Marked for Darkness

by Raven Woodward

  “Arian!”

  His fangs in her neck pushed her into an orgasm, sending wave after wave of pure euphoria. It stretched on for what felt like an eternity, one orgasm tipping into a second until he wrung every last ounce of pleasure from her.

  She felt him withdraw from her flesh, and though her muscles trembled, she was eager for more. Her eyelids fluttered open. Everything save for one spot on him, was blurred. Like a beacon of clarity, Harlow heard his heart hammering in rhythm with her own. She could see the twitch beneath his skin.

  In a flash, Arian’s zipper slid down, his pants discarded. His naked form was almost too beautiful to look at—almost. She drank in the sight, his thick, long erection glistening and ready to plunge inside her.

  Her mouth watered, recalling the feel of him rocking in and out of her mouth and the taste of his cum on her tongue.

  Arian climbed above her, his pupils blown wide, nearly swallowing the swirling molten gold. As he aligned himself, she bit her bottom lip, waiting to feel his impressive size stretch her. The head was warm, pressing against her entrance. Harlow’s breaths turned ragged as he pushed in little by little.

  Her hands gripped his back, nails sinking into him, pulling him closer. Somehow, he fought the urge to plunge into her full force. If the bead of sweat above his brow was an indication, it was with great difficulty.

  “Let go,” she said, her voice syrupy with desire.

  His brow creased, eyes squeezing shut. “I can’t,” he rasped. “I’ll turn.” His voice was gravelly. Inhuman.

  “Fuck my pussy, Arian Kalvar,” she demanded.

  Arian released a low growl as his eyes flew open. He pinned her in place with his eyes and fully sank into her, stretching her so completely. She moaned despite the sharp sting of pain, lifting her hips up to meet him.

  Their breathing was shallow. He kept still; filling her to the brim and then some, forcing her body to accommodate him.

  “Breathe,” he commanded. She obeyed, pulling in slow, deep breaths.

  Then he started rocking in and out, and she gasped, losing all reasoning. His pace was even. Long, hard strokes. His sac slapped against her ass as he drove into her over and over, hands kneading her breasts.

  Her vision narrowed in on his shoulder as she fought the urge to sink her teeth into him.

  Wait, what?

  Her brow furrowed. Was that thought hers? But when her gaze lifted to Arian’s face, she saw pride in his eyes that knocked the breath from her chest.

  “Give in, Kuzukah,” he rumbled.

  Her hands held on tight to the taut muscles in his back as he picked up the tempo. The bedframe slammed against the wall over and over, making her smile. His heartbeat was loud in her ears as she zeroed in on the twitching spot.

  She felt him losing control, his body tense, ready to come.

  Accept the Mark.

  Her shoulders lifted from the bed, her lips pressing gentle kisses to his neck, tongue stroking the frantic beating. She felt the tips of her teeth ache just before she bit down.

  Harlow’s body crashed into his as he roared, filling her. Another orgasm wracked her body. She drank the sweet nectar deeply, shuddering as pleasure jolted through her like lightning.

  Faintly, distantly, the sounds of crashing and rumbling sounded above them, the bed shaking violently. But she didn’t care. The spot where Arian had bitten her warmed.

  Bliss.

  Perfection.

  Kuzukah.

  Her eyes flew open. Flickering orange and blue surrounded them. But that wasn’t what alarmed her. My, Kuzukah, the seductive male voice said inside her mind again.

  What the fuck?

  One of the perks of you being my Marked, Arian said without moving his lips.

  She stared at them, confused. Sweltering heat wrapped around them like a blanket, and she looked around to see flames dance and writhe, licking at the bed, charring the wood. Shock rippled through her, making her heart stutter a beat.

  Put them out, Arian’s voice said.

  She focused on suffocating the flames, throwing a cloak of magic on top of them. Slowly they flickered away, leaving scorch marks on the bedframe. Bending over the edge to look, she noticed the fibers of the carpet in a thin ring were singed.

  Harlow clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, I’m so sorry!”

  Arian rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand. His pupils were back to normal, but still his eyes brimmed with liquid gold. He looked satisfied, but my no means sated. “It’s only natural that your magic would react to the Marking. Don’t worry, it’s all easily replaced.”

  Then another realization slammed into her with enough force to knock the air from her lungs.

  They were Marked. She saw the evidence on his shoulder. Could feel it on her neck.

  She had drunk Arian’s blood.

  But how? It’s not like I have fangs too. Her tongue ran along her perfectly normal, smooth canines.

  She tasted it as her tongue swept over her lips. Still wet and sweet on her lips. His blood.

  I drank his blood.

  And I liked it.

  No, I loved it.

  I know you did, Arian rumbled with amusement.

  “Oh my god, stop doing that!” she shouted.

  His eyes, still heavy lidded, widened. He held his hands up as if in surrender.

  “I drank your blood,” she whispered.

  Arian studied her. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re my Soul Marked. Your blood is sweet to me, as I imagine, mine is to you.”

  She nodded. All of him tasted sweet.

  His lips quirked to one side. “We’re bonded now. Linked in ways that humans can only imagine.”

  She swallowed hard.

  No matter where you are, I can communicate with you, as long as my blood runs in your veins.

  She stared at his naked torso. The dips of his corded muscles made her mouth water. Made her want to run her tongue up every groove. Taste this man over and over.

  Arian’s lips twitched. I intend to keep you in this bed for a very long time. There will be plenty of time to taste me.

  Her face heated. “Oh my god, you cannot listen to all of my private thoughts,” she groaned as she covered her face with her hands.

  Arian laughed, his hands wrapping around her wrists as he tugged them down and looked into her eyes.

  “Don’t be shy with me, Kuzukah. We’re mates. Forever. I want to know your body in every way imaginable, and you too can take time to explore me.”

  Her lips tipped up in the beginnings of a smile. Mine, she thought.

  Mine, a deep, ancient voice growled.

  Her eyes grew wide in surprise and a thread of fear. “What was that?” she asked.

  Arian smiled broadly. “Me. My beast.”

  If it was even possible for her eyes to get any wider, they did.

  He laughed again, standing up and offering a hand. “Come, Mate. I must feed you so I can ravage you again.”

  Rex

  All around him was agony. His muscles burned and blackened. His sinew snapped and coiled around his bones, which seared from molten fire coursing through them.

  He screamed to an empty room.

  Then he felt it.

  The shining thread of life and purity. A blast of blinding lust and desire.

  The connection to his mate.

  Not gone.

  But changed.

  It felt intangible. Visible, yet he couldn’t grasp it.

  A roar filled the room and his body expanded. His bonds snapped free. Rex threw his magic into what remained of his bond.

  Rage.

  Hate.

  He could taste it. See it.

  She completed his Mark.

  Not mine.

  Her mind was already softened under the cloak of sleep. Bursting into the darkness, he bellowed her name.

  “Rex?” she appeared behind him as lig
ht began to fill the world her mind created. It was in her parents’ old house. Pictures filled with smiling faces made his jaw clench.

  He raced toward her, catching her by her biceps. He squeezed.

  “You were supposed to be mine!”

  Her eyes were wide and fearful. “Rex, what’s happened to you?”

  He shook her as though to jerk sense back into her. As though he could possibly erase her grievous mistake.

  “You belong to me, not him!” He jabbed his chest with a thumb in emphasis. “I’m coming for you, Harlow,” he hissed in her face. Her scent of peonies and honey washed over him, driving him to grip her tighter.

  Perhaps he could will her directly to him…

  She broke free of his grasp, stumbling back until she landed on her rear. Tears filled her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  His throat tightened as realization crashed into him: he was scaring her. Crouching, he extended a hand toward her—reaching, but too far away to touch.

  “I’m coming for you, my love,” he said as his own eyes burned hot. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Harlow

  Arian’s fingers tracked up and down the dip of Harlow’s spine. Fed and exhausted from hours of lovemaking, Harlow sighed contentedly.

  “Now that you’re my Marked, when the final lunar phase forces my transformation, it’ll be important that you stay near. I’ll keep you protected, but it’s still best that you stay where I can’t get to you.”

  “Here?” she asked sleepily.

  “No, it’ll be safest in—” He swallowed hard, then exhaled sharply. “My home planet.”

  Harlow’s eyes fluttered open. He’d almost said the name. “If you stayed on your home planet for the summer, you wouldn’t turn at all, would you? Since the sun never sets. Then you could just come back before the winter.”

  Arian shook his head. “I wish it worked that way, but the curse begins to take effect based on the lunar phase of the place you spend most of your time in. And I’ve lived on Earth for many, many years. Mostly to escape Onoliza, but if I spent the majority of my time in my homeland…”

  He spoke the words with added emphasis that made Harlow’s heart ache for him. She wished he could speak freely. To be banished from one’s home because of an evil empress was bad enough. But to be unable to speak its name was a curse in and of itself. “If I spent my time in my homeland, I’d be forced to endure a little over six months of being stuck as a beast. Believe me, after decades of attempting to evade the curse anyway we could, this became our best option. Earth has the shortest lunar cycle.”

  Harlow frowned. “That sucks.”

  “It is what it is,” he whispered against her bare shoulder before pressing a kiss to it. “Now sleep. You’ll need your strength.”

  And so she did.

  “Harlow!” a man bellowed in the darkness. It shook her brain and made her body ache. Magic rushed through her mind, too much to contain. She winced.

  He shouted her name again, and this time she knew who it was.

  “Rex?” She approached him from behind as light began to fill her dreams. They were in her parents’ old house. When he spun around, she stopped dead.

  He raced around the old sofa to her, grabbing her biceps tightly.

  “You were supposed to be mine!” he seethed.

  Her eyes widened as fear jolted through her. “Rex, what’s happened to you?” His face was different. The light blue in his eyes flashed brighter.

  He shook her as though trying to knock some sense into her; instead her thoughts jumbled. “You belong to me, not him!” He jabbed his chest with a thumb in emphasis. “I’m coming for you, Harlow,” he hissed, and she recoiled in fear.

  His scent was different. A rot deep within him wafted from between his lips.

  Something was wrong.

  She struggled free of his grasp, stumbling back until she landed on her rear. Tears burned her eyes. This was her fault. “What are you talking about?”

  His gaze softened as the realization hit him: he was scaring her. He crouched down as though she was a wounded animal. He extended a hand toward her—reaching, but too far away to touch.

  “I’m coming for you, my love,” he said, eyes flashing again. Madness, then pain. “I’ll see you soon.”

  She gasped awake, her lungs burning. Her biceps ached. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she fought to even her breathing.

  “What is it?” Arian asked softly, reaching for her.

  She wiped away her tears before wrapping her arms around herself. A chill swept over her. “N-nightmare.”

  His lips pressed a kiss to her exposed shoulder. “What of?”

  She tried to swallow down the lump and nearly choked. “Rex. He’s angry.”

  Arian stiffened. “Why?”

  Squeezing her eyes shut, she inhaled deeply, letting Arian’s cool scent soothe her. “I think he knows that we…that the Mark…”

  Arian hummed in interest, and in satisfaction. “I see.” He pressed another kiss to her clammy skin, this time on her neck. “I can’t say I’m sorry.”

  Harlow rolled onto her side to face him, though she could barely make out any of him in the dark. “I’m not either, it’s just…”

  She debated whether to reveal Rex’s role in the visions she’d had but thought better of it. A burning sensation crawled up the back of her throat, and she pursed her lips against the pain. It was her fault Rex was suffering somewhere, most likely going insane.

  Her eyes flew open again as she recalled the way his skin had shifted. The way his body had grown taller and broader and a thick white-and-black fur had sprouted on his face.

  Her stomach rolled as she recalled when she’d seen that exact image before.

  When she was twelve and she’d painted a strange, handsome man. Half of his face was normal, while the other half had been that of a beast.

  That was what she’d seen in her dream.

  Another prediction come true.

  She watched as the muscles of Arian’s bare back bunched and twisted while he cooked. His power was both physical and something deeper. Something twined deep within his person and it seeped from him, filling the space. It crawled over her skin, making it nearly impossible to keep herself from leaping off the chair to wrap around him like a spider monkey. Her nails dug into the wood, anchoring her.

  His slender waist kept drawing her gaze, and her mouth watered as she recalled the taste of his skin. His blood.

  The spatula slammed onto the countertop beside him, jarring her. Slowly, Arian turned, his lips pressed into a thin line, though the corner twitched as if trying to suppress a smile.

  “If you don’t stop coiling your magic around me, we’re never going to be able to eat.”

  “Hmmm?” Harlow’s eyes were trained on his naked torso, lowering to the part of him she wanted to have in her mouth again.

  Arian’s lips drew back, revealing elongated canines as he growled low, the sound rolling through her like thunder.

  She was on her feet in an instant. They crashed together in the middle of the room, mouths seeking, tasting and biting. His hands tore her T-shirt from her in one swift motion, the sound lost to her aching need to feel him inside her.

  With one hand he spun her around, unlatching her mouth from his neck. And then Harlow’s belly was pressed against the cool marble countertop, nipples skimming the slick surface and hardening almost painfully.

  The sound of a zipper was her only warning before Arian’s cock plunged into her throbbing wetness. He hissed through his teeth as he filled her to the hilt.

  “Fuck, Harlow,” he ground out.

  “Yes,” she panted.

  She moaned, his hand skimming up her back and over her shoulder. Briefly his gaze flicked to the scars carved down her chest by Oricus as they often did, then he was back to staring into her eyes. When his hand gripped her neck, she swallowed hard, not understanding why the sensation mad
e her buck against him. A mewling sound bubbled out of her throat.

  This man was torture and ecstasy.

  His other hand held her hip, as he thrust in and out, making her legs shake.

  Her mind was fogged with lust. She needed him deeper. Harder.

  As if hearing Harlow’s thoughts, Arian slammed into her harder, making her cry out with pleasure. His hand squeezed her neck slightly and a jolt of fear laced the heady desire that fogged her senses.

  He tugged her up so her back was against his hot chest. “You’re mine now, Kuzukah,” Arian rumbled against her ear, his tongue flicking against the sensitive skin just below it. “No one can ever take you away from me.”

  “Yes,” she said again. She knew she’d say anything to make him keep fucking her, but this she meant. She believed him.

  Mine, that deep, ancient voice said into her mind. It heightened her growing pleasure as Arian slid in and out of her tender pussy, pistoning hard and fast.

  Harlow was ready to spill over. Arian felt it too. His hand left her throat, allowing her to inhale sharply as he cupped her breast instead. His fingers worked her nipple, drawing her closer and closer.

  Come for me, Kuzukah, Arian said down their bond.

  And she did. Harlow cried out just as his hand squeezed her hip and he tensed before following her over the edge, roaring her name. The house shook, but she gripped her magic tight, not letting it lash out like it wanted to.

  Breathing heavy, she melted onto the countertop, feeling Arian’s own chest rising and falling rapidly against her back.

  “Now let me feed you before you pass out,” he admonished playfully, pressing a kiss to the nape of her neck before he withdrew from her. She nodded, too exhausted to reply.

  They ate—or mostly, Harlow ate, and Arian watched her like he wanted to lunge across the table and fuck her again. And though she wanted him to, she felt her body lagging from the lack of food. When at last she set her fork down, his eyes flashed with gold and her stomach clenched in anticipation.

  Her lips quirked to the side. “What are you thinking, Arian Kalvar?”