Hot Decadent Rising (Breath of Darkness)

by Candice Stauffer

  “You should’ve seen the look on your face. I was just messing around with you. Of course I’m filthy. I was kidnapped by a vampire, I watched my dad shoot Tom, I was drugged, I wandered around in the woods, crawled around in a dirty cave and then I seduce a very bad vampire into taking our cuffs off so you could kill him. Do you know what’s odd? I’ve a younger friend named Emily who thinks the world of Demetri. She talks about him as if he’s some sort of protective big brother. She’s convinced he’s trying to help her find a man she swears saved her at some point.”

  “Who?”

  “Zack Savage. It’s crazy. I’ve always felt there’s something very wrong with Demetri. He’s dating Mary Tate. The woman is a real nut case. She’s flat out evil. Maybe he isn’t so bad after all. Emily swears that the first time my father tried to kill me that he is the one that saved me. She said he healed me. Do you think it’s possible he just has really bad taste in women?”

  “I doubt it’s that simple. He’s a ten thousand year old demon. He didn’t just wake up one day and decided to be evil because he fell for a woman who isn’t his true mate. He has an agenda. There’s no telling what it is, but I feel sorry for anyone foolish or unlucky enough to get in his way of achieving it. He’s dangerous. You need to avoid him like the plague.”

  “Doesn’t being a demon automatically make him evil?”

  “Nikolas Drake is a demon,” he revealed, as he led her to the base of the stairs.

  “No way.”

  “It’s true.” After she’d mentioned Demetri, he remembered Demetri taunting him before he flew off in his dragon form. Eli wanted to get outside to make sure the pack knew to keep an eye out for Demetri. “Go upstairs. My room is the third door on the right. The bathroom should be fully stocked. I’ll come up to make sure you have everything you need and find you something to wear once I get the fire going.”

  ***

  “Sounds like a great plan.” Kara started up the stairs. She knew he was rushing her. She wanted to know why, but she wasn’t about to waste any time trying to figure it out. Taking a shower trumped her curiosity. Every time she lifted her leg to take a step the movement aggravated the cut on her thigh, but she continued all the way to the top of the stairs. Nothing would stop her from taking a shower. By the time she reached his room she felt the warm sensation of fresh blood soaking her pants and dripping down her leg.

  She turned the bedroom light on. It was like taking a step back in time. The room, the same as the rest of the house, was clean and tidy but, rather than the up-to-date furnishings of the rest of the house, it was furnished in an old-fashioned style. The furniture was undeniably the most stunning she’d ever seen. The wood books case, dressers and huge headboard on the bed looked like hand crafted antiques. While making her way across the room she stopped at the foot of the bed for a few seconds to take in the detailed patterns of the carvings on the headboard.

  Once she entered the bathroom and turned the light on she was startled by her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t recognize herself. She thought it was another person. She actually yelped and took a step back and then, in a state of shock when she realized it was her, she stared at her reflection. “Holy crap.” She looked absolutely horrendous. Her long black hair was a tangled, wild mess. A layer of dirt covered her face. And that was no over-dramatic exaggeration caused by seeing a few splotches here and there. Her face was a mask of dirt.

  She opened the frosted glass door to the oversized shower. It had four showerheads, two on each end of the shower, and a bench seat along the back wall. On the bench sat a variety of shampoos, conditioners and body soap. She turned the water on to allow it to warm up, and then she closed the door. She pulled her sweatshirt and T-shirt over her head and tossed them onto the floor, and then she sat down on a wooden bench next to the shower and bent over to take her shoes off. That is when she noticed several drops of blood on the marble floor.

  She looked down at her thigh. Though her jeans were black the blood pooling on the fabric was obvious. She stood up and unbuttoned and zipped her pants. Knowing it was going to hurt when she pushed them down over her thigh, she took a deep breath and held as she slowly lowered them over her hips. And she was right. Older blood had dried around the wound. She had to peel her jeans from it. The wound on her leg actually looked worse than it felt. She had a four to five inch gash across it, and the entire front side of her thigh was black and blue.

  It took a few minutes from the time she started to undress, but at last she was standing beneath a heavenly hot spray of water. She took her time washing her hair and body. She took special care when she cleaned the wound on her leg. It was still bleeding. Once she’d cleaned it up she realized it was well over an inch deep on one side. She figured she’d most likely need to get stitches to close it up.

  She’d just turned off the water and reached to open the shower door when it swung open. “You just gave me a heart attack.” At first he appeared to be panicked. “What’s wrong?”

  “I gave you a heart attack? I came up here to find you something to wear and realized that you left a trail of blood across the bedroom floor.”

  “Oh, shoot. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was bleeding again until I walked up the stairs, and I didn’t know it was bleeding heavy enough to make a mess until I got into the bathroom. I’ll clean it up.”

  “I know you didn’t just apologize for being injured and bleeding on the damn floor.” He reached behind him, grabbed a towel and began to dry her off. “I can’t believe I just forgot about it. I should’ve looked at it better.” He took another towel, wrapped it around her body, scooped her up and carried her out of the bathroom.

  “You were stabbed in the belly and chest. I think that surpasses the urgency of a cut on the leg. It looks worse than it feels. I don’t even remember how it happened.”

  “My wounds are already healed. I should’ve been mindful of your injury. And you don’t remember because you were drugged.” He lowered her onto the bed.

  She immediately started to get up, but he easily held her down. “What are you doing? Let me get up. I’ll get blood all over the bed. I’ll ruin the comforter.”

  “Stay put.” He sat down on the edge of the bed to examine the wound. When he touched it a sharp pain shot through her thigh. She yelped and tried to pull her leg away, but he caught her ankle and held it in a firm but gentle grip. “We need to take care of it now. It’s deeper than I thought. It’s already infected and there’s a large sliver of wood in it.” He reached over her and pulled the edge of the comforter over her. “It’s still cold up here. Keep it around you.” He stood up. “And don’t you dare move an inch. I’ll be right back.”

  “Shouldn’t I get dressed?” she asked, figuring that he was headed out to make arrangements to take her to the hospital.

  “Not yet.” He walked out of the room.

  ***

  Eli knew she wouldn’t like what he planned to do, but he wasn’t giving her a choice in the matter. The wound needed to be treated… now. He didn’t want to leave the house with her until he knew Demetri was no longer around. He knew it would upset her if he tore his wrist open while she was in her right mind. He didn’t want to take control of her mind again. It felt wrong when he’d done it to get her to take his blood to dilute the heroin. Eli headed into the kitchen and took a knife from the knife block on the counter, and then went back up to the bedroom.

  “Holy crap!” She swung her legs over the side of the bed as if attempting to make a run for it. “You are not going to try to cut the sliver out are you?”

  “No.” He sliced his palm open, dropped the knife and gripped her thigh as she sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Ouch!” She tried to push him away from her. “Stop!” She kicked him in the chest with her other foot to force him to let go, but he didn’t budge. “You have to stop! You said if I got your blood into my system I’d be change!”

  “Relax. You would have to ingest my blood to undergo a transforma
tion.” He looked up at her. “And being like me isn’t so bad.”

  She stopped fighting right away. “I didn’t say it was bad. It’s just that I like being me. What are you doing?”

  “My blood will force the sliver out, remove the infection and completely heal the wound. Within a few hours there’ll be no hint of a scar left. It wouldn’t change who you are, it would only make you faster, stronger and live longer.”

  “You could’ve warned me before you marched in here wielding a butcher knife like you were going play surgeon on me.”

  Yes. He could’ve warned her, but if she begged him not to do it he feared he might’ve done something stupid. Like attempt to take her to the hospital. “I knew you would object.”

  “And that didn’t matter to you?”

  “Of course. But it was infected. It needed immediate care. You’re being hunted. Taking you to the hospital would’ve been a terrible risk. I just wanted to get it done before you had a chance to get upset.”

  “It didn’t work. I’m upset.”

  “I did it for your own good.”

  “I’m not unreasonable. And I’m not stupid. I know I’m being hunted. If you would’ve explained your concerns to me I would’ve agreed with you. I’m certain, though it would’ve seemed extremely peculiar, I would’ve let you do whatever it is you are doing with your blood to heal the wound.”

  “Oh, damn. I’m sorry. I don’t think you’re stupid at all. I was only trying to take care of you.” He led a powerful pack. Taking charge had been what he’d done for so long. When he realized she might resist, he just did what he thought was right as he would with any member of his pack. He certainly wasn’t used to discussing his decisions. He trusted his instincts and followed them so there was no reason to talk about his conclusions before he acted upon them. But she wasn’t just a member of his pack. She was his mate. She was the one and only destined to walk by his side, not follow in his shadow. “I’ve no excuse for my behavior. I really am sorry, Kara.”

  “I believe you. I suppose I could forgive you for acting like a jerk.” She picked the knife up from the bed and held it a few inches from his nose. “But if you ever charge at me with a knife in your hand again I will get even. I mean it. And don’t you dare doubt it. I will retaliate. And it will be an unpleasant experience. Extremely unpleasant.”

  “Nothing could be more unpleasant than knowing my actions caused you to think that I believe you’re stupid.”

  Still holding the knife in his face she stared at him for several seconds. “You’re good, Eli. I’ll give you that. You’re damn good.”

  “I meant it.”

  “I’m sure you did.”

  “No you’re not sure. You can’t be. You don’t know what you mean to me. You don’t know how very much I think of you. No yet. But one day you will know.” He reached up and pushed the blade aside. “Because I intend to show you.” He leaned in close to kiss her. The moment her lips touched his desire, primal and explosive, caused every muscle in his body to tighten and shudder with need.

  She pulled back a little. He didn’t try to stop her. It took great effort, but he knew she needed space. She needed a moment to herself. And he needed a shower. She pressed her lips to his and gave him one last kiss before she pulled back even further. He also needed to tell her about her mom. He knew she would insist on seeing her mom the moment she learned the truth, and though it would be a traumatic experience for her to endure, he would take her.

  “Your leg is already starting to feel better, right?” He lifted his hand. “It’s looking better, too.”

  She looked down at her leg and was amazed. It was healing so fast she could see the cut closing and bruise fading away. She took his hand. He turned it and opened his fingers. In center of his palm sat the sliver that had been embedded in her thigh and the knife wound was entirely healed.

  “That is one big ass sliver. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it was in my leg.”

  “It sure is. I’ve never seen a bigger one. I’m positive you would’ve eventually figured out.” Laughing out loud, he stood up and walked over to his closet to find her something to wear. He selected a long sleeve button up shirt to make sure she was warm and comfortable. He was lucky to find one. He seldom wore anything other than T-shirts and jeans.

  “You sure do have incredible blood.”

  “Among other incredible things.”

  “I’ll admit you do have many extraordinary qualities.”

  He handed her the shirt. “I sent a few of the guys to get you a change of clothes, but they’ll be a few hours yet. This should keep you warm until then. I’m going to take a shower, and then we’ll go downstairs and find something to eat.”

  ***

  Kara didn’t wait for him to get out of the shower. Once she put the shirt on and buttoned it up she left the room and went downstairs. She felt too much for him. She enjoyed being with him more and more with each moment they spent together. She felt loved by him. She felt needed. And she needed him. The thought of needing him, of falling in love with him, upset her.

  She was already starting to fall in love with him. Everything was happening too fast. She stood in front of the fire, taking in its soothing warmth. Eli was a so strong and confident. He was kind. He was the perfect combination of gentleness and strength. He was a powerful leader. He would never turn on her. He would never betray her. She believed that he would protect her with his life and that he would love and cherish her with all that he was. With all that had happened, she questioned her judgment. Closing her eyes she placed her hands on her belly as she remembered the first time she ever felt her baby move. It wasn’t that long ago that they shared her body. He was alone, in a cold dark grave, and it was her fault. She’d allowed herself to believe in a man’s love and her baby paid for it with his life. She should’ve known better. It was a stupid mistake considering she’d witness her mother make the same mistake and pay for it with her life.

  Circling her body with his arms and clasping his hands together on top of her hands on her belly, Eli pulled her back against his body and rested his chin on top of her head. In the midst of his warm embrace she didn’t doubt his love for her. It forced the turbulent winds of the storm of doubts and regrets in her heart to become perfectly still. He wasn’t going anywhere. She wasn’t alone anymore.

  “What if when you’d given me your blood I’d been turned? Wouldn’t that mean you would be stuck with me for forever? Tell me the truth, would you’ve been disappointed?”

  “No. Not at all. I expect to be with you until the end of time. What makes you think the transformation hasn’t already started?”

  “If it had you wouldn’t have had to cut yourself to heal my leg just a few minutes ago.”

  “You’re perfect the way you are, but you have begun the process of turning. It can’t be stopped. I wouldn’t want it to stop. I cut myself to heal you for two reasons. First, my blood is still stronger than yours. In time your blood will be just as strong as mine. Second, I didn’t want to take control of your mind again, as I did when you were poisoned, to enable you to take it from me.”

  She heard a knock at the front door. It was loud and urgent sounding, but he didn’t even turn his head to acknowledge that he’d heard. She knew he was completely focused on her and was determined to comfort her. He would stand there all night holding her if that was what she needed. “You should answer the door.”

  Keeping one arm wrapped around her body, holding her close, he reached up with his other hand and pulled her hair back. Delectable tingling sensations raced over her skin when he bent his head and nuzzled her neck. “It can wait.”

  “What if it’s whoever you sent to get me some clothes?”

  Against her neck, she felt his lips curve upward into a smiled as he lifted the hem of the shirt and caressed her outer thigh and hip. “If that’s the case they can go away and never come back.”

  “You sent them away to get the clothes. Aren’t you worried you’ll hurt
their feelings?”

  “Not at all.” His teeth gently scraping back and forth over her neck, he moved his hand to her inner thigh and ran his palm over her mound all the way to belly and then her breast. “I love the softness of your skin. I love to feel it against mine.”

  As the knocking at the door became more persistent, he turned her around in his arms. Resting her head on his chest, his fingers massaged her scalp as she listened to his heart beating steady and strong. His body felt solid against hers as the heat radiating from his flesh seeped deep inside her. After a moment, she lifted her head to look up at him. “I’m truly the most fortunate man. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” His glowing golden brown eyes and the expression on his face as he stared down at her stole her breath away. “And you’re mine.” His lips slowly lifted into a smile that nearly caused her heart to stop beating. “All mine.” He wasn’t only looking at her with sensual hunger. He was also looking at her with gentleness, with adoration, with love. “And I am yours. Wholly, forever yours.”

  It was apparent that whoever was at the door was getting more impatient as the intensity of the knocking increased even more. His words combined with the look on his face left her feeling dazed and utterly bewildered. It was too much. He was too much. The hope she felt was all wrong. Overwhelmed by powerful emotions, she turned from him to glance over her shoulder in the direction of the door. “You should see what they want.”

  Gently, he reached out and turned her face to him. “Your mind will not take you where you desire to be, nor will it allow you to hope or dream. It won’t allow you to receive the truth in my words or permit you to believe in my devotion to you and to all that matters to you. Your soul is another matter. Listen to it, Kara. Listen to mine. Your soul reaches out and speaks to mine as mine reaches out and speaks to yours. Let your soul defeat the past that haunts your mind with memories of doubt and betrayal. It will overcome your fears. Let it guide you for it sees the truth and it will lead you to me, to our destiny.”