The Assassins of Light

by Britney Jackson

  Rose froze, just inside the room, her eyes wide, as a warm shiver of desire snaked down her spine. “Stop doing that,” she mumbled, her cheeks reddening.

  “What? Calling you baby? Or whispering in your ear?” Kara asked, and of course, she used that opportunity to whisper those questions into Rose’s ear.

  Rose suppressed a smile, amused by Kara’s relentlessness. “Both.”

  Kara just laughed, her voice weak and breathless as she struggled to stay conscious. As Rose lay her gently on the bed, Kara realized that she could smell the scents of honey and vanilla all around her, not just on Rose’s skin and in her hair, but also on the sheets of the bed, on the pillow. The faintest hint of Rose’s sweet, gentle scent. Barely even noticeable. “Is this your room?” she asked Rose.

  Rose’s eyes widened in surprise as she glanced down at Kara. “I…stayed in it. Once,” she stammered. “When Kallias first brought me here. But I stay in Kallias’s room now.” She frowned. “How did you know that this was my room?”

  Even though she was barely strong enough to move, Kara managed to drag her fingertips over the sheet beneath her. “I recognized your scent,” she said.

  Rose frowned at the sheets. “Those sheets have been washed since then.”

  “You underestimate my senses,” Kara said, “and my connection to you.”

  Rose shifted nervously, desperately trying to ignore the warm flutter in her chest, desperately trying not to think about that connection—the one that kept drawing her back toward Kara, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. She leaned forward and gathered up the soft, blue blanket that lay folded at the edge of the bed. She unfolded the blanket and draped it gently over Kara’s leather-clad legs.

  Kara watched curiously as Rose covered her up. “What are you doing?”

  Rose’s bright blue gaze briefly darted toward Kara’s face before returning to the blanket. “I just thought you might be cold. When I was drained, I felt cold.”

  Kara caught Rose’s wrist, watching as Rose’s bright blue gaze once again shifted up toward Kara’s face. With Rose leaning over her, their faces were nearly touching, their lips close enough to kiss. “Did you mean it?” she asked, her soft, accented voice barely audible. “Earlier. When you said that you missed me…”

  Rose swallowed uneasily. The scent of violets, leather, and blood swirled around her head, causing a dizzying wave of desire to pour through her. The air seemed to snap and fizzle around them, the sexual electricity practically tangible. She tried—she tried so hard—not to breathe in Kara’s scent. “Yes,” she breathed.

  Kara closed her eyes, and her hand tightened around Rose’s wrist. “Oh, Rose,” she sighed, her voice somewhere between a moan and a whisper. “If you knew the way that makes me feel, I think it would scare you. I know it scares me.”

  Rose exhaled shakily. “Did you mean it?” she whispered. “In the note.”

  Kara opened her eyes, pinning Rose with her piercing, light blue gaze. “I would have never written it, if I didn’t,” she whispered. “I lie. But not about that.”

  Rose didn’t move—couldn’t move. Her heart thudded at a rapid, sporadic pace, echoing throughout the silent bedroom, and her blood roared through her body, rushing so rapidly that it left a pink flush on her fair, freckled skin. “Kara,” she began, her voice hoarse and shaky. “Why have you been starving yourself?”

  Kara stared at her for a moment, intense, visible emotion burning in her cornflower-blue eyes. “You…believed in me,” she said, her brows furrowing, as if she still found it hard to believe. “You had no reason to believe in me, but you did. No one has ever believed in me before. I have always had to prove myself. I have always had to earn every ounce of respect I’ve ever gotten. I was a woman who wanted to be a warrior. They laughed at me.” Her lips twitched up slightly, into a weak, cocky smirk. “Well, until I made them beg for mercy, anyway. And more than that, I’m the bad girl. Everyone always thought so…even before I decided to own the title. No one trusts me. No one believes in me. But…you did.”

  Rose tilted her head to the side, her brows creasing with sympathy.

  “I want to be as good as you believe I am,” Kara confessed.

  It took nearly every ounce of Rose’s self-control just to remain still, just to keep herself from touching Kara’s face, from kissing Kara’s soft, inviting lips. She clutched tightly at the blanket in her hands. “You could’ve fed from Elise.”

  Kara winced. “Ah, that,” she sighed, “is even more difficult to explain.”

  Rose breathed out shakily as she felt Kara’s fingers lightly caressing her wrist. Her touch felt so soft and light. Rose realized that it was probably all that Kara could manage after losing so much blood. But even that featherlight touch elicited a powerful, vehement reaction. The warm, inviting scent of Kara’s blood called out to her, to the blood bond she had with Kara, intensifying her hunger. She’d already taken far too much of Kara’s blood, but as the sweet scent swirled around her head, she wanted more. “What do you mean by that?” she said finally.

  Kara offered Rose a weak smile. “I can’t answer that. I’ll scare you away.”

  Without thinking about it, Rose released the blanket, and with the hand that Kara wasn’t holding, she reached out and cupped Kara’s face in her hand. She ran her thumb over Kara’s cheek, feeling the softness of Kara’s skin and the angles of her face. “I would never be afraid of you,” she whispered. “I trust you.”

  Kara leaned instinctually into Rose’s hand, nuzzling her face against Rose’s palm, almost like a cat. A laugh escaped her lips—and there was a sadness in that laugh, a sadness that struck at Rose’s heart. “I’m a liar…a thief…a spy…an assassin,” she said slowly. “You’d be foolish to trust me. Or…very, very brave.”

  “Well,” Rose said, “there’s this fearless Viking who thinks I’m brave.”

  Kara smiled. “I think the Viking knows what she’s talking about.”

  “You would,” Rose teased, “with that massive ego of yours.”

  Kara watched as that cute, sassy smile spread across Rose’s face, and her own lips twitched up at the edges as well. She tilted her face toward Rose’s hand and delivered a slow, sensual lick to Rose’s wrist. She smiled as she heard Rose moan at the sensation. “The blood bond is intense, isn’t it?” Kara asked slyly.

  Rose nodded. “It’s the most intense thing I’ve ever felt,” she admitted.

  Kara looked at her, a curious frown pulling at her features. But then, that wave of dizziness washed over her again, and her consciousness began to fade.

  Rose’s bright blue gaze shifted down toward their hands as she felt Kara loosen her grip on Rose’s wrist. “Kara,” she said worriedly. When Kara didn’t answer her, she quickly climbed onto the bed, straddling Kara’s leather-clad hips.

  Kara opened her eyes. “Hey, sexy,” she slurred with a weak, sleepy smile.

  “You need to feed,” Rose said, as she pulled her long, auburn hair to one side, exposing her neck. “No arguments. I want you to take what you need.”

  Kara stared at her for a moment, her eyelids drooping sleepily. Even with as weak as she was, she still managed to trail her piercing, blue gaze down Rose’s body, over Rose’s soft, womanly curves. “What if I take what I want?” she slurred.

  Rose held her breath, her pulse quickening. “What do you want?”

  Kara’s intense, blue eyes seemed to burn through her. “You.”

  That one word affected Rose as intensely as a touch or a kiss. A powerful shudder snaked down Rose’s spine, like an electric shockwave, sending sparks to every part of her body. She closed her eyes, breathing out shakily, as she tried to suppress the moan that threatened to spill from her lips. Her heartbeat rattled in her head, beating harder and faster than usual, and her entire body felt overheated.

  Kara’s heated gaze traced its way back down Rose’s body, just as it had before, until it found its destination at the center of Rose’s legs. As Kara stared at the a
pex of Rose’s soft, curvy thighs, her nostrils flared, and her light blue eyes dilated with dark, potent lust. “Rose,” she growled hungrily. “Come closer.”

  Rose moved instantly, almost as if she had no control over her own body. She leaned forward, until the front of her body pressed against the front of Kara’s body. She closed her arms around Kara’s waist, holding her a little more upright against the headboard, and then, she leaned her head against Kara’s bare shoulder, breathing in the scent of violets that clung to Kara’s sleek, blue and black hair. Kara’s shoulder felt cool against Rose’s face, her skin clammy because of all of the blood that she’d lost. The blood that Rose had taken. Rose nearly moaned, just from the sensation of Kara’s lean body pressed against hers. And then, she did moan because Kara dug her fingers into Rose’s thighs, dragging her closer.

  “I can’t resist it any longer,” Kara rasped. “Are you sure you want this?”

  As Rose heard the husky breathlessness in Kara’s voice, and as she felt the way Kara’s body trembled against hers as she fought against the potent, feral hunger that coursed through her, Rose wondered how Kara was resisting it at all. “Yes,” she said, moaning when she felt the warmth of Kara’s mouth on her neck.

  Rose cried out softly as Kara’s fangs tore into her neck, and then, that cry morphed into a low, breathless moan as Kara began to suck at the bite wound in Rose’s neck, drinking Rose’s powerful, honey-like blood. Rose sank her fingers into Kara’s silky hair, her fingertips sliding over Kara’s scalp. Kara let out a low growl of pleasure as she fed ferociously from Rose, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of the sweet, delicious blood that she’d craved since she last tasted it.

  Blood had this way of making certain things very hazy and other things crystal clear. And as Kara fed from Rose, the one thing Kara knew was that she wanted Rose. In every way possible. Not just her blood. Not just her body.

  Her kindness. Her gentleness. Her smile. Her heart. Her soul.

  Kara grew stronger with each drop of blood she consumed, and as she did, her hands began to roam Rose’s body, her palms sliding over the soft curves, sliding over Rose’s jean-clad thighs, over her curvy hips, back to the softness of her ass. She tugged Rose forward, urging Rose to move against her, and Rose did.

  Rose kissed her shoulder, moaning blissfully, as the blood bond formed once again between them, except this time, it was complete. Both of them had shared blood that night, and that intensified the deep connection between them.

  Kara shifted slightly so that she could wrap her long, leather-clad legs around Rose’s hips, and then, she rolled, so that their positions were reversed. Rose lay beneath her, lost in the emotion and pleasure of blood sharing, and Kara lay on top of her, their bodies pressed together, her thighs still wrapped around Rose’s luscious, curvy hips. She began to grind herself against Rose, rocking her hips, her leather pants sliding against Rose’s jeans. She smiled as she heard Rose moan lowly in her ear, as she felt Rose clutching her closer, and then, they were both moving, tilting their faces, until their lips met in a fierce, blood-soaked kiss.

  Kara tasted her own blood on Rose’s lips and felt the sticky, wetness of Rose’s blood on her mouth, as her tongue and lips moved against Rose’s, tasting and exploring Rose’s mouth. Rose’s tongue felt so soft and so gentle as it swept against hers, and yet, so eager and so hungry, at the same time. There was a soft, needful desperation in Rose’s moans as they kissed, and Kara felt more eager than ever to satisfy that desperation. As Rose’s hands clutched Kara’s face, holding her close, Kara moved her hand between them, flicking open the button of Rose’s jeans, as if she’d done it a million times before. She slid her hand down into Rose’s jeans, beneath her panties, until her fingers found the slick, sensitive spot between Rose’s legs. Rose gasped and jerked against her as Kara touched her intimately.

  Kara buried her face in the curve of Rose’s neck, moaning into her skin, as she felt Rose’s wetness around her fingers. “So wet,” she murmured, her lips curving into a smile. She kissed and licked the remaining blood from Rose’s neck.

  Rose arched her back, pressing herself against Kara’s hand, gasping for breath, as pleasure and arousal consumed her, blinding her to everything but her need and longing for Kara. “Please,” she gasped, clutching Kara’s dark, silky hair.

  Kara pulled back so that she could look at Rose, watching her with dark, hungry eyes. She tilted her face toward Rose’s, her breath caressing Rose’s lips. “Say it again,” she whispered against Rose’s lips, still teasing Rose with her fingers.

  Rose opened her eyes, revealing their red glow. “Please,” she moaned.

  Rose gasped as Kara’s finger slid into her, and then, Kara’s lips were on Rose’s lips again, tasting her, devouring her with a long, intimate kiss, as her fingers moved between them. Rose shuddered and moaned at Kara’s soft, insistent touch, and then, as the need rose up inside of her, building and climbing, Kara’s thumb found her clit and began to move in slow, sensual circles. Their kiss became hungrier and more passionate as Rose moaned and rocked against Kara’s fingers, overwhelmed by the warm, slow-building pleasure that coursed through her body. Rose poured all of that pleasure into her kiss as she claimed Kara’s lips.

  There was something about the way Rose kissed—with a sweet mixture of gentleness and desperation—that melted Kara with affection and set her body on fire with lust, all at the same time. “That’s it, love,” Kara whispered when she felt Rose tremble and moan against her. “Don’t hold back. Not with me.”

  Then, finally, as Kara kissed her one last time, lightly nipping at Rose’s lips with her fangs, pressing her hips against Rose’s hips, her fingers moving with just the right amount of gentleness and persistence, Rose cried out in pleasure.

  The blinding, white-hot pleasure rattled Rose’s body in the way nothing ever had before, and for a few moments, it was all that existed. Just them. Rose and Kara. The connection that buzzed and sizzled between them. The euphoria.

  A smile curved at the edges of Kara’s lips as she watched the way Rose’s body reacted to the sensations—the way her back arched and her head tilted, the way her lips trembled and her muscles tightened, the way the blood rushed to her skin, turning it a soft, luminescent pink. And when the orgasm finally died down, washing Rose in waves of peaceful, satisfied pleasure, Rose opened her eyes to find Kara still watching her with that soft, adoring smile. She smiled back, slowly, hesitantly, her soft breasts rising and falling, as she tried to catch her breath.

  “You’re so beautiful,” Kara breathed, and then, she was leaning forward, going in for another kiss, when she growled, “especially in the height of pleasure.”

  Rose moaned at the roughness of Kara’s kiss, at the hunger that burned inside her, at the words Kara had growled against her lips. That blissful euphoria still washed over her mind, blurring her thoughts and causing her body to tremble.

  Kara only gave her that one, emotional moment to recover, before her icy blue eyes began to sparkle with mischief. Then, she began to trail her lips over Rose’s skin, pressing kiss after kiss against her neck, then her collarbone, dragging her fangs over Rose’s skin. Her fingers brushed against Rose’s stomach, over her oversensitized skin, as she pushed up Rose’s T-shirt, and crawled down Rose’s body. She pressed her warm, wet lips against Rose’s soft stomach, smiling as Rose moaned and arched her back at the sensation, and then, she slid her fingers under the waistband of Rose’s jeans and began to tug them down, her lips trailing lower.

  Rose’s body didn’t waste any time in heating back up with desire again. Each kiss sent painful shockwaves of arousal down to the most sensitive part of her body, the same place Kara’s lips were trailing toward now. Rose glanced down at Kara, at the silky, black and blue hair that fell over her face, as she kissed the lower curve of Rose’s stomach, and the realization finally washed over her. The realization of what they’d just done, of what Rose had just allowed to happen between them. And it replaced the blissful compl
eteness that she’d felt moments ago with deep, painful guilt. She raised up on her elbows. “Wait. Wait,” she said, even as her body protested, even though she very much did not want Kara to stop.

  Kara pulled back a little, her arms still draped around Rose’s hips, her eyes still dark with hunger. “You don’t want me to taste you?” she murmured.

  Rose whimpered—because she was pretty sure that she’d never wanted anything more in her entire life. “I…I…” she sputtered, not able to say the words.

  Kara’s smile faded, and her brows furrowed with concern, as she seemed to recognize Rose’s seriousness. “Rose,” she said softly, “are you all right?”

  Rose looked away, staring at the nightstand beside the bed but not really seeing it, as pain and guilt twisted like knives in her stomach. “What have I done?”

  Kara raised up, leaning back on her legs, as she stared down at Rose. Her cornflower-blue eyes flashed with sadness and disappointment. “You regret this.”

  “No!” Rose said quickly. She frowned. “I mean…well, yes. Kind of.”

  Kara nodded slowly, and an impassive mask seemed to come over her face, hiding the emotions that had been visible there just a moment before. “Of course you do,” she sighed. She looked away, avoiding Rose’s gaze. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry?” Rose repeated bewilderedly. Her brows furrowed. “For what?”

  “For assuming you…” Kara trailed off, shaking her head. She climbed off of Rose. “This was my fault. I got caught up in the blood sharing. I’m sorry.”

  Rose stared at Kara, her heart pounding too quickly, too harshly, rattling her body. It didn’t matter how well Kara could hide her emotions…because Rose and Kara were bound now, and Rose felt the deep, hollow pain that her words had caused Kara. “Kara,” she said, a choked sob escaping her lips. She reached out for Kara, wanting to comfort her somehow. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…”

  Kara climbed out of bed, out of Rose’s reach, and then, she straightened, running her fingers through her long, blue and black hair. “It’s fine, Rose,” she said with a fake, almost-convincing smile. “I get it. You love Kallias. Not me.”