Carnal (Her Dark Desires #1)

by Lola Taylor

  I blinked. “Jasmine?” I wasn’t even sure I knew what that smelled like.

  He nodded. “And cherry blossoms and roses and other wildflowers. You smell… sweet.”

  I hadn’t thought “sweet” would be a word used to describe how I smelled, given the musky tang of my perfume. I blinked, realizing why his scent was so alluring and feeling like a fool for not figuring it out sooner.

  It’s because I was attracted to him. That’s why his scent was the same every time. When I was near him, I was remembering my favorite smell.

  “Why wildflowers?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I used to live in the countryside, near a wildflower meadow. I guess you can say I like the smell of flowers because it reminds me of my freedom. And my innocence,” he added more quietly. Clearing his throat, he changed the subject. “One of the things a Master does when they turn over a charge to us is debrief us over both the strong qualities of their Child and those that need some work.” His lips quirked up in a lopsided smile. “‘Dirty talk’ was under the ‘needs work’ column.”

  I gulped. “I’m not that bad at it.”

  He raised a brow, as if asking me to elaborate.

  I dropped my gaze to my hands, where I fiddled with the end of my tunic. “I’m not good with people,” I said quietly. “I always get tongue-tied and flustered around strangers. I don’t know what to say.”

  Hector ran a hand over the light stubble along his jawline, studying me. “Perhaps it’s not your shyness that’s the problem. Maybe it’s your fear of making a fool of yourself that’s standing in your way.”

  “That’s not-” I stopped. Was that the reason I had such a hard time talking to people? I was terrible at making conversations. I wasn’t so bad around Monique and Raoul, but that was because I knew them.

  “This is what we’re going to do,” Hector said. “I’m a potential client of yours. Notice I said ‘potential.’ We’ve met at a bar, and you’ve decided you want to try to take me home. It’s your job to get me in the mood, or rather, to turn me on with words and a few casual touches.”

  My heart started pounding harder as my palms began to sweat.

  Hector smiled, leaning toward me expectantly.

  When he didn’t say anything, I figured out he was waiting on me to lead. “Um,” I said, wringing my dress, “you, uh, come here often?”

  “All the time,” he replied smoothly. “I like to savor the sights and sounds of the night.” He stroked my arm with his index finger, a slow, smooth gesture that sent shivers flying over my skin.

  I cleared my throat as I struggled to come up with something to say.

  Hector reached up and grabbed a loose curl, twirling it around his finger. “You look nervous.”

  “I’m not nervous,” I said breathlessly. My body went rigid as his knuckles grazed my cheek.

  “Good.” He leaned in until his lips were beside my ear. “Because I’m going to strip you down naked and lick your cunt until you cry out my name.”

  My jaw dropped, and I knew from the sudden rise in temperature, my face was beet-red too.

  Hector let his hand fall to his lap as he leaned back in his chair. “Ms. Sanders, I do believe you are blushing.”

  “I… I don’t know why,” I lied. “It’s not like I haven’t heard all this stuff before.” Just never from someone I was actually interested in.

  He smiled softly. “Something tells me you’d blush anyway.”

  “Meaning?” I said a little more sharply than I meant to.

  “Just that I was right about you,” he murmured. “You’re the most pure-hearted succubus I’ve ever met.”

  I sighed, my shoulders slumping. “Fantastic. That would be great if I were an angel or even a White Witch, but I’m neither.”

  “Don’t worry.” He smiled and reached into his desk drawer. “I meant it as a compliment.”

  I brightened up as he set a CD case down on his desk. “Here,” he said, pushing it toward me. “Your first homework assignment. I can see we have a lot of ground to cover, and I don’t like wasting time. I want you to listen to this when you get back to your room, making note of the phrases, tone, and rhythm of the exchanges. We’ll reconvene after dinner to go over your findings and try again.”

  “What is it?” I asked, flipping it over. There wasn’t a description as to what the blank case contained. It looked homemade.

  A wicked grin lit up his face. “Phone sex, the dirtiest of the dirty talk, courtesy of yours truly.”

  My eyes snapped to his. “You mean, these are your recordings?”

  He crossed his hands behind his head and rested his boots on the desk, lounging. “Yep. Back from when I was still working the phones, before I got sent on field jobs.”

  “I… I never got put on the phones.”

  Hector frowned. “Why not?”

  Because Elias hates me.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Elias never told me why, exactly.” Actually, he had, but it was too embarrassing to admit to my crush that the reason his friend hadn’t put me on the phones was because I flubbed that up. Tongue-tied didn’t begin to describe it. Soon as my clientele started talking that way to me, I freaked out and got all flustered. Dubbed as a “disaster waiting to happen,” Elias had thought putting me in the field would be better, where I could actually see whom I was talking to. If anything, it was worse, and to this day, I hadn’t understood his logic.

  “Huh,” Hector said. “I see.” He rose and went to open the door, signaling our session was done. “Listen to the tape. It’ll give you a good place to start. I think you’re shy because you haven’t heard that much dirty talk.” That boyish smirk returned. “And because your head isn’t in the gutter, like the rest of us miscreants.”

  Again, that chipped away at my self-confidence. It felt like he was talking to me as if I were a child, but I didn’t want Hector to see me that way. I wanted him to see me as a woman, someone who could handle what he had to dish out.

  “Thank you, sir,” I said, standing and walking toward the door. “I’ll get on it right away.”

  “Hector,” he said, reaching out and touching my arm. “Please, call me Hector.”

  I gasped at the tingle of warmth that wriggled into my skin at his contact. His breath caught, and our eyes met for a split second before he blinked a few times and looked away. “Well, then, see you after dinner,” he said roughly.

  “Um, yeah. See you.”

  Once the door was closed, I buried my face in my hands. Way to dazzle him with your wit, Sally.

  Telling my inner Ms. Snark to shove it, I squared my shoulders, took a deep breath, and set off toward the elevator. After a few wrong turns, I managed to find the exit, and started across the lush, green grounds. Grecian statues covered by vines, lilac trees, and weeping willows littered the lawn. I wandered around for a moment, taking everything in, before heading up to the cobblestone path to find where I was staying.

  There were four buildings on campus; a boy’s dorm, a girl’s dorm, the main building where the faculty’s offices were, as well as the dining hall and auditorium, and a smaller building that was reserved for special occasions, like banquets. Finding the girls’ dormitory wasn’t that hard. In an adjacent building, it was similarly decorated and nearly as big as the main building where all the faculty stayed, but that didn’t make it any less resplendent. It was just as posh as the first building.

  After getting turned around once, I managed to find my room on the third floor. The hallways were so crowded that it made it difficult to move around. It reminded me of what move-in day at college must be like. A pang of longing went through me. Though I loved to learn, I had no idea what I wanted to major in. But then the whole succubus thing happened and kind of shot those plans to hell.

  Students milled about everywhere, making it hard to move around. After some nudging and several muttered “excuse me’s,” I stopped before my door. Locked. Plugging the key in, I opened the door to a room outfitted in two que
en-sized beds, two bathrooms, two walk-in closets, a modest kitchen, and a living room with a big flatscreen TV. All the furniture was sleek and black, with dark purple trimmings and silver accent decorations, like throw pillows and candles. The air smelled like lavender and vanilla, thanks to the many lit candles throughout the place.

  The bedrooms had dark purple silk comforters, with several fluffy black and silver pillows and black furniture that matched the rest of the apartment.

  Hell, could I just move in? This stuff was way nicer than my crappy hand-me-down furniture and electronics at home.

  Thinking of home sent a bolt of melancholy through me that stung my eyes. I needed to find a time to call Monique, but it would have to wait until after dinner. Now, I was sleepy and in need of a shower.

  There were “get to know you” activities planned the rest of the day, as a way for the students to mingle. Being so pooped, I just wanted to curl up on the bed and fall into a coma. Then I also had my assignment. I wondered if the other students had already met with their mentors and been assigned homework, or if it was just me.

  I shook my head. I was worrying over nothing, and comparing apples to oranges never did anyone any good. I had a kickass mentor. So what if I had homework the first day? No big deal. I was willing to do whatever it took to become awesome at this succubus thing.

  With renewed energy, I opted to ride out my fatigue and listen to the tape. After peering into one of the bedrooms and determining it was occupied, thanks to the clothes littering the floor, I parked all my stuff in the other room, right across the hall. I had just unzipped my suitcase when a low growl behind me made me whirl.

  My eyes went wide.

  Two golden eyes stared back at me as the sleek, black jaguar hissed and slashed at the air from its perch on the bed in my absent roommate’s room.

  What the hell was a thing like that doing in my apartment?

  “Uh, nice kitty?” I said warily, my hands shaking as I tried slowly shuffling toward the door, never taking my eyes off the feline.

  This only seemed to egg it on, because it pounced, launching itself through the air right toward me.

  Chapter 6

  MY FACE SMACKED INTO the floor as two gigantic paws pinned me down. I screamed, thrashing and trying to throw the oversized kitty off, but it stayed put.

  Desperate, I looked around. Where the hell were those charm thingies when you needed one?

  Gritting my teeth, I fought to change shapes into something to give the jaguar a run for its money. My brain was so overloaded with terror, I couldn’t focus.

  I closed my eyes. Concentrate, Sally. You can do this! You have to!

  The jaguar growled, and I tensed, bracing myself to have my throat ripped out.

  “Oh, for crying out loud!” said a sassy voice above me. “I didn’t even scratch you, you pussy!”

  I froze. Did… did the jaguar just talk?

  I cringed as the kitty’s hot breath brushed the back of my neck. “Now I see I don’t have anything to worry about from you. I was concerned, you being a succubus and all, that you’d try to shape-shift and bully me, but now I see you’re pathetic.”

  I gritted my teeth. It wasn’t just a talking jaguar - it was a trash-talking jaguar. That’s when I noticed the paranormal signature rolling off the jaguar. I was too scared earlier to think to check for one.

  “Get. Off. Were,” I growled.

  The jaguar panted, which might have been it laughing. “Or you’ll what? Scream at me some more? I’m terrified.”

  Placing my palms flat, I pushed upward hard, and the cat dove off. By the time I whirled around, a naked girl of Indian descent stood in front of me. She was toned and a little wild-looking, with brown hair that stuck up all over the place, like she’d just crawled out of the jungle.

  Her gaze was no less hostile as a human. “Let this be a warning, succubus - no touching my things, no using my things, and no looking at me the wrong way. Got it?”

  I raised a brow. “And who the hell are you, Your Highness?”

  The girl’s eyes narrowed. “Delilah, daughter of the Kansas City packmaster.”

  “Oh, I get it,” I said, smiling. “You’re daddy’s little princess, aren’t you? Used to getting your way at every turn.” I walked up to her and jabbed a finger in her chest. “Well let me tell you something, sister. I am no pushover. I’m not going to roll over and let you walk all over me. I won’t touch your things, but same rules apply to you. You don’t get in my way, I won’t get in yours.”

  She snorted. “Yeah. Okay. That’s intimidating.”

  I balled my hands into fists so I wouldn’t slap her. If I got expelled for violence, I wouldn’t get a chance to spend time with Hector.

  Picturing him in my mind, naked, made me incredibly calm, but no less saucy. “I know where you sleep at night, bitch. Just remember that.”

  Her jaw dropped in outrage. From what I heard, packmasters were treated like royalty among their kind, which made her something of a princess. She probably wasn’t used to having people talk down to her.

  “My - my father will hear of this!” she screamed as I sauntered into the unclaimed bedroom. “He’s a very powerful man! You’ll be lucky if you’re not the one killed in your sleep, succubus!”

  “Go ahead and try,” I called back blandly, and kicked the door shut. For good measure, I locked it too, though I knew that wouldn’t stop a pissed off were from breaking in. They had crazy strength, and unless they had steel-reinforced locks here, my insolent roomie would have no issue breaking down that door.

  Sighing, I took off my boots and collapsed onto the bed.

  The purple satin comforter and silver pillows were a nice contrast to the honey-colored walls. There was no TV in the room, which was a bummer, but then again I was surprised we had one at all.

  Sighing, I sat up and dug out my laptop, headphones, and a notepad before popping the unnamed disc in the drive and settling back against the pillows.

  I perked up at hearing Hector’s voice. It was so smooth and dark, like being caressed by velvet. “Trista,” he purred. “So good to hear from you again.”

  “I’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

  “As have I. Close your eyes.”

  I did as he said, wanting to visualize things as much as possible.

  “I’m going to slowly unzip your dress, then kiss you from your mouth all the way down to your clit.”

  The familiar heat returned to my cheeks, but it wasn’t as predominate as it was before. Some of it leaked to another area of my body, an ember that hadn’t died since our first meeting.

  Trista must have been having a similar reaction, because she gasped. “Go on.”

  “I’m going to stroke you with my tongue until you’re nice and wet. That’s it. Good girl.”

  My breathing picked up in rhythm with Trista’s.

  “Your hips buck against me as we settle into a familiar rhythm, my tongue lapping faster and faster, bringing you to climax.”

  “Oh, yes,” Trista murmured.

  “You cry out my name,” Hector went on. “Your hands tangle in my hair, and I suck on your swollen clit, then run the tip of my tongue along your damp cleft.”

  “Oh,” Trista moaned.

  A soft gasp escaped me as my back arched, my mind locked deep in the image Hector wove.

  “There now,” Hector said. “I know you’re ready for me. I slowly lower my zipper and pull my pants down, preparing to mount you.”

  Trista and I both sucked in our breaths in anticipation.

  “The tip of my swollen cock caresses your opening, prodding, wanting to enter you.”

  “Yes,” Trista begged. “Please.”

  “I slowly lower myself into you, relishing the way you stretch around me, making room for me. I’m almost too big.”

  I whispered Hector’s name, my nails digging into the satin.

  “You moan as I fully sheath myself. Your pussy feels so warm around my cock.”

&
nbsp; I gasp as he goes on.

  “I’m riding you now, slowly and surely, hitting your sweet spot with each thrust. You buck your hips, grinding your clit against me as we fuck. God, you feel so good. I grab your wrists and hold them above your head as I pound you harder and harder, watching you come.”

  Trista cried out, startling me as she screamed Hector’s name so loudly.

  “You feel amazing spasming around me. Just one more thrust and…”

  The sound of Hector coming, a feral sound somewhere between a groan and a growl, was enough to make my nipples tighten. What would it feel like to have him come inside me, to know I had brought him to climax?

  Trista was panting hard now, as was Hector, though I suspected he was doing it just for show. “Thank you,” Trista said breathlessly.

  “Thank you,” Hector rasped. “Sleep well, princess. I’ll see you at the same time, next week.”

  “Yes,” murmured Trista in a dream-like daze, then the call disconnected.

  The other calls were all like that, following a similar script. Hector, of course, altered it depending on what the caller was asking for, and according to the sex of the caller. The fantasies ranged from screwing in public to orgies.

  By the time the last call ended, I was horny as hell. Thank God I’d brought my vibrator, or I didn’t know how I’d make it through the night.

  Quickly writing notes of everything I’d just learned, I glanced at the clock. Plenty of time to take a nap, get ready, then head over to the main hall for dinner.

  Setting the alarm on the bedside clock, I rolled over and closed my eyes. It took a while to fall asleep because I was so worked-up, but after focusing on my breathing and clearing my mind, I passed out.

  It felt like I’d only closed my eyes before a God-awful dinging woke me up, like a dinner bell was right in my room. Sitting up, it took a few minutes to recognize my surroundings and remember what had happened.

  I glanced at the clock - and immediately leapt out of bed. “Shit!”

  Dinner was at seven, and it was already six forty-five. How the hell had I overslept? A brief inspection of the clock revealed we’d had a power outage. The time flashed midnight, over and over. Swearing, I leapt out of bed. I’d planned on sprucing up, but now I feared I’d look like something the cat dragged in, quite literally if Delilah got hold of me again.