Darkness Unleashed

by Alexandra Ivy

  And no doubt, she was already making plans to move on.

  Plans that didn’t include a damaged vampire.

  So why not enjoy what was offered before he returned to his dark, lonely lair? The voice of temptation whispered in the back of his mind.

  Because he was rapidly reaching the point where he would never be capable of letting her go. The voice of reason answered.

  Which might explain why he was so anxious to grasp onto the fear that he couldn’t be trusted with her.

  Already the thought of walking away made him want to howl in pain. How much worse would it be if they became even more intimate?

  Barely aware of what he was doing, Jagr allowed his hands to caress the silky perfection of her shoulders, his thoughts occupied with a last, desperate means to cling to a thread of reason.

  “Dammit, woman, you’ve been trying to get rid of me since I arrived in Hannibal,” he rasped. “Why would you suddenly want me to stay?”

  She shrugged. “I’m a woman. I’m allowed to change my mind whenever I want, as many times as I want.”

  “Convenient.”

  “Sometimes.” With a smile, she popped the button of his jeans.

  “Stop.” Jagr hissed as his hand reached to grasp her wrist. How the hell was he supposed to be reasonable when she refused to cooperate?

  She didn’t struggle against his grip. Instead she leaned forward to lick a warm, wet path from his sternum to the base of his throat.

  “You don’t want me?” she whispered against his skin.

  Jagr swallowed his shout of pleasure, his fangs fully extended, and his last hope to cling to common sense shattered.

  “I…yes.” His hands grasped her hips and pressed them against his aching erection. “I want you.”

  Her lashes fluttered down until only a small, smoldering slit of emerald was visible.

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  There was a problem. He’d just been thinking about it. Unfortunately, it was as elusive as a mist fairy and, when she once again tugged at the button of his jeans, it disappeared altogether.

  His head lowered so he could bury his face in the curve of her neck, the heated jasmine scent doing nothing to clear his desire-fogged brain.

  “Damn you, Regan,” he husked, his fangs scraping against her soft skin. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  She shivered at his soft warning, but not from fear. He could already smell the potent perfume of her arousal as she awkwardly tugged at his zipper.

  Jagr was swift to help push down the unwelcome jeans, kicking them impatiently aside. Later he would no doubt regret this momentary weakness, but for now nothing mattered but the feel of her soft hands exploring the clenched muscles of his stomach.

  “I’ve told you, chief, I don’t need you to protect me,” she husked, nipping at his chest. “Not even from you.”

  Jagr shuddered, the pleasure of even such a light caress nearly sending him over the edge.

  “Take care with those teeth, little one,” he muttered, his hands compulsively stroking over her back. “Vampires exchange blood for more than food.”

  Tilting back her head, she regarded him with a hint of curiosity.

  “What do you mean?”

  “A vampire’s blood is the source of our power, as well as our means of claiming our true mate.” A rueful smile touched his lips. “Take my blood and I might very well be bound to you for all eternity.”

  Her eyes widened, uncertainty flaring through them at his blunt confession.

  “Jagr…”

  “If you want to flee, now would be the time to do it.”

  For a moment, he thought she would. His body tensed and his gut wrenched with a ruthless disappointment.

  Why the hell hadn’t he kept his mouth shut?

  A stark painful silence filled the room, and Jagr braced himself for rejection. Regan might possess more courage than any creature he’d ever known, but the one thing she truly feared was being imprisoned once again.

  And in her mind, emotional attachments were just as terrifying as any chains made of silver.

  Why else would she refuse to meet with Darcy?

  Even as he tensed, however, Regan was giving a slight shake of her head and without warning, she bent forward to scatter kisses over his chest, pausing at each nipple to flick her tongue over the beaded tip. Jagr groaned, one hand burying in her satin hair in silent encouragement.

  Later he would wonder why Regan had so abruptly gone from trying to deny the desire that constantly pulsed between them, but for now…

  Gods, for now he could only enjoy.

  Trailing a devastating path down the center of his stomach, she tongued his belly button, making his cock twitch with a silent plea of mercy. Jagr squeezed his eyes shut, torn between the need to flip her onto the bed and take her with a swift, glorious explosion of pleasure, and allowing Regan to continue her seductive torment.

  It was at last the feel of Regan’s soft lips stroking ever lower that made the decision.

  In the past, he’d always been the aggressor during a sexual encounter. His predatory nature preferred being the hunter to the prey. Besides, it made it easier to make the contact as brief and uncomplicated as possible. The last thing he wanted was a clinging woman.

  He’d never realized just how erotic it could be to have a woman take charge.

  Running his fingers through the strands of her hair as she kneeled before him, he forgot his earlier terror at having been lost in his bloodlust. And even his lingering suspicion of her sudden determination to seduce him.

  There was only one thought on his mind.

  Getting that warm, wet mouth on his aching arousal.

  A pleasure easier dreamed of than achieved.

  Although Regan had to be aware of the straining thrust of his erection, she refused to give into his silent urging, instead nibbling a path over his hip bone and down his inner thigh.

  Muttering a desperate curse, he tugged her head up to meet his hungry gaze.

  “If you intend to punish me, little one, you’re doing a fine job.”

  A tiny smile curved her lips as she held his gaze, her finger tracing a teasing path up the length of his cock.

  “Well, I would hate for my efforts to be wasted.”

  He moaned as she reached the tip, toying with the tiny drop of moisture that had pooled there.

  “You’re a cruel woman.”

  “I do try,” she murmured, bending down to trace him with her tongue from top to bottom and then back again. He swallowed a shout of pleasure, his hips instinctively arching toward her tempting lips.

  “Oh…damn that feels good,” he ground out, forcing his eyes open so he could witness the sight of her pleasuring him.

  He nearly came at the mere sight.

  Lost in a sensual haze, his gaze drifted over the strands of hair that shimmered like gold in the pale light, the perfect lines of her profile, and the expanse of ivory skin that stretched over her supple muscles.

  Nothing was ever so beautiful.

  His tiny Were, with the soul of a warrior and the innocence of an angel.

  A warm, poignant tenderness threaded through his hunger. He had warned Regan to take care, already sensing that if she were to drink his blood the mating would be complete, but in this moment he realized that it didn’t matter.

  She had already claimed him in all the ways that mattered, and whether they ever completed the bond, he would never, ever love another woman.

  The thought should have terrified him.

  A vampire who found and lost his mate usually ended up an empty shell.

  Instead, Jagr felt nothing but a tide of all-consuming peace that chased away the lingering darkness.

  The past and all he had suffered no longer mattered.

  Regan was like a blast of sunlight that chased away the bitter shadows.

  The realization had barely managed to form, when it was abruptly shoved to the back of his mind as his temptress circ
led her fingers around him and explored the straining length with exquisite care.

  His hands instinctively fisted in her hair, his body coiled so tight he nearly shattered when her lips tentatively slipped over the tip of his cock and slid downward.

  Paradise.

  Complete, utter paradise.

  A moan hummed deep in his throat, his world focused on the sensation of warm lips and rasping tongue.

  With slow wet strokes, she all too swiftly had him straining toward climax. Damn. He wanted to enjoy the fierce pleasure. To spend the night pressed against the wall as Regan offered him the most intense and blissful sensations he’d ever enjoyed. But even as the sweet release beckoned, he was reaching down to grasp her arms and tug her upward.

  He wanted to be buried deep inside her, to watch her beautiful face as she reached her own orgasm.

  “I need to be in you, Regan,” he groaned, capturing her lips in a rough, demanding kiss before pulling back to regard her with a raw, undisguised yearning. “Now.”

  “Then what are you waiting for, chief?” she husked, her smile piercing his heart with the ruthless power of a dagger.

  The bed loomed behind her, but too impatient for even that small distance, Jagr slid his hands down her pretty little bottom and with one powerful motion had her lifted off her feet with her legs wrapped around his waist.

  “You,” he whispered, positioning the tip of his erection at her entrance. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Regan moaned, her body already wet and ready for his thrust.

  Clutching her thighs, he captured her mouth in a devouring kiss before he plunged himself inside her, halting only when he was buried as deep as he could go.

  “Jagr” she rasped, her sheath clamping around him like a warm, luscious vise.

  He momentarily stilled, savoring the sense of completeness that flooded through him. This is what it meant to be with his true mate. This intense connection that went way beyond two bodies indulging in sex.

  This was two souls, two hearts, two minds joined as one.

  As they both absorbed the sheer pleasure of being so intimately joined, their eyes met and Jagr gently began to thrust into her heat. Her hands lifted to frame his face, claiming his lips in a branding kiss. He moaned his pleasure, his fingers tightening on her thighs.

  More. He needed more.

  He shifted his mouth to nip at her ear and was rewarded as her body shuddered with undisguised need.

  “God, I want taste you,” he muttered as he nibbled and stroked a path down her neck, careful not to break her skin with his extended fangs. “Everywhere.”

  Regan gasped as Jagr licked the underside of her breast. “That’s…that’s a good start.”

  He chuckled as he thrust even deeper, his tongue finding the hardened tip of her nipple.

  “What about here?”

  Her legs tightened as he quickened his pace, her head falling back to reveal the smooth, tempting curve of her throat.

  Oh…gods.

  Every instinct urged him to pierce that ivory perfection. To sink his fangs in deep, and take in her essence as he pounded into her body. To mark her as his, and only his.

  With a low growl, he wrenched his thoughts from the dangerous enticement and concentrated on surging into her damp heat. A task made considerably easier as her fingernails sank into his back and she moaned in pleasure.

  “Faster.”

  “Yes, my demanding Were,” he breathed as he suckled on a tender nipple.

  Someday he would know the satisfaction of taking Regan’s blood as he took her body. For today this was enough.

  More than enough, he acknowledged as his cock sank to the very heart of her.

  Her nails dug deeper as he steadily pumped himself into her. “Christ, Jagr, I’m…”

  His fingers bit deep into her skin, his need an unbearable ache. The flames were beginning to consume him and nothing had ever felt so glorious.

  They surged together. Her pants filled the air, mixed with his low moans. Deeper, faster, climbing ever higher.

  Then with one last thrust, he heard Regan cry out in release as he climaxed with enough force to shatter the remaining lamp and blast the marble statues in the bathroom into a fine layer of dust.

  Chapter 18

  Lying in Jagr’s arms on the bed, Regan floated in a fog of pleasure.

  Sweaty, shivering, sated pleasure.

  Good Lord.

  That had been…

  Well, she didn’t actually have words to describe what had just happened between her and Jagr. Fierce, certainly. Overwhelming. Shattering.

  And insanely wonderful.

  With a rueful smile she glanced around the room. There was little left to destroy after their last bout of sex, but what remained was now scattered across the carpet.

  “I sincerely hope that your tastes run toward Tupperware instead of Tiffany in that lair of yours, chief,” she murmured, unable to keep her fingers from tracing the scars that ran the length of his stomach. “Things could get expensive after a wild night.”

  He shifted to steal a brief, heart-pounding kiss. “Since you seem to be the only trigger for my more destructive tendencies, I’ll be certain to lock away the china when you visit.”

  His tone was light, but Regan tensed, unable to halt her instinctive withdrawal at his possessive tone. During the heat of the moment, she’d managed to block out his unnerving suggestion that she was his mate. Hell, at that precise moment she would have been able to block out a looming apocalypse.

  Now she discovered that the thought made it difficult to breathe. As if she was being smothered.

  “You’re assuming I’ll visit your lair?” she tried to tease, not entirely surprised when his eyes narrowed. He was far too capable of sensing her emotions not to catch whiff of her unease.

  “I’m holding you naked in my arms after enjoying the most intense orgasm either of us has ever experienced.” He caught and held her wary gaze. “What else would I assume?”

  She smiled, weakly. “Who knows what the future might hold?”

  There was no return smile. In fact, his expression was downright grim.

  “Who, indeed.”

  “We should get dressed. I promised Styx that I would…” Pressing her hands against his chest, she struggled to push away from his hard body, only to have the massive vampire abruptly roll on top of her. “Jagr.”

  His eyes shimmered with suppressed irritation in the thick shadows. “Why?”

  His body pressing her intimately into the mattress did nothing to help her breathing troubles.

  She didn’t want to think about mates or emotional entanglements or the fear of being expected to offer something she didn’t even know if she possessed.

  She just wanted to spread her legs and allow pure, uncomplicated sensation to sweep her away.

  So much easier.

  Unfortunately, Jagr seemed more intent of forcing an unwelcome discussion rather than enjoying their brief time together.

  “What?” she at last forced herself to demand.

  “Why did you come down here tonight determined to seduce me?”

  “I would think that was obvious.”

  “Indulge me.”

  She swallowed a resigned sigh. “I wanted you. You said you wanted me. Granted, I’ve been caged most of my life, but I was under the assumption that was an adequate reason for two people to have sex. Am I wrong?”

  “Yes, I wanted you, I still want you, but not out of some twisted sense of sympathy.”

  Sympathy? Her brows snapped together. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  His jaw was tight as he glared down at her. “You didn’t want me to punish myself for hurting you, so you came down here determined to do whatever necessary to distract me.”

  It took a second for his words to sink in, but when they did, her temper instantly flared.

  “You think this was a pity fuck?” she gritted.

  He flinched at her blunt words. �
��Don’t.”

  “What? You’re the one who’s implying I’m willing to barter my body for a bit of comfort. Real nice.”

  “Then why?”

  “Does there have to be a reason?”

  “No, it could be exactly as you said…” He deliberately paused, then with an exaggerated motion he rolled off her and stood beside the bed. “A mindless coupling to relieve a physical urge. Maybe I should be grateful you didn’t decide Tane would do.”

  Scrambling off the mattress, Regan jerkily pulled on her clothes, covertly watching as Jagr did the same. Her stomach did a funny flop as he slid the stone-washed jeans up the powerful muscles of thighs and over his butt. Holy crap. She wanted to spend hours exploring those hard angles and planes.

  No, stop that, Regan.

  Jagr might be all that was yummy, but he was going to drive her to a loony bin.

  Frowning, she watched as Jagr pulled on a black T-shirt that molded to his perfect chest, and bent down to tug on a pair of heavy black boots. Still ignoring her, he collected his daggers and efficiently strapped them to various parts of his body.

  “Dammit, Jagr,” she growled.

  He tucked a handgun in the waistband of his jeans. “I think we’ve said all that needs to be said.”

  “God, you’re a pain in the ass.” Throwing her hands in the air, she stormed to stand directly before him. “Fine. I came down here because I was worried about you.”

  “So it was a pity…”

  She’d slammed her hand across his mouth before he could throw her words back into her face.

  “I came down here because I was worried, but that’s not the reason I seduced you.”

  Reaching up, he tugged her hand from his lips, his thumb absently rubbing a tender circle on her inner wrist.

  “Are you going to tell me why?”

  “Because I needed to be with you,” she muttered awkwardly. Christ. She didn’t do confessionals. They made her feel like a cheap extra on As the World Turns. “And it had to be you. Just you. Nobody else.” She shook her head as his lips parted. “Don’t freaking ask me why, because I don’t know.”

  Bending his head, he stroked his lips over the pulse hammering in her inner wrist.

  “If you need me, then the thought of visiting my lair shouldn’t send you into a panic.”