My brother convulsed, a pained, low-pitched whine leaving his throat. Back and forth, wolf to human, he morphed—each shift more violent. Nikos swept in, pinning my brother down. I gritted my teeth, struggling to leave the Argents to their work when I knew what they did hurt Eli.
“This will take some time,” one of the doctors said. “There is no need to experience his agony. You’ll only be in the way. As Eli gains strength, he’ll only fight harder to defy being ordered to shift. Go, he will survive this.”
Ella straightened her shoulders, finding her voice before I could. “We want to see him as soon as he’s awake.”
“That won’t be for a while, but I will send word. Castro says to pick any room you want—he’s seeing to the ladies you brought with you. Hannah and Dante have chosen to stay with your mother.”
Numbness invaded and I found myself nodding. I navigated the interconnected rooms of the Vault until I found the room Ella and I had claimed when she’d been brought here after her encounter with Lizbeth. Ella shut the door behind us and sat on the purple bed, her gaze tracking my every move.
Agitation filled me, made it difficult to stop moving. I paced the small confines of the room. The more I walked, the hotter I burned. My palm ached and I curled my hand into a fist. The wolf’s residual energy vibrated through me. My skin crawled as if it would split apart. I tried not to think about what Eli was going through, tried to push away his sounds of pain echoing in my head.
“Talk to me,” Ella said softly.
“Don’t feel like talking,” I growled, never stopping the rhythmic squeeze-release of my clenched hand.
She positioned her body in front of me, forcing me to stop wearing a path in the plush rug I trampled. The second I stopped moving, the demon surged, filling me with fire. It had the taste of blood and wanted more.
Ella rested her hands on my chest and looked up at me. I peered down at her and the colors around me shifted as I struggled for control. She should run far, far away.
“We’ll get through this,” she said.
“Will we?” I grabbed her forearms and dug my fingers in, readying to push her away before I inadvertently hurt her. I was a liability.
Before I could shove her away, she stepped close and pressed her breasts against me. Ella rose on the tips of her toes, dragging her body along mine, and licked my bottom lip.
My craving for violence shifted into a deeper, more demanding need. I growled against her mouth and shifted my grip. I let go of her arms, grabbed the back of her head with one hand, her ass with the other and took control of the kiss.
Her tongue was a wet glide against mine. Ella gave as good she got. My cock hardened, straining against my jeans. I spun us, backing Ella against the closest surface. We ripped at each other’s clothes in a tangle of hands, legs and mouths. Fabric tore—falling to the ground in tatters. Violence radiated between us and there was nothing I could do to dampen it.
As if she read my mind, knew what I needed, Ella bit my lower lip. Pain pulsed, the sting calming the beast inside me. I nipped her back and reveled in the breathy moan she released. It wasn’t enough.
I fisted her hair, the strands so fucking soft, and yanked her head back so I could force my tongue deeper into her mouth. Between us, I shoved her bra down and cupped the swell of her breast. She pushed into my hand, silently begging for more. I tweaked her nipple, pinching the bud until her pleasure and need vibrated through me.
She moaned and palmed my cock, stroking the flesh from top to bottom, curving over the head the way I’d do it. Pleasure gripped me, had me thrusting into her grip. Our coupling wasn’t going to be sweet or gentle. No. I needed to feel her, to make her hurt, to make her scream, to possess her. I wanted to fuck her pussy and then claim her ass before coming deep inside.
I batted her hand out of the way and spun her face first into the wall. She arched her back, wiggling her sweet ass in invitation, as if she knew my dark desires. I stroked a finger down her spine, between the cheeks of her ass—ever so slightly grazing her anus. She preened under my touch.
Mine.
“Spread your legs, let me see your pussy,” I ordered.
She complied, shifting until her wet sex was on full display. I stroked the flesh between her legs, playing two digits through her slick arousal. I sank to my knees behind her, the stone floor hard, and drew my lips down the curve of her ass to her inner thigh. The imprint of my teeth, forever branded into her skin, filled me with perverse pleasure. I traced the mark with my tongue and she shuddered.
I grabbed her hips and turned her to face me. At the swipe of my tongue against her clit, she cried out my name. I sucked the tight pearl into my mouth and flicked the sensitive bud until her body stiffened. Her scream turned raw when I continued to lick and suckle the flesh of her pussy. I didn’t stop, didn’t let her catch her breath. I drank her in, spread her wide and delved my tongue into her slit to get more of the honey-and-peach taste that was uniquely hers.
Fuck, she was exquisite.
Ella shook, her scream cutting out as intense waves of pleasure crashed over her.
“Fuck me, Micah. Please. I need you.”
I ignored her and flicked my tongue against her tight bundle of nerves. I slid a finger inside her scalding depths, making sure she was ready for my cock. As much as I wanted to dominate her ass, it was new territory for us and I didn’t want to hurt her by rushing it without the proper prep. Ella moaned and threw her head back, pumping her hips against my fingers and tongue. I kept stroking her, working her G-spot until she came again and I felt the last spasms inside her recede. Withdrawing my fingers, I drew them into my mouth and savored the last of her pleasure.
I hooked her leg around my waist before grabbing my cock and positioning the tip at her entrance. I plunged deep, filling her in one long thrust that stole my breath. I pulled out and rammed inside her without finesse, just pure, raw hunger. Lifting her completely off her feet, I pulled away from the wall. She wrapped her legs around my hips and dug her nails into my back, holding tight while I drove deep.
The sounds of pleasure filled the room, creating a private sanctuary where only we existed.
“Yes, oh God, yes. Harder.”
I grunted my approval. Where I held her ass, bouncing her slight frame up and down on my shaft, my fingers no doubt bruised her skin. I knew she’d have marks from this claiming. Pleasure mounted. Her pussy clenched around my dick. The first sparks of ecstasy shocked through me.
“So damn tight.”
I pulled all the way out so I wouldn’t come, leaving her empty and wanting. Once the urge to climax waned, I turned her around and positioned her hands on the wall.
“Stay just like this,” I instructed.
In response, she wiggled her backside and arched her head back with a needy plea for me to fuck her. The long strands of her hair trailed down her spine and I admired the sight before me. Nothing had ever looked more alluring. I kicked her legs apart and took up where I’d left off—my cock deep inside her wet, hot pussy. Ella rocked her body against me, speeding the momentum of our coupling. The sight of my dick moving between her thighs heated me from the inside out.
The resonation of my thrusts rippled through me as I pulled out and slammed home. Ella cried out, her inner muscles going into spasms around my prick. The crown of my cock rubbed her sweet spot with every dominating thrust.
“Yes,” she screamed.
I pulled out, rammed in. The hard, furious tempo I set had my balls tightening.
She cried out in pleasure, screamed for me to take her harder and faster. Jesus, I was going to come if she didn’t shut up. She was too hot. Too wet. Too damn tight. With a growl, I pulled out and dropped to my knees.
I spread her thighs wide and pressed my face to her quivering mound. Fuck. I tongued her slit and used three fingers to pleasure her until my orgasm faded. She writhed against me, a sexy gyration of her hips that didn’t help calm my racing heart. She was too damn addicting to stay away
from. I stood and thrust my cock inside her, my eyes closing at the way she sucked me in and held me captive.
Every time I touched her, felt her gripping me, my pulse beat faster and faster. Ella sobbed in pleasure, on the verge of coming again, her unmediated response filling me with satisfaction.
Every muscle in my body flexed as I cupped the flesh at her hips and thrust inside of her with more determination. I let every ounce of my frustration, anger and violence feed our frenzy. She was crying out, louder and louder, screaming for it harder and faster. I met each one of her requests until my lungs burned and I could no longer breathe.
Pleasure mounted. My orgasm hovered, waiting for that split second when I dropped my guard. I leaned over her and closed my teeth around the back of her neck, pinning her in place when my climax ripped through me. For a few glorious seconds I was completely free. A fierce, animalistic noise reverberated through the room as I emptied my seed inside her.
Ella sobbed, her body milking mine as she orgasmed one final time. I pulled out and spun her around, pressing my mouth to hers before she could utter a single word. I met her tongue with mine and stroked. Ella moaned into me and scraped her nails through my hair, sending little jolts of pleasure down my spine.
I gripped her thighs and lifted. Using the wall as leverage, I pushed her against it and plunged inside her dripping pussy. Mouths fused, tongues dancing to a rhythm we’d perfected, I made love to her all over again with the sure, strong strokes of a man who knew his lover inside and out.
I pulled her from the wall and walked blindly to the bed. We fell onto the mattress with me still buried inside her. I grabbed her hands, locked our fingers together and brought them above her head. I’d watched her almost die in this bed. Watched Julian try to take back what was mine.
I nipped Ella’s swollen bottom lip and pulled away to stare into her eyes. Her gaze was open, honest, raw with emotion. The depth of her love filled me. I would never tire of this, never get enough of her or the way she opened for me. The way she fit me.
Too afraid of fucking the moment up, I kept my mouth shut and set about showing her the depth of my hunger. Bond or no bond, I loved her with my entire soul. Something powerful passed between us, something words couldn’t convey. Over and over, I stroked into her. She set my blood on fire with pleasure. I’m not sure how long we lost ourselves in each other, letting the world around us move forward while we stayed locked together in this moment in time where nothing mattered but us.
A slow, deep orgasm built. Ella’s eyes drifted shut as her pussy clenched around me in the first pulses of orgasm.
“Look at me,” I demanded.
I grabbed her thigh and pushed it up to her stomach so I could fill her deeper. I thrust, our gazes never breaking. My climax hit me hard and the second I came, I threw my head back and released not just my come into her, but everything I was.
Man. Demon. Fuckup. Protector. Killer. Lover.
Hers.
Chapter Eleven
Micah collapsed on top of me, crushing me beneath him. He buried his face against my neck and rubbed his coarse, stubbly jaw against my tender skin. I stroked my hand up and down his sweat-slicked spine in a languid rhythm until our heartbeats slowed. The vibrating tension he’d radiated no longer prickled my skin with electricity.
“Better?” I asked.
He tightened the arms he had wrapped around me, crushing me to him as if he feared I’d disappear. I could count on one hand the times he’d truly let himself be vulnerable, and this was one of them. If it were possible, I, woman, vampire, queen, fell a little bit more in love.
His voice was a sexy rasp, husky and deep, that had my girly bits pulsing. “Yeah.”
My chest constricted and I struggled between nestling in closer or shoving him off me so I could breathe. I settled in. Breathing was overrated anyway. Micah, as if sensing my indecision—or maybe sensing I was moments away from oxygen deprivation—rolled us over and tucked me into his side. He pressed a kiss to my temple and we stared up at the stone ceiling of the Vault.
Purple velvet drapes covered the pocked walls chiseled from stone. The shade matched the rugs and the bedding. The room was just as I remembered it from my last stay here, a tacky bordello. At least this time I wasn’t about to die and at the mercy of my sire.
Micah’s husky voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Richard is involved with the hospital.”
My blood ran cold and when I would have sat up, Micah pinned me in place.
“How do you know?”
“The handwriting in my mother’s file, what was documented…” He swallowed. “Richard wrote it, he was there.”
Richard. No longer his father.
I broke free of Micah’s hold and twisted so I lay partially on top of him, facing him. Hatred had his eyes swirling with color. A cold, furious ball started in my gut as I recalled the looks on those women’s faces. Snippets of details from the folders resurfaced and merged with what I’d seen in the orderly’s head.
Women strapped to tables, legs spread wide. Sobs. Syringes full of experimental serums. Miscarriages. Babies—stillborn—callously thrown into hazard bins for incineration.
“You’re serious?” I asked, my voice breaking a little.
He nodded and stroked his hand down my back before trailing a finger up the indent of my spine. The emotions in his gaze shifted. Anger melted into something else, something that looked a lot like guilty relief.
“What is it?”
“We’ve got proof now. I don’t know if Richard orchestrated this…program…but he sure as fuck knew about it, participated in it, kept it a secret. I recognized a few other women I’d remembered being told were dead—some of the girls are related to members of the council.”
“I saw a girl I used to know in one of the files. I made her life miserable during training because I thought she was weak.”
“It’s what we were taught, that the strong survive and the weak die.”
I pictured Roy lying on the floor, his body convulsing. I love you girls. He’d wanted us to know, had always made sure to tell me and Hannah how much we meant to him.
“Maybe you were taught that, but I wasn’t. Roy brought me up to protect the weak.” I cringed, knowing I hadn’t always followed my uncle’s way of life. I chewed on my bottom lip and remembered the terror on the guard’s face, the way he’d looked at me, how I’d fed off his fear. “Do you think I’m a monster?”
Micah let out a short bark of laughter that was void of humor. “You’re asking me that when I was the one who almost bashed in some guy’s skull?”
At least he hadn’t mind-raped anyone.
I swallowed, wondered if I should bring up my new superpower that was less super and more screwed up. “But you didn’t bash his head in.”
“Only because you stopped me.”
I laid my head down on his chest and ran my fingers through the spattering of thick hair. “I gave Hannah your mother’s file and a few others before all hell broke loose.”
He buried his fingers in my tresses and cupped the back of my head. “I say we lay this out for the council—bring in the women to testify. That place has to be shut down.”
God, could we really get through this? Deal with Julian and the coronation ceremony—if I even survived his party—and get Marianna coherent enough to speak at my trial? Get Roy healthy and recovered from his heart attack? A part of me was definitely in the “yes” camp.
I moved on top of him until I straddled his hips. His cock, even when he wasn’t hard, was warm against my still-pulsing sex. I pushed the too-long strands of his golden hair behind his ear and melted into him, giving him my full weight. “I love you.”
He cupped my ass in his palm. “I love you too. Jesus fuck, I love you. I swear, we get through the next couple of days with Julian and then your trial and we’ll go away somewhere. You need a break. I miss my emotionally void woman who used to make fun of other chicks who cried when the wind blew.”
&
nbsp; I narrowed my eyes out of principle. So what if he was right? “Ass.”
“That’s right, baby, I love it when you talk dirty to me.” He sucked my lower lip between his teeth, gave it a light nip.
I fought my smile, lost the battle when he grinned up at me. Between us, his cock lengthened.
A quick, brisk knock sounded. It was our only warning before the door opened. Before I could blink, Micah rolled me to the side and whipped a sheet up over my body.
Castro strolled into the room and focused his sole attention on Micah, as if there wasn’t anything else in the entire world that mattered. A healing cut split his lip, a bruise colored his swollen cheek. Despite or maybe because of his injuries, he oozed a sexual fierceness. He’d ditched his suit jacket, showing a bloodstained short-sleeved white undershirt. Black tattoos covered his muscular forearms.
I pressed a hand to my quivering stomach and held my breath at the sudden increase of testosterone in the room. Castro’s blue-green irises swirled, glowing with the force of emotion bouncing back and forth between uncle and nephew.
“Now’s not a good time,” Micah stated, not appearing to care he was buck-assed naked.
I gripped the sheet and held it over my breasts, shifting the fabric so it didn’t rub against my tender nipples. The door slammed shut behind Castro, the sound making me jump. Damn. I hadn’t seen him move.
Castro’s jaw hardened. At his sides, he clenched his hands into fists, a move that had muscles rippling up his arms.
When he finally spoke, his voice dripped venom. “They tortured Derrik, drugged him.” Wisps of smoke curled up from his skin. “They made him do unspeakable things with their serums and their experiments.”
“Stop,” Micah hissed. He walked to the pile of clothes we’d ripped off each other and pulled on his jeans with quick, jerky movements.
“Marianna was Derrik’s,” Castro continued. “Richard saw her, wanted her and did everything in his power to get her—including rewriting her memories.”
“How is that even possible?” I asked.
Castro shook his head but didn’t look at me. “I don’t know. Richard did this, and for that he’ll pay.”
Dark Secrets Page 14
