Sleeping with the Beast: an Adult Paranormal Shifter Romance (The Conduit Series Book 2)

by Conner Kressley

  “I have power, Abram,” I said, staring him straight in the face and finally lowering my arms. They didn’t seem to be doing much good anyway. “I have power that I can’t control, that I can’t even tap into. And every time I see a movie or read a book about someone unlocking their hidden potential or whatever, it always starts with this sort of meditation crap.”

  Abram’s jaw set. His eyes darkened. “I don’t want you diving into that. It’s too dangerous.”

  “You’re not serious,” I said, all my calm being ripped away on current of irritation. So much for meditation being the path to tranquility.

  “More than you know,” he said, standing and looking down at me.

  I scrambled to my feet. Even though he was as sturdy as an oak and stood nearly a foot taller than me, I wanted to even the playing field as best I could. “You want to know about dangerous? There’s an assassin with an enchanted ax and abs of steel out to kill us.”

  “You saw his abdominal muscles?” Abram asked, raising his eyebrows.

  I waved him off. “Context clues. Doesn’t matter. The point is he wants to kill us.”

  “Huntsman doesn’t scare me.”

  “Maybe he should,” I said, stepping closer. “In case you’ve forgotten, you don’t have any powers here—none that you can control, anyway. You’re just you.”

  “Just me,” he repeated, frowning. “If you think I need powers to keep you safe, then you haven’t been paying attention.”

  “And if you think we’re not in over our heads, then you haven’t been paying attention,” I shot back.

  His glare didn’t change, same as I knew his mind wouldn’t. Not like this. Abram was stubborn. He knew what he wanted, what he thought was right, and what he considered to be important. And banging against him like a wave against a rock wasn’t going to change that. We had done this dance enough times for me to know that. If I was going to change his mind (and that was a big if), I was going to have to be honest.

  “Abram…” I started, my voice trembling a bit at the thought of what I was about to confess. “We-we don’t have as much time as you think.”

  “What are you talking about?” The fire drained from his voice. His face grew pale and expressionless.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Could I really do this to him, lay this on him and expect him to fix it? No. I knew him better than that. I was his soft spot—his Achilles’ heel. This information wouldn’t kill him. It wouldn’t even knock him down. No, it would invigorate him to the point of overload. It would blind him from the truth of what was happening here and halt the necessary steps we had to take if we were ever going to get out of this.

  “It’s just…” I shook my head.

  “What?” He placed a rough hand on my arm and squeezed. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  No. He couldn’t know this. Not now.

  “We don’t know how long until the next person dies.”

  “There’s going to be casualties, Char. I know you care. Believe me, I do, too. But we can’t save everyone.

  I bit my lip. “That’s not fair, Abram. That’s—”

  “Life,” he said. “That’s life. This life, anyway.”

  I swallowed hard. I needed to get through to him. “Fine. I get what you are saying, Abram, but think for a minute if it was me. What if I was next? What if there was someone like me, right here on this island, who could help me…and she chose to do nothing. What would you think then?”

  Abram’s lips pressed into a straight line. “You know the answer to that, same as you know why I’m not going to change my mind. If there was a person who could help you if, God forbid, you found yourself in that situation, I would personally move heaven and hell to make sure you got what you needed. But you’re not in that situation, and it’s because I don’t want you in that situation that I want you to be careful in the first place!”

  My whole body burned to tell him how wrong he was. But this wasn’t only about me, and he would make it that way if he knew the truth. Somehow I needed him to treat this situation as though it was my life on the line, but without the single-minded rampage that would occur if he knew that was actually the case.

  He was still ranting when I tuned back into his tirade. “—and throwing yourself headfirst into a very dangerous world that you couldn’t even begin to understand will only serve to get you killed.” His dark, deep eyes pinned on mine. “You’re more important to me than those people, Charisse. I won’t apologize for that. And I won’t let you lose yourself trying to save people you don’t even know.”

  “Abram—”

  “No, Char! Listen to me! She lured you to this island because you’re a Supplicant, and if it weren’t for your Conduit nature blocking dreams, you might have seen her yourself by now! Just the thought of that—” He swallowed hard and shook his head. “We can’t go down that road, okay?”

  I chewed on my lip, biting back the words. Stopping myself from telling him that my Conduit nature hadn’t protected me. That I had already seen Briar. That trying to save those people meant trying to save myself. But if he was this much of a mess over the mere idea of it, then burdening him with reality in order to make my point would do more damage than good. I needed to get through to him some other way.

  But for right now, in this one moment, all I wanted was to forget. To feel like I was still alive, like I wasn’t already dead, walking around waiting for my body to finally be put in the ground. And no one made me feel more alive than Abram.

  I leaned into him, kissing him hard on the mouth. His scent and heat overtook me, as it always did. His grip as he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me off the floor felt like home. I didn’t agree with what he said. We almost never agreed. But the idea that he loved me that much, that he would throw the rest of the world into the incinerator if need be, spoke to a place inside of me that I couldn’t help but relent to.

  “But you are losing me.” I breathed against his lips. “This is who I am. If I can’t help these people, then I’m gone. Don’t you get that?”

  “You’re not gone,” he said, ripping at my shirt. “You’re here.” He kissed my collar bone. “And here,” he said, moving down toward my breast. “You’re right in front of me.” He threw me on the bed. My cheeks burned at the sight of him hovering above me came clear into view. “And that’s exactly where you’re going to stay.”

  He did nothing to hide his animalistic nature as he climbed on top of me. The weight of him pressing against my quivering body sent shivers down my spine.

  We were wrong to think magic didn’t work inside this place, because damn if I wasn’t feeling it right now. He pulled at what was left of my shirt, freeing me of its possession and exposing my bare chest to the lantern light that illuminated the room.

  I moaned as he traveled farther down my chest, encapsulating my breast in his mouth and flicking at my nipple with his long and adept tongue.

  “Be loud for me,” he said, coming up for air just long enough to give me a command.

  “Give me a reason,” I responded breathlessly. “Please.”

  His eyes flashed up at me wordlessly, and I knew where this was going. “I give the orders here, Ms. Bellamy,” he said without a hint of a smile in his voice. “Now. Be. Loud.”

  In a flash that was almost too quick for me to register, he had ripped the rest of my clothes off and was working his way down my body. With the skill of a sculptor, he drove two fingers deep inside of me, sending shockwaves all the way down to my toes.

  I wasn’t sure whether it was because of the intense pleasure I now felt with his fingers roaming deeper within me than any man had ever been or because I was starting to get off on him giving me orders, but I did as he asked.

  A sharp, loud moan escaped my lips. A satisfied smile draped his face as he licked from my naval all the way down to my mound.

  A dark thought entered my mind just about the same time as Abram’s tongue flickered over my sweet spot.

&n
bsp; This was finite. These were the last days I would ever have. And this pleasure, it could be the last time he ever gave it to me. On impulse, I grabbed his head on either side, clenching against him tightly as he pleasured me.

  “No,” he said. “That won’t do.” He stopped what he was doing and pinned my hands above my head. “These hands are mine. They do what I say, and nothing else.”

  He kept my hands steady as he thrust his member into me. I moaned again, even louder this time. He seemed to get off on it as his thrust grew quicker and deeper with each of my moans.

  He squeezed my wrists. “Whose hands are these?”

  “Yours,” I moaned, back arched in ecstasy.

  “What do they do?” he asked, teeth gritted, sweat dripping off his face.

  “What you tell them to,” I said, writhing into him as he thrust again.

  “And what else?”

  “Nothing.” I moaned so loudly I was sure the entire island would hear. “Nothing else.”

  His continued thrusts heightened every sensation in my body while driving away every unwanted emotion, unwanted thought, until finally we both came together. He leaned over me, kissing me and biting my lip as he released. A bit of pain to go with the pleasure.

  “Damn right,” he breathed. “And you better never forget it.”

  * * *

  While cleaning myself up in the bathroom, I couldn’t help but notice the woman staring back at me in the mirror. How was it possible to be both the happiest and saddest I had even been in my life at the same time?

  I was fulfilled in every way a person could be. I was more in love than perhaps anyone else who had ever lived. At least, that was what it felt like. And yet, it would be gone all too soon. Briar would reappear and send me hurtling to my death. And then Abram, and the love I felt for him, would be as gone as I was.

  I splashed water on my face. I couldn’t let this get the better of me. I had been through these sorts of dire circumstances before and came out of it stronger than ever. Something would come up. Something had to come up.

  What if something didn’t come up?

  Grabbing a hand towel, I made my way back into our bed chambers. Abram sat on the bed, covered at the waist with a sheet and staring intently at something on the television.

  As I moved closer, I saw he’d turned on the news. A blonde woman with dark skin spoke at a commentator’s desk. My skin chilled as I heard what she was saying.

  “Delia Curr, single mother of two, is the latest victim of what authorities and island dwellers alike are calling a case of mass hysteria.”

  An image of a happy woman and her two sons flashed across the screen, instantly breaking my heart.

  “Ms. Curr is the seventeenth suicide victim Grimoult has seen in just under ninety days. A seemingly happy woman, Delia—like the rest of the victims—is said to have been vibrant right up until her death; which begs the question, what is getting into the townspeople here?”

  The news anchor on the television shuffled papers.

  “Authorities have declared a state of emergency on the island. All consumables are being inspected, with more processed foods being recalled completely in an attempt to get to the bottom of the strange occurrences. What’s more, a ban on consuming tap, lake, and spring water has been placed in effect until further notice.” An image of the woman and her sons flashed across the screen again. “With no living relatives, Ms. Curr’s children will be placed into foster care until a more suitable home can be found. If you or anyone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please call the number on the screen below.”

  That poor woman. Those poor children. That poor family. I looked over at Abram, horror and hurt filling my eyes.

  He raised his hand, as though to stop me from saying that I was obviously thinking. “Fine. You win,” he said. “You want to figure out how to use your powers. I’ll take you back to that damn mage.”

  Chapter 19

  Turned out the ‘damn mage’ was even less keen to my idea than Abram was. The instant he saw us on his doorstep, he slammed the door in our faces.

  “I just want to talk!” I shouted through the white-painted wood.

  Abram’s hands balled into his fists at his sides. “Get out of the way. I’ll handle it.”

  “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, Abram,” I said, backing away from the door. “Please don’t do anything rash.”

  “I’m just going to knock again,” he said, moving toward it. “Very hard.”

  He slammed a fist against Ramsey’s door. It sounded like thunder as his hand met the wood. The door broke in two as it landed on Ramsey (and Briar’s) very expensive-looking carpet. So much for the “respecting people’s property” thing he’d been going for on our first visit.

  To Ramsey’s credit, he didn’t look scared. He stood in the hallway, a pistol pointed at Abram’s head.

  “We both know that’s not going to do you any good,” Abram said, ushering me through the doorway.

  I settled beside him, not as surprised as I should be that—once again—we were embroiled in a gun-fueled standoff.

  Life had gotten so weird.

  “Put your foolish hand down,” Abram said. “You’re not scaring anyone.”

  Ramsey’s eyes narrowed. With a flick of the wrist, the gun moved from Abram’s head to mine. “How about now?”

  My body tightened, though not as much as it had before. Hadn’t he proven he can’t shoot me? But then, what if there was some loophole? Would he if he could? I didn’t know Ramsey, not really. And the fact that Briar had basically just told me to go jump off a cliff didn’t give me much hope for the merciful capacity of her chosen mate. But there was something about him, a softness around the edges, that told me he didn’t want to do this.

  “We came here to talk peacefully, Mr. Duldridge,” Abram answered, his tone much lighter than I would have anticipated. “And should you decide to conduct yourself in a reasonable manner, that’s exactly what we’ll do. But if you insist on going down this ill-advised path of aggression by threatening the woman I love, I’ll be forced to slit you open and extract the information I need along with a piece of your intestines.”

  Ramsey’s eyes widened. The gun shook in his trembling hand.

  “You can’t threaten me in my own home,” he said.

  “It’s not a threat, Mr. Duldridge.” Abram moved toward him, raising his hand, which had turned into a curved claw—even in broad daylight. “Now put your weapon down. And I’ll do the same.”

  Ramsey lowered the pistol to his side as he backed up against the wall. “Just say what you came to say.”

  There was a bitterness in his voice that tugged at my heartstrings. It suddenly became very clear to me that I was looking at someone who not only had been threatened by what was likely the most terrifying (if gorgeous) man he had ever laid eyes on, but also someone who was dealing with the aftershocks of basically losing his wife.

  I wanted to comfort him, but there was too much at stake right now for me to turn soft. I needed to be strong, not only for myself, but for the people like me who were also in danger.

  “Someone else is dead,” Abram answered.

  My eyes drifted down to his claw, and part of me wondered how hard he was trying to keep the beast at bay right now. Was it dying to come out, to tear this mage from limb to limb and then have its way with me?

  Ramsey tipped up his chin. “A lot of people are dead. It’s the way of the world.”

  Abram’s mouth tightened. “Someone else has committed suicide. The same cliff, those same words carved into some poor woman’s forehead.”

  “It’s a travesty. I know that.” Ramsey’s face scrunched in a way that made me think he was actually being genuine. “Do you think I like the idea of the woman I love being involved in this? She’s my wife, for heaven’s sake, not some fairytale character who can be used and thrown away after she’s served her purpose.”

  If there was any doubt Ramsey actually loved Briar,
it was gone now. Whether she deserved that love or not was still questionable, though it also wasn’t any of my business.

  “I know you think I can do something,” he said. “That I can help you rid the island of this Conduit who’s wreaking havoc on so many people’s lives. But I don’t have that sort of power. We’re not Conduits. My people, we’re only the keepers of the secrets, the wardens of history. We know how the sausage is made, but that doesn’t mean we make it.”

  “That’s a horrific metaphor,” Abram said, his face twisted in disgust. “And it’s also patently untrue. You might think you know everything, but the truth is, you never even scratched the surface of what’s going on here.” Abram lifted his hand again. “I don’t trust you.”

  “I wouldn’t trust me, either,” Ramsey admitted, eyeing Abram’s sharp claws.

  Abram scowled. “I need you to know that, should you repeat anything I’m about to tell you or use it in any way to profit somehow—”

  “Let me guess. You’ll take a chunk of my liver? Or perhaps my appendix?” Ramsey said, the snark seeping back into his tone. “Don’t worry. Consider me sufficiently terrified. Now what’s going on?”

  I stepped forward, placing what I hoped was a calming hand on Abram’s arm. “The people jumping to their deaths…they’re all Supplicants.”

  “How do you know?” Ramsey asked, tilting his head.

  Abram growled. “That’s not important,” he said. “Just know that it’s true. Whoever the Conduit responsible is, they’re luring Supplicants to this island, then using your wife and the hex cast on her to coerce them into killing themselves, and then somehow harvesting their blood.”

  “Well, that doesn’t bode well for your girlfriend, does it?” Ramsey asked, looking over at me again. “Seeing as how her blood type is AB witch bait.”

  “I’ll take care of Charisse,” Abram said testily.

  My love, if only you could.

  Abram closed his eyes for a moment. “The point is, we have to find the Conduit before they gather enough mystical energy to do whatever it is they’re planning.” Abram’s gaze leveled off. “If we accomplish that, there’s a good chance we can save your girl in the process.”