Elissa’s nails dug into his hand and rage poured off her. Double interesting. His little witch was jealous.
“No, thank you. I would like to take my mate to our room.” Payne made himself smile when all he wanted to do was grimace. Elissa was going to leave marks.
The male eyed her and his lip curled. Payne had the feeling that a mate was not a valued thing in this den of iniquity. Everyone here seemed to be in a race to score the most number of conquests.
The man turned away and Payne pulled on Elissa’s hand, making her come with him. They followed the man back through the house, past the orgy that had Payne’s blood thundering and his eyes fixing on Elissa to kill the disturbing desire to join in, and up to the first floor. The man led them to the other end of the house, in a very quiet corridor.
Payne couldn’t sense anyone in the rooms around them. Relief surged through him, sharp and sweet. Maybe he would retain his sanity and be able to keep a lid on his dark urges to feed after all. He thanked the male with another tight smile and pushed Elissa into the room. She seemed pleased by the green theme that ran through it, from the walls to the covers on the four-poster bed, to the two armchairs in front of the cream marble fireplace. It was definitely a witch thing this time. He had heard they liked nature and nature was green.
He shut the door in the male’s face and leaned back against it, tracking her as she moved around the room, snooping at things on the mantelpiece and the wooden table near the armchairs. She disappeared into an adjoining room on his right. The bathroom. Pale green tiles and white porcelain.
Had the incubi bought this place or had they borrowed it from someone? Payne had never thought of that species as a particularly honest one. They had probably taken over the house by force.
He moved to his left and sat on the bed there, waiting for Elissa to emerge. When she did, she looked far happier than she had been in the reception room downstairs. She idly ran her fingers over everything she passed as she crossed the room to him.
He opened his knees and she settled between them, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders. His claimed her waist and he tilted his head back, silently telling her what he wanted from her. She smiled shyly and lowered her mouth towards his, angling her head at the same time. He groaned when she swept her lips across his, soft brushes that ignited his blood and had him hard in his jeans. He needed to feed again. Being around so much sexual energy had him hungry for another taste of his witch.
Elissa pulled away and stroked his cheek. “I think we should rest a while and then we can head out when the house is quiet. Incubi have to sleep at some point and now that I’m near what I’m looking for, I can track it. I’d rather not have to be around them.”
Payne could read between the lines. Her fear sang to him through the blood he had taken from her, a connection that wouldn’t fade for hours yet. She hadn’t liked it when that incubus had tried to control her. He hated it too.
He tipped his head back, enjoying her soft caress and drinking in her beauty, wanting to lure her mouth back to his. “So, we’re going to stay here... in this room... with this big bed... just you and me?”
She nodded and ran her index finger along his lower lip, making it tingle. His eyes dropped to his marks on her throat and then met hers again. Her pupils dilated and her lips parted.
“And what if I’m hungry?”
She frowned. “I’m not letting you out of this room so you can fornicate with those bitches.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Who said I wanted them?”
Payne pulled her closer and kissed her left breast through her black top. Her nipple beaded beneath the material and he rolled it between his teeth, hungry for his taste of her. She gasped and he drew back.
“You don’t want them?” she said, breathless and eyes dark with desire, but touched by a hint of vulnerability.
He shook his head. “I just want you.”
“Right answer.” She leaned into him and he fell back onto the bed with her on top of him. She rewarded him as she always did, with a soft kiss that made him ache for more and gave him bliss.
Fool around now. Track their items later.
Sounded like a good plan to him. Better than his one, anyway.
He didn’t want to meet his grandfather.
He would kill him if he did.
CHAPTER 10
Payne woke to a riot inside of him, a war between two hungers that demanded to be fed. He hadn’t caught much sleep. The mansion had him permanently on edge and he couldn’t contain his needs. The energy here was intense and overwhelming, far worse than he had ever experienced it at Vampirerotique. It had his incubus side on constant high alert.
He groaned and rolled onto his side under the dark green covers, coming to face Elissa. She stretched beside him, the action causing the sheets to ride down her body, revealing her bare breasts. Tempting. He focused on his body, trying to discern which of his hungers was the most pressing. The incubus in him was restless, roused by the sexual energy flowing through the mansion and hungry for more of his witch.
Elissa settled again, a sigh escaping her soft pink lips. They had fooled around last night but hadn’t taken things all the way. It had been enough for him at the time, but now he had one thing on his mind and it drove him to obey. He wanted to be back inside her.
His incubus side purred and prowled around inside him, held at bay by his more dominant vampire nature but not for long. He would indulge it for a change and hopefully he would gain enough satisfaction from what he was going to do with Elissa to last him through the coming hours. The house was still now, the energy in the air less than before. He couldn’t hear anyone moving around and most of the heartbeats in the rooms surrounding them were slow and steady, signalling sleep.
It was time they set out in search of his grandfather’s room and got what they came here for.
Payne rolled onto his front and eased the covers lower, revealing more of Elissa’s beautiful bare curves. He growled low in his throat, his cock hard again and wedged between his body and the firm mattress. She wrinkled her nose in her sleep. He dipped his head and pressed a kiss to her stomach. She sighed.
He smiled.
Payne kissed his way upwards, his eyes on his target. Her breasts. Their dusky pink buds were already pert, calling out for his attention. He swept his lips over her ribs and then along the curve of her right breast. She moaned and the sound cut off.
He flicked a glance at her face.
Elissa stared down her body at him, a sleepy but curious look in her grey eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Waking you up,” he whispered against her skin and wrapped his lips around her nipple, eliciting a groan from her.
“Why?” She sounded breathless already and he could smell her desire.
“Because I want you.” Payne traced his hand over her stomach and slid it under the green bedclothes, settling it over her curls.
She blushed and bit her lower lip, her eyes hooded and dark with hunger. “Go back to sleep.”
She didn’t mean that. He slipped his finger into her folds and she moaned, tilting her head back into the rich green pillows. Her chestnut hair spilled around her shoulders in loose waves, dark against her pale creamy skin. She looked like a goddess as she bared herself to him, spreading her thighs so he could delve lower. He eased his hand down and teased her opening, drawing hot moisture from her core and bringing it up to her aroused clitoris. She moaned again, beautifully wanton, the sound stirring fire in his blood and causing his cock to pulse.
Payne pushed the covers down to reveal her long slender legs and moved between them. She gasped as he slid two fingers into her core and lowered his mouth to kiss her. He swirled his tongue around her clitoris, listening to her breathy moans of pleasure and feeding on the energy that flowed from her, basking in how much she enjoyed being with him. She writhed, rocking her hips in time with each thrust of his fingers.
“Payne,” she whispered, breathless and low, a plea and a
praise at the same time. He groaned into her and licked her from core to aroused nub, savouring the taste of her and wanting more. She lowered her hand to his hair and guided him, silently commanding him even though he was in control now.
The incubus in him purred at the interaction though, especially when she tangled her fingers in his hair and tightly clutched it, forcing him to remain at her clitoris. He lavished it with attention, alternating between flicking it with the tip of his tongue, sensually swirling his tongue around it and laving it.
She moaned and her body tightened around his fingers, drawing him in deeper. He stopped and pulled them out of her, and she groaned and shook her head.
“Why?” she said, hips still rocking, seeking his fingers.
“I want to be inside you when you come.”
Her cheeks flushed deep pink and an alluringly innocent expression crossed her beautiful face.
His inner incubus pushed for control over her even though he knew that he couldn’t affect her with his charm. The colour on her cheeks darkened and he wondered if she was seeing what he was thinking about, taking her deep and hard, bringing them both to a shattering climax.
“Do you want me inside you?” he whispered and kissed her inner thigh. His incubus charm might not affect her but she wasn’t immune to his natural male talents of persuasion.
Elissa nibbled her lower lip and nodded. Payne purred and rose up onto his hands and knees. He moved over her and covered her crotch with his hand. She was so wet beneath his palm, ready for him.
He grasped his cock and dipped his hips.
Elissa shoved against his chest and he stopped to frown down at her.
“Put a condom on.” She looked afraid again. He could taste the fear in her blood.
“I only had the one, and it was a miracle I had that... are you not taking anything?” He hovered above her, aching to be inside her again, feeling her body without the barrier this time. She nodded. Problem solved. He lowered himself and she pushed harder against his chest.
He frowned at her again.
Her grey eyes were as wide and bright as full moons. “You can’t ejaculate inside me.”
Had he just heard her right? He had barely contained himself the last time they had played this game and he wasn’t in the mood for it today, not when he was barely controlling his incubus side as it was, and not without a condom as a safety net.
“Playtime is over, Witch. We do this my way now.”
She locked her elbows and held him off her. “Seriously. You can’t.”
Not playing. Rapid heartbeat. Scent of fear in her blood. She wasn’t joking at all.
Payne sat back and fixed her with a black look. “Why don’t you want my seed within you?”
She hesitated. His anger spiked and he stepped off the bed, distancing himself physically because he was having difficulty doing it emotionally. His head swam with reasons, taunts that drove him to the brink and had him feeling like a complete fool.
“Is it because I’m a vampire? I know witches don’t like vampires but you seemed to like riding my cock before.”
She sat up, drawing the covers over her, and shook her head. Her silvery eyes drifted down to his chest. No, not his chest. His biceps and the markings that snaked over them.
He growled at her, anger combining with the hurt that clawed his heart to pieces and becoming rage. He folded his arms across his chest and bared his fangs at her.
“I see. I get it. You don’t want to risk bearing the offspring of an abomination.” He turned his back on her and stared at the dark grate of the fireplace, struggling against the crushing weight of the pain in his chest. “I should have known. You’ve got what you wanted... used me to get you here... and now you want nothing to do with me.”
A breeze shifted behind him, across his backside, and Elissa grabbed his arm. He refused to heed her command when she tugged on it and remained facing away from her. She pulled harder and Payne turned on her, snapping his arm out of her grip and smacking her hand away when she tried to touch him again.
She flinched and cried out, the sound startling in the quiet room, and clutched her left wrist to her chest. Tears swam in her eyes and he could feel the pain beating in her heart, rushing through her blood. He had heard the bone crack.
He stopped himself from taking a step towards her and took a step back instead. “That was your fault.”
She didn’t deny it. She simply held her wrist and stared at him in silence. His guilt couldn’t erase his rage and his pain. It did nothing to dampen it and he only felt worse as he looked at her. He turned away again, unable to bear the sight of her now that he knew the truth.
“Payne?” she softly whispered his name and it stirred heat within him that he pretended not to feel.
He looked over his shoulder at her. Her silver eyes were beautiful, glittering with diamond dust as she used her magic to heal her broken wrist.
“It was my fault.” She looked down at her arm and then back up into his eyes. “And it isn’t about offspring or you being an incubus.”
He roared. “I’m a vampire.”
She shrank back, her fear flooding the room, and nodded even though he could see in her eyes that she wanted to mention that he wasn’t wholly vampire. He hated her for it but it didn’t stop him from wanting her. She fascinated him and made him weak, stripped his strength away and left him needing her, willing to do anything for another taste or touch.
Desperate to do anything to win her heart.
Impossible.
She had proven that barely a few minutes ago. His little witch wasn’t his after all. She had merely played him for a fool to make him do exactly as she had wanted. She had manipulated him.
He growled and glared at her, not hiding any of his anger or hurt. He wanted her to see what she had done. He needed her to know just how much she had hurt him and that things would never be the same between them.
“Witches are not supposed to mate with demons, and dark fae species like incubi are considered demons by my kind and others,” she whispered, as though afraid to voice it any louder in case it drew a violent reaction from him.
He kept his head and spoke calmly even though he wanted to grab her and scream it down her ear so she would finally get the message. “I’m not a demon. I’m a vampire.”
She didn’t nod this time. His hatred of her grew as she stared straight into his eyes in that way that always made him feel as though she was tearing his mask away to reveal the ugly truth beneath. He turned his back on her again.
“Don’t leave.” She moved behind him but stopped short of grabbing him. She was learning after all.
He wasn’t sure how he would react if she touched him again. His incubus and vampire sides were both angry and hurt, both out for blood and violence because neither understood why their mate had betrayed them. He didn’t understand. She was supposed to be his. He had foolishly begun to believe that the wonderful, incredible time they had spent together would blossom into something he had only ever dreamed would happen to him. He had wanted a mate. He almost laughed at himself.
He had spent so long denying his nature and his needs, shutting down his emotions and keeping his distance to protect himself, that he hadn’t realised that he wanted that from Elissa. He needed her to be his salvation. He had begun to hope that she would be the good that would balance out the bad in his life, the reward at the end of so much pain.
“I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just... I have my reasons.” Her voice was soft, edged with warmth and concern that only hurt him all the more because he wasn’t sure how to react around or how to feel about her now.
“Other than using me to come here?” He wouldn’t let that one go. She had been gunning for him from the moment they had met. She had wanted to get into his pants and she had succeeded in doing what his last lover had failed to do. She had enslaved him, but rather than using his name to do it, she had used her body as the lure and his own heart as the shackles.
He
pressed his hand to his chest and cursed himself for being idiotic enough to trust anyone again, let alone a witch.
“Please, Payne. Let me explain,” she said and he did her an honour she didn’t deserve.
He turned to face her because he needed to see in her eyes that she believed whatever poison was about to come out of her pretty mouth. She looked lost as she stood before him, body bare, vulnerable. He probably looked the same. Weak and pathetic. Easily broken.
“Explain away.” He grabbed his boxer shorts from the floor and slipped his legs into them, tugged them up, and let the elastic snap against his waist.
Elissa didn’t dress.
She twisted her hands in front of her stomach, her gaze on the floor, and then frowned and looked up into his eyes. “You came to the town to find another witch.”
He nodded. “You said you were covering for her. Verity, wasn’t it?”
Tears rose into her eyes again and she scrubbed them away with the heel of her hand and nodded. “Verity... was my older sister.”
“Something tells me you lied.” He hated that but the hurt swimming in her eyes said that she had a good reason, and now he knew why she had looked ready to cry that day in her home. “She’s dead?”
Elissa swallowed hard and nodded again.
“Did my grandfather kill her?”
A shake this time.
She moved to the bed on legs that shook so much he was surprised she reached it without collapsing and sat down, her hands between her knees. He had never seen her looking so lost and he wanted to go to her. It was hard to hold himself back but he had to. Until he knew this hadn’t all been a twisted game to her, he needed to maintain his distance. It wouldn’t stop the pain that ebbed and flowed through him, growing weaker and stronger by turns, but it would stop her from completely destroying his soul if he discovered that he was right about her and she had used him.
“When a witch takes demon seed into her body, it taints her powers... the connection to her coven is also tainted and she weakens dramatically. Witches draw on their coven to boost their natural abilities. The more there are in a coven, the stronger each witch becomes. If a witch...” She drew her legs up onto the bed and wrapped her arms around them, looking small and uncertain as she eyed him. Didn’t she want to tell him? He moved a step closer, aching to reassure her that he wanted to know about her so he could understand everything. “Verity had a fling with a demon. She took precautions but it didn’t stop her connection from becoming tainted. The coven exercised their right to deal with her.”
Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance Page 35
