Monsters, Book One: The Good, The Bad, The Cursed

by Heather Killough-Walden

  No, he didn’t kiss her. He devoured her.

  Blood rushed through her eardrums and insane lust clouded her consciousness. A lava flow of aching desire poured into her core, setting it alight. Jake forced her to relent without patience, without mercy, and when she finally opened beneath him, parting her teeth to let him in, he took her over like a man who’d been denied something he needed his entire life. His lips were bruising, his tongue subjugating hers.

  Angel felt his soft black hair between her fingers and realized distantly that she’d shoved her hands behind his head to grasp him tightly. She’d never been kissed like this. No woman had ever been kissed like this. And yet this was how every woman needed to be kissed. Desperately. Madly. Always.

  His kiss became harder, more demanding. She lost her breath beneath its onslaught until he pulled away to scorch a trail across her chin, down her neck, and along her collar bone. She was burning up. As he nipped the bone gently, grazing enough to leave a mark, an explosion of need went off inside her, and Angel pulled his hair roughly.

  Jake’s body tensed against hers.

  He pressed his hands to the car hood on either side of her and slowly rose above her to fix his cruel gaze in hers. Angel’s breaths came in shallow pants of anticipation as he stared her down.

  “Take your clothes off, Angel.”

  The command gave her a delicious thrill, causing her breath to hitch and her vision to go glassy. But Angel was again stubborn first, and everything else second. She bit her lip seductively, watching his eyes flick to her mouth and back up again. Then she shook her head just once, side to side.

  Jake’s beautiful mouth slipped into a conniving smile. “Fine,” he said, grabbing her wrist to yank her into a sitting position in front of him. He was straddling her legs with his knees on the hood, a firm arm wrapped around her waist to keep her there. His hand spread possessively across the small of her back, his fingers once more branding her where they slipped past her shirt.

  He pulled her in close. “If you insist, I can always help you take them off.” He grinned then, flashing fangs, and Angel knew he meant that if she didn’t take them off herself, he would rip them off.

  Her stubborn streak held, though. It was too much fun to defy him. “I’ll get cold,” she told him bravely, rebelliously. It was a blatant lie, and she knew he knew it. She knew he could hear her heart, her breathing. She knew he could probably smell her desire. Hell, she was anything but cold. She was on fire.

  He shook his head. He was game. “Such insolence.”

  This was the part of the dance she’d always liked best, the part she always dreamed of. It was the part she read over and over again in countless romance novels. This was what she wanted, this power play that allowed a woman to feel okay with giving up control. Because the man she loved was going to take it from her anyway.

  Angel felt a sudden tightening in her chest. The man I…. Her eyes focused on the razor-sharp tips of his long, white canines as if focusing on them could make her forget what she’d just thought. But it couldn’t. The man I…. She swallowed hard past the massive lump forming in her throat.

  Body quaking with untamed desire, fear, and something much deeper, something much stronger, Angel slowly lifted her gaze back to his.

  Jake was no longer smiling. His emerald eyes speared into her soul, struck-through with so much stark, painful emotion, Angel felt shocked to her core.

  He’d heard her thoughts. And he knew the truth.

  “Damn,” he ground out through deadly, clenched teeth. “Give yourself to me, Angel.”

  Again, his hands framed her face and his lips claimed hers in a kiss. But though this kiss was neither as hard nor bruising as the first, it was all the more desperate. She felt his fangs with her tongue, and it filled her with awe. They were a predatory adaptation, a weapon, sleek and dangerous, and a curiosity fueled by desire got the better of her. She felt his strong body shaking slightly against her as she slowly, tentatively explored them. He allowed her this cautious discovery with infinite patience, careful never to pierce her with their exacting tips.

  After a few moments, he slid his hands down her body to the hem of her shirt, grasped it firmly, and broke their kiss just long enough to pull it off her. Then he was kissing her again, and Angel felt the night air caress her breasts as he deftly removed her bra.

  Jake moved over her, skillfully urging her back until she was laying once more against the cool, smooth hood of his car. The forbidden sensation of the metal at her back and the forest all around her was a heady cocktail of seduction, and the last of Angel’s will finally crumbled. It fell away from her to join her clothing in tatters on the ground as Jake rid her of her boots, jeans, and undergarments in no time flat.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Angel lay still beneath the glowing green gaze of Jacob Crow and let him look at her. With painful deliberation, his eyes slid slowly down her body, lighting a fire across every inch of flesh they touched. She was left scorched beneath him, her body so hot it steamed in the afternoon mist.

  He was still entirely clothed, black biker jacket and all. The contrast between the hard leather-clad man and the fully exposed woman beneath him was absolute. Angel had never felt more wantonly exposed. It was liberating. It was delicious. And it was maddening.

  By the time his gaze was slipping past her hip bones to the soft patch of curls between her legs, Angel couldn’t keep from moving under him. She was new to this, and there was only so much she could take. His gaze was too intense. He was raking her through the coals. But when she broke and made to cover herself with her arms, Jake reacted so fast, she didn’t even see him move.

  She gasped when she found both of her wrists locked once more in a firm grip above her head. She bit her lip hard to keep her desperate sound locked in her throat. As if she couldn’t help testing his authority over her, she pulled against his grip.

  Jake’s fanged smile was back, and his gaze narrowed.

  Angel’s breath caught. He leaned over her, cupped her cheek with infinite tenderness, and kissed her gently. She closed her eyes as more warmth infused her.

  But his free hand slid down her throat, squeezing gently before it continued over her collar bone, and finally cupped her pert, round breast. Angel gasped against his mouth and arched her back, pressing the yielding flesh into the palm of his hand. He laughed against her lips as his thumb brushed over her nipple, flicking it at just the right moment to draw it taut with blood. She jumped a little at the torture. Her nipple grew and hardened against him and more moisture gathered between her legs.

  Jake broke his kiss, allowing the night to fill with the sound of Angel’s erratic breathing and soft sounds. She kept her eyes squeezed shut as his mouth moved over her chin and down her neck, following the path he’d taken before. But now he parted his lips and scraped gently, carefully, at her throat with the business end of his fangs, and Angel found herself holding her breath.

  He paused over her throbbing pulse. She tried to stop her shaking, but her attempts were futile. She was fracturing inside, she had to be. Because she wanted this. She wanted him to sink those teeth of his into her vein and make her his completely.

  Jake growled low and long against her skin, an animal sound he hadn’t made before, and his hold on her tightened so hard it hurt. But there was no piercing pain at her throat; he didn’t bite her. Instead, Angel continued to hold her breath and writhe with growing impatience as he moved further down her body, his breath burning, his teeth gently scraping until she felt his hot words whisper across the ultra-sensitive flesh of her other breast. “You are so fucking perfect,” he told her, his voice trembling. His words were filled with so much honesty, they seemed to bring him pain.

  Then his tongue reached out and flicked across the hard, waiting nub of her nipple, causing Angel to react violently in his embrace, tightening every muscle as if to pull away. He held her fast and did it again, drawing a small cry from her before he pulled her entire nipple into
his mouth and sucked hard, nipping it gently with the tips of his teeth.

  “Fuck… Jake!” Angel cried, unable to contain herself. She arched against him, pressing as hard as she could in her need to have more – just more. Some kind of ecstasy waited at the end of the rocky tunnel he dragged her inexorably through. That tunnel was narrowing. She would fucking lose it if he didn’t bring her to an end soon.

  With another deep growl that vibrated through Angel’s entire body, Jake repositioned himself, using his strong legs to part hers until he was kneeling between them. With his free hand, he ripped open the front of his jeans, freeing himself. She could hear him but not see him. And then, quite suddenly, she could feel him.

  He was blistering hot, like a huge metal brand as if that part of him had been waiting in a brazier, getting good and ready to exact torture on her from the inside. She’d heard that vampires were hot during love making; they were creatures of blood, and it was the blood that heated in passion. But she’d had no idea… none whatsoever, that by hot they’d meant sweltering.

  She jerked in his grip, all at once trying to get away even as she wanted him to sink inside her all the more. Jake gripped her chin with his fingers and placed a mockingly tender kiss to her lips before he said, “You can’t get away. So open your eyes and look at me, Angel.”

  Angel felt his vampire magic then; he let her sense it as it wrapped around her and forced her to do as he commanded. She opened her eyes and gazed up at him. He was sweet, sexual death in all its promised glory above her, spellbinding and forbidden.

  “I want to see everything I do to you reflected in your eyes,” he said, before she inhaled sharply and his scalding cock parted the tender, wet lips of that most sensitive part of her.

  He slowly sank in, stretching her with his pulsing size, searing her as he pressed ever inward. In the distance, Angel heard herself cry out. She heard her breathing, rapid and desperate. She felt herself fighting in Jake’s grasp, but he maintained ultimate control over her, and she kept her eyes on his even while he claimed her with the cruel, calculated measure of a man with no conscience.

  It became laborious to exist, so very hard to go on living beneath his brutally gradual penetration. He took his sweet time, gliding inch by inch into her, and it honestly felt like forever before he claimed her completely.

  By the time he had the entire immense length of himself inside her, Angel was so full, so wonderfully and painfully stretched taut, and so teased by his slow progress, harsh lust took her over, giving her the strength to break his hold on her.

  She tore his gaze from hers, squeezing her eyes shut as she screamed, “You son of a bitch!” Sexual anguish ripped the words from her lips as she yanked her arms against his grip. You’re killing me! her spinning mind screamed. For the love of all that is sane, just take me!

  Jake stilled above her, directly defying her demands as surely as she’d just defied him. Angel bucked in his grip, fighting with renewed vigor. She pulled against him with distracted fury, trying anything she could to make him move inside her, to carry her further down that tunnel before it ate her up and drove her senseless.

  “Seriously insolent,” he said softly.

  Angel’s eyes flew open. When they met Jake’s, it was to find they had finally shifted from green to red.

  The sight was staggering. And yet somehow, it made her contract around Jake’s cock with blatant yearning. If anything, the new boost of fear she experienced only added to the craving already devouring her.

  Jake held her gaze hard this time, allowing her no retreat as he ran his fingers down the side of her ribs, across her stomach, and through the curls between her legs. He dipped lower, finding the hard, pulsing nub of her clitoris and surrounded it with deft, experienced pressure. At the same time, he unhurriedly pulled his fire-brand cock from her core. It pulled at her inner walls, dragging along their nerve endings to elicit a moan from Angel long and low.

  He withdrew inch by inch – then sank back in. Then he did it again. His fingers and his smooth, steady rhythm carried her to another plane of carnality. He pressed harder, almost painfully with his fingertips, forcing more blood into her clitoris as he slowly rode her. Little by little he brought the swollen nub to painful sensitivity that felt like lightning strikes of sharp pleasure every time he pulled out of her and drove back in.

  Over and over, he speared into her tight, wet heat, stretching her, taking her, asserting his possession of her from the inside. Gradually the night and the trees, the car and the fog drifted away from Angel’s consciousness. There was only her body, Jake’s body, and his powerful, experienced hands exacting cry after cry from the depths of her throat. She was wild in his arms, meeting him with every thrust, bringing the blissful pain she frantically needed.

  Higher and higher, closer and closer she climbed toward a climax unlike any she’d ever known. But he kept her from it, skillfully pulling her back every time the prize came too near. A frenzy of lust eventually claimed her, blotting out all reason.

  He released her arms, knowing now that she could not escape, that she was his. But her fingernails carved furrows into his arms, payback for his endless, pitiless torture. He didn’t notice, and it went on for an eternity, this pure punishing branding. His body seared away every sane thought she’d ever had.

  Angel felt tears sting her eyes beneath the punishment that finally became too much to bear. And then, as if he took pity on her, Jake applied direct pressure to just the right spot between her legs and slammed into her with brutal, exacting force, rocking her violently against his car.

  Again, he did it. And again.

  Angel threw back her head and screamed as the violence brought her mercy. Jake roared like an animal into the night when they came together, and Angel’s orgasm dug deep, deep down, coiling from some place she hadn’t even known was there, then ripping free with almost vicious, exquisite bliss. It rocked through her on wave after wave – after wave. It was inhuman, it was unnatural, it lasted more than a full minute, and it was… it was....

  “It was you,” she whispered hoarsely, unable to say or think anything else.

  Her body continued to pulse, continued to squeeze Jake’s cock, and he continued to empty himself into her over and over again.

  When he was finished, Jake lowered his head and gazed down at her through the dark hair that fell over his face. Angel stared up at her vampire lover and memorized the monster in that moment. He was too beautiful not to.

  With stunned and limitless tenderness, he lowered himself over her, moved his strong body to one side, and pulled Angel tight against his chest. But he remained buried deep inside her, filling her completely, and she shivered at how hard he still was.

  She felt the cool metal of his jacket zipper against her fevered skin, the un-giving material of its leather circling her like a protective barrier. As they lay there connected, Angel closed her eyes and sank into the brief sleep that only came to the recently ravaged.

  When she awoke some time later, Jake made love to her a second time, taking her right back to that precipice of dangerous pleasure and ruthlessly shoving her over.

  Once he’d sufficiently slaked his passion for her, and more than slaked hers, he at last withdrew carefully from her and re-buttoned his jeans. Then he took off his leather jacket and slid her into it before he again pulled her against his chest and spooned her for hours.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  The sun was just setting when they reached the Monsters safe house. Jake put the car in park, turned it off, and stayed in his seat. He thought one last time about what he was going to do. After a minute, he turned to face Angel and pinned her with an uncompromising gaze. “Alright,” he said, “I’ll let you in on the Apex job. But only on two conditions.”

  Angel released the breath he knew she’d been holding and closed her eyes in relief. She hadn’t brought it up since she’d first mentioned it earlier that morning in his garage. But he knew it was on her mind. It was why she’d come t
o him in the first place.

  She turned to face him in the passenger seat. “What are the conditions?” she asked.

  “One, at absolutely no time during the job – none whatsoever – will you work alone. You will work with me. Every single thing you do, you do with me. If you ever attempt to go about any part of the case on your own, I’ll officially pull you from the job. Understand? And to keep you from working on it, I’ll tie you to a chair in the Monsters safe house interrogation room.”

  Angel’s eyes widened. He heard her heart rate speed up significantly, and he knew she was well aware he wasn’t joking. He would do it. He absolutely did not want her facing the Apex alone. He felt kind of nuts for letting her face it at all.

  But she was right. This was her prerogative. It was all about her. If it had been a man in her position, no one would bat an eye before agreeing he should have the right to deal with it. Jake wasn’t going to let her being a woman taint his trust in her warden abilities. She was exceedingly capable. She was smart, strong, fast, and she was magic.

  Angel contemplated the condition for a moment in silence, then nodded. “Alright,” she said. “Agreed. What’s the second condition?”

  Now he looked from her eyes to her lips to the bit of bare shoulder that peeked above her shirt, and back at her eyes again. “Once this is over, you agree to be mine.”

  Angel was visibly surprised. “What?”

  “You heard me. If we manage to get this shit figured out, I don’t want you disappearing behind Vega lines again. If I agree to let you work this case with me, I want something in return. I want you.”

  Angel blushed furiously and looked down at the hands she held in her lap. “Jake,” she said softly, “you just… had me.”

  “I haven’t even started, Angel,” he told her.

  She looked up at him wide-eyed. Her already accelerated heart rate went into overdrive. So he reached over and gently took her hand. “When this is all over, I want to get to know you. All of you. And I want you to get to know me. That’s all I ask, Angel. Do we have a deal?”