Dark Bastard: A Dark Sparrow Novel

by India Kells

  Sam didn’t relish imposing on his brother, but if their father was indeed brewing evil again, he’d need all the help he could possibly get, especially if one of his snakes told him about Ellie.

  “We’re on our way.”

  Ellie was immediately by his side. “Where are we going?”

  “To a place safe enough so we can talk. And to get you warm. But first, I need to steal a car. Care to join me?”

  Chapter Six

  Ellie wondered how time could move so fast, and events happen so suddenly. Nothing really surprised her apart from one thing: she’d never felt so alive.

  True, her heart was still heavy, but it beat a bit faster.

  Inside their getaway car, Sam told her they were taking refuge at his brother’s home.

  Home was an interesting word for where she was. After Sam had found a car for them, although a more accurate description would be he’d stolen one, they’d sped toward Bridgeport. After several detours between the old industrial buildings, the car entered a small alley before pulling into an underground parking lot. Every indication showed an innocuous construction, but once they reached the top floor, they stepped into another world.

  Ellie wasn’t that much of a fool not to notice the high-tech security on the door and the cameras in every corner until they reached the entrance.

  The man who welcomed them at the door was so stunningly similar to Sam and yet so different, it messed with her mind. Dark and charismatic, with the same fascinating silvery eyes, he exuded power and intelligence.

  With great civility and an adorable British accent, Lazarus King ushered her in, leading her to the beautiful open-space kitchen beside a vast living room where a fire was blazing in the hearth. Warmth quickly returned, seeping down to the bone, while Sam remained close. Maybe he was the reason she’d remained so calm in this unusual storm.

  Unhurried, Lazarus served them coffee and food, letting them settle in. All three of them sat around the kitchen island, Sam remaining close. The silence wasn’t heavy, but comforting, as if in this kitchen, nothing bad could ever happen. Even if it was tempting to let heaviness and comfort take over, she needed answers. “Now that we’re safe, you promised to explain.”

  Lazarus leaned forward. “I have to admit, I’m impatient too. You see, my dear Ellie, you may not know anything about our family, but Sam here is the most mysterious of all my brothers, with his own way of acting in the world. He appeared out of nowhere and I feared he’d vanish the same way.”

  Sam grumbled, swirling the coffee in his mug without looking up. “You’re not helping my case, brother.”

  “The only way you will, brother, is telling us what happened. Or at least, start from the moment someone tried to kill you. If you’re right, we need to take even more precautions against our dear father.”

  At the second mention of their father, Ellie couldn’t remain silent anymore. “What has your father got to do with this? Maybe you should start there, as it seems to have led us all here.”

  Sam’s large shoulders seemed to sag, while Lazarus remained silent, clearly waiting for his brother to start talking, which he reluctantly did. “Nothing good could ever come from the most depraved and dangerous man on this earth. Including his sons.”

  With a sigh, Lazarus pushed his mug closer. “I better give our guest the politically correct version. If you want to expand on it, that’ll be up to you. The person we’re referring to, and the man who probably ordered the attack, is Jamieson Finch.”

  Having been disconnected from the real world for so long, Ellie tried to place the name, but nothing came to mind. “I don’t watch the news. Am I supposed to know him?”

  Sam answered this time, his deep voice laced with so much hate, it sent shivers down her spine. “He is the vilest monster who ever walked this earth, the devil incarnate.”

  Lazarus exhaled loudly, shaking his head. “He was a feared politician and a successful businessman. Rich, influential, cruel, and fearless. The more enemies he had, the more he laughed. Even when governments started stirring at his actions, he didn’t blink. For Finch, women were, and are, disposable. His children, his sons, were at best ignored, at worst, were toyed with and tortured for his amusement.”

  One thing Ellie had honed from her career as a 911 operator was to discern a truth from a lie, and she had no doubt Lazarus was telling her the truth, further confirmed by the waves of hate coming from Sam sitting silently beside her.

  “How many children does this Finch have?”

  Lazarus rolled his shoulder. “There are six of us. All boys. I did extensive research, and I could only find the six of us. If he has other children, they didn’t remain on our dear father’s radar. Somehow, for six very different reasons, Finch kept an eye on us, most probably thinking we’d become assets in his plans down the track. You know me and Sam, there’s also Aleksei, Archer, Kai, and Liam.”

  “And where are they?”

  Sam shrugged as he exchanged a quick glance with his brother. “Safe, with their families. That’s one of the reasons I brought you to Lazarus. Maybe we can send you somewhere safe, until things cool down at least.”

  Ellie wasn’t certain she liked someone making decisions for her. “I agreed to trust you for now and to come here, but the jury is still out on what I’ll do next.”

  It felt good to be sassy again, and that was somewhat surprising. The brothers didn’t seem to like it much as Lazarus arched a very snobbish eyebrow at her answer while Sam straightened and froze.

  When he turned, silver blazed at her, a small muscle of his jaw jumped. “The moment you took my hand and followed me, it meant that I was in charge of your safety. And that will only end when I’m certain you’re safe and will live a long and healthy life.”

  It was the expression on his face that said more than his words, as if Sam was insinuating that the threat to her life wasn’t only coming from armed men.

  How could he have guessed that just before he appeared in her life, she’d inched closer to ending hers?

  “Which brings the three of us back to the question of the hour. Who came after you, Sam?”

  His intensity turned to his brother. “I think I noticed a couple of men following me just after the New Year.”

  “It started after the New Year or you only noticed it after that night?”

  Both brothers started a silent conversation that annoyed her. Another emotion that Ellie hadn’t experienced in a while. “Stop it, that freaking telepathic exchange between you. What does that mean, before or after the New Year?”

  Sam growled low while Lazarus snickered from amusement. “Sorry about that, Ellie. We don’t know each other inside and out, but we all seemed to connect when we met. That’s new for all of us. Do you have any siblings, Ellie?”

  Familiar sadness returned. “No. My parents didn’t really want to have children. I’m the unfortunate result of a one-night stand. A mistake dropped into the system as they didn’t want to look after me.”

  Sam, for the first time since they’d arrived, touched her arm, the contact both electric and soothing. “Never say that again. You’re a blessing, not a mistake.”

  Just out of her field of vision, Lazarus moved, but all of Ellie’s attention was on the man whose heated eyes were filled with secrets. How could he say something so heartfelt and beautiful when she suspected he longed to hear them about himself?

  “Sometimes it’s difficult to remember that. Maybe you should be reminded of the same thing, Sam. Your past doesn’t define who you are. The man you are now, does.”

  He jerked back as if she’d slapped him, dropping his arm as he pushed back from the counter and left.

  Gapping, it took a few breaths for Ellie to find something to say. “I know I’m not used to talking to people outside of work, but I don’t know what I said to insult him like that.” In fact she felt Sam had saved her life after all.

  “You didn’t insult him, Ellie. You were sincere and caring, but of all of us, Sam is the
one who suffered most and lately, his dark thoughts seem to drown anything else, even those of vengeance. And believe me, it’s no small thing as that has been his sole focus for most of his life.”

  Her instincts spurred her to go to Sam, to help him, support him, but that very fragile part of her wanted to cower away in self-protection. The latter won and she stayed on her stool. Maybe she needed to know more from Sam’s brother. About Sam. “All his life? What would cause a human being to have that kind of objective? What a lonely existence.”

  The hesitation in the man was telling. “It’s not my tale to tell. Not even Sam knows I’ve come across this tragedy, but it’s a miracle he’s still with us. However, you’re right. No human can sustain that amount of pain and grief for long without losing their mind. I saw him sliding away before the holidays. I’m not certain what brought him back, but I think it might have something do to with a missed placed call on New Year’s Eve.”

  Ellie’s heart squeezed hard. The connection the first time they’d spoken, when they didn’t even know each other’s names, struck her. She remembered the exact state of her soul that fateful night, and it was a shock to discover he’d been suffering the same storm.

  “I can’t be the one who helps him, Lazarus. I don’t have the strength anymore.” Saying the words was an official admission of defeat, and was almost unbearable. “I can’t hold anyone’s life in my hands ever again. Forget about me and focus all your attention on Sam to keep him safe. It’s the best thing you could do.”

  Lazarus peered deep into her eyes before giving her a reply. “I hear you, but it would never work. My brother may not have said it in words, but he’s promised himself to keep you safe, and that’s with or without your consent. You’re right to say that we’re each responsible for our own fate. Even if I’m not a superstitious man, I think that sometimes we cross paths with people who open our eyes to new possibilities. What if you crossed his path for a reason?”

  Ellie shook her head. “Please, don’t put the burden of saving your brother on my shoulders, Lazarus. There’s nothing left in me.”

  Slowly, the man came around the counter, nodding. Ready to deny him, and even leave if she had to, Ellie was instead blindsided by his next words.

  “And what if it’s Sam who’ll take you from your path of sorrow, Ellie?”

  Chapter Seven

  Your past doesn’t define who you are. Sam had those words pounding at his mind and he desperately wanted them to stop as he stood on the rooftop of Lazarus’ home.

  The wind blew over the overcast city, some people would say the scent of snow was in the air. Deep down, it amused him, being a son of the desert, raised to recognize every swirl of wind and the clouds in the sky and pray for water. Sam would never get used to the cold weather, but he liked the city, its restlessness and wealth of possibilities.

  His body acknowledged Ellie’s presence before he heard or saw her. When he’d first heard her voice over the phone, his mind had been unable to conjure a face, or a body. It was her voice that drew him in, but he was caught when he fell into the sapphire of her eyes. Delicate, ethereal with creamy skin, she was his polar opposite, the winter to his summer. The soothing wind to his scorching sun.

  “You’ll catch a cold. You’d better go back inside, Ellie.”

  He wasn’t surprised to feel her approach, not after seeing that steely determination that made an appearance in his brother’s kitchen.

  “So will you. Why don’t you come inside? That way we’ll be warm when I apologize.”

  The rejection died on his lips when her cold hand took his. He let himself be pulled until they entered the small lobby. The door closed behind them cutting off the chill.

  His big, tanned paw in her delicate hand fascinated him, almost as much as the contact itself. The storm inside him amplified, but this time, Sam couldn’t rein it back. It was insane, it went against everything he fought for, but the power of it, the attraction, was undeniable.

  He was a starving man in a harsh desert, and it was only when his lips met Ellie’s that Sam felt like there was still a bit of hope in him, life he’d thought had dried up.

  Ellie opened her mouth as a sign of acceptance, confirmed by the moan that mixed with his own rushed breath. It was challenging to keep a grasp on civility when he pushed her tiny body against the wall. Ellie appeared fragile, but soft flesh filled his hands and pressed against his chest. The taste of her went to his head like strong liquor. Feminine hands ran up his arms and shoulders before scratching his neck and fisting at his hair.

  In a last pop of common sense, Sam knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, not when the woman in his arms showed cracks in her armor. However, his good intentions were squashed when Ellie grabbed his shirt as he tried to step away.

  “Please, don’t leave me.”

  Those few words turned any resistance left in him to cinders. Ellie let him go to unfasten her pants in a frenzy. Just as his hands went to her hips before grabbing her ass, her busy little fingers unfastened his pants. With his heart beating so fast, it was becoming difficult to breathe, his hands filled with the soft flesh of her ass. Just as he was about to lift her, her fingers closed around his erection, and the sudden surge of hunger at the contact made him stumble. Thankfully, they were close to the wall. Sam wouldn’t have forgiven himself if he’d dropped her, but that bleak thought dissolved quickly as Ellie giggled in his arms.

  Lost in a rush of sensation, Sam closed his mouth over hers once more, in an attempt to absorb her lightness and bubbling joy. If all he needed to do to make her laugh was to act like a fool, he’d gladly do so.

  However, impatience returned, so strong and burning that the only way he could have stopped now was if Ellie pushed him away. However, the way her mouth battled with his and how she touched him in an arousing caress, confirmed what he felt, what he yearned.

  Sam couldn’t conjure up the memory of the last time he’d been with a woman, and he couldn’t care less. Never before had he felt so out of control, ravenous, and alive.

  The thought troubled him, but that particular cloud vanished quickly when Ellie climbed his body like a cat and wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing her hot core against his throbbing member.

  It was too quick; it was too fast. Sam worried Ellie wouldn’t be ready for him, wouldn’t be wet or aroused enough. The decision was taken out of his hands when Ellie bowed her back to slide a hand between them, guiding him into her welcoming heat.

  If heaven was accessible to undeserving humans on earth, it was this. Deep inside this woman, with growing pleasure shimmering over every nerve ending, Sam felt that he’d crossed a threshold, and there was no going back.

  Each thrust was even more sublime than the next, her core squeezing him hard, the scent of her arousal filling his nostrils, but it was how she clung to him, the look of rapture on her beautiful face that made him feel like the king of the world.

  “Sam...” Her voice had lowered, and he couldn’t resist burying his nose in the crook of her neck, kissing the tender skin, and raking his teeth down it, dragging shivers from her. With one hand on her hip and keeping up the pace, he slid the other under her hoodie to cup her breast. How he would’ve liked to lavish her with his mouth and his tongue.

  When Ellie gripped his shoulders and increased the pumping of her hips, it was clear she had other ideas, and if he were honest, Sam wasn’t sure he’d last much longer as sensations bombarded him on every front.

  The only thread stopping him from tumbling over the edge was the imperative need to see Ellie fall first. It was fascinating to watch her twitch, moan, and tense each time he twisted his hips, changed his speed or caressed her exposed skin.

  Taking note of every move, Sam, being the soldier he was, used everything he could to crack her armor, used every pleasurable weakness he could detect against her. Her eyes glazing, Ellie tried to steady herself, to ground herself, but Sam wouldn’t let her.

  Instead, he went for the kill, and snaked
a hand between her thighs, rasping a finger over her slick clit.

  Her moans turned into a senseless shout as she gripped him as if to bring him closer and push him away at the same time. Her body, caught in sweet agony, triggered his own strong release and his muscles seized as he buried himself balls deep before spilling into her welcoming body.

  It took several breaths for him to acknowledge where he was. For a moment suspended in time, his entire world began and ended with Ellie.

  Her body softened against his as he cradled her protectively. Slowly, he felt her shifting. He’d thought she wanted to disengage, instead, it was a sigh that halted his movement while her hands sifted through his hair. It was her turn to place butterfly kisses on the inside of his collar, making his skin shiver at the unexpected tenderness.

  Even if he couldn’t see her face, Sam felt her smile, which baffled him. “Why are you smiling?”

  Her head whipped back, her eyes full of questions. “How did you know I was smiling?”

  The only answer he gave her was an arched eyebrow. “Answer me.”

  “You’re bossy, aren’t you? I smiled because I’ve never been with a man so silent in bed. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve said you were mute.”

  Sam wasn’t sure he wanted to think about any man touching her, let alone being compared to them. “I didn’t know I had to emit any sort of sound.”

  The smile he’d come to adore tugged at her lips. “I hope you enjoyed yourself at least.” The frown that followed showed clear worry. “I know I’m not an experienced lover, but...”

  Sam stopped any more nonsense from escaping her lush lips. It was only when they were both gasping for air that he replied. “I felt I could touch heaven in your arms. Which isn’t a surprise as I’m with an angel.”

  The words may have sounded corny, but he only spoke the truth. Ellie bore her big blue eyes in his dark ones, before cupping his cheeks and leaning in for the sweetest, most searing kiss he’d ever experienced.