girl, but it seemed to her that the male sexual equipment was rather utilitarian in form and was generally best kept out of sight until needed.

  All it took to change her mind was Hunter.

  Instead of trying to avoid looking at it—which was what she’d always done in the past—Kiera found herself staring at his erection. She reached out to stroke it, fingers sliding softly from base to tip and back again as Hunter’s breath hissed in and out. That smooth, silky texture was infinitely appealing, and she kept stroking.

  “If you don’t want to risk having me inside you,” he said between gasping breaths, “just keep doing that and I’ll be quite satisfied.”

  She gave a cursory consideration to the idea, but shook it off almost instantly. “I wouldn’t be,” she told him, then closed her hand around him and gave a very gentle but insistent tug toward her.

  Hunter laughed tightly. “I do love a woman who knows what she wants.” He reached for the condom and tore the packet open. He fumbled a bit as he unrolled it, frowning in concentration.

  When he was properly armored, Hunter rolled over on top of her, kissing her deeply as he parted her legs with his body. She opened for him with no hesitation, amazed to discover that she didn’t feel even slightly nervous or uncomfortable, as she usually did when she slept with a man for the first time.

  Hunter broke the kiss for a moment, keeping his lips only millimeters from hers. “Are you sure?” he whispered, giving her one last chance to come to her senses.

  Kiera looked deeply into his eyes and could barely remember why she might hesitate. “I’m sure.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, he was inside her, and she sucked in a startled breath because it felt so unbelievably good. Hunter misinterpreted that gasp and froze on top of her.

  “Am I hurting you?” he asked, and Kiera had to fight a laugh at the alarm in his voice.

  “God, no!” she said, smiling up at him as she squeezed his hips with her thighs. “You feel . . . incredible.”

  Relief flooded his face, and he gave her a gentle, tender kiss as he thrust into her in a maddeningly slow rhythm. She wrapped her legs around him, wanting to savor each delicious stroke, amazed at the pleasure and need he was able to induce in her. He raised his head and looked into her eyes, seeming to drink in her pleasure as his thrusts inevitably picked up speed. Her back and neck arched, but she stubbornly kept her eyes open, watching Hunter watching her, his obvious joy in pleasuring her making the pleasure all the more powerful. She ran her hands down his body until they were cupped around his buttocks and she could feel the sleek muscles there bunching and releasing.

  Kiera was practically purring with pleasure, loving the feel of him inside her, loving the way he filled her, most of all loving the way he looked at her as he moved. His eyes spoke quite clearly that he was making love to her, that she wasn’t just a convenient receptacle for his need. Always in the past she’d felt as if once the actual sex began, the emotion ceased. No wonder her previous relationships had all failed.

  “You’re amazing,” she whispered, and his eyes glowed with pleasure.

  “Not as amazing as you are,” he whispered back, a hint of a grin on his lips. “I want to feel you come with me inside you.”

  The words triggered a moment of unease. As good as this felt, she wasn’t heading for orgasm, and she wondered if she should start working on a fake one. But she’d always been too self-conscious to fake it very effectively, and she didn’t particularly want that lie between them when they were being so honest with one another.

  “I’m not one of those lucky women who can have multiple orgasms,” she confessed, internally bracing herself for a rebuff.

  Hunter’s eyes darkened and his nostrils flared, and once more she was reminded of a dangerous predator, though this time the image didn’t scare her. His grin became fierce. “Lady, you’re not leaving this bed until you come for me.”

  He gave her no time to argue, clouding her thoughts once more with a spectacular kiss
. When he came up for air, she told herself she was going to have to fake it after all, no matter how uncomfortable it made her. Then, Hunter shifted position, skillfully unwrapping her legs from his hips and turning her over onto her side. He slid one arm under her neck and pulled her up against him in a spoon position, still buried inside her.

  “Let’s see if we can’t change your luck,” he whispered in her ear as his other hand slid down her belly and between her legs. His fingers searched her curls until they found the perfect spot, and he began stroking her there in time to his thrusts.

  The sensation was like nothing Kiera had ever known before. She instantly forgot all thoughts of faking it as his touch lit a fire in her center. She groaned and clutched a pillow, wishing she could clutch Hunter instead. His lips brushed the side of her neck and his thrusts picked up speed once more. She released the pillow to brace herself against his power, savoring every sensation as she spiraled ever closer to release.

  When that release came, the sound that emanated from her throat was practically a wail. The power of it seized her, shaking her helplessly, and she could hardly breathe through the pleasure. Hunter roared in fierce satisfaction, the urgency of his thrusts almost sending her off the side of the bed because she was too mindless in her own pleasure to brace herself properly.

  Her body bathed in sweat, her muscles quivering and weak, Kiera lay on her side and gasped for breath as her heart pounded. Hunter’s arms relaxed around her and she heard his heavy breathing, felt the hurried drumbeats of his heart. He rested only a few moments before he withdrew. Kiera mustered enough energy to turn over and look at him, meaning to protest his hasty withdrawal. Then she remembered all the logical reasons why she shouldn’t be sleeping with him in the first place and was grateful to see him taking the proper precautions with the condom.

  Kiera closed her eyes and rested her forearm across her brow, trying to slow her breathing to a more healthy level before she passed out. She felt Hunter stirring beside her, but opening her eyes seemed like too much trouble.