Chessa sighed and crawled back onto the mattress, assuming the position she’d held a few minutes earlier.
Not until the door closed quietly, did she relax.
“You’re blushing.”
“Am not,” she bit out, feeling the heat deepen on her cheeks.
“You can’t take it back.”
“Take what back?” Although she already knew. “So maybe this isn’t the last night of our lives.”
“Thinking you were a little rash?”
Finally, she met his gaze. “It needed to be said.”
“I meant it too,” he said, his gaze softening.
She melted against his chest and leaned down to kiss his mouth. When she’d thoroughly plundered his lips, she lifted her head and arched one eyebrow. “Such a shame you didn’t come when you had the chance.”
“I was being a gentleman,” he growled.
“Think I’m a lady?” She snuggled her pussy onto his cock, rocking to let it slide between her slick folds—a slow, sexy tease.
“I think you’re ready for a second round, ma chérie.”
“Damn straight,” she said, her breath catching as she eased back down his cock. “But I’m thinking you’ve never felt what I feel when I’m completely at your mercy.”
His eyes gleamed with wicked humor as his chest rose, his hands clasping the chains attached to his manacles. “Do your worst.”
CHAPTER
18
When the summons came, Nicolas felt relief. His fate, whatever it might be, would be set in the next hour. He only hoped he could convince Inanna to spare Chessa.
Clothed, his body deliciously relaxed after Chessa’s impassioned loving, he rubbed his raw wrists as he was led to the salon where Inanna awaited them, flanked by Pasqual and Sergio, her favorites among her minions now that he’d fallen from grace.
Inanna’s hard gaze skimmed over him to rest on Chessa. “It’s too much of a coincidence that the arrival of a daywalker and your current state aren’t somehow connected. I don’t suppose you’ll explain?”
Chessa’s jaw clamped.
Nicolas sighed. Chessa would never reveal Alex’s identity. Inanna might know what he was, but she wouldn’t know exactly who he was until Alex was ready to emerge. He hoped Chessa’s resistance wouldn’t seal her fate.
Inanna’s lips curled in a small strained smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I didn’t think you would. I have the feeling, stubborn Chessa, that the more I demand, the more determined to remain silent you will become.”
Chessa lifted her chin. “So what are you going to do with us?”
Inanna took a deep breath and glanced away. When she reached for the goblet of wine on the side table, her hand shook.
For the first time, Inanna revealed before an audience a chink in her armor. She’d always held herself aloof, using sly amusement or an intimidating hauteur to maintain a distance.
Now, he understood why she felt the need. Having lived so long, she had to have experienced loss, time and again. Once she’d been a doting grandmother to a motherless child. Chessa likely assumed she’d only done it to cement their bond. Another weapon in Inanna’s immense arsenal.
Inanna sipped her wine, and then set it aside, finally raising her head to level a cold stare on Chessa. “The sabat will demand your death This is too big a secret to keep for long.”
Chessa lifted her gaze beyond Inanna, her deep indrawn breath and the rigid set of her shoulders indicating she was already resigning herself to die.
Then Inanna turned to Nicolas. “You, with your band of rogues, was this just a show of power or did you intend to take me?”
Nicolas met her glare with a steady gaze. “I would never have done you harm.”
The corners of her lips lifted in a slight smile. “I believe you, but you have betrayed me.” She drew a deep breath and strummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. “You’ve made things very…complicated. What am I to do with you?”
“Banishment for Chessa?” Nicolas suggested.
Her eyes narrowed. “Nothing for yourself?” she asked evenly, each word distinct and cutting.
“I’d take her place. Accept her fate.”
“You love her so much?”
Nicolas’s throat closed around a thickness that threatened to choke him. He gave a sharp nod in response.
Chessa closed her eyes, swallowing.
“Your men have all been questioned. They have the same story. A show of force. No harm.” She relaxed against the back of her chair, her shoulders softening, her expression pinched. “They fought well. I did notice that fact, before I gave the signal to surround them. I should kill you both. Now. But the truth is I have need of your men…and of you.”
Her eyes closed for a moment, before she lifted her chin and pinned him with a glare. “I don’t know of any other way to assure your loyalty than to hold her. Keep her here. So, hold and keep her, I will.”
Nicolas’s chest rose, his mind spinning. A reprieve for them both? Would Chessa balk at the restriction? And she’d said nothing of what would happen to the child.
“The demon is still loose, and I’ve been warned there are darker portents. I have need of your force, but they follow you. You wanted a seat on the council. You shall have it. Perhaps you can sway them concerning Chessa’s fate, and that of her child’s when it is born. For now, for her protection, she must remain here.”
Nicolas nodded, and he flashed Chessa a warning glance. For a long charged moment, her gaze flashed with angry, bitter defeat.
He couldn’t help but be happy with the outcome. She’d just have to get over it. He reached out his hand to her, trying to tell her silently they were in this together, whatever the future held.
Chessa’s jaw flexed as she ground together her teeth, but she placed her hand inside his. They clasped their fingers tightly, as they turned to face the woman who’d given them a second chance.
“Go now. I don’t want to look at either of you.”
Nicolas wasted no time and tugged Chessa along, knowing by her wooden steps she wanted to say more. He squeezed her hand. Later. They had time now to think of a way out of their bonds.
As the door closed behind the couple, Inanna relaxed the grip she’d had on the arm of her chair when she’d rendered her decision. She couldn’t quite believe she’d done that. Given them a reprieve, when an hour ago she’d wanted to rip Nicolas’s throat open, tear him apart and feed him to the dogs she’d kenneled when the zombies started pouring through the gate. When Pasqual had whispered of Nicolas’s plot in her ears, she’d screamed, vowing to kill him with her own hands.
She’d loved him. In her own fashion.
Trusted him, as much as she could any man, any Revenant. Hadn’t he understood the privilege she’d given him from the very start? His handsome body had called to her when she first gazed on him in the dark, filthy prison. She’d seen the pride that canted his chin, the sardonic humor in the lift of his dark brows. She’d guessed correctly just how beautifully he’d fatten up once he’d been freed.
His devotion after she’d saved him had made him the perfect pet. He’d never failed to see to her pleasure, fucked her with the strength and burning focus that made her come outside herself, forget she was the Born, the one who should rule.
When sweet Anaïs had died, he’d let her turn his grief to determination. The harder edges of his personality that had emerged in his grim pursuit of duty had gratified her, excited her. She’d used his anger and his hunger for control to her benefit.
She’d never known such a lover. She’d never give him up.
But what could she do with Chessa? If she died, so would Nicolas. His mind was set to sacrifice himself for her. Well, she would use that. The softer feelings she’d begun to experience, she’d shove ruthlessly behind her.
She wanted sex with him. Hard, painful release. She’d have it—even if she had to share his favors. And maybe, she’d enjoy seeing the pain she caused the couple as she came b
etween them.
Liquid heat flooded her cunt, and she looked up at Pasqual. “You have served me well.”
His expression was warm, adoring. He’d given her loyalty above his commander. She had need of that kind of loyalty. Especially now. “Come. I wish to rest.”
“Rest, mistress?” he drawled, his face tightening with ardor as he realized she had honored him with her choice of paramour this night.
She gave him a small, sly smile, relieved to have a reason to put Nico and his new love to the back of her mind. “Well, perhaps we’ll rest after a while.”
Pasqual’s body was pleasingly strong and virile. She wondered how he might behave if she gave him certain freedoms when they were alone in her chamber. “I’m hungry.”
“That’s what this was all about?” Chessa shouted, her hands fisted on her hips. “A seat on the bloody goddamned sabat? You wanted to be on the council?”
Nicolas crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back against the bedroom door. Chessa in a snit provided a fabulous show. Her cheeks were reddened, her eyes sparkling with fire—rather like she looked when he spanked her. “You had a seat you refused,” he said quietly. “A voice, if you’d cared to use it.”
“I can still use my vote! And don’t think it won’t cross my mind to recommend they sit you naked in the sunshine!”
His palms itched to feel the smooth, soft flesh of her bottom. He wondered how quickly he could strip her of the clothing they’d been provided for the summons. “You want me naked?” he drawled.
Her eyebrows snapped together. “I don’t want you at all!” When he straightened from the door, she retreated a step, then stopped, her expression growing even more mulish. “Don’t you come near me!”
“It’s an awfully small room. Do you really think you can escape?”
Her gaze slid to the bathroom door, and she darted toward it, clearing the doorframe before his arm encircled her waist and drew her back.
“Seems I’m always pulling you back from disaster,” he said, shifting his arm upward to clasp her breasts.
The tips beaded against his forearm. “How’s going to the bathroom a disaster?” she said, jerking against his hold.
“You’d miss what comes next.”
“I’ve seen what comes next, and, buster, it ain’t so great!”
“Liar,” he whispered into her ear.
The shiver that shook her shoulders had him smiling in triumph. Her anger was so easy to deflect. Did she even know that when it came to him, she was all bluster? She wanted to be conquered, wanted him to overpower her and remove any choices.
Because he knew exactly what was best for her. He told her so.
“You’re so fucking arrogant. You think you know what’s best for me?”
“Of course,” he said cheerfully, dragging her toward the bed. “I’ve made a study of you. Chessa 101. Want to know how the lesson starts?”
She dug in her heels, but skidded as he pulled harder. “Hell no. I just want you to let me go and stick to your side of the room.”
“No you don’t. You want me to rip off your clothes. One piece at a time.”
“No, I don’t. I won’t have anything left to wear.”
“Then you want me to place the manacles at the end of the bed around your wrists and your ankles.”
“Wrong again. I’m fine with clamping one tight around your cock to make sure it never comes anywhere near me again.”
“Then you want me to lick and suck every inch of your body, until your arousal forms a puddle under your ass.”
She huffed. “That just sounds nasty.”
His palm cupped her breast, his thumb sliding over the thin material of her blouse to tease the nipple into a tight point. “But that’s how you like it, don’t you?” he purred.
Her head fell back against his chest. “I really wish you wouldn’t ask.”
“So you can pretend you’re not agreeing?” He tongued the bottom of her ear lobe, conveniently offered when her head leaned to the side.
“It’s embarrassing—the things I want you to do to me.”
“Then fight me.”
“I already did, and see where I am?”
He slowly unwound his arms. “Anywhere but the bathroom,” he said with a quick kiss on her cheek. “I really don’t want to splinter the door.”
Chessa giggled and darted away again, leaping onto the bed and then to the other side, to stand with her legs braced apart, her hands fisted in front of her.
Nicolas grinned. “Think you can take me?”
“I know I can. I’m Born, remember?”
He unbuttoned his borrowed shirt and shrugged it off his shoulders. Then he unzipped his pants, toed off his boots, and pushed away all his clothing.
“Afraid I’ll shred your clothes?”
“No, I’m getting ready for you to take me.”
“Dammit, Nic, you’re making me mad all over again,” she said, dropping her arms and stomping over to him. When she was within arm’s length from him, he clamped a hand on her shoulder, spun her backward and tossed her onto the mattress.
Faster than she could spit out a curse, he’d pinned her with a knee in the middle of her back and clamped first one, then the other cuff around her wrist.
“I don’t believe I fell for that.”
“What can I say? You couldn’t resist me once you saw how hard I am.”
“That was it, all right,” she said, her tone dry. “You know, we’re not going to have nearly as much fun with me facedown on the mattress.”
“Maybe you won’t,” he said, skimming her rump with his hand, “but I will.”
Her short gasp was followed by the steady increase in her heartbeat. The scent of her womanly musk deepened, tugging at his cock.
“You know, smart ass, you really should have done something about these clothes before you locked my arms in the cuffs.”
He grabbed the neck of her blouse and ripped it, tugging the fabric from beneath her and dangling it in front of her face. Then he pulled at the waistband of her pants until the button popped and drew them down her legs.
She kicked at him, cursing and twisting, making a great show of how much she didn’t want what would happen next. He straddled her naked bottom, pressing his cock into the crease, and then leaned slowly over her back to snag the pillows that had bunched at the top of the mattress.
He dragged them slowly over her head and down her back, then moved to the side to snake an arm around her waist and lift her.
The pillows under her belly were a nice touch. Her bottom was raised, and with her attempt for leverage forcing her knees wider to dig into the mattress, he had an excellent view of all the places he intended to plunder.
Question was did he want to start with his tongue and fingers or go with his cock? He decided to ask her preference.
When she’d finished cursing him and telling him exactly where he could “stick his dick,” he pulled back his hand and swatted her square on her glistening cunt.
“Oh God, I really, really hate you.”
“Of course, you don’t.” He slapped her pussy again, gratified when his palm came away coated with her juices.
Chessa moaned and buried her face in the bedding, murmuring curses.
“I didn’t hear that.”
Her response was to slowly inch her knees up and outward, widening her stance and lifting her bottom higher.
An invitation he wasn’t about to refuse. He bent close and buried face against her moist flesh, swirling the whiskers sprouting in his cheeks and chin into her sensitive folds.
“Oh God, Nic,” she gasped.
When his lips and tongue found the little kernel peeking from beneath its pink hood, he suckled her, earning a deep groan and a tremble that shook her frame.
He palmed her cheeks and squeezed, parting her and licking her clit to asshole again and again, until she dipped and lifted to follow the motion.
“Fuck me, please,” she whispered. “Just fuck
me.”
His tongue stroked into her center, lapping at her inner walls, taking the cream she spilled from her depths. His erection was painful, rigid as steel, and he couldn’t hold back a moment longer before feeling her moist channel close around him.
He came up on his knees, gasping as he closed his fist around his cock and fitted it snug at her opening. Gripping her cheeks hard he slammed forward, entering her in one steady, strong stroke, burying himself to his balls before he relented and pulled away, then stroking just as deep and hard again.
Over and over he thrust into her, reveling in the wet heat that surrounded him, clasped around him, finally convulsing and squeezing him until he couldn’t hold back his release a moment longer.
Cum jetted toward her womb, bathing her in sticky, liquid pleasure while they both gasped and moaned and moved against each other, milking the moment for every last pulse of pleasure.
When he could breathe again, he pulled out of her, came down on the mattress beside her, leaning close to capture her lips in a deep, stroking kiss.
She pulled back her head. “You know, I could hug you if you unlocked these cuffs.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t have a key.”
A pout plumped her lips. “Well, now we’re really in a pickle. Kinda limits our options.”
“Think so?” He swept an arm underneath her and scooted sideways, pushing aside the pillows and slipping beneath her body. When he’d settled directly beneath her, he gave her a crooked smile. He liked the way her breasts flattened against his chest with her arms pulled up and out. His cock was smashed between her thigh and his belly, and the pressure was quickly growing uncomfortable as he filled again. “This position offers all kinds of interesting possibilities, don’t you think?”
She wrinkled her nose. “When I get free, I really am going to kill you.”
“Think you can wiggle a little to the left,” he said, ignoring her comment.
She frowned, but did as he said until his cock slipped between her legs, the head cramming against her folds. “So, now what are you going to do? We’re both trapped,” she said, slipping her knees to his sides and squeezing tight.
Seduced By Darkness Page 22
