by T. A. Grey
Cassie couldn’t hide the tears shining in her eyes. She shook with the need to put an arm around him and hug him. But she was afraid he’d shake her off with how raw he was. Right now she knew she was learning more about this man than most people had a clue to.
“We were gonna name the baby Renee after my mother. Nature’s a real son of a bitch sometimes. It gives and gives, then snatches away those that are precious to you in a matter of hours.”
Terrified to know, Cassie asked, “What happened to them?”
He sucked in a sharp breath and rested a big hand on top of the stone. “She was due any day. That night, on this night exactly three years ago, we had a fight. She said she didn’t love me, that after the baby was delivered she didn’t want me around because the real father, Greg, said he was ready to step up.” He choked out a harsh laugh. “I spent all those months talking to Renee, singing to her, telling her how much her Daddy loved her, and she was going to take that away from me. I was angry. I went to the bar and got shitfaced. By time I got home it was late and I could barely tell if I was walking or crawling.”
“I called out to her. She didn’t answer, so I figured she was sleeping or just ignoring me. I checked in on her and...” he exhaled a shaky breath. “And there was blood all over the bedsheets. Her skin was sweaty and white. I called 911 but she was already dead—hour’s dead I found out later. They said she went into labor but there were complications. Both her and the baby died.”
Cassie dried her tears with her shirtsleeve. Unable to contain herself, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. He tensed beneath her and gently unwrapped her arms from him.
“Don’t cry for me, Cassie. Cry them. They’re the ones who lost their lives that night. Not me.” He stood and walked away.
But you did, she wanted to cry out. But she kept her mouth closed and stood on wooden legs to follow him. Feeling like a hollow shell of herself, she followed him back to the cabin.
The man was living in a horrible past, and she honestly had no idea how to help him.
If he was pushing her away about his past then what was he doing with his family? Cassie walked back to the cabin with legs that felt like they were stuffed full of lead. Darien Kategan needed her help, and she didn’t know why but she knew that she could help him. She just had no idea how to yet.
A thousand thoughts ran through her mind. She didn’t have enough time. Daniel saw her. He was much closer to her than she’d thought. He would send everyone in his power after her now. If she was lucky--and given her life experiences she wasn’t--then she’d have a week tops.
Did she have enough time to change someone’s life?
She was going to find out. Because she was running out of time and so was Darien.
* * *
Was it a good idea what she was planning? Probably not. Did she think it was awesome—oh, yeah?
When she got back to the cabin, she found Darien chopping more wood. She honestly hadn’t realized what he was doing before, but this simple act was his way of getting away from it. He didn’t drink or use drugs. He chopped wood. For a carpenter, she supposed it made sense.
Darien was stubborn, and his soul was etched with guilt and pain. She needed to show him that there was still happiness and kindness. Ugh, she felt cheesy just thinking it but it was true.
Besides, he could chop down this entire forest if he wanted to, and from the looks of the wood stacked around the cabin that’s what he was trying for, but it still wouldn’t make him feel better.
“Hey, lykaen,” she said striding towards him. He didn’t answer her so she continued, “Thank you for sharing that with me.” Still no answer. He hefted the axe high and let it drop hard again and again. “I need blood.”
The axe slipped and missed its mark. She grinned like a fool. Maybe this would be easier than she thought. He glared at her with hard eyes, so she held up her hands to show him her ouchie.
“See? I hurt. I lost some blood when I fell, and honestly I’m just a little famished. If you let me have a snack, I’ll make you dinner.” She threw in a cute wink for good measure. He lifted the axe with one hand and buried it into a log. She sighed at the sight of his big muscles. The lykaen was strong. He made her purr just watching him work.
“Fine but remember what I said about taking too much.” He stalked inside and she skipped happily after him.
“What that you’d break my neck and toss me into the fire? However could I forget that?” He didn’t laugh. And this man definitely had a voice that should be used to laugh—a lot. To whisper naughty things in her ear. She shivered. The man could probably make her come with just his voice alone.
He took a seat at his lonely chair in front of the fireplace. He filled up so much of that chair that he made it look small.
“Did you know you look like a bear trying to squeeze into a babyseat?” He started choking, then the sound turned to a hard cough. Cassie quickly went in front of him; she couldn’t hide the shock on her face. Pointing at him accusingly, she said, “You just laughed. You laugh!” His lips pulled into a frown and he grumbled about crazy vampire women under his breath. Ha, if he thought this was crazy....
“So is it dinner time?” She was practically hopping up in down. Her stomach tightened for several reasons when he hesitantly nodded. One, because he tasted better than anything she’d ever had before; two, because she had one hell of a surprise for him; and three, because the thought of putting her mouth on him made her panties flood with heat.
She licked her lips, then tossed one leg over his big knee and then the other. He tensed so hard it was a wonder he didn’t break.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking my snack, which by the way, I seriously thank you for.” She curled her hands in his black t-shirt and leaned just a little closer. Sitting in his lap made her feel soft and feminine. He was just so big around her.
She leaned closer until she pressed her cheek against his. Even his skin was warmer than hers. Were all lykaens like this or just him? She was dying to know. A dark growth of hair covered his cheeks and chin. It made him look a little dangerous and a lot reckless. Seeeexy.
“Get it over with, Cassie.” She looked down and saw that his hand was curled into a white-knuckled fist around the chair.
“Turn to the side,” she said gently. He hesitated, and she knew she was asking a lot from. This could be taken as a form of submission and while she didn’t mean for this to be a master/slave competition, she understood that the lykaen might view her request differently.
Slowly his head turned away from her, baring his thick neck to her. She let out an erotic purr, and nuzzled the warm skin at his neck. Of their own accord, her hands trailed up over the hard strength of his chest and curled into his thick shoulders.
Her tongue darted out, licking his skin, tasting him with flat-tongued licks. She moaned at his taste, her body growing hot and languid in response. She pulled herself closer to his heat, sensuously rubbing her breasts against him. She closed her lips over his neck then bit down on it, pulling the flesh into her mouth to tongue it, suckle it.
“Cassie!” he growled. The sound wasn’t human. Panting with an entirely different need, Cassie let her fangs drop and then she struck the thick cord of muscle at his neck.
His reaction was instantaneous. And deliriously wonderful. His arms wrapped around her just as his hips lurched up towards hers. The hard press of his cock landed at the seam of her sex and she went wild. Pressing herself as close to him as possible, she grabbed big handfuls of his hair and drank deeply. He groaned, the delicious sound vibrating straight through her and brushing by her clit.
His hands cupped her ass and frustration filled her at the clothes blocking him from touching her how she wanted. She licked around the puncture wounds and drew more and more sips from his thick, heady blood. His heart was pounding against his ribs, beating so fast.
She felt desperate. Needy and desperate to feel him come again, to see it. Please tak
e me. She’d never ached so badly in her life. She was so empty inside. She wanted to tear her mouth away and impale herself on his cock.
She pulled her mouth away for a scant second. “Darien,” she said with all the need and desire inside her filling her voice. His breath caught as she bit him again sucking his essence into her mouth, drinking down his intoxicating taste.
He pressed her hips hard to his. Then he started thrusting, rubbing the hard steel press of his cock against her. She squealed around his throat and rubbed back against him. Liquid heat bloomed inside her, threatened to make her explode. His arms held her so tight, so hard that she had no choice but to accept the intense pleasure as he rubbed her clit through her jeans.
She struggled to breathe and draw in blood at the same time. Electricity was zapping through her sex, pushing her towards something amazing. A bright wash of heat rushed through her. Her body squeezed tight together, then burst apart like an explosion. She tossed her head back and cried out as ripples of pleasure pulsed through her. He rubbed against her, prolonging the sweet pleasure. When the last wave left her, she collapsed over him, panting.
Her mind struggled to think. She tried to say something, but her tongue was loose in her mouth. She stayed wrapped around him like a second skin until suddenly her back was pressing to the cot. Her eyes shot open and met his, uncaring if she was showing her acceptance, her eagerness for him.
But the cot dipped and he walked, taking a seat in his chair. Cassie opened and closed her mouth several times. He hadn’t even...he didn’t come. She glared at the big lykaen and struggled between wanting to slap him and stick her tongue out at him.
But his blood was a soothing, intense pleasure searing through her body. She flopped back on the cot and writhed sensuously at the feeling. It was incredible like touching a piece of heaven.
She trembled, her skin feverish with ecstasy as her body adjusted to the blood in her system. She could feel the fading bruise on her cheek heal completely, and the scrapes on her knees and hands hurt. They wouldn’t heal completely, she wasn’t a magician or anything, but his blood helped to speed along her recovery.
I’m not done with you, Darien Kategan.
Did he give her an orgasm on purpose? So that she wouldn’t take enough blood to make him orgasm? That slimy bastard...she stared a hole in the side of his head daring him to turn and look at her. He only started building a fire. When the sulfuric, smoky smell wafted over her, she sighed and collapsed against the cot.
“You sure know how to show a girl a good time. I feel like I could sleep for a week.”
“Good.”
She shot him a dark look. Was that his intention for making her come? He must have one. This man wouldn’t have given her an orgasm out of the kindness of his heart. Well maybe once upon a time.
“You know you can take the cot tonight. The floor won’t bother me.” She’d slept many nights on a hard floor before. Cassie clamped her eyes shut. Thoughts like that had no place in her mind right now.
“I’m not letting you sleep on the floor, Cassie.”
“Did I ever tell you that your voice makes me shiver? Seriously it’s like the sexiest thing ever.” He let out a long sigh.
“Don’t say things like that.” Too bad his warning only made her want to do it more.
“So tell me about your family then.” He sent her a surprised look then scowled.
“Why?”
“Because that’s what people do when they get to know each other. They talk about things like family, favorite movies—Terminator series--
and things like that. I’m sure you recall doing that, lykaen.”
“I have two brothers and a sister.”
“Are you the eldest?”
He shook his head. “Vane is. I was born a year after him. Then my brother Rome and Vera is the baby.”
“Oh my, a sister roaming in a sea of lykaen brothers. Must have been a chore to be her.” A faint smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.
“Yeah, she did get it pretty rough. Since she was the only girl we made it our duty to let her know that she was a girl at every turn.”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Boys.”
“Yeah, that was a long time ago.” He cleared his throat.
“Tell me about your parents.”
“They died in a car accident when we were all young.”
“The coroner and police said the drunk driver was going at least a hundred and twenty. He hit mom and dad and smashed their car like a pancake, sent them flying off the road. They didn’t stand a chance.” Cassie knew that lykaens were strong but could still die under serious impact. No one was above death.
“I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged. “It was a long time ago. Your turn,” he shot a look straight into her. “Tell me about your family.”
Cassie wanted to crawl under the covers and die. He’d shared though and if she wanted to help him then she had to open up a little about herself too. She thought over her words carefully before speaking.
“My mother died in childbirth but probably not in the way you’re thinking. She had just given birth to me, the nursemaid was cleaning me up, and then Anton barged in. He was...well the story goes that my mother had an affair with him while mated to my father. She ended things to be with my father but Anton didn’t like that. Apparently, he also was homicidal because he murdered my mom with a knife to the heart just seconds after she pushed me out, and then he murdered the nursemaid. The guards said that when they got there he was just about to kill me too. They got to him first, luckily. I guess.”
“Where the hell was your father?”
“He was negotiating a treaty with another vampire clan or something like that. I don’t really remember. No one saw it coming though. He was a wreck after that. I grew up with him for five years before he finally gave up and committed suicide.”
Cassie couldn’t look at him. She smiled softly even as her heart broke. She’d been the told the stories so many times by the workers around the house. It was like she could remember these things actually happening as if she’d been there. She honestly couldn’t though. She was too young. The only memories she had of her father would good ones and for that, she was thankful.
Tears blurred her vision so she rolled away from him on the cot.
“It looks like we’ve both suffered the loss of loved ones.”
Cassie snorted. “What a way to get to know someone. I should have just asked you your favorite color instead.” She heard the soft, gentle sound of his laughter and the tight vice around her heart eased.
Of course there was always one thing she’d never understood. One thing that no one had ever been able to explain to her. Why her father had promised to marry her to Daniel when she turned twenty-five.
She missed her dad so much, and yet he was the cause of her problems right now. A thought hit her. Pulling her lip between her teeth, she nibbled on it. Could she do it? She glanced over at the dark lykaen sitting in front of the flames. For him, she could. Before she had to go, she had to help him. Cassie shoved the nasty thought aside with brutal force. She realized during her conversation with the lykaen just what she had to do.
The one time he was vulnerable to her was when she pleasured him. At least that was the road she was willing to take, because this whole baring your soul thing was too rough for her.
She had no idea if her plan would work, but she was thrumming with excitement to find out.
Darien, get ready to have your socks knocked off.
Chapter 7
It took hours before Darien’s eyes closed and he finally drifted off to sleep. Cassie whispered a thank you that at least he had moved to the floor and not stayed in that blasted chair. Her plan would hardly work otherwise.
She crawled down next to him, gingerly testing the floorboards for squeaks. When it was safe, she laid down, resting her head in his lap as gently as possible. When he didn’t move, she sighed. The man really was a heavy sleeper. She almost laughed r
emembering how bad she’d been before. She’d never put her mouth on a man that way before and damn if she didn’t like it.
The idea of waking Darien up again by sucking his cock had her nipples tightening into points. She sighed. Soon, my lykaen. Soon.
She relaxed against his big warm body and drifted off to sleep with him. Tomorrow she’d start her seduction.
The second she fell into the dream world, he was there. His eyes were cold as he stalked towards her. She started to take a step back but he grabbed her shoulders.
“I saw you today. I’m close, Cassandra. I’m going to find you.”
She shook her head. “No!”
“Come back to me now. I won’t hurt you, you have my promise.”
Her wretched laughter grated on her own ears. “I remember how well you keep your promises. You might keep them in one way but you still punish in others.”
He pulled back his hand and slammed his fist into her face. Her head snapped back and sharp, hot, blooming pain burst around her nose and mouth. It was only a dream, yet the pain felt so real. He had the power to make it that way just like he had the power to invade her dreams.
“Where are you sleeping at, Cassandra?”
“In a tiki hut.” He pulled her hair hard, ripping several strands out.
“Try again,” he hissed in her face. She dragged open her eyes and cringed at the menace in his face.
“Bangladesh. I took a little trip there heard the food was good.” The environment around them shifted and contorted like a black tar monster rising from the ground. Globs rained down around her and turned white into the shape of a wall. The shapes fell flat and straightened into a tiny four-cornered room. Fear clogged her throat, sent her heart racing as he slammed her whole body back against the wall.
She needed to run. Just move! He could invade her dreams but they were still hers. She could make a door appear if she just focused hard enough.
