Dark Promises 5: Tarnished

by Elisa Adams

  “That’s not fair.”

  “It’s perfectly fair. I don’t want anything happening to you. Humans are some of the most fragile creatures here. I’m not taking chances with your life.”

  She pursed her lips, fighting the urge to stick her tongue out at him. But the more she thought about it, the better she understood his reasoning. “Okay. I’ll try to promise. But only until I let you turn me. Then everything changes and you stop being my shadow.”

  “Fine. How long do you think it’ll be before you’re ready? A week? Maybe a month?”

  She snorted again. So impatient, her vampire. “Probably more like a year or two. I’m twenty-one. I want to enjoy some time in my human state before I give it all up.”

  Wil’s expression shifted, aggravation clouding his eyes. “No. A year isn’t doable for me. I don’t want to wait that long.”

  “And I’m really not ready to skip daylight hours and drink blood, so you’d better cool it for a while or I might change my mind.” She raised an eyebrow, refusing to back down. She was nothing if not tenacious, and she wasn’t going to give an inch. If he wanted her forever, he’d have to give her plenty of time. “I told you I’d let you turn me. What does it matter if it’s now, or ten years from now? If it’s my looks you’re worried about, I’m not going to lose them that fast.”

  He laughed and lay down next to her on the bed. He shifted to his side, his head propped up with his hand. “I’m not worried about that. Though I have to say, you look damned good as you are now, even in baggy jeans and nubby sweaters.”

  She glanced down at her outfit. Her face flamed. Why had today been the day she dressed like she’d been shopping in secondhand stores?

  “Seriously, Becca. You look cute. But you’d look better out of this stuff.” He leaned in and kissed her, his lips a gentle, insistent press against hers. He didn’t ask for more, not then, just shifted so his body was closer to hers and kept kissing her.

  It was nice, the slow, sweetness of the kiss. At first. But then her body reminded her that she hadn’t been near him in three weeks and she’d missed him more than she cared to admit. She rolled onto her side and pressed tight against him, stroking her tongue into his mouth to deepen the contact.

  Her body immediately burst into action, her nipples pebbling against the sweater, her panties soaking as her cunt readied for Wil’s cock. She clutched at his chest, her fingers digging into his skin through the material of his shirt. It wasn’t long before he’d rolled her onto her back and fitted himself between her parted thighs. His erection pushed against her clit and she ground her hips against him, her body already craving his in a way she couldn’t explain. He made her crazy. Wanton and needy. Even that first time, he’d known exactly what to do to make her lose control.

  His lips trailed along her jawline, down the side of her neck to where it met her shoulder. His fangs grazed the sensitive spot, not biting down but inciting a riot among her nerves anyway. She sighed.

  Wil pulled away long enough to help her out of her clothes and strip his own off his body. She didn’t notice where her things landed on the floor, and she didn’t care. At the moment she’d much rather concentrate on the man she’d missed for far too long. She pulled the covers back, reclined on the mattress and reached her arms out to him. With a heated smile, he joined her on the bed.

  His lips found her breasts, his tongue laving as he stroked and suckled on her sensitive nipples. She arched her back, presenting herself to his mouth. A ragged moan tore from her lips. Three weeks of celibacy coupled with the flame-to-gasoline chemistry they had could really do a number on a girl. Her thighs parted, her pussy drenched and waiting for him to be inside.

  He pulled his lips away from her breasts and smiled up at her. “This isn’t going to be slow. Not this time. I’ve needed you for too long.”

  “That’s fine. I don’t want slow. Haven’t you learned that by now?”

  He laughed—a lust- and pain-filled sound that made her heart squeeze. “I guess I have.”

  Without another word he knelt up on the bed and helped her to her hands and knees. The old mattress dipped and creaked under them. Wil’s hands caressed the globes of her ass, his palms warm against her skin. He trailed one palm down her back, from her shoulder blades to the small of her back, making her spine arch toward the bed.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he told her, his tone not much more than a sensual murmur. “I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?” She wiggled her ass against the hard length of his cock, hoping he’d take the hint and thrust it inside her. Her cunt ached to be filled. Her clit ached for the brush of his fingers while he pounded inside her.

  “For walking away.” He ran a finger down her slit, spreading her wetness. “What can I say? I was stupid. I’ll warn you now, I won’t do it again. You aren’t going to get rid of me, no matter what you try.”

  “Why would I want to get rid of you?” She wiggled again, the movement making her clit brush against the pad of his finger. A delicious shudder ran through her and she moaned. “You’re not going anywhere because I won’t let you.”

  “Is that so?” He finally took her hint and circled his finger around the aching bud of her clit. Her body pitched forward, most of her weight landing on her hands.

  “Yes,” she half spoke, half moaned. Her breasts dangled toward the mattress, making her nipples throb.

  He stroked his finger over her clit, back and forth, but still made no move to enter her. He was toying with her, driving her crazy without offering her the release she’d been missing for three weeks, and if he kept it up she might have to kill him. She shoved her ass hard against him.

  “Stop it, Wil.”

  “Stop what?” Another stroke of her clit, not nearly hard enough.

  “Stop playing around. I’ve been waiting too long for this already. Just fuck me, okay?”

  His answering laugh was a warm, sexy sound. One she’d never tire of, as long as she lived. She’d meant what she said about turning for him. It would be a hell of a compromise, but she’d do it if that was what it took to spend her life with him.

  “Such a dirty mouth.” He gave her ass a sound smack that had her whimpering and dropping her elbows to the bed. “I like that, Becca. A lot.”

  The mattress dipped as he stood, and a second later dipped again when he climbed back onto the bed. She heard the telltale crinkling sound as he tore open a condom packet, and then she felt his steadying hands against her skin. He thrust his cock into her cunt, at the same time gripping her hips and pulling her back against him. She nearly screamed at his rough entrance. Three weeks without sex had tightened the walls of her cunt and the feel of him inside her brought such a pleasure-pain sensation that she almost couldn’t take it.

  “Did I hurt you?” Wil asked, concern filling his voice. He held her still against him.

  “God, no. Just keep going. You feel so fucking good inside me.”

  He didn’t seem to need any more encouragement than that. He drove his hard cock into her, his finger finding her clit and pressing down hard. Her body exploded in release, every nerve vibrating as her inner muscles contracted around him. Her upper body gave out, her chest hitting the mattress, her cheek coming to rest on the soft sheets. Would it always be this good with him? She had a feeling it would. Her body shivered and shook for what felt like an eternity, the tremors washing over her from head to toe and every point in between.

  “Shit. I can’t wait any longer,” Wil ground out seconds before he exploded into her. His hot seed caught by the condom, wringing another tremor from her softening body.

  They collapsed across the bed together and Wil curled her into his arms. He brushed a soft kiss to her temple. “This is going to sound crazy, but I think I’m falling in love with you.”

  She smiled. It didn’t sound crazy to her at all.

  Chapter Ten

  Two Years Later

  “Are you ready yet?” Wil asked Becca, his whispered tone laced with t
he frustration of two years of waiting.

  Two years of constant worry that she’d be gravely injured on a job and her fragile human life would slip away. Two years of badgering her to make the decision she’d promised to make, to finally relent and let him turn her. Two years of hell on earth while she stalled and moaned and whined that he pressured her too much. He’d been patient—as patient as he could be, and still she held back.

  What the hell was she waiting for?

  “Shut up, will you?” she whispered, a hint of amusement in her voice. “This isn’t the time. Watch for Kel’s signal so we don’t miss when it’s time to move in.”

  He muttered a curse under his breath. They stood in the woods outside a cabin where a killer werewolf had been hiding out after murdering six people in a small midwestern town. Kel, an expert at silent break-ins, was making an entry point for them, something to allow them to sneak in undetected and take the werewolf out before anyone else died. It had only been two minutes since the younger vampire had moved in toward the cabin, and Wil didn’t expect his signal anytime soon. These things took time. Becca was just trying to avoid his question.

  “I can’t think of a better way to pass the time than to discuss our future.” The wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves and covering the soft sounds of their voices.

  “I’ve just recently been willing to admit that there is a future here for us, and you still need to get over this whole fixation with babying me. Maybe when you cut that out, I’ll be ready. Can you at least wait until after my twenty-fourth birthday before you start bugging me again?”

  “No. I’ve waited a long time. More time than what you’d originally led me to believe. I love you, Becca. I want to spend forever with you. Is that so wrong?”

  She glanced at him, squinting through the darkness, and smiled. “No. I love you too. But that’s not going to change my mind.”

  “You wouldn’t have to squint if you were a vampire. You’d be able to see like it was the middle of the day. Your hearing would be so much better, your sense of smell too.”

  “Are you saying that I don’t do my job well enough?”

  He eyed her, watching her expression. She wasn’t offended. She was toying with him. Again. Lately that had become par for the course. “You know damned well what I’m saying. I want you with me, in all ways. I’m sick of waiting around for—”

  A flashlight beam cut through the trees before everything went dark again, halting his words. Kel’s signal. Shit. It couldn’t have come at a worse time. He needed to nail her down to a date before he went out of his mind.

  “Let’s go.” Becca was moving along through the trees before he’d even had a chance to snap into action. When she worked, he sometimes had a hard time keeping up. Kel had warned him about that, but even two years later he still struggled with her zeal. One of these days it was going to get her hurt. But she was still young, feeling invincible.

  Her feet made too much noise crunching across the leaves and twigs littering the ground around the cabin, though he figured she didn’t realize it. A human wouldn’t have picked up on the sounds. A werewolf, with hearing abilities that surpassed most of earth’s inhabitants, would hear the noises even in sleep. Even in human form, which was the form Wil was hoping the creature had assumed. It would be safer for Becca that way.

  “Becca, slow down.” He made a grab for her, but she wriggled out of his grasp.

  “What’s the matter now?” she asked without slowing her hurried pace. “You told me you’d give me the freedom to work without butting in, as long as you thought I was safe. This is easy. In and out, and on our way back home within a half hour.”

  “I know what I said. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Cool it a little. He’ll hear you and we won’t have the advantage of surprise anymore.”

  She slowed a little this time, glanced at him over her shoulder. “Why did all of us need to be here for this one, anyway?”

  He knew what she was asking. Why hadn’t he just stayed at the condo. In truth, they hadn’t all been needed, but both Kel and Becca had refused to be left behind and even though Wil had long ago accepted that his two business partners would never be more than friends, he still had a hard time picturing them out on a job, late at night, alone. In order to preserve his sanity, he’d decided to accompany them. And common knowledge about werewolves was that, when cornered, they lashed out. Having at least two people on a job was safer than just one. If someone got hurt, the other would be there to fix things.

  Unless that someone was Becca. Vampires healed quickly. There were some injuries that humans couldn’t heal from at all.

  The knot in his stomach tightened into a painful ball of nerves. He’d seen the bodies of the victims. This werewolf was sick, dangerous. He wouldn’t be happy with their little surprise visit. And he’d go for the weakest of the group first. Becca.

  The knowledge was enough to make Wil want to put her over his shoulder and carry her to the car. He smiled a little as he remembered the last time he’d had that urge with her. It was the first night they met, and he thought she’d been in danger. But she hadn’t been, and she’d turned the tables on him a little too easily. Maybe she was right. Maybe she could defend herself better than he gave her credit for.

  They met up with Kel along the back of the cabin, near a window he’d jimmied open. He glanced from Wil to Becca and back again, shaking his head. Becca stuck her tongue out at him. With a final shake of his head, Kel motioned for Wil to move inside the building.

  Wil had decided in the beginning he’d go into the house, leaving Becca and Kel outside as backup just in case. Neither one of them liked it, but he had centuries of experience on them. He’d had to pull rank, to keep them safe. Safer than he’d be, at least.

  His mind didn’t stray far from Becca as he lowered himself into the room. It took him all of five seconds to determine what he should have expected. The cabin was empty.

  And then Becca screamed.

  He rushed outside to find the killer, in a strange mix of wolf and human form, holding Becca against his body. Kel stood in a grouping of trees, training his gun on the wolf’s head. With the way the wolf was flailing about, Kel wouldn’t be able to get off a clear shot. Wil gave silent thanks that Kel cared about Becca enough not to risk her life. All Kel needed was a distraction for the wolf, something that stilled him for a few seconds, and Wil could provide just that.

  “Let her go. You don’t really want to hurt her.”

  “You don’t know that.” The werewolf’s voice was a harsh growl, his eyes narrowed and his long hair whipping around his face in sweaty strands.

  His arms tightened around Becca’s middle. Her eyes flashed fire and pain. The coppery tang of blood filled the air. The liquid darkened the front of Becca’s shirt and dripped from the man’s arm. His heart thumped against the wall of his chest at even the thought of Becca being hurt. It took all his willpower not to jump at the wolf and endanger Becca even more.

  “I know you don’t really want to hurt anyone. I understand you. You can’t help what you do. It just happens.”

  Kel didn’t give the man any more time to contemplate things. He rushed forward out of the trees. The gunshot echoed through the stillness of the woods. Wil lunged forward and grabbed Becca just before the wolf fell to the ground in a tangle of hair, limbs and blood.

  Once Wil had Becca against him, he sat and wrapped her tight in his arms. The pounding of her pulse reached his ears and he let out a breath. She wasn’t hurt bad. She’d be okay, though he didn’t like the amount of blood staining her shirt. “Where are you hurt?”

  “My stomach. Nowhere important.” She laughed, despite the pain shining in her eyes. “It’s a scratch. Bleeding a lot. Might need a couple of stitches, but I’m fine. I’m not going to die or anything. You aren’t that lucky.”

  He choked on a half laugh, half sigh. “You’re not funny. I’m taking you to the hospital.”

  Kel came up next to them an
d knelt down on the ground. He brushed Becca’s hair out of her face before he glanced up at Wil. “What are you going to tell them? A werewolf scratched her with his really sharp claws and now she needs to get them stitched up?”

  “No, silly,” Becca said. “We were out looking for good hunting spots and I fell out of a tree.”

  Wil didn’t like the idea. Not one bit, but he was through pushing her to accept something she might never be ready for. With an agonized groan, he helped Kel lift her off the ground. “Works for me. Let’s get this looked at before it bleeds too much more.”

  * * * * *

  Becca groaned as Wil helped her into the passenger seat of his SUV. Twenty-eight stitches and a couple of pain pills later they were finally on their way back home. She hurt, though she’d never admit it to the two macho guys sharing the car with her. She’d never live it down, and Wil would start his campaign to let him turn her all over again. Though after tonight’s ordeal, it didn’t sound like such a scary idea anymore.

  For a little while, when the werewolf had been holding her hostage, she’d thought she was going to die. It was in that moment that she’d understood Wil’s hesitation to let her work with them, understood his fear. Even understood why he kept pestering her to let him turn her into something she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to be.

  “Are you okay?” Wil asked, his voice filled with concern and a little reprimand.

  “Of course I am. If I wasn’t they wouldn’t have released me to go home.”

  Wil stopped for a stop sign and spared her a glance. “You don’t look fine. You look like hell, and it’s pissing me off that I could do something about it but you’re so damned stubborn you won’t let me.”

  From the back seat, Kel cleared his throat. “You two do realize you aren’t alone, right?”

  Wil thumped the steering wheel with his palms. “What do you think, Kel? Think she should stop being stubborn and let me turn her?”

  The soft leather rustled as Kel sat back in his seat. “Don’t even put me in the middle of this. It has nothing to do with me.”