Darkness Bred (Chimney Rock)

by Stella Cameron

She felt a change in Sean and slowly withdrew her arms from around his waist although she made sure he would still feel the pressure of her body on his.

  Predictably, when she moved away from him, his hand went to his middle and he frowned. At least Tarhazian hadn’t been able to interfere with a power she didn’t know about.

  Sean gave a short laugh. “Now I think about it, I do feel a bit chilled.” He inclined his head and his eyes turned the piercing tiger gold that made her tingle. “It’s weird. Sometimes I think I can feel you touching me when you’re not.” His voice was even but the intense stare didn’t change.

  It’ll keep on being weird, Elin thought. We all have our little secrets.

  Like bringing her up to the cottage in secret with only known-romantic Leigh’s awareness.

  Sweat prickled between Elin’s shoulder blades. Tension built until every breath she took was an effort.

  “I’m too hot,” she said, struggling out of her parka, snow pants, and boots.

  Sean unzipped his brown sweat jacket and set it on a table beside the couch that faced the fire.

  She pulled a high-necked sweater over her head and sat down on the couch, once more dressed in one of her thin, silky dresses, this one a dark green. She wore leggings the same color that left her feet bare.

  “You’re going to be cold again in that,” Sean said.

  Instead of breaking the almost painful connection with his gaze, she had made it more intense. Standing beside her, he looked down, giving the impression that she was in the sights of a predatory jungle cat making up his mind whether to spring.

  “Elin?”

  She jumped. “Yes?”

  “You’re close to Leigh.”

  That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. “Very.” A big, soft quilt draped along the back of the couch slipped to the seat. Elin drove her fingers into the down and held on.

  “You’re edgy,” Sean said.

  “You’re the edgy one,” she said. “Edgy as a cat.” She closed her mouth firmly and felt her eyes widen.

  “Maybe we’re almost even.”

  Sometimes holding your tongue was the best course. Elin didn’t ask who he thought won that contest.

  “How much has Leigh told you about our history? The werehounds? Why there are so few of us? There are small groups spread around, mostly in Europe, but we keep to ourselves and we haven’t grown in number for a long time.”

  “Leigh hasn’t talked about it.” She sounded croaky. “She said you’d tell me anything else I needed to know about your world.”

  “So you did ask her.”

  “Would you have asked?”

  “About you?” He gave a fleeting smile. “If there had been anyone to ask, I would have, but you seem to be one of a kind and I know better than to grill Sally. You’re her chick, or kitten, or whatever.”

  Elin put her hands in her lap and smiled, bending her supple fingers back one at a time. “Are you going to tell me about the werehounds?”

  “I have to.”

  Her chin snapped up. “Why would you say that?”

  He sat beside her. “Because I’ve got to make sure you can’t tell me later that I held something back.” Resting one hand on her thigh, palm up, he waited for her to place her much smaller one on top and closed his fingers around it.

  He had something big on his mind and it wasn’t the weather. Elin almost laughed. She leaned against his hard bicep to hide her face. He thought she was edgy? Her insides were leaping like fireflies and any laughter would be hysterical.

  The touch of his lips along the tendons on the back of her hand didn’t help a thing—except her desire for him. She wanted to hold time exactly here. It would be enough.

  “There are no female werehounds—that I know of.”

  She felt him watching for her reaction. “I never thought of that.”

  “Not for years. And no children.”

  He confused her. “I thought werehounds were made, not born.”

  “Made from humans? In a way, and our greatest wish is to be accepted by the human world again. We are not like werewolves, we don’t enjoy being part wild animal.”

  She held up a finger. “Leigh and Niles are expecting a baby.”

  Silence fell between them and grew unbearably long before Sean said, “Yes, and that’s why Niles isn’t himself. Leigh is the center of his life and he’s afraid this pregnancy will kill her. The way pregnancy eventually killed off all werehound women and the babies they were carrying. Either Leigh’s baby, who will be mostly human, will be a step toward what we want most, or we will know it’s never going to happen.”

  “If Leigh dies?” Elin’s heart beat faster and faster. “She’s not afraid. Leigh’s happy. She wants this and now I know why she seems to want it almost more for Niles than for herself.”

  “She believes what we all hope, that her Deseran blood will keep her safe, and the infant safe. You don’t have that blood. I have no idea if there could be a sympathetic match between us.”

  So he would say they could not seal, could not have children because it was too dangerous?

  Elin pulled her hand away and rested her elbows on her knees. She hadn’t wanted to tell Sean, now she wasn’t sure. It was certain that it would be a mistake for Tarhazian to find out Elin was a valuable prize to offer the werewolves or vampires to get something she wanted.

  “Sweetheart?” Sean’s big hand settled on her back and he rubbed her slowly, his heat permeating her skin as if she were naked. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  I’m Deseran, too. Niles and Leigh took the chance, why shouldn’t we? If she told him that, he might think her an opportunist who only shared things closest to her heart when she wanted something in return.

  “I’m not afraid.”

  The rhythm of his hand faltered. “You would accept me as I am, knowing what it could mean to you?”

  If they bonded, then she would tell him what she knew of her beginnings and what she had discovered about the Deseran connection—once she was certain she knew all the truth. “You might as well get used to me, Sean. I’m not going anywhere without you. And if you try to leave me, I’ll just follow.” She meant it.

  “If Tarhazian tries to hurt you—”

  “Please,” she said, fingers on his lips, “not now. We will manage and you’ve said you think that woman is weakening when it comes to me. Whatever happens, we won’t give up.”

  His hand slid from her back to her neck, under the dress, and cupped her shoulder. “Will you be my mate, Elin?”

  Her throat didn’t want to work but she said, “Yes, please.”

  “You will seal with me?”

  “Yes.”

  “It means that we would be joined forever whether we’re together or apart—and even in death. We would be life and death mates.”

  Only children leaped around when they were excited. Elin settled for kneeling beside Sean on the couch and kissing his face until he held her head, laughing.

  He couldn’t hold her head and her hands at the same time. And he could never restrain the part of her that was only hers to use.

  Sean’s face froze. He looked shocked, and dazzled at the same time. When he glanced at his lap, she deliberately didn’t do the same but slid her hands around his neck.

  He closed his eyes and moaned.

  Now she wished there had been someone to ask about the intricacies of her gift to excite a man by touching him in certain ways. She had felt before what she felt now, an aching need for complete closeness with Sean. She would never forget the night at his house when they had slept in separate rooms yet she had felt as if he were in the same bed.

  When he took off his sweater, she couldn’t make a word. His wide shoulders and chest narrowed to a flat belly, where a slim line of bronze hair disappeared under the waist of his jeans.

  She slid so easily beneath him, his face supported on one hand while he studied her, keeping his weight off her by leaning on an elbow.

  Th
e slow stroke of his free hand up her body, from thigh, to hip then waist and ribs, made her light-headed. She parted her lips and he kissed her, long and deep.

  His hand remained, long fingers and thumb spread, beneath her right breast.

  Elin let her head fall back on the couch. Never taking her eyes off his, she ran a single finger from the little dip between his collarbones, down the center of his chest, and on to his jeans. She unsnapped them and hooked the same finger inside to the base of his rigid penis.

  So fast, she clung to him, Sean lifted her to her feet on the couch and stood before her. He caught the hem of her dress, pulled it over her head, and tossed it onto a chair.

  Covering both breasts, he massaged them with his palms, making circles that rolled her burning nipples until they turned hard. He took one between his teeth, carefully, and sucked. Elin’s knees started to buckle but he held her up. With a thumb he flipped back and forth over the other nipple and she heard her own incoherent voice.

  His hair was loose of the band and swung forward to slip against her skin. Each kiss he planted on her lips grew more demanding.

  “These are cute,” he murmured with his fingertips working down her leggings and panties. He held her around the waist and pulled them over her feet.

  She started touching him remotely again, skimming his buttocks, sliding beneath to cup his testicles and loving the absorbed amazement on his face.

  Struggling, he tore off his jeans with the look of a man in pain and wrestling free of his bonds. She had not seen him naked and completely erect until now and she knew at once why he had seemed in pain. He belonged inside her and she recoiled slightly at the unlikelihood that it was possible.

  Holding Elin by the hips, Sean lifted her high and shot his tongue between the most intimate folds of her body. He worked back and forth until her hands dropped away from his head and she arched helplessly backward. An exquisite spasm ripped through her, and another, and before it was done, Sean had brought her down and pushed himself into her wetness and the aching miracle leaped into full bloom again.

  And when he started to move her, to move himself inside her, she clamped her feet onto his flexed thighs, holding in the cries that wanted to break free. With the beauty of it there was pain now, real pain that jarred her teeth together.

  He will never know about any pain. She let her hair hide her face and buried it in his neck, glad for the waves she felt breaking within him, and his muffled shouts of triumph and release.

  Slipping to his knees, keeping her in a crushing embrace, his breathing gradually slowed although she still felt the wild thump of his heart.

  “Elin,” he said, pushing back her hair. “My Elin.”

  Slowly the joy faded from his expression. He stretched her out on the couch, on top of the quilt, and sat beside her.

  As if he were afraid to see, he looked down and winced. Gentle fingertips brushed the insides of her thighs and he raised his hand. “Too much blood,” he murmured. “I’ve torn you.”

  “No,” Elin insisted. The pain was subsiding although she knew she would be sore. “I don’t think you’re like other men, are you? Don’t say anything. I wouldn’t change anything about you. In a little while it will be easier.”

  His frown puzzled her.

  “A little while?” he said.

  “Perhaps half an hour?”

  He hugged her hard enough to wind her and she didn’t get an answer. Instead he sat her against one of the couch pillows and wrapped her in the quilt. Quickly, he stepped into his jeans and fastened them.

  Feeling her eyes on him, and seeing her amused smile, he said, “Someone has to preserve some decorum, my love. You said you would be sealed to me.”

  She nodded, yes, emphatically.

  He took a small leather box with a curved top from the pocket of his sweat jacket. Sitting down, he placed it on the couch between them and opened the lid. Inside were several small parts he took out and assembled. A little black stone bowl was suspended in a frame over a shallow stone well, also black.

  First he took a piece of purple material from a silk pouch, dropped it in the bowl, and lit a candle beneath. The piece of purple quickly turned liquid and shiny.

  A stylus, like a slender pen, fitted into an indentation beside the burner. Sean took this, showed Elin the tiny, deeply etched gold seal sunk into one end, and dipped it into the bowl.

  “This is the mark of our forever bond,” he told her. “It will burn but only for a moment. Do you still want this, Elin?”

  “You know I do.”

  He pressed the seal into the flesh just beneath her thumb, on the palm side of her right hand. She closed her eyes briefly, then smiled at him.

  Elin took the seal when he offered it to her and gritted her teeth as she sent it into the same spot on his right hand.

  The candle was blown out and the box set aside.

  Their kiss was tender and seemingly endless. Sean found her right hand with his and laced their fingers together. The night wouldn’t be long enough.

  She owed him every truth about herself, had owed it for a long time. Gently, Elin shook him by the shoulder. “Sean, listen to me.”

  “Mm?”

  “I have not told you because I wanted to be sure it—” This would not sound as she’d thought it would. “I believe I am Deseran. I was taken from New Orleans by some sort of creature Tarhazian would never speak about and she stole me a second time.”

  His body tensed beneath her. “And you didn’t tell me, why?” he asked slowly.

  “I didn’t want to influence your decisions about me.” She choked and cleared her throat. “I wanted you to want me for myself, not because I’m Deseran and have the right kind of blood.”

  He didn’t answer for so long she began to cry. She felt her tears run between her fingers on his chest.

  “Stop,” he said, brushing a hand over her face. “Stop now. Am I happy you didn’t trust my love for you—no. But I’d be a fool if I couldn’t see why that was. You really do love me.”

  She burrowed into him and he held her still. “Don’t do that,” he said. “It’s dangerous.”

  “I kept wanting to tell you but there didn’t seem to be a right time and I kept doubting myself.”

  Sean raised her chin and found her mouth. He kissed her long and deep. “Later, I’ll think of a way to punish you,” he said, stroking the length of her spine. “We’re going to need a long discussion about what it means to believe in someone—both of us—but we’re going to rest for what little time we can.”

  She stretched out on him.

  “I’m so glad you’re Deseran,” he whispered sleepily.

  Sean slept before Elin and she lay on top of him beneath the quilt. This was how love completed felt.

  A single knock sounded and the front door opened.

  Hauling the quilt to cover her, Elin sat up and stared at Ethan. He remained on the threshold, his face averted. The big, blond man’s wild appearance frightened her. “What is it?” she said.

  Sean maneuvered himself up, wrapping both of them in the quilt. “Tell us, man,” he shouted.

  “Leigh sent me. She whispered to me when Niles was talking to Saul on the phone. Get back to the others, Sean. Elin—they think you’re in bed down there. Please go back at once, but don’t go near Leigh. Niles wants you to stay away from her.

  “Niles thinks Leigh’s losing the baby. He thinks they’re both dying.”

  chapter TWENTY-FOUR

  Elin did not go with Sean.

  At last he had given up trying to persuade her and left, making sure she locked herself in.

  She had done nothing wrong yet Niles blamed her for Leigh being in danger. Much as she longed to be with Leigh, she would not upset Niles even more at a time like this.

  Up in the loft, she sat cross-legged on the bed and watched the front door and window. Fear was something she could keep at bay but she had always been cautious. From where she was, she could see if anyone entered the hous
e, not that she was equipped for a physical fight.

  Elin didn’t cry often but she cried now—for Leigh and her baby, and because she missed Sean. And she didn’t know what to do next.

  There was no knock, no opening door, no sound of any kind, but a figure standing in the living room startled Elin so badly she almost fell off the bed.

  A cerise parka swollen to big proportions by its down filling didn’t cover the yellow skirt Sally wore underneath. Her snow boots matched her parka and fluffy earmuffs.

  “Are you coming down, Elin, or should I come up?” Sally sounded anything but happy. “Sean sent for me to come and be with you until he gets back but I was looking for you anyway.”

  Elin climbed from the bed and down the ladder to the living room. She wore her leggings again, a big sweater that belonged to Leigh, and the parka.

  Promptly, Sally took Elin’s right hand, turned up the palm, and kissed the seal. For a moment she looked radiant, one big smile, but the happiness faded instantly. “Silly girl,” she said. “Sitting up there doing nothing. You have to take this situation into your own hands. It’s the time for you to prove what you’re made of and you’re made of the best stuff. Do you understand me?”

  Elin didn’t believe it, so she couldn’t make herself answer.

  “Well you are. And now you have a mate who is worthy of you.”

  “I have estranged him from the Team,” Elin said. “He has been as respected almost as Niles had been respected. Now he’ll be blamed because he is sealed to me and they all think I’ve brought trouble on them. They think Tarhazian is trying to use me as a spy.”

  “They’re right.”

  Elin frowned at Sally.

  “But you haven’t brought any trouble to the Team and you’ll fight Tarhazian. So will I. It’s time to stop being afraid of her and look for ways to stop these wicked plans of hers.”

  “Leigh may lose the baby,” Elin said quietly. “And she may not live either.”

  “I know about it,” Sally said. “I was there, remember. I was also sent away.”

  “Because you’re my friend and you introduced me to Sean?”

  Sally shrugged. She pointed a finger at nothing Elin could see until the crooked little wand appeared to hover in the air. “You probably won’t need it but keep it around. I’ll teach you some of the things it can do. Mainly make you feel safe and perform simple tasks if you ask nicely and don’t use big words. Put it in the pocket of your parka.”