Nicu (The Dark Shadows Book 5)

by Ariel Marie

A vampire totally lost in his passion as he made love to her.

  Not love.

  This was a one-time night of passion.

  He was completely fucking her and ruining her for the next man.

  He crashed his mouth to hers. She gripped the back of his neck, pulling him closer as his tongue pushed its way into her mouth. She shifted her hips, rubbing her swollen folds along the hot length of his cock. He thrust forward, hard.

  She broke the kiss and threw her head back, letting loose a scream as he completely filled and stretched her pussy with his cock. He trailed kisses along her neck as he moved.

  She wrapped her legs around him as he continued to thrust deeper. He shifted his hips, changing angles as his lips wrapped around her beaded nipple.

  “Nicu,” she chanted his name, unable to form any other coherent words. He nipped her gently, before soothing the nipple with his tongue. His fingers again found their way to her folds, finding her sensitive flesh, massaging it as he continued his assault on her mounds.

  Her eyes squeezed shut as she unconsciously opened her senses completely to Nicu. She tangled her fingers in his hair as his power and strength slammed into her.

  She cried out, unable to handle the strength that radiated from him. She had never felt such power come from one person, and it literally took her breath away.

  “Breathe,” Nicu whispered fiercely as he released her nipple.

  She breathed out as the waves of his power continued to surge into her. Her breaths came in short gasps as her body trembled, while Nicu took complete control over her body.

  He increased the pressure on her clitoris as he thrust his cock deep inside of her. Her muscles tightened as she reached her peak and a scream ripped from her throat as she came. Nicu joined her, shouting his own release. The waves of her orgasm increased, crashing into her, sending her into a dark oblivion.

  ~Nicu~

  The room was silent. Nicu tried not to look at Samara. He failed and turned his head, finding her pulling her shirt on. He caught a glimpse of her brown nipples, standing proud and erect, before disappearing beneath the shirt. He cursed and turned away, feeling his cock harden again.

  But they couldn’t.

  His brothers would be here any minute, and this would be the last time he would ever see her. She would go on her way and he would go on his. He could feel her move around the room as she put her clothes back on.

  “I’ll see what I can do about your brother,” he said. It was better to speak of her twin than what occurred in the room. He willed his cock to go back down.

  “Thank you,” she said quietly, avoiding his eyes. “If he truly is dead, I want to be able to bury him.”

  He turned to look at her and nodded. He could honor her request. This was her last living relative. He would ensure that if they found her brother, his body would be returned to her. Her large eyes were filled with tears as she spoke of him. She wiped the moisture from her eyes.

  Nicu knew that her leaving was for the best. Seeing her in tears again, almost brought him to his knees. He couldn’t afford to have the bond form between them. He refused to consider the “M” word. It couldn’t be.

  She was a human. He knew there was a little more to her after the exchange of energy they had when they both climaxed. If he had to guess, he would say she was an empath. A strong one too. But, if she didn’t volunteer the information, he wouldn’t pry. Once Toma and the others arrived, they would go back to the necromancer compound and kill every breathing being there.

  He had a nation to save.

  The future of vampires everywhere fell on his broad shoulders. The vampire council had demanded it before his capture, and he was sure he would have to mate with some vampire female from a distinguished family. He was the heir to the throne, and taking a mate and producing an heir was his duty to his family and the vampire nation.

  “When my unit gets here, we will get you home. You are not going to want to stay around here.” He came to stand in front of her, but refused to touch her again. One touch and he couldn’t promise that they wouldn’t end up back in the bed.

  “You’re going back there again, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “I have to. Vampires and necromancers have been at war for centuries. It is time we end it now.”

  Her eyes widened. She pushed a few wisps of her hair that escaped her braids behind her ear as she stared up at him.

  “How old are you?” she whispered.

  “Four hundred and twenty years,” he answered gruffly. He ran his fingers through his own hair, suddenly feeling every single one his years. Vampires lived long lives, but they were not immortal. There were ways a vampire could be killed.

  “Wow,” she breathed.

  He turned away from her and walked over to the window and peered through the blinds, out into the darkness. Three large SUVs pulled into the parking lot with their headlights out.

  Finally.

  “They are here.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Nicu

  Nicu made his way out the side door of the hotel. He motioned for Samara to stay behind him to ensure her safety. They walked along the building to find his brothers and other Shadows standing by the trucks.

  “Took you fuckers long enough,” he growled. He may have been beyond pissed at the time it took for the Shadows to hunt him down, but he’d be damned if it didn’t feel good to see them.

  “We’d figured the mighty Nicu would have killed all the necros, and we could be on our way home to our mates,” Teague joked as he pushed off the truck.

  “I wouldn’t want to leave Toma pouting for not getting in on the action,” Nicu snapped back. Toma snorted as Teague, the youngest male of the Olaru siblings, was the first to reach him.

  Teague crushed him in a strong embrace. “Good to have you back,” Teague said with a slight cough as he pulled away. The Shadows surrounded him. It was good to see his team again. Gadiel, Phaelyn, Ronin, Viktor, Khalid, along with his brothers, Teague, Toma, and Adrian were present.

  “We don’t have time for a reunion. The necros—”

  “Who is that?” Khalid asked, nodding his head toward something behind Nicu. He turned to follow the trail of stares to find Samara still standing by the edge of the building.

  “That is the human who helped me escape the cell I was in,” he said as he turned back to his group. He saw her body stiffen at his use of the word “human” out of the corner of his eye.

  “How did a mere human help you escape?” Adrian asked, his eyes still locked on Samara.

  “The Rebels were here,” Nicu answered dryly. Teague rolled his eyes at the mention of the human group.

  “What were they doing there?” Ronin asked. “Why would humans be sneaking into to the necromancer camp?”

  “They were helping me search for my brother.” Samara’s voice shook slightly as she carefully made her way toward them.

  Nicu could see in her eyes that she was being cautious as she approached. He knew she had just learned about vampires, and was probably scared. He looked around at the bunch and tried to see them through her eyes. Each one of the Shadows were decked out in full tactile gear, weapons adorning their body as they stood around in a circle, around Nicu.

  “The Rebels convinced her they saw her brother with the versi and they tracked him here,” Nicu said, quickly filling everyone in on Samara’s story.

  Curses filled the air as Nicu came to the part of the Rebels about to lead her into the main part of the necros building.

  “Mrs.…” Khalid started, waiting for her to finish.

  “It’s Miss, and please, call me Samara,” she said, tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear.

  “It is a good thing that you listened to Nicu or you all would have died,” Khalid said.

  “We don’t have much time,” Nicu cut in, gaining everyone’s attention. “The necro compound is not that far away. We take them down tonight.”

  The tension in the SUV was thick as Nicu gave Adrian
directions to get to the necromancers’ hideout. Toma and Teague sat in the back, while the others followed behind in the other truck. Phaelyn volunteered to stay back with Samara. She was an innocent, and they didn’t want to leave her unprotected until they could get her home.

  “So, we’re just going to ignore the elephant in the room?” Teague spoke up from the back of the vehicle.

  “What are you talking about?” Adrian asked, expertly navigating the large SUV along the long, narrow dark roads.

  “No one else saw how swollen Samara’s lips were, or the slight bruising on her neck? Looks like someone—”

  “Teague!” Toma snapped.

  “How about no one was stupid enough to mention it,” Adrian drawled, while Teague released a snort and muttered something under his breath.

  Nicu could feel their eyes on him, but he refused to acknowledge anything. He didn’t owe them an explanation. He wasn’t surprised that his brothers noticed the evidence of Samara and his fornication. He refused to call it lovemaking, and for some reason with her, he felt as if he would disrespect her if he said it was a quick fuck.

  What had happened in that motel room was life-altering, but it wouldn’t change what must be.

  They must go their separate ways.

  “So, she knows what we are?” Adrian asked.

  “Yes, she got a crash course,” Nicu said, thinking back to when he drained the rogue and the look of horror that was etched on Samara’s face.

  “Are you going to erase her memory?” Toma asked.

  Nicu paused. He hadn’t thought of that. But, if he erased all memories of himself from her, it would erase the events that happened, not only in their motel room, but also in the necromancer hideout.

  “She can be trusted,” he answered. “It might do her more harm in the long run if I erased everything. I don’t want her going back to the Rebels, thinking she didn’t try to rescue her brother.”

  His brothers nodded. They each knew that disturbing a human’s mind was delicate, and it was all or none. He couldn’t leave her with the memories of the dungeon and take himself out. He would have to erase the whole memory.

  He grunted as he pointed out the off-road turnoff, and Adrian quickly pulled the vehicle off to the side and parked. The others pulled in directly behind them.

  They wouldn’t want to broadcast that they had arrived, so they would have to travel the rest of the way on foot. It wouldn’t take them long to reach their destination. They exited the vehicles and met with the others to discuss strategy.

  “I want a couple of us to enter the building the way I escaped. There is a tunnel not far from here that will lead directly into the building,” Nicu informed them as they devised a plan.

  “I was able to bring up the building’s specs on my tablet.” Teague motioned everyone around him. “The fucker was hard to pinpoint; it’s not on most maps. I had to tap into satellite imaging to grab a picture of it.”

  “Great job.” Nicu acknowledged his brother with a slap on the back. “I didn’t get to see much of the building since we left through the tunnels. This will help a great deal.”

  Nicu continued briefing his team of his plan. The necromancers would regret coming back. They should have stayed wherever they had disappeared to fifty years ago. Each Shadow member grabbed a backpack from the back of the SUVs. Each bag was stocked with enough explosives to level a few city blocks.

  They didn’t have time to call in other Dark Shadow teams from around the country. It was just Nicu’s team, and they were ready for war. The Dark Shadows, the deadliest vampires charged with protecting the vampire nation, were going hunting.

  And the necromancers were their prey.

  “Sync your communicators,” Nicu commanded.

  They would need to communicate with each other once they separated. Phaelyn’s voice came through in Nicu’s ear as each member tuned into each other. Even though Phaelyn stayed back to guard Samara, she would still need to listen in to ensure that everything went in the vampire’s favor.

  “Gadiel and I will go through the tunnels. You are to kill anything that moves. Here’s a picture of the brother that we are to find.” Nicu handed them the copied pictures of Samara’s brother she had in her pack.

  “He’s probably one of the versi,” Ronin murmured as he looked at the picture.

  “He’s the only relative she has left,” Nicu said, looking each of them in the eye. They each nodded in understanding. Nicu knew he could count on the Shadows to retrieve Samara’s brother if they found him.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Samara

  Samara sat in the back of the dark SUV as she waited with the vampire named Phaelyn. Her anxiety levels were through the roof as they waited to hear updates on Nicu and the others.

  Would they find Stefan?

  She closed her eyes as she sat back on the leather seats and tried to reach her twin. But it was pointless. The link they had shared since they were born was no longer there.

  She sighed deeply at the realization that he was truly gone. She sent up a quick prayer that Nicu would be able to find her brother’s body and bring him back to her so he could have a proper burial.

  “Are you a vampire too?” she asked, opening her eyes.

  “Yes, I am,” Phaelyn replied, turning back to glance at Samara. “But I was once human.”

  Samara’s eyes widened at the admission. Humans could be turned into vampires? She had so many questions and so little time. She tried to study the female vampire in the dark vehicle.

  Phaelyn looked human. But, then again, they all did. If Samara were never told that they were vampires, she wouldn’t have had a clue. She was decked out like the men were, in dark clothing with weapons everywhere. Samara quietly watched as Phaelyn typed in a few commands on her tablet.

  “Gadiel?” Phaelyn spoke out loud, touching a finger to her ear. She waited before answering in a language that Samara didn’t understand.

  “You can communicate with them?”

  “Yes. Nicu and Gadiel just entered the building,” Phaelyn said, switching back to English. She paused as she continued to listen to whoever was communicating with her.

  Samara bit her lip as she waited in silence. Time seemed to stand still as they waited. It was killing her, not knowing what was going on.

  A sharp curse from Phaelyn broke through her thoughts, and dread filled Samara’s stomach. Phaelyn was speaking rapidly in her native language to someone.

  “What’s going on?”

  “The necromancers are gone,” Phaelyn stated, turning to her. “The entire place was empty. The Shadows were too late.”

  Samara stared at the white casket, brokenhearted, as the tears poured down her face. She sat in the first row, alone. No other living family to sit next to her and share in her grief at this time.

  Stefan, her twin, was dead.

  The funeral home was packed with people who loved and knew her brother. The funeral had officially ended and people began to shuffle from their seats. Next they would go to the cemetery for his burial. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that he was gone.

  She lowered her head as she blindly stared at the tissues in her hands. A week ago, there was a knock at her door and her nightmare had finally become her reality.

  She swung the door open to find two police officers in their blue uniforms, standing at the door.

  “Ms. Shamus?” one of them asked.

  “Yes. Please, call me Samara,” she said as dread filled her. She had dreamt of this day, and now it had finally arrived.

  “Ma’am, I’m Officer Harris, and this is Officer Nicholson. We’re from the Cleveland Police Department.”

  Tears instantly clouded her vision as the cops asked if they could enter her apartment. They were very compassionate as they broke the news that her brother’s body was found inside the local hospital’s emergency room.

  She knew the news was coming, but it didn’t stop her knees from buckling or the strangled cry
that was ripped straight from her soul as her world officially came to an end. Officer Nicholson caught her in midair and carried her over to her couch. Both gentlemen were honest when they admitted they didn’t have an explanation as to how Stefan got into the hospital, nor could anyone at the hospital explain it.

  But she knew.

  Nicu had come through on his promise of finding her brother. She didn’t know how he did it, but she would be forever grateful to him for bringing her brother back home.

  “Samara,” a voice called her name, breaking through her thoughts.

  She glanced up and found a man with dark coffee-colored skin, dressed in a dark tailored suit standing by her. Rashad Bell, one of Stefan’s closest friends.

  “Rashad.” She wiped the tears from her eyes as she stood. He wrapped her up in a tight hug. Rashad no longer lived in Cleveland, having relocated back home to Dallas, and it had been about a year since she’d seen him last.

  “You should have called me,” he murmured in her ear as she squeezed him tighter.

  The smell of his cologne filled her nostrils, bringing tears to her eyes because it reminded her of Stefan. Her brother had loved fancy colognes. He always bragged that it was his smell that attracted women to him. At the time, she would gag and act like she didn’t want to hear anything about him getting a woman into bed, but right now, she would kill to hear his voice.

  “I didn’t want to bother you. I tried to believe what the police said, that he would come back on his own,” she fibbed. She never believed what the police said. She pulled back and looked up into his eyes, and could see pain mirrored in them.

  “If you need anything, I’m here for you. I’m going to stay in town for a few weeks. I can help with whatever you need.”

  She nodded her head. Rashad was an old college roommate of Stefan’s, and they had become the best of friends over the years. She felt a twinge of guilt for not calling Rashad, but seeing how everything ended, he wouldn’t have been any help.