The Jewel of Darkness [Celestial Jewels 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by J. Annas Walker

  She came. The magic flowing along her skin intensified the orgasm. Clenching and quivering became a full-body spasm of delight. She lost herself in the moment.

  Someone screamed Brandon’s name and tore at the silk duvet. The world tilted beneath her, leaving her dizzy and disoriented. The only thing she knew for certain was his lapping at her nectar and sucking the last drop from her soft flesh.

  She became aware of his next intentions when she felt the tip of his cock press against her slit. She half begged, half whimpered, “Yes. Please, yes.” She needed him inside her, wanted her lover to take her body and soul. As he entered her, the magic rose like it had when they first met.

  He filled her pussy with his cock slowly, not stopping until he reached her limit. He gave a little extra pressure and a small circular movement of his hip. He gave her a wide, fanged smile as she squirmed.

  He started a steady, rhythmic stroke. In. Out. In. Out. He seemed to be keeping time with the flow and ebb of energy and magic.

  As she fell into the rhythm of his thrusts, she rocked her hips to optimize the movement. She reached down and rolled her throbbing clit under her fingers. The feeling of him inside her and the ripples of pleasure from her clit brought her another orgasm. She worked her sensitive pearl until the flood of cream coated her thighs and him.

  He increased the rhythm from a steady thrust to a harder pounding. Over and over. He pressed his cock into her body, pulled back, and drove home once more. He watched her face only a moment more before his own spasm took over.

  Spurt after spurt of thick cum filled her. It mixed with her fluids and drizzled down her ass. The magic flashed across her skin and, judging from his reaction, spread to him.

  A change came over him. She watched as he took on a blush under a light olive-toned skin. For a brief few seconds, if she did not know better, she would have called him human. No heartbeat, and the effect lasted only a moment, but she gasped with surprise.

  He seemed not to have noticed. He placed his head between her breasts and panted slightly from the exertion. His cock slipped out of her body. He got up.

  Sabrina waited another few breaths before shifting herself to her usual spot on the bed. She raked the duvet and sheets back and then dropped into place. She patted his empty pillow.

  “I could use some company,” she said, inviting him to lay down with her.

  He went to the dresser and pulled out a tee and boxers for each of them. Laying a set on the bed for her, he dressed quickly.

  She felt a little confused. Usually, he just got in bed. She savored the feeling of his naked skin against hers, especially after they made love.

  “With things the way they are, you don’t want to get caught naked and asleep,” he said answering her unspoken question.

  She made a little “O” with her mouth. Leave it to him to think of such things in a time like this, she thought and pulled the tee over her head. The boxers were a little too big but worked.

  He snuggled in beside her, pulling her to him. “Look at you. You’re always trying to get in my pants and here you are wearing them,” he teased.

  The lioness within yawned with the rising sun. Sabrina gave him a playful smack and settled down, drifting off to sleep.

  Chapter 11

  Sabrina dreamed a whoop, whoop, whoop hovered somewhere above her. The sound of men trying to move quietly broke through her half-sleep. Kevlar rubbed against another hard-wearing fabric. The noises gave her something to focus on as she revived.

  It dawned on her what made the sound overhead, a helicopter. They were being invaded from above. Security was set up for humans to come in through the ground levels. Magic only repelled other supernaturals. Someone knew enough to send a well-equipped team during the day and was powerful enough to use trained men, instead of street thugs.

  Six hearts beat out of sync and at different paces. Most of them pounded at a slow and steady pace. Two beat wildly with fear. Adrenaline and testosterone permeated the air. They might as well have rung the doorbell.

  She reached for Brandon, giving him a rough shake. He gave her a groggy, disinterested yawn and rolled over. She felt the sun sitting high overhead. It guaranteed he would be useless for hours yet.

  She steadied herself. She needed to protect him. Wherever the guards were during the day, it was not inside their apartment. No one ever envisioned humans getting in this far.

  Sabrina felt a surge of power fill her. The usual daytime stupor vanished completely. Anger and fear surged through her system.

  Darting into the bathroom, she listened for them to creep past the guest room door. Her stomach felt like a tangle of fluttering knots. She guessed they knew which door went where when they did not check the spare room. The person behind the attack either had seen the inside of the apartment or had inside help. Not wanting to take time to think about which, Sabrina trained her ears on the six men.

  The master bedroom door banged open. Bright flashes lit up the crack under the door. A loud banging sound hurt her sensitive ears. Smoke filled the bedroom. Fear shot through her.

  One man started shouting, “Move! Move! Move!”

  Different voices shouted.

  “Get the fucker!”

  “Secure the room!”

  The leader ordered, “Check that door!”

  Sabrina assumed they meant the shared bath and slipped into the guest room. She made it just in time. As her door clicked closed, the opposite door opened a fraction of a second afterward.

  Brandon’s in there all alone. Those armed men are in there, and my Brandon’s alone, she thought. She covered her mouth to ensure no noise escaped her. Wondering what her aunt would do, her nervous fluttering gave way to memories of a blood-soaked Eleanor carrying the head of a traitor witch. She let determination replace the fear.

  The lioness roared angrily to life. Prey sought her. The big cat wanted to pounce on the armed man, to devour him. A familiar burning thirst tore at her throat. She needed to feed. Anger helped her maintain control. Waiting provided her a better chance. She could save both Brandon and herself. The time was just not right.

  “Well, Mr. High-and-mighty, what have we here? Not so tough with the sun up, are ya?” The sounds of the sheets and duvet being pulled back violently followed the leader’s snide comment.

  Someone else exclaimed, “Oh, shit! That’s not him!”

  Another man asked, “Who is it, then?”

  “Brandon Thorpe, his second in command,” the leader said, sounding mad. “Fuck it. We’ll have lost the element of surprise at this point. The boss will be pissed we didn’t get Hadrian, but this might be better. Might as well not waste the effort to get in this house of horrors. He’ll burn just the same. The head fanger might play ball a little better in the future, if he knows we can off this fucker.”

  Sabrina heard Brandon grunt as heavy blows landed. It sounded as if someone hit him with a rifle butt. Brandon made noises that sounded like he tried to get up. The men laughed and jeered at him, making her more enraged.

  She let the lioness take over, crouching down in a stalking position. As quietly as she could, she made her way down the hall. The master bedroom’s door was shut.

  The leader asked, “Hey, where’s his bitch?”

  “What bitch?”

  “He’s married, asshole. Seriously, do you ever read the mission briefs? Where’s his wife? Check the rest of the place,” the leader commanded.

  Sabrina took a few steps back and melted into the shadows. When the door opened, she let the man come out of the room and shut the door before tearing his throat out. No scream alerted the others to her presence. She pulled him into the guest bedroom and closed the door. She crept back to the master and easily cracked the door.

  The others stood with their back to the door. They seemed to have assumed all vampires were helpless during the day. It was a mistake they would never make again, if she had her way.

  Sabrina took a clawed swipe at the closest man, breaking his nec
k from behind. The man next to her started to turn. She punched him with all her might, sure she shattered his skull. Down he went.

  By then, the other three took aim. She knew she only had time to jump one. Visualizing the shield, dark rainbows and hazy shadows surrounded her and her next victim. She sank her fangs into his neck. His screams reverberated inside the protective magical sphere. The thirst took over, and she drained him. The man died quickly. She dropped him and turned to the remaining two.

  They fired at her, but nothing penetrated the layer of magic. The bullets ricocheted around the room. Sabrina prayed the stray bullets missed Brandon. One of the men took a rebounded round to the shoulder and went down. The last man standing ran out of rounds but stood rigidly, holding his weapon.

  The lioness wanted to make a meal of these men as well. They were a danger to her and her home, her sanctuary. Her anger translated into more burning thirst for Sabrina. It took a great deal of restraint on her part not to give in so easily to temptation.

  She dropped her shields, but the rainbows and shadows did not disappear. They pushed out from their confined space to dance on the bedroom walls. The man glanced around at them and back to her.

  The thought came to her as if she had always known what to do. She raised a finger, pointed it at the man, and lowered it to the floor, forcing him to his knees. Holding him there, she put her other hand out for the weapon. The AR-15 flew out of his hands, landing in hers. With just the one hand, she crushed the rifle in the center and threw it to one side.

  “I am going to give you one chance to tell me what I want to know,” she said in a too-calm voice. “Who are you and why are in you in my home?”

  She saw the man struggle to answer. His mouth moved but words refused to come out. Had he been spelled? She locked gazes with him. Forcing herself into his mind took a lot of effort. The resistance gave her a lot of information.

  These men drank small amounts of vampire blood. It was the only explanation. Humans never possessed this level of immunity naturally. It made them stronger and gave them more endurance. However, the amount consumed was so small they did not get any more abilities than those. They became more than human-strong, but they were no match against powerful vampires. It explained the daytime ambush.

  Something told Sabrina she possessed enough magic to undo the blood’s influence. She pushed harder, forcing her will into his mind. Ignoring the screams, she drove harder and harder until she found what she was looking for, a face. She did not know who this person was.

  “What is this man’s name?” Sabrina asked with venom in her voice.

  “I can’t! Please, no more!”

  The second man with the wounded shoulder still writhed on the floor in pain. Between yelps of pain, he encouraged the leader to stay quiet and not give her information. He spat at her and called her a fanged whore, a suck slut, and a bitch.

  Sabrina gave him a casual glance, held out her free hand as if to clutch his chest, and imagined his heart in her hand. She squeezed her hand into a fist. Her nails dug into her hand, causing it to bleed.

  The man grabbed his chest, gasped like a fish out of water for a full minute, and died.

  “Now,” she said with deadly intent, “why were you sent?”

  The leader hung his head in defeat. “To kill Hadrian. We were told this building houses most of the supernaturals in Atlanta. The penthouse apartment is the best anywhere. As the boss, we were told all his business is conducted here. This had to be his place.”

  “And?”

  “And our boss wanted to rearrange their deal. Hadrian turned him down. We couldn’t get through the bottom floors with the werewolf guards. No other supernaturals would take the job. So, we came through the rooftop balcony.

  “When we didn’t find Hadrian, I thought we might use Brandon to send a message. We didn’t know you could move around during the day. They said you were a vampire, too,” he finished, blubbering about a wife and family.

  She ignored his whining. “The man’s name. I see his face in your mind. Tell me who he is,” she demanded.

  The team leader found his resolve. He refused to think or speak. A string of foul tirades flowed instead of the information she wanted.

  The lioness growled. The offensive man would never worship her, not that she wanted his devotion. He gave in to weakness to easily. His devotion held no meaning with such weakness. The primal power wanted his life instead.

  Sabrina dropped her finger. The magical restraints lifted, allowing him to move. For reasons she did not understand, she gave him a few seconds to bolt for the balcony and the safety of the helicopter.

  She caught up with him in the dining room. Tackling him, she jerked his head to one side and sank her fangs into his neck. Hot, sweet, metallic life drained out of him. She drank until she had her fill. Pushing herself into a sitting position on the floor, she looked around the room.

  The sunlight streamed in through the open door. It fell across her lap and hands. She started to jerk away until she noticed she was not burning. The light had no effect. The golden warmth reminded her of her childhood and the lazy days spend laying in a meadow of flowers.

  “Well, imagine that. A vampire basking in the sun,” a somewhat familiar voice said.

  Sabrina kept looking at her hands in the light, not bothering to look up. “Mr. Morse, I believe a gentleman knocks or announces himself in some way before entering,” she chided quietly.

  “True, but a lady doesn’t commit murder,” he retorted.

  She stared at him. “Ladylike or not, I will defend my home and my family,” she said without hesitation. Her words rang true to her core, and she knew they were as much a warning as a defense for her actions.

  “I can see that,” Thane said with a chuckle.

  “Why are you here? It isn’t sunset, and their deaths were anything but peaceful,” she asked.

  “Normally, I would do this the usual way, but given the circumstances, I felt my personal attention was called for. As for the peaceful part, death is death, regardless of the manner. I don’t discriminate,” he explained.

  He walked over to the man on the floor, touched his forehead, and waited. The man’s soul separated from his body and floated up to the ceiling. It joined the others collected there. The six of them looked down on her. Some were fearful. Others expressed rage.

  “Do you want to keep them?” Thane asked casually.

  “No. Let them move on to wherever it is they need to go,” she replied. She felt sorry for them. Guilt over their deaths tried to creep in, but her shock pushed it aside.

  “As you wish,” Thane said, and the lot of them faded away. “And the helicopter hovering nearby?”

  “Send it away, if you can, but don’t hurt the pilot,” she requested. She listened carefully as the whooping sound of the blades became less noticeable. Within matter of seconds, only the usual city noises filtered through the open French doors.

  “Thank you,” she said sadly. It occurred to her these men’s deaths marked her as a killer. For the first time since becoming a vampire, she took a human’s life. A mix of emotions jumbled up inside her. The lioness sat out on the internal conflict, seeming to find it pointless.

  She pulled herself off the floor, still watching the sunlight on her skin. Taking timid steps forward, she made her way to the French doors. The sheer curtains bellowed around in the stiff breeze. She drew in a deep breath and savored the scents of the day. Sunlight possessed a scent all its own. If she never saw another day, she wanted this scent etched in her memory for the rest of her eternal nights.

  “So…” Thane began.

  “So what?” Sabrina asked.

  “I think you and I both know you’re not really a vampire, not in the truest sense of the word,” he said, leaning with his back against the railing and crossing his arms over his chest.

  “I don’t know what I am,” she said truthfully.

  “I think you do. Got a streak of nearly uncontrollable jealousy, do
we? A little temper issue? Nothing running wild in your head? Hmm?”

  She cut him a sharp glare. “I don’t expect you to understand,” she said curtly.

  “Oh, sweetheart, I understand all right. I was there the night you walked into my realm. I watched you stand there and ponder your fate. You could have gone on to the Elysian Fields and spent eternity in the Summerland. Eleanor and Clay called to you several times. You made the decision to turn your back on it and them. Imagine my surprise to find another being capable of walking the two worlds.

  “You are unique, Sabrina Rivers Thorpe. Yes you are. Trying to avoid being yourself, you hide behind a pair of fangs. At the first hint of trouble, you called upon powers you didn’t understand and accepted them from the universe without thinking about the consequences. You accepted more power from a demoness and blended it with your own.

  “There’s a name for you. The sad part is you don’t want to admit it,” he said. He moved to stand behind her. “Pity. You could be so much more.”

  “You’re wrong. I’m just me. I’m a vampire who gave up everything to stay with the man I love. I don’t want to be someone else’s puppet or property. I may not understand why this is possible, but I refuse to believe any of this is more than a spell cast on my necklace,” she insisted. She meant every word. Before Delilah insisted on using the necklace, none of her previous powers worked since her transformation.

  “What do you think would happen if Brandon came out here? Or your father?” Thane asked.

  “You know full well they would die,” she admitted.

  “Why is that?” He sounded like a teacher prompting his student to think.

  “The magic that binds a vampire’s soul to their body can’t hold up in the UV light,” she responded.

  “And yet here you are. You claim to be a vampire, but you aren’t burning. You soul is still firmly attached to your living body. So, what does that make you?”

  Sabrina broke down in tears. She asked herself that question many times over the course of her life. Being brought up to believe she was a half-witch, she never felt like she belonged anywhere. Her lack of proper magical powers made her an outcast among the witches, even though the necklace siphoned them. Since becoming a vampire, she still felt like an outsider. Her hope of one day fitting in with the community Brandon created shattered into a million tiny pieces. She wanted to know what she was, what to call herself.