Exquisite Breath of Darkness

by Candice Stauffer

  He’d never wanted or needed a woman as much, and there was little doubt she’d give herself to him if he put even an ounce of effort into seducing her. Putting on his most innocent face, figuring it would calm her, he stared at her. “You’re right, Mia. I could cause you to feel this.” He paused. As confused as she was, he would never forgive himself if he took advantage of her being in heat. “But I would never do this to you, to us.”

  It had happened without warning. Joseph couldn’t help but wonder what had brought it on. He shrugged it off. At least she wasn’t suffering rage induced by morphine. Suddenly, however, it dawned on him Eli Thomas’ presence in town could be to blame for her symptoms. How could he shrug that off? Stupid question. He couldn’t. The idea that Mia being in heat was proof of her belonging to the alpha wolf truly pissed Joseph off. He wouldn’t give her up to any other man. She belonged to him. Some dark, ugly emotion swirled in his gut. Jealousy? Oh, yeah. He was jealous as hell.

  “Us? Do you mean as in together?” She laughed out loud. “It. Is. Never. Happening. And do not lie to me, Joseph. Tell me what you were doing with Larissa.” Her entire body, covered with a glistening sheen, was trembling with pent-up sexual frustration and anger.

  Ha! He struggled to keep a straight face. He wasn’t the only one overcome with jealousy. “We were working. I wasn’t doing anything inappropriate with her.”

  She shook her head. “This is not natural. I know this isn’t me.” He felt her reach out to him and merge her mind with his to share what she was feeling. Her flesh was inflamed. Her muscles ached. She felt restless. Her skin was ultra sensitive. She was further aroused every time she moved and her clothing rubbed against it. Her body was desperately aching for release, and she was at a complete loss for a rational reason for what she was experiencing. “I know this isn’t me, Joseph.”

  “I know you’re feeling uncomfortable and you’re confused. But you’re going to be okay.” He dropped his voice, attempting to use a compulsion. “Come here to me, Mia.” He held out his hand. “And I will help you.”

  “Damn it, Joseph!” Mia covered her ears with her hands. “Damn you! Don’t do that … that thing with your voice! It won’t work! And stay the hell out of my head!” Shaking her head slightly, she squinted. He knew that in fighting his attempt to use a compulsion she was hurting herself. “I bet you think you can help me real good, don’t you?” She slowly, clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides, moved toward him.

  Joseph’s dragon lifted its head and roared for the right to claim, to possess his mate. It caught him off guard. It shouldn’t be happening; she wasn’t his mate. “I need your help. I need you to calm down, Mia.” He struggled to hold the dragon back, but he was slowly losing control.

  “Go to hell!” She was a predator stalking its prey—and he was the prey. “It’s all about sex to you. That’s why you’re doing this to me. You want me to screw you, right?”

  That brought his eyebrows up even as the dragon, demanding his mate, tore at his soul. She certainly had a way with words when she was pissed off. If it had been all about sex he would’ve taken her. “No … I mean, yes. I want to be with you in every way possible.” He saw no reason to deny the obvious. “But I would never use my power to force you to want me. Come here. Come closer to me, Mia. Let me help you find relief.”

  Her eyes went wide with what appeared to be outrage. “You’ve gone too far this time, Joseph. I trusted you. Does that mean anything to you?” He didn’t bother to respond, for he knew she wasn’t looking for an answer. She was venting. Plus, he needed to focus. His entire body was shaking with the effort it took to keep his nature in check. “I even started to like you … a little bit. A very little bit. You don’t have any right to do this to me.”

  Her focus shifted, and she was silent for several moments. He was shocked by the dark, gruesome visions of her tearing Larissa to shreds that filled her mind as her eyes focused on back door again. “You tried to hide her from me.” She turned her gaze to his. “What were you doing with her?”

  Whether or not she was looking for an answer, he was giving it this time. “I’ve absolutely no desire for Larissa at all. She is my company’s VP. That is it. She means nothing to me. If I’ve failed to show you that you’re the only woman I want and need in my life, forgive me.” He’d been tempted, but he wasn’t dumb enough to even attempt to deny Larissa had been in the room. “I will hand it all over to her. I will walk away from this place.” He meant it; he saw no reason for Mia to be jealous or to feel threatened by Larissa in any way. As far as he was concerned no other woman was more beautiful, more desirable than Mia. He would never allow anything to cause Mia to doubt his devotion for her.

  Looking lost and confused, she blinked up at him as she pushed her hand through her long, dark blonde curls. “No.” Frowning, she drew her bottom lip into her mouth and chewed on it. “You can’t walk away from your life for me.”

  Her deep emotional pain and confusion slammed into him as if he’d been physically punched in the gut. “I can and I will.” He rolled his shoulders in slow, casual shrug. “You are my life. This place means nothing to me. You’re all that matters to me, Mia.”

  “No. Don’t do it. It’s not right.” Breathing heavily, she paused for several seconds. “I’m not right.” He knew she felt betrayed by him, but it had nothing to do with Larissa. It had everything to do with the persistent, uncomfortable ache in her body and the confusion in her mind. “Please, Joseph, you have to reverse whatever it was you’ve done to make me feel like this. I can’t stand it.” Her voice was such a soft whisper that even with his supernatural hearing he had to focus to hear her words.

  “I love you with every ounce of my being. I would never do anything to cause you to feel so troubled. It’s not me.” Holding out his hand for her to take, he took a slow, cautious step toward her. “Come here to me, Mia.” He made sure his voice was as calm and as soothing as possible, but it was still a command. “Trust me. Let me help you.”

  “I’m sure you would love the chance.” Shaking her head slightly, she gave him a look of disgust. “But it is not happening. Not today. Not ever.” Lifting her lip, she snarled at him. “Don’t lie to me. I know it’s you.” Posturing for a fight, she took a step back and to the side.

  Sexual frustration was serious matter for a female werewolf in heat. She was planning to kick his ass because she was insane with hunger. He felt her gathering herself, gathering her strength in preparation to attack him. This was no game; if he didn’t convince her that he wasn’t causing her symptoms she was going to rip him to pieces.

  Tilting his head to the side, narrowing his gaze, he stared at her mouth. She wanted to sink her teeth into him. Her razor-sharp canines were slightly elongated. It was a shocking sight, but not as shocking as the realization that her canines were quite a turn on. He’d seen the wolf in her eyes on occasion when she was mad or felt threatened, but he’d never seen any sign of her turning. The fever in her radiated heat from her flesh. If she touched him, if he touched her, they would go up in flames of volcanic lust. Her wolf clawed at her insides needing … no. Not needing. It was demanding to be let loose.

  “Come here to me, Mia.” Every hot, luscious, feminine inch of her body was calling out to him, needing him to ease her suffering. Every muscle in his body, every fiber of his being, reacted to her need, though he fought to contain his physical longing for her. “Let me help you.” He purposely kept his voice low in hopes of using it to compel her to relax and place her trust in him.

  “You?” She rolled her eyes. “Help me?” Glaring up at him, her cheeks bright red with mounting anger and frustration, she shook her head. “I’m not an idiot, Joseph. I know damn well you’re the cause of it.”

  A small moment of silence followed. He wondered if he should lie and admit to causing it, but he quickly decided against it. She would never trust him if she believed he would use his power to do something vile to get down her pants.

  “Just m
ake it stop, Joseph.”

  “I will make it stop, but I will never admit to causing it.” It was quite possible she would take the form of her wolf the moment she attacked him. If that happened now while she was angry and confused, she would be difficult to handle. It wouldn’t be impossible. He’d fought many werewolves in past, but it had always been while engaged in life-and-death battles. He’d never worried about injuring one; he’d always determined to kill them as quickly as possible. He could easily hurt her without even trying to—and that was something he wasn’t willing to risk.

  Searching for the right words, the right actions to defuse her temper, he didn’t take his gaze from hers. He ached to wrap his arms around her and just hold her, to comfort her. However, he knew such intimate physical contact would likely cause to her be further aroused, and as a result she would become enraged. “I didn’t do anything to you, Mia.” And yet, he craved to do so much more to her, with her. He needed to at least take her hand, but he actually feared the thought of touching her at all—and not because his body was so damn aroused; he was more concerned with his dragon being equally aroused.

  Her beautiful, hungry eyes slowly drifted from his face down to his crotch and lingered there for a few endless seconds. Damn. She most certainly had a remarkable talent for throwing him off balance. It felt as if her gaze had reached out and physically touched him, caressed him, as if her fingers played over his ultra-sensitive flesh. When her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, his breath caught in this throat and his cock swelled and hardened even more. He knew he was in serious trouble, and she was in serious trouble if he didn’t find the strength to force some of the blood rushing south to reverse direction and head north to his brain.

  When she finally looked up to meet his gaze, he expected a full-fledged, ‘get your ass kicked in a bad way’ attack. The last thing he’d been prepared for was the first thing he should’ve predicted. As always, Mia did the unforeseen She rushed him and, with a burst of lycan strength, took him down onto the floor.

  Taken aback, he forgot to shift with her to another location. He stared up at her, his breath rushed in and out of his lungs. Matching the rhythm of her heart, his heart thundered in his chest. She was lost in a storm of lust. And so was he. Her emotions were spinning out of control as if caught up in the unstoppable winds of tornado. All rational thought was being hurled around in the swirling mass of carnal needs. In her mind he found raw, insatiable hunger that refused to be denied. And that hunger was contagious. He didn’t have the ability to push it aside. Her need for him simply increased his need for her. He knew he should do or say something to stop her, but knowing wasn’t enough to convince him do anything that would cause her to remove the weight of her body from his or remove her legs from straddling his waist.

  For a few seconds, she sat motionless, her gaze not once wavering from his. He’d never even imagined a more exquisite woman. From the moment he’d first taken her hand at the cemetery six months ago, she’d become as essential to him as the air he breathed. For many years he thought he would never find a love as strong and as pure as her love. Now, he couldn’t fathom a life without her. He never wanted to try.

  Too afraid to move, to touch her, to do anything that might stop her, he kept his fists clenched as his sides. He watched. He waited. He hoped for more. The sight of her on top of him, looking down at him with so much love and lust in her eyes, stole his breath away. It was his perfect fantasy made reality. He’d never experienced anything nearly as glorious until she reached down to touch him.

  Her fingers never stopped touching his body, moving over him, exploring him with such obvious fascination and hunger that he was trembling with pleasure, with anticipation for more. “I really want to hate you right now, Joseph. I can’t believe I’m burning up for you like this. I’m going crazy. I’m not even sure of what to do with you.” Moving slowly, she leaned down, stretching her body over his. “I’ve never needed anything more than I need you right now. I have to touch you.”

  Her breath was deliciously hot against his skin as her lips moved from the base of his throat to his jaw. “Oh, damn, Mia.” Closing his eyes, he savored the sensation of her mouth and tongue playing over his skin. He knew he needed to stop her. “Mia.” Her name came out sounding like a strangled groan. Her teeth gently teased his chin, jaw, neck, and ear. “Wait.” His pulse thundered in his ears. Nothing inside him wanted to detour her from touching him. How the hell was he going to regain control of his body’s demand for her?

  “I feel alive when I’m with you.” Her fingers worked on unknotting his tie until she’d pulled it off. She framed his face with her hands. “Look at me, Joseph.” He opened his eyes. “Stop holding back. I need you to touch my body, every part of my body. Lose control with me. I need to feel every inch of your skin against mine. Need me, burn for me like I’m burning up for you.” Her mouth felt heavenly in the most sinful of ways feeding on him as her fingers worked to undo his shirt buttons. “Touch me, Joseph.”

  He felt tears of joy burning behind his eyes. His hands stayed clenched as his sides. He was afraid to touch her, afraid of the price of allowing her to proceed. He knew if he didn’t stop her she would live with regret or die. No woman had ever made him care about consequences. He’d never experienced anything like it before, emotionally or even physically. His heated skin was hypersensitive. His body was inconceivably hard. The hunger in her voice and the look of desperation in her eyes did marvelously wicked things to his body.

  Her rising frustration, her need, pounded into him. His mind deeply merged with hers allowed the lust raging in her to increase his to intolerable heights. She would never get enough of him. He would never get enough of her. She would never get close enough to him. He would never get close enough to her. They would always need more, much more of each other. Their hearts and souls were bound so closely together he knew he would never be alone again.

  She kissed him passionately, possessively while her fingers fumbled with the buttons on his shirt and her body moved restlessly against his. Giving up on the buttons, she ripped his shirt apart. He was very aware of her touch, to the point of being mesmerized by it. Her fingers electrified his skin, tracing his muscles. Her kiss was rough and insistent. It was more than he could bear. He had to stop her, but he knew he would never be able to do it. He would never get enough of her sensuous kisses, of her touch, of her body. He could almost imagine his cock, locked deep within her slick, hot sheath.

  Finally, he moved. His hands found her thighs, caressed her soft, silky flesh. He realized his hands were trembling when he pushed her skirt up. Her soft moans of pleasure, of approval, vibrated against his lips as her tongue delved deeper to dance with his. Flames, uncontrollable flames of sweet torment swept through him when, mimicking the act of making love, she started to move her body against his. Damn. He needed … damn. He was … oh, damn it. He needed to be inside her. He was going to burst in his pants. Gripping her bottom, he began to move with her, grinding his swollen cock against her hot core.

  He slid his hands up her shirt and up her tiny ribcage as her lips moved down his throat to his chest. “Joseph,” she whispered, the warmth of her breath on his belly causing currents of electricity to race through his body, “right now, more than anything, I want to hate you.” Her lips moved further down his belly as her hands worked on unbuckling his belt. “I’ve never felt threatened by what you are, by what you’re capable of doing. I never believed you would use your power against me.” The tremor in her voice instantly brought him to his senses. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.”

  “No.” He caught her shoulders and pulled her up the length of his body. His sexual drive was powerful, but not nearly as powerful as his natural drive to protect her. “I want you with every fiber of my being, but I would never use my power or manipulation to take advantage of you.”

  “Whatever.” She was falling, tumbling out of control, sinking to the bottom of a well of lust. “I don’t care. It
doesn’t matter right now.”

  “Too bad. I care.” He felt like an ass for allowing her to continue believing he’d caused the fever that was rushing through her veins. “It matters to me. You matter to me.”

  Her body was aroused, but her mind was confused. She believed what was happening was unnatural. She believed he’d put a spell on her. She needed to get away from him, but she didn’t have the strength walk away. She ached for him to touch her, to fill her.

  He was also aching, but he wouldn’t take her body at the risk of losing her heart. He held her face, forcing her to look into his eyes. He reached into her mind, her soul. It was slow, deep penetration. He built a barrier between her body and the symptoms of her wolf being in heat. He knew it had worked when she closed her eyes and collapsed on top of him, resting her head on his chest. He felt her heart slow down to an even, steady pace as his heart slowed.

  She was absolutely silent and still for a few seconds. Then, wrenching her body out of his arms, she threw herself up off him. “I can’t believe you would do something so … oh, damn it.” She turned to walk away. “You’re such an imbecile, Joseph.”