Dark Bites (Dark-Hunter World)

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  “Adrian, where have you been? I’ve been calling for an hour.”

  Sam went over to his answering machine to turn it off so that she wouldn’t overhear their conversation, but it had so many unmarked buttons, she didn’t know which one to press.

  “I was at work.”

  “I wish you’d give me your work number. I need to be able to get a hold of you when something comes up.”

  “What do you need now, Mom?”

  “I need you to come over and salt my driveway, so that I won’t get stuck here tomorrow.”

  “Jesus, Mom, it’s a forty-minute drive and the roads are iced over.”

  “I know, that’s why I need you to come over, right now.”

  Sam frowned at his mother’s insistence.

  “Mom, I can’t. I’m busy.”

  His mother gave a dramatic sigh. “Busy doing what? Playing with your stupid computers again? All I ask is a little, tiny favor and this is the thanks I get. Do you know, I was in labor for thirty-six hours with you? I almost died giving birth.”

  “Yes, Mom, I know.”

  “Don’t you take that tone with me, young man. I gave my life to you kids, and the least you can do is take care of me in my old age.”

  “You’re only forty-seven.”

  “Don’t you dare get smart with me. It’s not like you have anything better to do. God forbid you should actually date and marry someone, and give me a grandchild.”

  “Would you please lay off me, Mom? I’m not in the mood.”

  “Fine,” she said in a sarcastic tone that made Sam want to choke her. “You just stay there, and let me fend for myself. You’re just like your worthless father.”

  “Would you leave Dad out of this?”

  “You’re just like him, you know. Selfish and worthless. It’s a good thing you don’t have a girlfriend. You’d probably just knock her up, and leave her, too.”

  Sam’s heart lurched. Poor Adrian. It was a good thing he didn’t have another phone or she’d pick it up and give his mother a piece of her mind.

  “Just my luck,” his mother continued. “To get stuck with an ungrateful son. I knew you should have been a girl. That’s fine, though. I’ll just call Heather and get her to do it.”

  “Jeez, Mom, Heather can hardly drive when the weather’s clear and she lives farther away than I do.”

  “What do you care? At least I can depend on her.”

  “All right,” Adrian snapped. “I’m coming, okay? Don’t get her killed because you need your driveway salted.”

  “Oh, good.”

  Sam gaped at the sudden change in the woman’s voice. Now that she was getting her way, she actually sounded nice.

  “Love you, sweetie.”

  “Me, too.” By his tone, Sam knew he had his teeth gritted.

  The answering machine clicked off. Sam shook her head. She’d never heard anything like that in her life.

  Adrian came out of the bedroom with his jaw ticking. “I have to go out for a little bit.”

  “Adrian, you can’t do that. What if you have a wreck and get killed?”

  “Trust me, I’m not that lucky.”

  “You’re not funny.”

  He shrugged his heavy ski jacket on. Sam zipped it while he fixed the collar. “You be careful,” she said, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

  Adrian nibbled her lips as warmth spread through him. Only Sam had ever said that to him. “I will. Lock the door behind me.”

  As soon as he was gone, Sam sighed. Adrian reminded her of a tolerant lion with cubs hanging off him while they nipped his skin. How could he stand it?

  Shaking her head, Sam went to get herself a Coke. She opened the fridge and stared in disbelief. It was bare except for an almost-empty gallon of soured milk and a six-pack of beer.

  Frowning, she opened his kitchen cabinets, taking inventory. One plate, two mismatched bowls, a cookie sheet, one medium-sized pot, three glasses, two coffee cups, coffee, and two half-empty boxes of cereal. That was it.

  Unbelievable. She’d had no idea he lived like this. And now that she thought about it, she realized he didn’t even have a Christmas tree in his apartment.

  The phone rang again.

  Sam ignored it until the answering machine picked up.

  “Adrian?” Heather said. “Hey, I need you to call me back as soon as you hear this, okay? Um, I need you, big brother. And please don’t yell at me. I had to write a check out for tuition today or else they’d cancel my classes. And I don’t have the money to cover it. I’m also two weeks overdue on my rent again. I really need twelve hundred dollars by tomorrow. I swear, I won’t ever again ask you for money. I know I said that last time, but I mean it this time. Anyway, please call me tonight. Love you.”

  Sam ached for him. When he had told her he watched out for his sister and mother, she’d had no idea just what a challenge the two of them were.

  “That’s it,” she muttered as she grabbed her coat out of the closet. “It’s time someone did something for you.”

  It was almost three hours later when Adrian finally got home. His head throbbed from his mother’s incessant criticism. And the woman wondered why no man would ever stay with her for more than a few months.

  If he had any sense, he’d take off, too. But he refused to do that to Heather. His sister could barely look after herself, let alone watch after their mother.

  Pushing the thoughts out of his mind, he opened the door. He frowned as he caught a whiff of something really good.

  Must be his neighbor’s dinner again, he thought as he closed and locked the door. He hung up his coat.

  “Sam?” he called, not seeing her in the living room.

  “I’m right here,” she said from the kitchen.

  Adrian turned, then froze as his breath left his body. Sam was standing at the sink wearing nothing but one of his flannel shirts. It was huge on her, reaching all the way to her knees.

  The sight floored him.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” she said as she pulled at the collar. “I fell on my way back and got mud all over my clothes.”

  “Fell?” It was then he realized the warm, delicious aroma was coming from his stove. Damn, the thing actually worked. Who knew?

  He frowned. “What did you do?”

  She moved toward him with a coffee cup in her hands. “Here,” she said, handing him hot chocolate. “I’m sure you’re frozen.”

  He had been until he saw her half-dressed. Now, he felt as if he were on fire. “Where did this come from?”

  She smiled. “I walked down to the market on the corner.”

  He was stunned. He’d never in his life come home to such a warm welcome.

  And in that moment, he knew he loved her.

  Setting the cup down on his breakfast counter, he pulled her into his arms and held her close.

  Sam trembled at the contact. He ran his hands down her back, then to her bare hips.

  “Oh, God,” he breathed. “You’re naked under there.”

  Sam laughed. “I know.”

  Adrian’s thoughts scattered as he touched her bare buttocks. Her skin was so incredibly soft while he was harder than he’d ever been before.

  Bending down, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

  Sam wrapped her arms around his neck, amazed he was able to carry her so easily. And when he laid her on the bed, she smiled, knowing this was what she’d wanted since the first time she’d seen him greeting her in the lobby for her interview last year.

  She got up on her knees and pulled his shirt over his head. Her gaze feasted on the sight of all that strong, tawny skin as she ran her hands over his delectable flesh.

  Good gracious, the man had a gorgeous body, and she couldn’t wait to taste every inch of it.

  The way he watched her with his eyes dark and hungry, his breathing ragged, made her burn even more for him. How could a man like this want her?

  Sam hesitated as she placed her hands
on the top button of his jeans. “I want you to know that I’m not easy,” she whispered.

  “It never crossed my mind,” he said as he cupped her face in his hands. He moved to kiss her, but she pulled back.

  She met his confused gaze. “I’ve only been with one other guy. My college boyfriend.”

  “Okay,” he said, dipping his head toward hers.

  She laughed as she dodged his lips again. “Would you listen for a second?”

  He arched a brow at her.

  “I wanted to let you know that I’m not on the pill or anything.”

  Adrian went rigid. Cursing, he took a step back from the bed. “Well, since we’re confessing things, I have to tell you, I haven’t been with a woman since college, either. And I threw out my condoms last year after it occurred to me that they were older than I was.” Adrian retrieved his shirt from the floor.

  Damn it, he was so hard it hurt. And all he could think of was taking her, consequences be damned.

  But he couldn’t do that. He wasn’t about to take a chance on getting her pregnant. In spite of what his mother thought, he wasn’t his father.

  It figures. Whatever made you think you could have a woman like her, anyway?

  Sam frowned as he stalked out of the room. She started to call him back, then reconsidered. He needed to eat first.

  She went after him. “You hungry?”

  Adrian nodded, but by his face she could tell food was the last thing he wanted.

  Sam served him a bowl of chili.

  Adrian stood at the counter while he ate it.

  Bemused, Sam watched as he refused to look at her. And the only words he uttered were a very brief compliment on how good her chili tasted and a simple thank-you.

  As soon as he was finished, Adrian placed the bowl in the sink, then went to sit in his recliner.

  Picking up his remote for the stereo, he clicked on his CD player. He had to do something to distract himself from those luscious legs peeking out from under her shirt. He rotated the discs to Matchbox 20.

  Suddenly, he felt Sam beside his chair. He glanced at her, then did a double-take as he saw her shirt unbuttoned all the way to her navel. Even worse, the swell of one breast was so obvious that it sent a wave of heat straight through his groin.

  “Don’t tease me, Sam,” he said hoarsely.

  With a tight-lipped smile, she lifted up the hem of the shirt to gift him with a glimpse of the dark curls at the juncture of her thighs before she climbed into his lap.

  “Sam,” he groaned as she reached to unbutton his pants. His entire body burned and, worse, her feminine, floral scent was making him insane. If she didn’t get up, he was going to have her regardless of his common sense. “Please don’t.”

  She took his hands in hers and led them to her breasts.

  Adrian leaned his head back and moaned at the softness of her bare breasts in his hands.

  Sam kissed him then, and he felt something strange in her mouth.

  Adrian pulled back to see her with a wrapped condom between her teeth.

  The smile on her face was devilish as she removed the package. “I bought them at the store, just in case.”

  Growling low in his throat, he kissed her fiercely.

  Sam gasped as he rose to his feet with her still in his lap. She wrapped her arms and legs around him as he carried her back to his bed with his hands firmly gripping her bare bottom.

  He set her on the bed, then pulled his shirt over his head again as she finished unfastening his jeans. She removed his clothes from him.

  Sam gaped at the sight of his lean muscles as she saw him naked for the first time. Every single inch of his lean, hard body was toned and perfect. Never had she seen anything like it.

  Her face burned as she saw the size of his erection.

  She ran her hands over the veins on his forearms, over the strength of a body she’d never dared hope to touch. His skin was so soft, his muscles so hard. It reminded her of velvet stretched over steel.

  She’d never imagined her programming genius would have the body of a Greek god. But he truly did.

  Adrian hesitated as he stared at her in his bed, wearing his shirt. She was beautiful there. So soft, warm, and giving.

  His desire surged through him like lava as he joined her in the bed and laid her back against the mattress. He rained kisses over her face and neck as he did his best to control himself.

  His body demanded he get down to business with her, but his heart wanted to savor her for as long as he could. Even if it killed him.

  Adrian groaned as she rolled him over onto his back and straddled his waist. He liked her feistiness. But most of all, he liked her on top of him.

  She leaned over his chest and ran her tongue along the edge of his jaw, sending a thousand needlelike chills over his body as she rubbed herself against his stomach.

  It shook him all the way to his soul.

  “I’m so glad you got rid of that goatee,” she whispered in his ear a second before she ran her tongue around the curve of his jaw.

  Adrian held her against him. “If I’d known you would do this, I’d have shaved it off the first week you came to work.”

  She laughed.

  He buried his lips in the curve of her shoulder, inhaling the sweet scent of her skin. His head swam from the moistness of her on his stomach.

  Needing her in a way that terrified him, he unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it from her shoulders. “You are so beautiful,” he breathed as he saw her naked.

  Her curves were every bit as full and lush as he had imagined. And her breasts…

  He could stare at those luscious breasts all night long.

  His breathing ragged, he reached up and cupped them in his hands. She trembled in response, delighting him even more.

  He dropped his gaze down to the moist curls that were driving him crazy, the moist curls that covered the part of her he couldn’t wait to have.

  Sitting up, he kissed her furiously as he skimmed his hand from her breast, down her smooth, soft stomach to the tangled curls and into the sleek, wet cleft.

  Sam hissed at the pleasure of his long, lean fingers stroking her intimately. She’d never felt anything better, until he slid them inside her. In and out, and around, those fingers tormented her with a fiery pleasure she feared might actually consume her.

  Shamelessly, she rubbed herself against him, wanting him in a way that went beyond the physical.

  Her body on fire, she pushed him back against the bed, then moved to kiss a trail down his chest.

  Adrian hissed as Sam brushed her lips against his taut nipple and when she drew it into her mouth he thought he would die from the pleasure of her tongue on his skin.

  He buried his hands in her hair, cupping her face gently as he let the love he felt for her wash over him. She was so giving, so kind. Never in his life had anyone taken care of him. Never had anyone cared.

  But Sam did, and it rocked him all the way to his heart.

  “Touch me, Sam,” he breathed, wanting to feel her hand against him again.

  She moved herself lower, trailing her tongue and lips down his abdomen, to his navel, his hip, where she tormented him mercilessly with little nibbles that rocked his entire body.

  Delirious from her touch, he closed his eyes in painful anticipation as she finally brushed her hand through the curls at the center of his body. She cupped him in her hand.

  Adrian arched his back, growling at the softness of her fingers stroking his shaft.

  “Yes,” he moaned, writhing from the unbelievable sensations that ripped through him.

  And before he knew what she was doing, she moved her head lower and licked a slow, torturous path from the base of his shaft, all the way to the tip.

  Adrian hissed at the unexpected, blind ecstasy that tore through him.

  Sam smiled as she felt him shivering around her. Her only thought to give him more pleasure, she took him into her mouth.

  She knew she was making him cra
zy, and she loved every minute of it. Adrian deserved to be loved by someone who wouldn’t take him for granted, and she wanted to show him just how much he meant to her. Just how much she needed him.

  Adrian clenched his fists in the sheets at the incredible sensation of her tongue and lips covering him. No one had ever done that to him before, and he couldn’t believe just how good it felt.

  His body trembling, he couldn’t stand not tasting her in return.

  He had to have her. Now!

  Sam lifted her head as Adrian sat up. His eyes dark and shuttered, he moved until his body was lying in the opposite direction of hers. He ran his mouth and tongue over her stomach as he skimmed a hand down her hips, blazing a scorching trail of heat.

  His touch literally burned her from the inside out as he trailed it up her inner thigh, urging her to open her legs for him.

  He nudged her legs farther apart, then buried his lips at the center of her body.

  “Adrian!” she breathed as he tormented her.

  Sam moaned at the sensation of his mouth on her as he nibbled and licked. His tongue and fingers swirled around her, intensifying her pleasure.

  Trembling, she returned to torment him the same way.

  She writhed as he continued and as she tasted him.

  There was such fire and magic in his touch. It scorched her in a way that was indescribable. No wonder she loved this man.

  She gave herself to him without reservations or fear. There was something so special in this equal sharing, equal giving. It touched her profoundly and she knew in her heart that she would never be the same.

  Sam’s head was light as he gave careful consideration to her, and when he slid two fingers inside her body and stroked her, she moaned in ecstasy.

  Biting her lip, she closed her eyes as his fingers delved deep and hard inside her, swirling around with the promise of what was to come while he laved her even faster.

  Sam’s entire body shivered and jerked involuntarily in response to his touch.

  Her head spun from the intense sensations. The pleasure was so incredible, so extreme, as it built inside her until she could stand no more.

  Suddenly, her entire body exploded as white-hot ecstasy tore through her in ever-increasing waves. Sam cried out as her release came.