A Dark Night (Book One of The Grandor Descendant series)

by Bell Stoires

  The moment he said this, Ari’s heart had hastened in fear. Since first Ragon had rescued her, Ari had thought that eventually she would be able to return to her mundane existence. But after everything that she had found out tonight, she knew that she would never be able to settle down and have a normal life. Everything had changed, and she couldn’t go back- she didn’t want to.

  Quickly Ari pulled her hand away from Ragon, fearful that he would disassociate her. She had to decide right here and right now; was she going to forgive Ragon for keeping her past a secret from her, or was she going to thank him for giving her a future? In truth she had already decided.

  “What happened wasn’t your fault. You saved me; I know you care for me,” she said, and she knew the moment these words left her lips, that she meant them. “I love you.”

  It took all her strength to say these last three words. But loving Ragon was not an option, it simply was. She was too far gone to turn back, and all she could do was hope and pray that this time, when she exposed her heart, Ragon would not break it.

  “I’ve loved you since I first saved you,” he replied, reaching down and lifting her into his arms. “But I fell in love with you when you came into my life a few months ago.”

  Ari let him carry her up the spiral staircase and settle her onto his desk. She sat facing him, her large angel wings jutting out behind her. With one hand he began wiping her tears away. But the moment Ragon had spoken, she had stopped crying, and soon there were no more tears for Ragon to brush away. For a moment the pair remained locked in each other’s eyes, but then Ragon lent towards her and kissed her hungrily, cupping her cheeks with both his hands.

  Too soon Ragon pulled away.

  “Wait,” he said, moving to look Ari in the eyes again, “perhaps tonight is not the night; you’ve been through so much…” he began, but Ari pulled him back to her and kissed him, silencing his worries.

  She heard him sigh and then give in, reaching quickly for her large angel wings and gently pulling them away from her shoulders. The black feathered wings fell softly to the floor, and Ragon moved to undo her dress. Ari mimicked his actions, reaching for his shirt and pulling it up over his head in one quick motion. His perfect stomach was revealed and she bent down to kiss along the creases of his muscles, but Ragon pulled her face back towards him and recommenced kissing her. As he did so, he forced her dress down past her stomach, so that it crumpled around her thighs. After that he slipped his fingers under her bra straps and let them fall so that they were loose half way down her arm. Releasing Ragon’s hair, Ari reached behind her back and unclasped her bra, letting it fall to the floor so as to join her wings.

  Fumbling for Ragon’s pants, Ari tried to undo them, but her hands were shaking from the adrenaline and after a few moments Ragon smiled. Pausing in kissing her, he reached down to help her. Ari looked up blushing, feeling something hard pressed low against her stomach. Instantly Ragon’s hands were back on her, tracing the contours of her body as he lowered her so that she was lying down on his desk.

  Still pressed close to her, Ragon let one of his hands slip from her face, past her breasts and down to her legs. For a moment he paused along the inside of her thigh, but then continued to trace inwards, until his fingers reached their target. Ari let out a small moan next to his ear, and opened her mouth in ecstasy.

  “I can hear your heart pumping harder and harder; it’s shouting at me,” he whispered, “I wonder…” he mused, smiling hopefully as he gently rubbed her clit, and listened for the increased heart rate, smiling wickedly to himself as soon as it came.

  Ari couldn’t help it, she bit down hard on his ear and in response, Ragon pulled on her hair, forcing her head back and exposing her neck. Instantly he leaned close and interchanged between kissing and biting at his leisure, careful never to break Ari’s skin. Soon Ari’s gasps of pleasure became too much for him and he suddenly reached for her waist, gently lifting her up off the desk, so as to force her out of the remaining half of her black dress and her underwear. Ari blushed when she realised that they were both naked.

  Still carrying her, he pulled her legs up so that she was straddling him, while he moved backwards to sit in his chair. Ari made to move, but Ragon placed one hand onto her shoulder, and lent up to kiss her slowly. With the same slow movement, he traced his spare hand down her breasts. For a while he teased her, using the back of his fingertips to brush along her thighs, admiring the way she thrust towards him as he did so, her back arched. He continued this until Ari’s moans were so loud, that she thought the neighbours would hear them.

  “You’re not going to freak out and leave are you?” she said, gasping for air and letting out a long moan.

  Placing a finger over her lips, he whispered, “If I give you what you want, will you try to be quiet?”

  Ari nodded enthusiastically, and as soon as Ragon began rubbing her clit, she used her hand to cover her mouth, trying to stop herself from screaming as she shook from the ecstasy of her orgasm. Instantly Ari reached out for him, hungry for more.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, holding her chin.

  Ari nodded. Ragon’s eyes grew wide and hopeful, and still holding onto her chin, he kissed her. Choosing to leave that hand on Ari’s face, Ragon moved his spare hand to Ari’s legs. He was gripping them tightly.

  “You’re sure?” he asked again, but Ari didn’t reply, merely kissed him harder.

  In an instant Ragon was entering her, slowly pushing inside and filling her. He paused, looking at her in concern, wanting to check that she didn’t want him to stop. The second he had stopped however, Ari reached behind him and scraped her fingernails hard against his back. Though she was pressing down with all her strength, when she withdrew her fingers, she saw that the nails were blunted, as if Ragon’s skin was sandpaper. Still, it had the desired effect. Ragon had grasped one hand onto the small of her back, and the other around her neck and pushed further into her. Instantly Ragon lifted them out of the chair, and pressed her against one of the bookshelves, so that many fluttering pages serenaded them.

  Lost in the euphoria of his own pleasure, Ragon began blurring in and out of her as he reached climax. In response Ari began moaning and Ragon, unable to stop himself, let his fangs un-sheath, so that large white canines faced her. Ari hadn’t missed this, but she was too lost in her own orgasm to be fearful; all she felt was wave after wave of pleasure writhe through her.

  Suddenly his eyes widened, and Ari knew that he was considering biting her. She wondered how much different her blood would taste now, in the throes of passion, when it was full of serotonin, adrenaline and other hormones and molecules. Ragon seemed to be concentrating very hard, his eyes darting away as he tried to focus on anything other than Ari’s neck. Biting his bottom lip he leaned in close and kissed her softly on the lips, trying desperately to keep his fangs at bay. Ari kissed back hungrily, feeling the sharp edge of his canines with the tip of her tongue, as his thrusting slowed and finally stopped.

  “Wow,” said Ari, her cheeks bright pink.

  Ragon did not reply at first and Ari looked at him in concern.

  “Are you alright?” she asked.

  “I am… that was… amazing.”

  Ari smiled and moved over to his desk, sitting down on the chair and gathering the dress she had worn.

  “Here,” said Ragon, helping her to slip the black gown back on. “I don’t think you need the wings anymore.”

  “Oh I don’t know,” said Ari, grinning down at the feathered accessory to her Halloween costume. “How else am I supposed to get out of here?”

  Ragon smiled at her sternly and then reached for the wings and handed them to her, saying, “You could always climb out of the bathroom window and crawl along the rooftop again.”

  Ari grinned and punched him softly in the arm, before her eyes traced down the spiral stairs.

  “You’re right,” she said, snatching the wings off him. “Flying is a lot safer.”

  “I can think
of another way,” he said, his eyes darting from the spiral stair case and over to a window in the corner of the room.

  After that he reached for his pants, pulled them on and then grabbed Ari’s arm.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, as he directed her towards the window.

  Ragon didn’t respond but swept her into his arms and opened the window. Ari looked down and shut her eyes.

  “Trust me,” he whispered, and leapt through the window and into the night.

  Ari felt them land smoothly on the back veranda a moment later. Quickly Ragon released her and then, his hand gripped tightly to her wrist, pulled her back inside. Ari managed one fleeting glimpse of Sandra and Larissa sitting on the couch, before Ragon and steered her back into her bedroom and locked the door.

  Ari watched as he moved into the bathroom and turned the shower on. Her eyes bulged as he took off his pants, before moving into the shower.

  Soon the bathroom was foggy enough for her to remove her dress without feeling embarrassed. She had barely slipped off her dress however, when Ragon swung the shower door open and negated this comforting fact.

  “You know,” he said, smiling at her, “you don’t need to be embarrassed. You’re so beautiful.”

  Ari beamed up at him and took his hand in hers, “You have to promise me that you won’t hurt me,” she said.

  Ragon flipped her hand so that the scar on her wrist, left by his fangs, was thrown into focus.

  “I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he said. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  Ari pulled her hand away, “No, I don’t mean that. I’m human and you’re a vampire. I know us being together… it will be hard. But you can’t give up every time I get a paper-cut.”

  “Matthew did more than just-” Ragon began to say, but Ari cut him off.

  “-that’s exactly what I mean… I can survive getting the occasional bruise, but I can’t handle you leaving me when you think you’re trying to keep me safe. You get so upset whenever something happens to me, but I’m stronger than you think.

  “I’ll try.”

  Ari nodded, happy that her words had broken through Ragon’s tough exterior.

  For a long time she remained still, and all the events from the last few months came rushing past, culminating with what had happened tonight. She finally knew what had happened to her parents, and why she had been sent to an orphanage. She had not been abandoned. But with this knowledge came a new question; how had she managed to get away from Kiara? What had happened tonight?

  “What do you think happened tonight?” she asked quietly.

  “I don’t know. Why would Kiara risk attacking you at the Elder’s party?” Ragon asked. “Especially with Shok around.”

  At the mention of the Ancient’s assassin, Ari shivered.

  “Kiara said she had promised someone to kill me when I was a baby,” she replied.

  “Promised who?”

  “I don’t know; she just said she was killing two birds with one stone,” she replied.

  “But how did you get away… you said she froze- I don’t understand,” asked Ragon.

  “Yep, just like a statue.”

  “But how did you do it?” he asked. “Was it like a Thurston trick or-”

  “Thurston?”

  “Howard Thurston- the magician,” said Ragon.

  “Never heard of him.”

  “Hmmm, I seem to be showing my age,” he mused, laughing lightly, “he was famous in the early nineteen hundreds. But, anyway, how did it happen- exactly?”

  “I don’t know how; I closed my eyes and then when I opened them, she was stuck in pause.”

  These words had barely left her lips, when a new fear washed over her; where was Kiara now? Was Kiara still frozen at the Elder’s Halloween party? And had happened; how had Kiara frozen? Had the Elders perhaps found Kiara? Were they, at this very moment, questioning her to find out what had happened to her?

  “Have we heard from Sameth,” she asked, recalling how he had stayed behind to see what had happened to Kiara.

  Ragon didn’t seem to be listening shook his head dismissively.

  He frowned at her and said, “I have never heard of a mortal with powers. I mean witches and wraiths have powers, but I don’t know… those powers are usually inherited; if your parents had powers, they would have been able to protect themselves from Kiara. Do you think you would be able to do it again?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t really know how it happened the first time. I was really scared and she just… stopped.”

  “Have you ever done anything like it before?” he questioned.

  Ari thought for only a moment, shaking her head in a firm no.

  “But wouldn’t you think that if I could stop time, that I would have done it when I was being attacked by those guys at campus?” she asked. “Or when Matthew and Kiara kidnapped me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “And what did Sandra mean when she said the Elders got angry for two vamps using blood candy?” asked Ari.

  At mention of this word, Ragon’s eyes became thin slits and he hissed loudly.

  “Blood candy is basically vampire drugs. No one knows how it is made or where it comes from, but for the past few years it has been growing in popularity. I have seen its affect’s on vampires and it’s not pretty. Picture a heroin addict and add fangs. Blood candy is addictive, and… it changes you.”

  Ari shivered at the mental image.

  Chapter 17- In The Aftermath

  That night Ragon remained with her. Despite all that had happened, Ari had fallen asleep relatively quickly against his cold chest. It was around dinner time when the pair awoke the next day. Ari startled when she looked over and saw Ragon, but then a wide smile spread across her face and she beamed at him, before trying to sneak from the covers, to put clothing on. When she returned a few minutes later, wearing a pair of jeans and a knitted peach jumper, Ragon was sitting up in bed.

  “Hello," he said, and Ari let her grin extend across her face.

  She inclined her head into a shy nod. She wanted to race from where she stood, framed in the bathroom door, and into Ragon’s arms.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked, and all manner of erotic thoughts swept over Ari, so that she bit her bottom lip, trying desperately not to respond candidly.

  “You ok?” he added, looking at her with concern.

  How stupid was she being? She had not managed to utter a single word to the gorgeous vampire she had made love to. What was wrong with her? She opened her mouth, ready to speak, when Ragon blurred from the bed, and stood next to her. Ari felt the air that he displaced swish hard against her face, blowing her hair mindlessly. In front of her, Ragon was naked, standing and staring at her in confusion.

  “Ari?” he asked, and Ari forced herself to look at him.

  Just say something, she thought. Stop staring at him like a mental patient and speak.

  “Hi,” she muttered, before looking away and shaking her head angrily.

  Hi, that was what she decided to say. Hi!

  Ragon cocked his head and laughed a little as he said, “Hi.”

  Ari forced herself to look over at him and immediately her eyes fell below his waist.

  “I’m going to get some clothes,” he said, kissing her swiftly on the cheek before racing from her room, a towel wrapped tightly round his waist.

  “Wait,” he said, his hand paused on the door. “You’re not going to go anywhere are you? Freeze any vampires; anything like that?”

  Ari smiled and reached over to her bed to throw a pillow at him. He dodged it expertly and then laughing, left. Ari watched him disappear with a sick feeling in her stomach. What was she? Twelve years old? She shook her head again and moved out of her room and into the kitchen, thinking perhaps that food might help abate her strange mood.

  Sandra was sitting at a stool near the kitchen and beamed at Ari when she saw her.

  “How you feeling sugar?” she asked.
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br />   Ari’s eyes were no longer red and puffy from when she had been crying the previous night, rather her cheeks were rosy and there was a spring in her step, as though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She felt a little guilty for being so overjoyed after her and Ragon’s union, having only just learnt the truth about her parent’s deaths. But knowing how they had died didn’t bring them back, and it didn’t change the fact that they had died over twenty years ago; their absence, while being horrible, had been something that she had learnt to live with a long time ago.

  “Better,” said Ari, surveying the room.

  When her eyes reached the couch in the living room, she saw Clyde, and instantly looked back towards the fridge. She didn’t know why she couldn’t look him in the eye; it wasn’t out of embarrassment, or anger, or any emotion that she was sure of. She had just begun buttering some toast, when from the corner of her eye, she saw Clyde blur out of the room. At that exact moment, Larissa moved to sit next to Sandra.

  “I hope you didn’t freeze him during…” Larissa whispered to Ari, before her and Sandra began giggling.

  Ari reached across the counter and pinched Larissa hard on the shoulder. At the same time, Sandra, who had begun laughing even harder at the look of indifference on Larissa’s face, slipped off the chair she had been sitting on, and landed heavily on the floor, all the while continuing to laugh.

  Ari had just helped Sandra onto her feet when loud voices trailed from down the hallway.

  “Are we going to talk about what happened last night?” Sameth asked briskly.

  Ari listened intently.

  “But how do we even know if she has un-frozen? Maybe we don’t have to worry about her anymore?” a deep booming voice replied, Cambridge.