City of the Fallen (Dark Tides, Book One)

by Bocco, Diana

  Before she even realized what she was doing, she licked her lips. Marcus groaned and frantically reached for her, his mouth closing on hers. There was none of the gentle touch of the night before. No exploring or waiting for a reaction.

  Without breaking the kiss, he picked her up and moved her over to the bed. She felt weightless in his arms, her mind reeling in his power. She wasn’t sure how it happened, but most of their clothes were off in seconds. His scent, earthly and otherworldly all mixed into one, washed over her. It was intoxicating and she had to catch her breath because she felt like falling, sliding quickly into a dark abyss of fire and craving.

  His mouth reached for her breast, then slid down her body, leaving branding marks everywhere he touched, searing, scorching heat taking over until it hurt. Until she wanted to cry out in desperation, begging for more.

  His lips and his tongue moved over the inside of her thighs, teasing and tasting. With one finger, he reached down and pulled the elastic of her underwear off, the last remaining item of clothing between them gone. Then he slid the finger to rest over her swollen clit, starting a slow circling motion. Her gasp reached towards him like a wave, enticing and feverish. She could feel his hunger reaching out in return, pulling, demanding satisfaction. The craving of the beast, hammering to get out and take what it needed. What it craved.

  He had an effect on her that she couldn’t explain. Once he touched her, any sense of control in her shattered, ramped-up ache and need consuming her.

  The combination of his tongue and his fingers on her were driving her insane. When his tongue circled her clit and then plunged into her, she bucked into him. It was too much. Everything about him was too much. The intensity of his touch, the way he seemed to enjoy her taste, the longing he awoke in her.

  Then his fangs grazed the skin of her thigh and her whole body stirred. The groan that came out of his throat in response was so guttural, so basic and primitive, it shook her to the core.

  Teeth reached higher, following a trail up her thigh until they reached the throbbing pulse of a vein. Right at the crease of her thigh, so she could almost feel his breath rolling over the swollen lips of her sex. She let out a moan and he growled in response, sending delicious waves of heat up and into her, filling her and driving her insane with lust.

  His teeth pressed just a little harder and the sensation was so erotic, she couldn’t hold back a cry. The realization of what he was about to do hit her just a couple of seconds before his fangs pierced her skin. He sucked on the blood flowing out, grunting as he savored the warmth of the liquid rushing in.

  A flash of agonizing pleasure ripped through her body, the orgasm hitting her hard and unexpectedly. As she was coming, waves of pleasure ripping through her, he moved in between her legs and rammed into her. She was pulsing from the orgasm and the invasion felt on the edge of painful. Lusciously painful and breaching and oh-so-amazing. Her muscles clenched around him, holding on tight.

  “I’ve never wanted anybody this much, Belle,” he said and the words dug into her with unexpected force, reaching for her mind, for her soul. “Seeing you come drives me insane.”

  Her core tightened as the words rippled over her. She thought it wasn’t possible for her to come again, but then he pumped harder into her and something stirred, feeding the hunger and making her entire body shiver. He was so big and so deep inside her, she felt stretched, invaded. Taken.

  He moved again, grunting every time he rocked his hips against her. His beautiful features were taut with restraint, a predatory glimmer over his cheekbones and the tight curve of his neck. He was holding back, trying to maintain control. And she desperately wanted him to let loose, to be so overcome with the fire that he couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything except pound into her.

  She pushed into him, her hips deepening the invasion, stretching her more. He grew bigger, tighter, hotter, both inside her and over her skin. His control frayed, edged over the abyss. Then he opened his eyes and looked at her, a current of heat crackling between them, irradiating with such intensity, she could almost feel her skin smoldering.

  “I want you to come again, Belle,” he grunted, then rammed inside her again.

  The words made her gasp, tension and need building higher until she was moaning along with him.

  He grabbed her thighs, holding her against him as he pounded harder and more feverishly. Reaching so deep she thought she might break. And then she wished would increase the pressure, the soreness, the delicious torture building inside her.

  “Marcus… please, more,” she purred, her head heavy with the buzz of hunger and need.

  A flash of darkness crossed over his face, making her moan. He reached down to kiss her, a hint of violence in the tongue invading her mouth. He tasted so real, so humanly raw. He growled into her mouth, the edges of his control blurring away.

  And then the threads of her desire snapped and she came with a ferocity that made her whole body spasm. She gasped for air as the waves of ecstasy slashed into her body with unforgiving intensity.

  He pulled away from her mouth and rammed into her once, twice more, riding the orgasm with her until he exploded, ripples of breathless pleasure cutting through both of their bodies.

  “Ah, Belle, damn it…” he rasped, deep and raw. He spurted into her for what seemed like minutes. Thick, hot, pulsing. And also open and vulnerable, giving himself to her, to the pleasure they shared.

  His body collapsed on top of her, crushing her into the bed. She was still breathing heavy when he finally rolled off her, already calm and in control again. He didn’t go far, pulling her into his arms, legs entangled and heat oozing from his body and into hers.

  Her lids were heavy, satisfaction making her body feel lavish and lingering.

  “Is it always like this with humans? For you?”

  His body tensed and the beating of his heart against her ear got just a little louder, more insistent.

  “It’s never been like this, Belle,” he whispered, tightening his arms around her. “It’s never been so… intense, so dark.”

  Her heart fluttered. Darkness. So he felt it too. All-encompassing, so powerful it scared her. And still, too exquisite to ignore. Too beckoning.

  She helplessly searched for something to say back, drawing a blank. Because she was finding it impossible not to agree with him.

  When he pulled her closer, melting her into his body, she was glad to be distracted.

  “What do you think of the compound?” he whispered and the sound resonated against her ear, sending shivers through her body.

  She guessed what he was really asking was, Is it so bad here? And the truth was that it wasn’t. She could somewhat understand the attraction of living in the compound. Food, safety, protection. And at least for her, pleasure. But in the end, she was still a prisoner. Nothing but slaves, her brother used to say. They were kept alive because they served a purpose.

  “It’s a nice prison, I guess,” she answered.

  Marcus’ eyes darkened just a notch. She expected him to say something but instead he slid his hand towards her naked chest, making her gasp.

  He smiled and her heart skipped a beat. It was the first time she’d seen a full smile on his face and she liked it. It was a wicked smile, the kind that said, I’ve got this power and I know it. It was also a glimpse into his vulnerable side, his human side. The side that made it easier to forget what he really was.

  “I’ve never had an uncharmed human respond this way to my touch before. Something tells me you like it.”

  She did.

  “Maybe I’m faking it,” she taunted him.

  Marcus’ hand slid higher, until it was resting on her left breast, almost touching her nipple but not quite. The breath caught in her throat and her heart sped up, heat searing through her before she even realized what was happening.

  Damn her body.

  “I don’t think so.” He lowered his head to whisper the words against her lips.

  She hated tha
t he was right about this. She hated even more that he was nothing like she had expected the king to be. He was smart, passionate and a hell of a lot sexier than a vampire should be.

  And her mind and heart were in a raging battle.

  Kill him.

  Love him.

  Enslaver.

  Lover.

  Her biggest fear was that the longer she spent in his arms, the easier it would be for her heart to win the battle. And that wasn’t something she could allow. That would be the ultimate betrayal—of her brother, of the people she had left behind. It would be betraying herself, even though part of her felt she was already doing that.

  Marcus’ lips closed over hers, awakening her body again, fueling the betrayal that flowed through her veins. He gripped her tightly, ravishing sounds escaping from her throat or his or both in a confusion of pleasure and need. As she closed her eyes and pushed against him, nails digging into his back, all she could think about was how exquisite he felt.

  And, God help her, just how much she wanted to keep feeling him.

  ~*~

  Belle felt pulsing and soft in his arms. It was the life pulse that only humans could provide—and that he suddenly couldn’t get enough of. He swore internally. Every second he spent with Belle only served to increase his cravings. Not only for her blood, but also for her energy and how she made him feel.

  “Belle, do you remember what I asked you about yesterday?”

  Her body tensed up and he instinctively tightened his arms around her.

  “The wild vampires?”

  “Rabids,” he corrected her. “That’s what we call them.”

  She swallowed hard and he heard her heart thump just a little faster. He hated talking to her about this, but there was no avoiding it. He needed to know if she had any information that could help him—but more importantly, he needed to protect her. The only way to do that was to tell her the truth.

  “What are they?” she finally asked and the words came out just slightly shaky.

  He sighed. Nothing about this was easy. He got up and grabbed a robe, handing Belle another one. Her eyes followed him through the room before she put the robe on and got out from under the blankets, sitting on the edge of the bed.

  “They’re sick. Starving would be a better word, I guess.”

  Belle was quiet for a second, and he realized she was trying to process the information. She moved slowly and he wondered if he had taken too much blood. It wasn’t a question he worried about often, but with Belle, keeping things under control was a lot more difficult than he had expected.

  “So they’re dying?” she finally asked.

  “In a way. The difference is that starvation can take a long time to kill us.” He could guess what the next question was going to be. “Years,” he added before she could ask.

  The silence in the room bothered him. He wanted to know what she was thinking, what she was feeling. He desperately wanted to charm her so he could ask whatever he wanted and get the truth out of her. Because that was what charming really was—a sort of truth serum, a surrendering of the mind.

  “Why?” she finally asked. It was a basic, simple question, but he understood what she was really asking.

  “Just as humans do, we require a minimum amount of nourishment to stay alive. If we don’t get it, our organs start to shut down.” He searched for the right words. “And our minds shut down along with our bodies.”

  “You… they go crazy?” The words came out warily.

  “Yes. We call it ‘the void’ because everything becomes hollowed, as if you’re slowly being swallowed by the darkness.”

  Belle shuddered.

  “The less they eat, the faster the void spreads,” he continued. “Until they can no longer think and they’re just like rabid animals, destroying everything in their path, human or not.”

  He could almost hear the rush of thoughts flowing through her mind.

  “So they’re a danger to you too?”

  “They’ll attack anything, yes.”

  He paused for a second to let her absorb the meaning of those words.

  “The compound?” she finally whispered.

  He gave a quick nod. “We found some rabids nearby. Just a couple of hours away.”

  He stepped closer and studied her, savoring the warmth flowing from her.

  “I want you to stay away from the outer walls, Belle. We have extra guards posted, but there’s always a chance a rabid might get in.”

  He could smell her blood, rushing fast through her. It was a lot to grasp and process, but she seemed to be doing all right with the information. There was no panic in her eyes and although her heart was drumming at a frantic speed, everything else in her body was maintaining a steady pace: her breathing, her movements. It was certainly a lot more than he could have expected of any human—and he was impressed.

  “How many are there?”

  “Rabids? I don’t know. Not that many right now, but the void spreads fast.” He straightened and then ran a hand through his hair. “Eventually, humans won’t be able to make it to the compound anymore because they’ll get attacked on the roads.”

  Belle adjusted her position on the bed, crossing her legs. “Humans can still travel during daytime.”

  He could feel his own expression darken and wondered how much Belle could see in it. There were a lot of secrets in the vampire world, and he wasn’t sure how many of those he wanted to give away.

  “Not exactly,” he finally said and his body got tense.

  “What do you mean, not exactly? The rabids can’t walk in daylight, can they?”

  He took a step closer, his eyes locked on hers the whole time.

  “We all can, Belle.”

  ~*~

  It couldn’t be. For the past five years, her whole world had operated on the notion that vampires were night creatures. They were the boogieman that came out to get you when the lights went out.

  “That’s not possible,” she finally said, and the words came out as a whisper.

  “The sun is debilitating, but it won’t kill us right away,” he explained. “Most of us avoid it because it takes time to get our energy back after being outside in daylight.”

  Her chest felt tight and the words danced in her head in a sort of dizzying haze that threatened to take over.

  “You can… you can walk in daylight?”

  Daylight was all she had. All that humanity had. All this time she had thought they were safe and it had all been a lie. The realization hit her hard. That meant vampire patrols could be out during the daytime, waiting in the shadows to hunt unsuspecting humans.

  It also meant that the vampire back in the factory could have stepped into the light and grabbed her. The truth sent shivers down her spine.

  He shook his head. “We rarely do because it’s not exactly comfortable. It’s almost… painful. But the rabids don’t care. They lack the basic understanding to stay away from the sun.”

  She tried to process what Marcus was saying and it suddenly clicked. The rabids would hunt during the day too. They would be out in the prowl for food during the day and during the night. Humans would never be safe again, free to scavenge for supplies. If they didn’t die on the roads, attacked by the vampires, they would die of starvation because they wouldn’t be able to leave their hiding places. Why hadn’t she ever heard rumors about vampires walking in daylight?

  “How long can they stay out in the sun at once?”

  There was an air of darkness around him. The kind that lingered in the air when somebody was revealing a sinister secret they’d been hoping to keep hidden. He didn’t look pleased about the confession, and Isabelle had to wonder why he was telling her at all.

  “A few hours without any permanent damage,” he finally said. “After that, deeper burns and maybe some scars, but I’m guessing they’ll seek cover by then.”

  Words were buzzing in her head. There was another war raging in the world. One she didn’t know anything about—and i
t could potentially be a lot worse than the one they’d already been through. If the void spread, if it reached every corner of the country, there would be no fighting to be had. No hope for a future in which humans could reclaim Earth as theirs. The rabids wouldn’t have compounds and surrendering spots. They would be out hunting at all times, killing everything they ran into.

  She was beginning to realize that maybe she had stumbled onto something a lot more important than killing the king of the vampires. She had found a secret that could destroy what little was left of her world. Despite her mounting fear, she couldn’t help but wonder whether this discovery would change everything.

  Perhaps more disturbing of all: she was relieved she had an excuse not to kill the king just yet.