Commander

by Kim Faulks

  Semper Fidelis. Always faithful.

  His lips met mine. Soft at first, trembling, until he broke the kiss, and pulled away.

  The fight raged in his eyes. But this was no fight of virtue, not mine, nor his.

  This was a fight for desire—a fight for survival.

  One that should never have come—but it was here now—raging to the surface. And it was all my fault. I gave him too much, gave him more than his will could handle.

  The Commander blinked, and silver eyes stared back at me.

  A Wolf’s eyes.

  And his will broke.

  Teeth gnashed, biting, bruising. I flattened my palms to the wall. Not fighting. Not moving. Let him take it all. Every savage touch. Every stolen breath. My skin prickled, and goosebumps raced. No one touched me, not like this.

  Never like this.

  I opened my mouth to his growl and my undead heart quivered.

  His hand dropped to cup my breast. He was a beast, taking, molding, forcing my flesh between his fingers and his tongue into my mouth. Warmth skirted the points of my fangs. His hand stilled, heat stilled. But the touch in my mouth didn’t, moving gently now, searching and finding what he wanted.

  His cock hardened, hips ground, curving upwards with a slow thrust.

  “I want.”

  One shove of his knee forced my legs apart. His chest expanded with a harsh breath, rubbing the tips of my nipples until they tightened and burned. But it was the tremor of his heart I felt. A beat that raced through cold flesh. His beat became mine. His warmth…mine.

  “I want,” he growled into my mouth.

  My head slammed against the wall as I broke the kiss. “Then do it. You can’t hurt me, Commander. You can’t do a damn thing, unless I want you to.”

  A storm was brewing. I inhaled the sharp tang. But this was no bitter ozone. It was lust and rage. It was desire unbridled and unchained. It was the birth of a Wolf, and the death of a man.

  It was a battle for control…the fight for survival.

  “You have to open yourself up, Commander. Let the beast in.”

  His lips curled as he eased backwards. Too much…I saw the result of my doing. I did this. I gave him too much of the drug. Silver eyes shone, and white fangs glinted.

  But he couldn’t harness the power—not yet. The energy of this place swirled around us, riding the beast, as he gripped the open collar of my blood-splattered shirt and yanked.

  My head snapped forward. Teeth gnashed. Fabric tore and then pulled taut. Bra straps slipped down my arms, and that’s where they stayed.

  There was no waiting as the Commander lowered his head to the swell of my breast, no careful kisses—no tender touch of any kind.

  His beard tickled, tongue raced. His teeth anchored me. Hard edges gave way to pointed fangs that scraped the tender flesh around my nipple.

  The sting was instant. “More,” I whispered.

  He never slowed, never stopped. Never even acknowledged I spoke. Desire burned with every lick as he drew tender flesh into his mouth. Hard fingers gripped my hips, the muscles of his arms flexed as he cupped the curve of my ass and then lifted.

  My legs widened, thighs gripped. His body was hot, and hard, riding the crease of my pants as he lowered me to the floor.

  “I’m sorry,” an inhuman growl filled the air.

  His hand fumbled with the button on my jeans. The zipper slipped, fingers searched. I closed my eyes to the feel of him…to the touch and the warmth.

  Panic rose like a swollen river. The graze of his fingers was like a cruel lash of leather, each stroke, each graze tearing me apart.

  I didn’t need his pity, didn’t want his sorrow.

  He lifted me high enough to grip the waist of my pants and yanked.

  I wanted his anger, wanted his lust.

  I wanted the darkened edges of his resolve, where the beast waited.

  Fabric slid, stopping mid-way along my thighs. The growl was savage, fingers furious, shoving, parting, yanking my boots until the denim tore free.

  He lowered his gaze to my ripped shirt and exposed breasts. My nipples hardened in response. Power sparked as he brushed his knuckles down my stomach and my navel, to stop at the thin lace panties.

  Gone was the man as the Commander speared hard fingers between us.

  There was only the storm now—only the heat.

  Only the spirit of an immortal searching for a hold.

  Callused fingers brushed tender flesh as he gripped the edge of my panties and wrenched.

  He pushed, forcing his cock under the elastic and between his fingers.

  And with one feral growl, he plunged deep. There was no softness, no care. There was only dominance and control in a brutal, terrifying rhythm.

  Heat licked between my thighs as he lifted his hips from the floor. I rode high, joined by the thrust of his body, before I crashed back down.

  His arms flexed under my fingers, body trembling with raw power as he eased his body out, leaving me bare and wanting.

  “Turn over,” the command was a snarl.

  I splayed my hands against the floor, and shifted to my knees, just as he asked.

  “Jesus,” dark words were warped and strange as his chest brushed my bare ass. His beard tickled, lips followed, brushing my spine as he murmured. “You’re so beautiful like this, so very beautiful.”

  I closed my eyes as knuckles brushed my skin. He gripped my hips and wrenched me backwards. My hands squealed against the floor, tearing through the darkness.

  “Lower,” he growled and placed his hand between my shoulders.

  The weight was heavy, purposeful, making me yield…making me want. Making me sink to my elbows with my bare ass high in the air.

  There was nowhere else to go now—not for him…and not for me.

  His fingers brushed the swell of my ass and dipped to the middle. Hard calluses found tender flesh. I closed my eyes to the sensation, where fire met ice.

  He pressed his finger against my clit and held it there. Tiny pulses flared, beating with a rhythm no heart could sustain. I curled my fingers, nails scraped hard wood. Slow circles made me whimper, not too hard and not too soft. My knees slipped, thighs widened. I leaned forward, desperate for more.

  “You want me to move my finger?”

  “Yes,” my word was a harsh whisper.

  I shuddered with the slow draw of his finger along my crease. He circled carefully, and then slipped inside.

  The sharp sting in my mouth made me flinch. My fangs lengthened, ignited by a hunger that was for more than blood. “More,” I growled and opened my mouth.

  Pointed tips carved tender flesh as the Commander drove his hips against my ass. His cock buried deep, forcing his way inside until my body couldn’t give. And with slow motion he left me, sliding almost free before he thrust once more.

  I clenched my insides, gripping his cock as he thrust. The salty scent of sweat bloomed in the air as he leaned his weight along my spine, collapsing my arms and pinning me to the floor.

  “Harder,” I turned my head and whispered. “Harder, Commander.”

  The grunt in my ear was bestial, and hungry. He shuddered, using his weight to drive my body forward.

  I splayed my legs wider. Long hard thrusts turned short and brutal, rocking my body with each blow. Energy swirled around the room, and with each drive of his hips it became more animal…more primal.

  His skin was hot, thawing the ice inside me. I was almost alive with him thrusting—almost pulsing with a mortal rhythm, one perfect breath away from completion.

  His chest pressed against my spine. Hot breath filled my ear. “Is this what you want, Vampire? Is this why you came?”

  He stretched my body, and my mind. This was what I wanted, this connection, this power. I wanted him, inside my body, and under my skin, thrumming life through my empty veins. Mortal or not…the Commander was mine. “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  The shudder raced along his body. One br
utal blow, and he wasn’t just inside my body. He was under my skin, inside my mind. He was everywhere and nowhere, leaving his mark on more than flesh.

  Warmth spread between my thighs, filling that well of darkness and that aching need.

  And in the wake, something else came—something dark, and dangerous. “Vampire,” he breathed the word against my ear.

  I moved against his chest. Slick sweat cooled against my skin. He wasn’t just hot. He was burning. “Commander?”

  “The injection wasn’t just immortal DNA…” I whispered.

  “—It was Wolf,” he snarled.

  I shoved from the ground and pulled away. He slid free from my body and in that moment, I felt empty…and hollow. “Congratulations, Commander, you have shifter in your blood.”

  “I’m leaving,” the words made me flinch.

  The flare of pain was sudden and cruel.

  He never turned his head, never met my gaze. “I’ll head for Davonport in the morning…what’s left of it, anyway. Make a case and take it to the Sergeant Major. Hunter has to know what’s happening under his nose. He’ll know what to do, or who to talk to. Once he sees the files, he’ll fully understand. They’re already invoking martial law. He needs me and my men. I can put together a team, find this Prince, and put the bastard down.”

  His pent-up breath escaped in a rush, before he finally met my gaze. Blue eyes sparkled with need. “Come with me.”

  Lightning raced through my chest with the thought. “Why?”

  “’Cause I want you to. What more do you need? Tell me what you want,” he reached for me. “Let me take care of you.”

  “You don’t even know me.” I inhaled deep.

  And I was back there, amongst the screams and the blood as the Lowest Kynd invaded.

  Annabelle! Eva screamed inside my head. I’m losing control…help me.

  Tell me what you need. My own words reverberated against my ear. Let me take care of you.

  The echoes of those words were cruel.

  “I know all I need to.” His fingers tightened around my hand as though I were his salvation and not his end. “I know I want you to stay. I need to be with you, just…for a while ,until I can ease this goddamn burn inside me.”

  He wanted more, more than I had to give. That dark cavern opened inside my mind, where all the hurt and the longing waited.

  He wanted that darkness…that need.

  He wanted me to fall…and take him with me.

  Why?

  “Why? Because your face was the last thing I saw, and the first. Because you’re cold…you’re so damn cold, and I need that. I need you against me, just like this.”

  His words rippled through my mind. I closed my eyes to that dark cavern, and realized it wasn’t an endless hole at all. It was a lake, a beautiful, endless, midnight lake.

  He brushed his fingers along my arm—and the surface of that lake trembled. I lifted my head, finding those blue eyes as he whispered. “You soothe me in ways I don’t understand.”

  Fingers entwined. I stared at them, his…and then mine. Blood still crusted the edges of my nails. No one touched me…

  But him.

  9

  Samson

  “You’re making a mistake.”

  I clenched my jaw. “Maybe, but I have to try. Have to believe there’s still someone in power that will do the right thing. For my men.”

  “This is a losing battle for your kind. Don’t you get that by now? Nothing you do will change that. This isn’t your world anymore…not as you knew it.”

  The heat of anger cut deep. Somewhere outside, the howl of a Wolf carried. My body shuddered like a fever taking hold. “Bullshit. I don’t believe that.”

  “You think today was the last attack? Turn on your TV, Commander. This is the fall of man, and there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop it.”

  My fingers were thick, skin tight as I clenched a fist, and then stabbed the air. Like fuck it wasn’t. The mournful sound carried, and my damn pulse responded. I bled for this country, sacrificed my life for this country. I lost…good men. “This is as much my world as it is yours.”

  “Open your eyes, Samson. Open your eyes and see the truth. You want to fight for dirt and rubble, or do you want to survive? We’re stronger together. We can survive together. You, of all mortals, should know that by now. Stay with the Guardians, stay and live. Because the next time I might not be there to save you.”

  “I can’t.” A bead of sweat ran down the underside of my arm as I shoved against the floor. My hand slipped and then hit the corner of the wall. Shadows moved, swaying, the baying of that damn beast. He was still out there, hunting, calling…

  “How can we be so very different?” she murmured. There was sadness in her tone, sadness and regret.

  A rivulet of sweat raced, carving a line down my brow, and then my nose. Shadows swayed, blending in and out…that hungry howl called. I turned to the door. They were out there…calling, hunting—I closed my eyes—calling me.

  “It must be hard for you,” the soft slide of fabric against her skin dragged me from that sound. “To believe all your life that you were the apex predator, that you held the intelligence, the tenacity, the drive to survive more than any creature on this earth—and then to realize that was nothing more than a mirage. That in reality, you are the first to hurt, the first to die…and the first to fade away. Mortality was given to your race for a reason, but you…and your kind, don't even care. You don't fight to survive, to learn, to grow. You think about your money, and your cars and your…sex and your money and sex. You’ve given your power to the wrong people, Commander. You’ve given it to mortals, desperate for immortality. They’re not worthy of your dedication, or your bravery. But if you want to go back to your toy army, and your little man in charge, then go—run. Take your men with you, and see how long you last. And while you're watching the last precious seconds of your existence slip away, I hope you realize how great a moment this was. How, in the blink of an eye, you sealed your own fate. The Guardians will fight, that's their role, as it is ours now. Maybe they'll win…maybe they'll lose…maybe we'll all lose. But you won't know that, will you? You’ll give your power away, yet again, to the losing side. Have a good life, Commander. Go back to the woman who's moved on, and the children you don't know. Go back to them and tell them you had the chance to change destiny—and you decided to pass."

  She left no sound behind. Not the whisper of her steps, or the slam of a door…nothing but the foul taste of her words that burned in my gut.

  “You’re wrong,” I growled into the darkness. “You’re fucking wrong…”

  There was silence. Cold, lonely silence. Not even the baying of the Wolf lingered. It left just like everything else in my life.

  “You’re fucking wrong,” my words burned. “I can’t stay here. Can’t stay here with this…” The word evaded me.

  But the feeling of being watched, of being hunted, grew.

  The sudden draw of a breath made me still. A chill raced, licking the heat from my skin. I scanned the corners and stared into nothing. “Who’s there?”

  Click…click…click…nails drummed against the hard floor.

  The rush of air came again, only this time closer.

  I wrenched my head left. “Annabelle, is that you?”

  Scotch slurred my words.

  The warning echoed, and then died away. This was no Vampire, and no shadow. The hair rose on the nape of my neck as that primal whisper answered…Wolf.

  My gun…I licked arid lips and took a slow step backwards.

  The guttural warning came again, stopping me…

  Stand still, the words filled me. Stand still and face me.

  Fear licked along my spine, making me weak, making me desperate.

  You should’ve listened to the Doc, Commander. You should’ve heeded her warning. “What the Hell do you want from me?”

  The growl deepened to a snarl. Still the beast remained in the shadows. />
  I could almost feel the heat of its breath, almost taste the blood in its mouth. “I am Commander Samson Marks of the United States Marine Corps.”

  Click…click…click…clickclickclick.

  My heart lunged with the thunder of paws, slamming against the cage around my heart.

  I turned and lunged, reaching for the bedroom door as the beast closed in.

  Reflexes took over as I leapt across the single bed and reached for the holster.

  Clickclickclickclickclick.

  My palm hit cold steel, thumb punched out, hitting the release and dragged the weapon free.

  A roar filled my head as I dragged the muzzle high.

  But there was no rush of fangs. No blur of movement.

  There was nothing but darkness.

  And the low growl of a Wolf thrumming through my head.

  10

  Samson

  I fumbled for the phone, my gun trained on the shadows as the soft green glow lit up the room. My damn knees trembled, will was fucking weak as I skimmed my thumb across the screen and stabbed the icon.

  “Yeah?” The phone was answered by the thick drawl of a man half-asleep.

  “I need a number…the Doctor. I need it now.”

  Alpha snapped awake in an instant. “Jesus, Commander. You okay?”

  My sight wavered on the middle of the doorway. “Just…get me the damn number, Alpha.”

  “Yeah, okay…texting it to you now. You want me to come over?”

  “No,” I whispered, as the Wolf’s growl deepened inside my head. “Stay away…all of you stay away.”

  I ended the call and waited. A second later the message filled the screen, the Doc’s number in red. I pressed my thumb to the screen and waited as the phone began to ring.

  “I was wondering how long it would take,” the Doc said softly without a hint of sleep in her voice.

  “You have to help me,” the weak sound that slipped from my lips wasn’t me at all. “I’m going crazy, right? I’m going fucking crazy.”