Dark Bites (Dark-Hunter World)

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  He ran his tongue over the tops of her breasts, delighting in the way she shivered in his arms as he struggled with the corset laces.

  And at that moment he despised whoever had invented the cursed thing. It had to be some old, doddering matron seeking to preserve her daughter’s virtue, for no man would ever design so inconvenient a contraption.

  At last he loosened it to where he could free her breasts to his hungry mouth.

  Catherine cupped his head to her as she stifled a moan of pure pleasure. His hand caressed her swollen breasts, drawing the taut nipples so tight she could barely stand it. Heat tore through her body as an ache started deep in the center of her. It was a familiar longing that she only felt in his presence.

  No other man had ever aroused her the way he did. No one. And she doubted if anyone ever could.

  And then his hands were under her skirt, stroking and teasing as they skimmed over her calves and thighs. One hand cupped her buttocks as he wrapped his other arm around her and drew her up tight against him.

  He reclaimed her lips for one hungry, pulsating kiss, then pulled back.

  He cupped her face in his hands and tilted her head to look at him. His lips were swollen from her kisses and he stared at her as if he were dreaming.

  The need and hunger in that silver-gray gaze mesmerized her. Her breathing ragged, she could do nothing but stare up at him in wonderment.

  “Say my name,” he demanded, stroking her swollen lips gently with his knuckles.

  She hesitated.

  But what was the point? She had already surrendered herself to him. And for some reason she couldn’t fathom, she wanted to please him.

  “Michael,” she breathed.

  He smiled, then returned to torture her mouth with sweet bliss.

  He rose with her in his arms. “Where’s your room?”

  “In there,” she said, pointing to the back hallway and the room on the left.

  Limping all the way, he carried her to it then shut the door with the heel of his burned foot. “Where’s the lamp?”

  Catherine squirmed out of his arms and moved to find her chest of drawers to the left of the door. Too dark to see, she groped along the smooth top as he came up behind her and cupped her breasts in his hands.

  She moaned as he toyed with her and heat swept through her body.

  “You’re making this difficult,” she said, then sighed at the feel of his lips on the back of her neck as he pressed his swollen shaft against her hip.

  He gave one last possessive squeeze to her breasts, then released her. “Light the lamp,” he said, his voice ragged. “I want to see you. All of you.”

  Quickly, she found the glass lamp. Lifting the globe, she took one of the matches beside it and lit it. She turned the wick down to a low, warm glow that made their shadows dance on the far wall.

  Michael came up behind her again and placed a kiss on her shoulder as his arms wrapped around her waist to pull her close to his chest. She leaned her head back, savoring the feel of him. The strength and warmth in his powerful arms. His deep groan echoed in her ears and she sighed contentedly.

  Slowly, he began undoing her clothes.

  “Michael, what – ”

  “Shh,” he said, placing a finger to her lips. “I want to savor you like a wrapped gift. Slowly. Carefully and with relish.”

  And so he did. She didn’t move as he took her shirtwaist off, then her skirt and petticoats. Her corset went next, exposing her upper body to him. She shivered from the cool air against their skin, but his hot gaze warmed her as he untied her pantaloons, then dropped them to the floor.

  She swallowed as she stood naked before him.

  O’Connell thought he’d go mad as he stared at her bare body. Not even his memory had been able to hold on to the true beauty that was his Catherine.

  And for this one night she was his.

  All his.

  He reached out and ran one hand over her right breast, delighting in the way her nipple hardened to his touch. Then, he trailed his hand over her abdomen to the curls at the juncture of her thighs. She moaned as he slid his fingers against her.

  His mind reeled at the hotness of her body, at the sleek wetness in his hand. She was as ready for him as he was for her, but he didn’t want to rush this.

  He wanted this night to last a lifetime.

  “I am going to savor you,” he told her. “Every single inch of you.”

  Catherine couldn’t respond verbally. Her mind numb, she could do nothing more than watch him watch her.

  He picked her up again and carried her to the bed, where he removed her shoes, then carefully rolled down her stockings, nibbling her legs as he went.

  As she started to sit up, he held her in place with one hand and shook his head. “Let me look at you lying there. I want to see you naked in your bed.”

  And look he did. His gaze traveled from the top of her head down to her breasts, to her stomach, her hips and legs, and then it returned to the center of her body, which thrummed with a hot, demanding need.

  He lifted his hands to her thighs and spread her legs wider.

  “Michael – ”

  “Let me look at you.”

  So she did, and his look burned even more than his touch. He leaned his head down and placed a tender kiss just below her belly button. His hot breath scorched her as his teeth tormented her flesh. He trailed his kisses lower, down to the inside of her thighs. Catherine closed her eyes and moaned as his lips brushed up against the center of her body.

  Then he pulled back.

  As if sensing how she ached for him, he quickly shed his own clothes, then climbed up between her legs. His entire body caressed hers in a long, luscious stroke.

  She moaned at the erotic pleasure it delivered as her body arched to meet his. She felt him from the tips of her toes to the tips of her aching breasts, all the way to her forehead, where he placed a tender kiss.

  His hot, stiff shaft rested on her belly.

  Wanting him too badly to wait, she reached down between their bodies and stroked the velvety hardness of him. He hissed in her ear as she cupped him gently, then sought to guide him into her.

  But he would have none of it.

  Without entering her, Michael rolled to her side before his mouth returned to hers. He skimmed his hand over her body, then buried it between her legs.

  Catherine hissed in pleasure as her hips lifted instinctively toward his hand.

  He pulled back to stare down at her. “So,” he whispered as his fingers toyed with the sensitive flesh between her thighs. He plunged one finger deep inside her, swirling it around and teasing her with pure, unadulterated pleasure. “Do you remember me now?”

  “Yes,” she gasped as his fingers did the most wicked things to her body.

  He teased and toyed, his fingers circling and delving, faster and faster, until she was breathless from her aching need.

  “And do you remember this?” he asked as he circled the core of her body with his thumb.

  “Yes,” she gasped again as her entire body throbbed.

  He smiled a tender smile. “Now tell me what you want.”

  “I want to feel you deep inside me. Now.”

  He released her.

  Catherine whimpered until he picked her up and moved her yet again. “What are you doing now?”

  He led her to where her mirror stood in the corner. “You’ll see,” he whispered in her ear, raising chills on her arms.

  He stood her before the mirror, where she could watch his hands as they caressed her body, kneaded her breasts, and masterfully stroked the flesh of her stomach.

  He brushed her hair over her right shoulder to where it covered most of her and buried his lips in the curve of her neck.

  Reaching up over her head, she buried her hand in his hair and groaned in pleasure.

  “You still smell like sunshine,” he whispered in her ear before swirling his tongue over the sensitive flesh. And when he plunged his tongue inside
her ear, she melted and moaned as her entire body erupted into flames.

  Catherine trembled all over as she watched his hands cup her breasts possessively. He pressed them, kneaded them, caressed them until she could barely stand it.

  “I want to touch you,” she said hoarsely, trying to turn around in his arms.

  He stopped her. “You will,” he said. “But not yet. Not until I devour you.”

  “Then devour me.”

  His rich laugh echoed in her ear. “Yes, ma’am,” he whispered. “I’m more than happy to oblige you.”

  And then he trailed kisses down her spine. Slowly, methodically, covering every tiny inch of her flesh. She didn’t know how her legs managed to keep her standing, for they trembled until she was sure she would fall.

  His warm breath caressed her flesh as his hot, wet mouth teased her skin. He paused at the small of her back, his tongue gently stroking her buttocks. His hands circled around in front of her as he knelt on the floor at her feet.

  Then his lips kissed the backs of her thighs, her knees, her calves, and when he got to her ankles, she jumped in erotic pleasure.

  He laughed, then nudged her legs farther apart.

  Fevered and hot, she did as he wanted and watched in the mirror as he positioned his body between her legs and kissed the front of her knees, her thighs.

  He paused at the juncture of her thighs.

  Her gaze transfixed by the sight of him in the looking glass, Catherine’s entire body pulsed as his hot breath scorched her skin. He ran his left hand through her dark, short curls, kneading her erotically. Then, using both hands, he gently separated the tender folds and buried his mouth at the center of her body.

  Tremors of ecstasy shook her.

  O’Connell wanted to shout in victory as he tasted the most private part of her. She was his and this part of her was for him alone.

  He would never share her! Never.

  He ran his tongue over her, delighting in her moans and sighs. In the taste of her body, hot and moist against his starving tongue.

  “Please,” she begged. “I can’t stand any more.”

  He nipped her tender flesh. “Oh, yes, you can, my love. I’ve only started with you.”

  Deciding he had tortured the two of them enough for the moment, he moved to nibble the sensitive flesh of her hip. She buried her hand in his hair. He delighted in the feel of her hands on his scalp.

  More hurriedly than before, he kissed his way up her body until he could bury his lips in the hollow of her throat.

  He held her tightly against him, reveling in the feel of her naked flesh against his, the feel of her tight nipples burning into his chest.

  Catherine lifted one leg up to cup him to her as she arched her body against him, needing desperately to be closer to his heat. His lips burned her throat. She rubbed her hips against his in a silent plea for him to have mercy on her and to squelch the fire scorching her from the inside out.

  To her chagrin, he pulled back. Then he took her hands in his and braced them on the frame of the mirror as he moved to stand behind her.

  She met his lustful, hot gaze in the mirror. Never had she seen such a look of love and lust intermingled. His breathing ragged, he whispered to her, “I want to see you see me take you.”

  And then with one powerful stroke he drove himself up inside her. She sucked her breath in sharply at the feel of his fullness stroking her.

  “Oh, yes, Michael, yes!” she cried out.

  O’Connell thought he would perish at the sound of his name on her lips while she surrendered herself to him.

  At that moment, he knew what paradise meant. Nothing could ever be more pleasurable than being with the woman he loved, hearing her sighs, and feeling her body from the inside out.

  “Show me,” he said in her ear. “Show me that you remember me.”

  She hesitated only an instant before she lifted herself on her tiptoes, drawing her body up to the tip of his shaft. Just as he was sure she’d drive him out, she dropped herself back against him, wringing a deep-seated moan of pleasure from him. He ground his teeth in the bittersweet torture of her milking his body with hers.

  To hell with dreams! he thought rabidly. They were nothing compared to this reality. To the true feeling of her body sliding against his.

  Catherine smiled at the look of ecstasy on his face as she watched him in the mirror. Unabashed, she gave him what he wanted and took what she needed. Perspiration broke out on his forehead as he met her gaze in the glass.

  She could feel her body starting to teeter, to spiral to the pinnacle only he had ever shown her.

  But before she would go there, she wanted something else from him. She delivered one last, long stroke to him, then paused.

  He arched a questioning brow.

  “Did you ever remember me?” she asked.

  “Every minute of every hour. I’ve never stopped wanting you.”

  The sincerity in his gaze told her he spoke the truth. Joy spread through her as she again rocked herself against him, then pulled away.

  He looked at her questioningly.

  “I want to hold you when it happens.”

  Unwilling to make the short distance to the bed, he laid her down on the floor and again entered her.

  Catherine moaned at the sensation of him thrusting between her legs as she encircled his body with hers. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she ran her hands down his spine and cupped his buttocks to her, urging him on. Her pleasure mounted higher and higher until she felt herself slipping again.

  This time she let herself teeter over the edge.

  Crying out, she shook as tremors of pure pleasure tore through her.

  Still he thrusted, deepening her ecstasy until he threw his head back and cried out as well.

  With a contented sigh, he collapsed on top of her and she reveled in the weight of him.

  It had been too long. Far too long.

  O’Connell couldn’t breathe or move. Not until the throbbing returned to his arm and foot. “Ow,” he breathed.

  “Ow?” she repeated.

  “My foot,” he said as he rolled off her. “It’s hurting again.”

  A blush stained her cheeks. She rose slowly from the floor and reached her hand out to him. “I think I know a way to make you forget about that.”

  He smiled and rose to her invitation. She took him to the bed and laid him back against the soft, feather mattress.

  Surrendering himself to her whims, he watched as she crawled up his body like a naked wildcat. She wriggled her hips and then straddled his body.

  O’Connell moaned at the feel of the hairs at the juncture of her thighs caressing his bare flesh as she sat down upon his stomach. She leaned forward, spilling her breasts across his chest as she wiggled that delectable bottom against him.

  “Now let’s see how much I remember,” she whispered before burying her lips just below his ear. “Does this help the pain?”

  “A little,” he moaned.

  She trailed kisses over his skin until she got to his chest. She stroked his nipple with her tongue and he hissed in pleasure. She nibbled him ever so gently.

  “And that?” she asked.

  “A little better than before,” he said.

  “Still not gone entirely?”

  He shook his head.

  “Well, then, let’s see what it takes.”

  She moved to his side and as she bent over him her hair fell against his flesh, raising chills all over him. She lashed his chest with her hair, over and over, and he arched his back against the pleasurable beating.

  “Better?” she asked.

  “Somewhat.”

  She arched a brow. “Somewhat?”

  He shrugged.

  Her smile was wicked and warm. “In that case…”

  She lowered her head and took him into her mouth. O’Connell pressed his head back into the pillows as his entire body jerked in pleasure.

  “Catherine,” he said hoarsely. “Next tim
e, you can set fire to my entire body if that’s the cure for it.”

  She laughed against him. “Don’t tempt me,” she said, looking up an instant before she returned to the part of him that was steadily growing larger. Harder.

  Before he could move, she straddled him again and lowered herself on his shaft. “How’s that?”

  “Hot and wet, just like I like it,” he said.

  And this time when they came, it was in unison.

  O’Connell didn’t know what time they finally fell asleep. All he knew was that for the first time in five years, his body had been fully sated. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this good. This free.

  He cradled Catherine’s slumbering form against his chest and buried his face in her hair. If he could, he would die right then and there.

  Because with the dawn that would invariably come, he knew he would have to leave her. And he would rather be dead than walk out on her again.

  But he had no choice.

  4

  Catherine awoke to the sound and feel of Michael’s breathing in her ear, to the warmth of his body pressed against her own. It had been so long since she last had the pleasure of him sleeping by her side.

  How could she have told him she didn’t remember, when all she did was remember the feel of him? The smell of him? The essence of him?

  And how could she ever reject a man she loved so dearly?

  Catherine opened her eyes and saw him lying on his side, facing her. His left leg snuggled between hers, he had his left arm draped possessively across her body.

  Impulsively, she brushed the brown wisps of hair off his forehead and placed a tender kiss to his brow.

  “I still love you,” she whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear her. That was one thing about Michael – once he slept, it would take the end of the world to wake him.

  She heard footsteps outside in the kitchen. Afraid it was one of the children or Rebecca, someone who might enter her room to wake her, she quickly got up and dressed.

  With one last look to savor the sight of him sleeping naked in her bed, she drew her quilt up over his sleeping form and tiptoed from the room.

  Entering the kitchen, she didn’t see anyone.

  How strange.