Constantine

by Alicia Sparks

  Raking her nails across his back, she drove him forward, encouraging his thrusts, delighting at the way his hair tickled her face as he moved inside her. Her fingers moved down to tease her clit and began rubbing in small, slow circles.

  She looked up at Constantine. His face had twisted into a mask of pleasure and pain. At that same moment her orgasm built again. He came inside her as she quaked around him, coating him with her juices.

  They collapsed against each other.

  The sound of their breathing lulled them both to sleep.

  Chapter Five

  Helen looked at the clock when she heard the knock at the door. It was five a.m., almost sunrise. Pulling her robe back around her body, she stumbled out of bed well aware that she still smelled like sex. Who would be knocking at this time of morning?

  “Who is it?” she called as she made her way to the front door.

  “It’s me, Trinity. I need to see you.”

  She released the locks and opened the door. “Jesus, what happened to you?” Trinity’s hair was out of place and her makeup had smeared down her porcelain face.

  “I ran here.”

  “You look like hell.”

  “Thanks.” She managed a smile.

  “Are you okay? What did you need to see me about?”

  “Can we go inside?” Trinity looked around nervously.

  “Yeah. I’m…yeah. Let me get dressed.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I need a place to crash. Can I use your spare room?”

  “Yes. You know you can.”

  Trinity stepped into the apartment and made her way to the sofa. “I’m beat.”

  “You said you needed to see me.”

  Helen had only known the teen for six months but Trinity had been an invaluable source of information on Sebastian’s comings and goings. Beneath all the different colors of hair extensions and heavy eye makeup, Trinity was an angel in disguise, even if she was a vampire.

  Helen joined Trinity on the sofa just as Constantine appeared in the living room. He stood there looking like a god with his long dark hair hanging down around his shoulders and his bare chest exposed.

  “I didn’t know you had company. I’m sorry. I’ll go.” Trinity stood to leave.

  “No. Stay. I’m Constantine.” He extended his hand to her.

  “I’m Trinity. Constantine? Hey, like that Roman guy.”

  “Yeah. You’ve heard of him?”

  “My father was a history professor at the university. Before… Never mind. You don’t want to hear my sad story. You study history?” Helen could hear the break in Trinity’s voice at the mention of her father. He was a corrupt collegian who had been sucked into Sebastian’s world. He had handed his daughter over to them, granting her the gift of everlasting life when she was fifteen. That had been three years ago and her body had not aged, though her mind had.

  “You could say that.” Constantine’s voice pulled Helen back into the present.

  “You can trust him,” Helen said, knowing Trinity wasn’t sure if she should continue their conversation.

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. He’s one of the good guys.”

  “Okay,” Trinity conceded.

  “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

  “Sebastian is spreading his special kind of love, creating a new team of killers. They’re gonna try to take the stone.”

  “Who are his targets?” Constantine asked.

  “Some guys.” She shrugged.

  “What are their names?” He continued.

  “I don’t know. They sounded like your name. You know, foreign-type names. History names.”

  “Like Attila?”

  “Something like that. And Justin or something like that.”

  “Justinian.” Constantine let the name slip out between tight lips.

  “That’s it,” Trinity smiled. “Attila and Justinian.”

  “Friends of yours?” Helen rolled her eyes.

  “Actually, they are exactly who you think.”

  “Great, so he’s creating an army of already powerful men. Each one of them has some sort of mystical item too, right?” Helen already knew his answer.

  “Yes.”

  “So where do we fit into this?” Trinity asked.

  “We beat him at his own game. I know someone who can help us.” Constantine stood and made his way to the window.

  “She’s going to stay here. Extra bedroom.”

  “I will not let harm come to you,” Constantine vowed to Trinity.

  “Thanks.”

  “You are safe here, Trinity. It appears that we have a new ally.”

  “She’s a sweet girl.” Constantine watched as Trinity left the room.

  “Yeah she is.”

  “And you’re a goddess to help her.”

  “She helps me too. Let’s change the subject.”

  “Fine. Have you ever had a foot massage?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him as he sank onto her leather sofa. “So thrill me,” she said.

  His breath hung in his throat and all of his blood pooled between his thighs as his cock reacted to the sight of her exposed skin. It had only been a few hours since he’d felt her body but he needed her again. Nonchalantly, she placed her feet in his lap, barely brushing against his hard cock as she moved.

  She nestled back against the pillows and closed her eyes, adjusting her hips as she moved, causing her robe to rise even further.

  He took one foot in his hand and began with the ball of her foot, moving his hand slowly across her skin. He closed his eyes to the sensation, drinking in the feel of her skin beneath his hand. He shouldn’t be touching her like this. Every nerve in his body was on alert as her thoughts streamed into his head. She wanted to be wanted, to be needed. She had never fallen in love. Too many of her dreams had been crushed by a world she felt like she didn’t belong to.

  She was a woman. The kind of woman men would sail ships for, risk empires for and conquer worlds for. She was a woman who was in the wrong place in time. Had she existed in Ancient Rome she could have been his empress. He would have challenged all the laws of man and of the gods to be with a woman like her, consequences be damned.

  He shifted on the sofa, his cock demanding attention.

  “Tell me about you, Helen. Who are you?”

  Her eyes opened slowly as he continued to rub her feet. “Who am I?” He had almost forgotten he had asked. “I’m an antiques dealer with very little interest in Rome, though it seems to be on everyone else’s agenda right now.” A slow smile spread across her lips.

  Her eyes met his when he looked at her. She was incredibly beautiful with her wide-eyed innocence.

  She pulled her foot from his lap and leaned into him. “Constantine.”

  He wanted her in a way he couldn’t begin to explain.

  She smiled and reached out to touch him. A shiver ran through his body when she pressed her hand against his heart. He felt the heat of her touch all the way to his core.

  She pulled away from him then shook her head and stood, moving away from him. “I’m on edge now.”

  He leaned against the sofa, watching her as she paced in her robe. Damn she was sexy. He tried hard to focus on her words. Tearing his eyes away from her legs, he looked her in the eye as she spoke.

  She moved to the window and gazed out. He could see her reflection in the window as the moon illuminated her body.

  “Let me take the edge off. I know you could use more than a foot rub.” He smiled.

  He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her, aware that his reflection did not show in the window. She turned in his arms and looked him in the eye. “This is going to get complicated.”

  “No, Helen.” He ran his finger along her cheek. “It already has.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  “You’re exhausted. Come to bed. I’ll keep watch while you sleep. And I’ll help you formulate a plan, I promise.”

  “I can’
t put this in your hands.”

  “Trust your instincts, witch,” he whispered against her hair. “I know you have them. Trust them. Let them guide you.”

  “That’s just it. Every time I think logically, I end up thinking about you.”

  * * * * *

  “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?” Trinity stood in the last rays of moonlight, having entered the living room after Helen retired to bed. She narrowed her eyes at Constantine, who sat on the sofa, keeping watch as promised.

  He straightened his back at the question and stole a sideways glance at the young vampire. “Yes.”

  Trinity moved out of the light and sank down in the large overstuffed chair next to the sofa. She threw her legs over one arm of the chair and rested her head on the other. “I can see it in the way you look at her.”

  “Things are complicated. For both of us.”

  “Love doesn’t seem to care what the complications are.”

  “How old are you that you know so much about emotions?”

  “All it takes is getting your heart broken once and you’ll realize there are no rules. What do you plan to do about it?”

  “There’s nothing I can do about it.” He ran a hand through his hair, wishing things were different. Right now he’d give anything to change the way things had spiraled out of control.

  “Not now maybe but you’ll have to tell her soon. There’s nothing worse than keeping a secret like that. You start to look at everything different, killing yourself over whether she loves you too. It’s like your entire world rests on one little smile or nod.”

  “Sounds like you know a lot about this.”

  She shrugged. “I’ve been around the block once or twice.”

  “I have already told her I love her. She says she loves me too.”

  “Then why do you look like you lost your best friend?”

  “Because I am afraid that I might. You say the vampires are building up an arsenal and that Sebastian and his crew will be going after this ritual stone. I think that should be priority one.”

  “It will be. When she wakes up. But until then you need to think about what you plan to do after you save the world.”

  He laughed. “I’m not sure if we’ll save the world or not.”

  “You have to.” She sat up and narrowed her eyes at him again, her face stone-serious. “If you don’t this will be worse than you can imagine. If they awaken the gods, no one will be able to stop them.”

  “Sounds like we need a vampire slayer.” The statement was filled with sarcasm until he realized that was exactly what they needed. Someone who knew how the undead moved, how they operated. Someone who had historical precedence over this new brood.

  “We’ve got one.” Trinity indicated Helen by glancing toward the bedroom door.

  “No, we need one who is stronger than her. One who can handle the vampires in this town without placing anyone else in danger.”

  “You got one in mind?” Trinity raised an eyebrow.

  “Perhaps.”

  “The sun will be up soon. You should sleep,” Trinity yawned.

  “I don’t sleep,” he admitted softly, his hands aching to reach out and touch Helen in her sleep.

  Trinity stood and yawned before turning her back to him and going to the bedroom. His resolve had weakened, hearing talk of vampire uprisings and love. He wanted to crawl into bed next to Helen and hold her until morning. Determined to do just that he returned to the bedroom. Just as he was about to touch her she woke, her eyes opening slowly.

  “Constantine,” she whispered.

  “Yes?”

  “Could you hold me?”

  He licked his bottom lip, which had grown dry in the same instant that his cock hardened. “Yes.” She slid onto her side, making room for him as he joined her, locking his arms around her soft body. “I have never met a woman like you.”

  She swallowed hard when he said the words. This was some kind of weird fairy-tale dream. Men like this did not exist, and she didn’t act like a fool over them. Her fingers wound their way into his hair as he reached out to stroke hers. They didn’t need words tonight. When the sun came up they would be facing immense danger. She still had no idea where to hide the ancient ring. But for now, in the last lingering hours of night, she planned to make love to Constantine, to hide herself behind the emotional orgy and to stop worrying about morning.

  Her nipples tightened at the thought of having his hands on her body the way they had been on her feet earlier. Her pussy clenched in desperation. His breath brushed against her face as he stared into her eyes. He must be thinking the same thing she was.

  “I am afraid to touch you,” he whispered softly as his fingers slid down her cheek.

  “You’re already touching me.” She closed her eyes to the sensation of his hand on her skin. So much had happened in so little time and being with him, looking up at him as his intoxicating breath swept across her face, was almost enough to drive her over the edge.

  “No. I mean touch you intimately. I’m not talking about sex. I mean when I look at you, I see my soul. I want to get under your skin. I want you to know how much I need you. You’ll be the death of me!”

  “I hope that’s a good thing,” she teased.

  “I’m serious. Circumstances surrounding us lead me to think I should not get close to you. I’ve had one goal for so long and you challenge everything I have fought for. It is not easy to abandon one’s plans for the future.”

  “There won’t be a future if we don’t stop Sebastian. If he forces Tez and Quetz to rise again, aligning the sixth sun cycle, this entire planet will be in danger. That is why I have protected the stone for so long.”

  “Now you have an ally. Not only in Trinity but in me. I am here to help you. I swear my allegiance to you.” His soft words swept across her skin as his lips trailed from her ear down her neck. She shivered against him, longing for more than a mere whisk of his lips. “I swear more than my allegiance if you will have it.”

  “Don’t talk. We’ll talk about war in the morning. For now I need you to hold me.”

  “Trinity knows I’ve fallen for you.”

  She let out a little laugh but her insides quivered at the thought. Wrapping her fingers in his hair, she pulled him closer to her. “Don’t talk,” she repeated as she parted her lips and opened herself up to his kiss.

  Ten thousand emotions flew through her body as the energy from him leapt into her. It was as if they were joined without doing anything more than kissing. The smell of olive groves swept through her mind, reminding her of ancient times when the world had only seemed simpler than it was now.

  She arched against him as he settled on top of her, pinning her arms on either side of her head. Giving in to him was exactly what she wanted. The secret she had guarded for so long weighed so heavily on her, she hadn’t realized how much she needed to share it until this moment. She had an ally, he’d told her. That was the one thing she needed most.

  His long dark hair fell into her eyes as he rose above her and shifted so that he lay between her thighs. His cock pressed against her already quivering cunt. God, she wanted him so badly. This was the reason why she hadn’t had sex in so long. The point of no return was enough to make her give up any and all secrets. Right now she wanted to scream out the answers to any questions he could possibly ask as she longed to have him buried deep inside her body.

  “Touching you, just feeling your skin against mine, is enough to put you inside my head. I am weakened by you. I knew I would be the first moment I touched you but you grabbed hold of me as if I were some kind of savior the night of your father’s funeral and I couldn’t let go.”

  “I was lost in the fog. That’s why I grabbed you.”

  “Are you still lost, Helen? Are you still in that fog?”

  “I don’t know any more. All I know is I need you now.”

  “And I need you.”

  His fingers slowly moved to her breasts, cupping each in turn befor
e moving to unfasten her buttons. She turned to him, pressing her breasts toward him as if she were offering them up for dinner. He accepted the invitation, sliding his fingers across her nipples, already hard with anticipation.

  He let out a low growl that sent a shiver through her body, going all the way to her core, causing her pussy to grow even wetter. What was it about a man who emitted a low, primal sound that turned her on so much? She didn’t have time to contemplate an answer as he took one nipple into his mouth, slowly sucking it, causing it to grow even larger, even more erect beneath his touch.

  “Your breasts are beautiful,” he murmured against her as his tongue flicked across her aching nipple. His hand closed over her other breast and began to softly knead her skin. “I can feel you in my head.” He licked her areola, sending delightful chills up her body as he moved.

  She pressed her pussy against him, grinding into him, wishing she could feel his cock against her bare skin. “I need you, Constantine.”

  “And I need you.”

  “Please. I want you to take me now.”

  “No. Not yet. I need to touch you.”

  His big hands covered her chest, moved down to her stomach then back up to her throat, gently caressing as they moved. Finally they settled just above her waist as he brought his face down to her neck and began slowly licking his way toward her navel.

  All thought ceased as his tongue grew closer to her core.

  “Do you know how much I need you?” He looked into her eyes as he spoke.

  “I can’t think.” She pressed her finger to his lips. He opened his mouth, taking her finger inside, gently sucking it before releasing it.

  Finally he rose above her and began removing his pants. His cock sprang forward, purple, large, the veins swollen with desire. Her hand immediately went to it as he struggled to kick free of his jeans.

  His breath hung in his throat as he groaned into her ear. She moved quickly, turning her ass away from him, placing her head in his lap. Licking the tip of his cock, she gently squeezed his balls. His hands sank into her hair and each movement from her gained a tightening of his hold on her, an audible intake of breath and a slight thrusting of his hips. To know that she could please him like this almost sent her over the edge. She spread her legs and felt the ceiling fan blow against her wet lips and clit. Shivers went through her body again. She wanted his hands on her, wanted him to touch her there.