Their Dark Hunter (Masters of Darkness)

by Angelini, Alaska

  As he walked up to the door, Melody’s sadness hit him like a bag of bricks. He knocked and noticed his hands were shaking. If she didn’t open the door within ten seconds he was barging through. It was unnerving how upset she was.

  The knocking grew louder at his persistence. Trace ran his fingers through his hair and watched the door open slowly. Melody’s eyes were red and swollen. The moment she saw him, she sobbed and crashed into his chest.

  “Whoa. Shh. Here, let’s go inside.” He glanced around the room as he led her to the black leather sofa. Instinctively, he pulled her into his lap and held her tight. “Talk to me, baby, and tell me what’s wrong. I’ve been so worried about you.”

  She reached over and grabbed a tissue from the box. “My…job.” She sobbed harder. “I can’t take seeing children die, anymore.” Melody started breathing harder and he slowly rocked her. His heart was breaking for her more and more by the second. He’d never seen anyone so distressed about something.

  “It’s like we’re losing more than we’re saving lately. First it was Olive. That hit me hard, but today.” She sobbed and turned into his chest. “It’s so unfair. I see the parents and the grief they go through for their child. I feel their love and pain. God. I just don’t understand why. There’s so much evil in the world. Yet, these children are so young and pure, and this happens. Tell me why, Trace.”

  Trace shook his head. “I don’t know. You’re right. It’s not fair, Melody.”

  “No, it’s not,” she whispered.

  “Why didn’t you call me? I would have been there for you.”

  She looked up at him. “I don’t have your number. Vex’s either. I almost stopped by the penthouse on my way home, but I was such a mess. I couldn’t bear to face anyone.”

  Trace wanted to kick his own ass. How could he have forgotten to do something as simple as give his mate his telephone number? Vex too. They were smart, but when it came to common sense, they’d really displayed how dumb they could be at times. “I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to leave you both of our numbers before I head back.” His finger brought her face up. “And you won’t hesitate to call. Will you.” He said it more as a statement, and not a question at all. The demon inside of him pushed his authority. The master that lurked within was growing by the day. Trace’s need to dominate his mate had his cock hardening. He may have played the submissive to his own master, but when it was just he and Melody, he was quick to switch to dominating.

  Melody’s eyes searched his. “No. I won’t hesitate.” She swallowed hard, and rose a little in his lap. The energy of her arousal was like a hand around his cock, stroking the long length with just the right amount of pressure.

  “You want me. I can feel. I can smell the sweet fragrance. And you’re going to let me taste it.” Trace stood, cradling her in his arms. “Where’s your room?”

  The slight pause was one that he didn’t like. “Room, Melody. Where is it?”

  Her shaky hand pointed in the direction of the small hallway. “But, Trace.” She tried wiggling from his arms, but his fingers bit harder into her thighs. He moved her around to straddle his waist.

  “Don’t fight the pull anymore, Melody. I can’t stand being without you for a single minute.” His arm locked around her waist, while his fingers massaged against the pajama bottoms covering her pussy. A cry came from her mouth and her head instantly buried in his neck. At the gentle biting, Trace lost all sense of sanity. In that moment he only knew one thing. Melody, his mate. And he wanted her more than anything in the world. More than becoming a master. Or what his orders even were for this earth plane. Nothing existed but the wetness of her tongue swirling around his throat.

  Trace headed down the hallway with the aura of a predator about to consume his prey. He was desperate to claim her. All he wanted her to see was him, too. The cracked door flew open at his push. Trace collapsed onto the bed, pinning Melody underneath him.

  “Trace.” Heavy breathing came from her mouth as she stared up at him.

  He pulled off his shirt. “Stop thinking and touch what’s yours, Melody.” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his chest. “I’m yours, forever. Take it. Take me.” Her eyes grew big and he knew she was having second thoughts. “Melody. Don’t.” The panic pouring from her skin was still mixed with her arousal.

  “This isn’t right. I can’t.”

  “You want this,” he growled. “You haven’t killed demons in days. You know where you belong. Who you belong with. Vex and I, we’re waiting. He’s missing you just as much as I am. You have to know that.”

  Trace rubbed his thumb over her mouth. Faster than he could have imagined, Melody turned and reached under her pillow. He froze as the barrel of a gun was suddenly pointed in his face. “I choose my life. And I’m not ready. Now, get off.”

  “This really hurts, Melody. That you could actually point that thing in my face? It’s unfathomable to me.” Trace grabbed the barrel and she screamed as metal oozed from his grasp and disappeared right before connecting with her skin. He flipped her over and spanked her bottom, hard. “Never point a gun at me again.” His fingers gripped in her hair and once again her arousal thickened the air.

  Trace leaned over into her field of vision. With the way her head was pinned down, she couldn’t have seen him behind her. “Why can’t you be with us, because we’re demons? News flash, sweetheart, so are you. Vex mentioned you being pissed about your dad knocking your mom up and leaving. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but from what I hear, she loved him. Loved, Melody.“

  “You’re going to hold that against him? You don’t even know what happened! What if he didn’t know about you? What if he would have gladly been in your life had he learned about you when you were young? It’s bullshit to be so angry without having answers. I’ll tell you what. If we find him, and he knew about you this whole time, I’ll fucking destroy him for you. I don’t care if he’s the master or the devil, himself. No one will hurt you and get away with it. But do not take it out on the ones who do care for you. Understand me?”

  Crying filled the room, and Trace rolled her back over. “You don’t understand,” she said in between sobs. “It’s more than that. I know I want to be with both of you. I feel it in the depth of my soul. I can’t eat or sleep. Almost all of my thoughts revolve around both of you, but there’s that part of me that screams that if I do this, I’m going to lose myself. Every ounce of good in me is going to vanish and I can’t let that happen. I want to be good, Trace. I choose good,” she said, so breathless from crying that he hardly heard it.

  “Then I will choose good, too.” The words nearly made Trace gag, but he was dead serious. If goodness was what she wanted, then by god, that’s what he would give her.

  The blue-green was so bright against the redness in her bloodshot eyes. “You’d do that,” she whispered.

  “If that’s what it’s going to take for you to give in and be with us, then yes. Without a single thought or regret. But you have to stop this. I’ll give you a little more time, but I don’t think I can wait much longer. If you don’t want me camped out in your front yard in a tent, just so I can be close to you, then you better hurry up and decide.”

  Melody laughed and rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Really?” Trace lifted one of his eyebrows. “Do you want to find out?”

  She shook her head. “No.” She smiled and he pulled her to sit up and face him. A hiccup came from her mouth and she quickly covered it. “Today has been really rough. I’m sorry about the whole gun thing. I think I lost it for a second. I was just so scared about how conflicted I was.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just don’t let it ever happen again.” He looked around the room. It wasn’t what he’d been expecting, but Melody was full of surprises. “I should let you get some rest. As much as I hate to leave, I know you need time to think.”

  Melody reached and grabbed his hands. “Thank you…for everything. You really did make me feel better, and
the fact that you’d actually choose good, astounds me.”

  Trace made a paper appear with his and Vex’s numbers. “Call us when you’re ready. We’ll come to get you in a heartbeat. We really do miss you, Mel.”

  “I miss you both, too.” She looked down and stared at the numbers. Trace leaned over and kissed her cheek. He made his car dematerialize, and then himself. He appeared in the alleyway of the club. Laughter had him staring over to Vex’s bum. The guy was always camping outside of Sinz.

  “And now you too shall be an eternal.”

  “What?” Trace walked over to him, but the guy was so drunk the only words that left him after that were gibberish. Sometimes he appeared sane, at other times, it was clear he was out of his mind. Trace sighed and headed toward the entrance. It was time he talked to Vex, and let him know what was going on. Melody needed them whether she wanted to believe it or not, and there was no way he was going to stop their contact until she realized it, and submitted to them.

  ***

  The scenery blurred as Melody pushed the bike over a hundred. The traffic on the causeway was practically nonexistent at three in the morning. She’d gotten off of work hours ago, and yet, she’d been cruising around the city, half tempted to go to her mates.

  A week had gone by since Trace had come and seen her. Where they had left off seeing each other, well made up for, with their phone conversations. Both of her men had made it a habit to call her every day. Trace usually called at nine in the morning. Vex, at noon. The emotions she felt for both of them were overwhelming, and she knew she was close to giving in. The hardest part was accepting and making sense of how she could feel so much for two men that she’d only spent a few hours with in person. The night they’d all spent together was burned into her brain, and Melody constantly had to stop herself from giving into the weakness of wanting to be in their arms again. She picked up the phone at least once every other hour wanting to call them and tell them she was ready.

  The nights were the loneliest and hardest to get through. She felt the pull to be with her mates the worst, then. Even now, as she left the city, all she wanted to do was turn around and go back to Vex and Trace.

  A tightening erupted over her chest like a rubber band pulling for her to stay. Melody increased the throttle and hit one hundred twenty. The dark water under the bridge looked black against the speed. Even the white caps she’d seen once hitting the causeway had disappeared the moment she knew she had to flee. It was, get the hell out of Dodge, or else her bike would have eventually found its way to the club. She knew they were both there right now. What would they do if she showed up?

  The miles disappeared and before Melody knew it she was parking in front of her house. She pulled off her helmet and headed inside. It was so quiet without Leon here. As much as she needed her friend, she accepted that their friendship was pretty much over. Since she’d been back home she’d only talked to him once, and that was because he called to see why she’d left without telling him goodbye. Melody couldn’t bring herself to tell him about Vex or Trace. He still had no clue about the demon master taking her and introducing her to another mate, forever turning her life around.

  She tossed the motorcycle helmet to the couch and pulled off her shirt as she headed toward the shower. As she entered the hallway, she paused. Her bedroom door was open. Hadn’t she closed it when she left? A small glow came from the room and she walked in to see the closet light on. She immediately pulled the gun from her boot.

  Slowly, Melody peered in the closet. Nothing but clothes and shoes filled the space. Her eyes came to the bed and she lowered and pointed the gun as she pulled the skirting back. As she made her way around the house, she checked every nook and cranny. Nothing. Had she accidently left it on? The days were blending together, and she wasn’t sure.

  For the first time in a long time, she walked over and locked the front door. She’d never felt threatened in her own home, but she knew it was better to play it safe, than sorry.

  The sound of the water filled the bathroom while she undressed. Her eyes went to the gun and she grabbed it while she got in and pulled the curtain closed. This wasn’t the first time something felt off. Only a few days ago her drawers were opened, and she always had a habit of closing them behind her. She’d brushed it off then, but now she wasn’t so sure things were as they appeared. It was quite possible someone was going through her things, but who? Vex? Trace? What would one of them be looking for? No. She didn’t think they’d do that.

  Melody rested the gun in the rack that hung from the showerhead and began washing her hair. Anxiety was filling her the longer she stayed in, and she quickly realized she was speeding through the process. Before she knew it, she was wrapping the towel around her and grabbing her weapon.

  Vibrations echoed from the floor and she looked down at her pants. Who in the hell would be calling her at this time? Melody reached down and took the phone from her pocket.

  “Hello?”

  “You’re scared. Why?”

  “Vex? How’d you know I was scared?”

  “You have to ask? Come on, there isn’t a moment when you’re not happy, sad, or upset that I don’t know about it. Now, talk to me. I feel your fear. What is it?”

  Melody swallowed hard against her heartbeat pounding in her chest. God, his voice touched places deep within her that caused that all too familiar hum. “It’s nothing, really.”

  “You shoot up demons for pleasure. What could possibly have you on edge?”

  She walked into her living room and looked around. The violation she felt was real. “Have you been to my house, lately?”

  He got quiet. “I only went once since you left. You were sleeping. It was wrong, and I’m sorry. But I had to make sure you were all right. You were tossing and turning. It was nothing more than a bad dream so I left.”

  “But you weren’t here tonight, or the other night?”

  The music surrounding Vex disappeared and it was suddenly quiet. “Someone’s been to your house? What makes you think that?”

  Melody wasn’t sure how much to tell him. The last thing she needed was Vex worrying or showing up, but she couldn’t deny the fear she felt. It was one thing when she had Leon here. Another, to be completely alone, without neighbors for miles to hear her if she screamed. “Things have been off. The other night my drawers were all open. I’m not completely sure, but I don’t think I left them that way. I always shut them behind me out of habit. Then I came home tonight and my bedroom door was open and my closet light was on. Vex, I know I didn’t do that.”

  The silence seemed to stretch on forever. “Let me come get you.”

  Melody sat down on the couch and closed her eyes. “Vex.” She stood, aggravated. “You know what, let’s just forget I ever said anything. I’m a big girl, and I have a gun. Let whoever is coming in try to show up now that I’m here. It’s as simple as that. I can take care of myself. Been doing it now for years.”

  “Who are you trying to be strong for, Melody? There’s nothing wrong with letting someone love and take care of you.” She could hear the hurt in his voice. “If you won’t stay with me and Trace, at least let me walk around the house and see if I can pick up on anything. It’ll only take a few minutes. I’ll materialize there, and disappear the moment you want me to leave.”

  The decision was equivalent to chewing on nails. Fear and longing were in a battle to the death and she knew which one she wanted to win. “Just for a minute.”

  Vex was standing in front her before Melody could say another word. Hell, she hadn’t even been able to go and get dressed. She looked down at the towel and the moment her eyes lifted to his, the fire behind his gaze had her almost reaching for him.

  “I, ah...” He quickly stepped back and looked toward her room. The way he kept taking in her body in quick glances was torturous. She knew he wanted to look, and dammit, she wanted him to. “I’m just going to go check your room real quick. I’m sorry, I should have given you time to prepare
for me before I just showed up.”

  The expensive suit molded to his powerful body as he disappeared down her hallway. Melody followed, cautiously, watching as he scanned her room. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “All I smell is you and Leon. He lived here so long that it’s probably just traces of his scent.” He paused and stiffened. “Has Harvey ever been here?”

  “No. Are you picking up on him?”

  Vex shook his head. “I haven’t really gotten close enough to pin it as him for sure, but there’s something definitely…different, but I’m positive it’s immortal.”

  She looked down, not sure what to think. “Maybe he came with Leon while I wasn’t here. Or...” Dammit. She was so confused. “I swear, I don’t remember doing any of those things. Maybe I’m just losing my mind.” She walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. “I mean, I guess it’s possible that I was distracted and I left without realizing I left the light on or the doors open. It’s just so out of my character.”

  Vex walked over and kneeled before her. Her eyes got big at the action. He was the master, yet he was lowering himself to her. It showed her a different side to him. He was changing, and she had no doubt the he was still just as dominant in the bedroom than he ever was, but his inside was softer, and different than when she’d first met him.

  “You’re so focused on denying what you’re feeling that there’s no way you’re walking around with your head clear. Melody, why are you dragging this out?”

  The silvered color of his stare captivated her. “I’m working through it. I’m trying.”

  “Can you try harder? I’ve been a fucking saint. Trace too.”

  She raised one of her eyebrows at him. “I don’t think fucking saint goes together, Vex.”

  He blinked, slowly. “Alright. We’ve been saints, knowing that you’re not even around to see it. We’re trying extremely hard to be good for you. I want you to want this. We all belong together, you, me, Trace. Just give us a chance to prove our love for you firsthand. Not over the phone. Come with me, and in a few weeks if you don’t feel like we’re up to par, then I’ll bring you back home, personally.”