He wondered if she had made a wish.
Sonya sighed and turned her palms up. Tilting her head back, she stretched her arms over her head. After a long stretch, she ran her fingers through her hair. She was bathing in the sunlight. His fierce vampire queen laughed as she began to twirl through the long, flowing green grass. The scene chased away the coldness that had existed in his heart for so long. Over the centuries, he had trained himself not to display emotion of any kind, ever. But when he was with Sonya, Falcon couldn’t mask his emotion and, more importantly, he didn’t want to. Sonya embodied the hope and happiness that he craved. She brought light and love into his world of darkness.
When had he become such a sap?
Easy. The instant he laid eyes on Sonya for the first time.
Falcon shook his head and gave a light laugh as he started down the hill. His lovely mate was chasing a butterfly and…he wanted to kiss her so badly. Damn, she was charming and deceptively lethal. No man would ever assume this tall, lean, blonde with shimmering golden eyes could be a ruthless warrior. His chest swelled with pride. Sonya was strong, smart, sassy, and just the right amount of sexy. And she belonged to him. Fate couldn’t have selected a better match for him.
When he approached her, he reached for her hand, but Sonya spun away.
“Have you come to join the fun?” she asked, dodging him again. Laughing she teased, “Oh, sir knight. I can see the lust in your eyes.”
“Your Majesty, I beg a kiss.”
Sonya pressed her index finger against her lips and studied him. “A kiss. As is in only one?”
Falcon smiled. He would play her game and he would win. “If your Highness would permit, I will give and take more.” He raked his gaze over her body. “Much more.”
“I’ve an idea. If you can catch me, then you may do whatever you like with me.”
Sonya didn’t wait for his response. She spun and took off down the hill, sprinting through the dandelions. A cloud of soft white followed in her wake.
His gaze sharped with need and predatory delight. He no longer harbored a demon, the vampire within him had died, but his instincts hadn’t changed. He would hunt her, he would claim her, and he would taste her blood as she came.
With a growl, Falcon gave chase. Sonya darted into the trees lining the meadow. She was careful not to snap a single branch, but he knew her direction. Every cell in his body was focused on her.
Breaking free of the small forest, he ran faster. Sonya laughed as she went speeding across another open field, glorifying in the feel of the sun upon her skin. Her gold hair whipped in the wind.
He reached for her. Sonya cut to the right.
“You’ve got to do better than that,” she teased.
Falcon chuckled. His demon would have loved this game and he was thankful he wouldn’t have to share the prize with it. Sonya belonged to him. Only him.
He kicked up the speed and lunged for her. She dodged. Falcon quickly recovered and sprinted after her, holding nothing back. He faked left, leading to spin right. She careened around and crashed into his chest. His arms locked around her as they tumbled to the ground. He twisted his body to take the impact.
Falcon pinned her against him and Sonya pummeled his chest with her fists. “You tricked me.”
He smiled. “Everyone expects me to play fair and are shocked when I don’t.”
Her eyes flickered with desire. “I knew underneath your polite exterior you were a bad boy.”
Falcon rolled her beneath him. He braced himself on his arms, his palms pressing into the earth on either side of her head. He came to all fours above her. Leaning down, he nuzzled her neck, drawing her lilac scent deep into his lungs. He traced her pulse with his tongue. Her skin was soft, warm, and tasted of woman and sunshine. Her heart beat quickened beneath his mouth. Falcon sucked on her flesh. She moaned.
Pulling back, he caught her gaze and slowly licked his lips. He could smell her need for him rising.
“Time to collect.”
His voice was deliciously rough. It made her shiver. His molten silver eyes promised pleasure. Her body heated in response. Her nipples tightened and breasts began to ache for his touch, his kiss.
Sonya raised her arms over her head, stretching herself out beneath him. Offering herself to him.
“Yes, knight,” she purred past her extended fangs.
Falcon’s eyes glowed even brighter. His lips hovered just above hers. “I will claim my mate.”
She sighed as he took her mouth. He lifted her torso and stripped her shirt over her head. Fitting himself between her thighs, Sonya rocked her hips, grinding her core against his unyielding hardness.
Slanting his head, Falcon kissed her deeply. His tongue slid erotically against her own and teased her fangs. God, she melted for him. Surrendering to her driving need, she twined her fingers through his hair. Tugging.
Falcon growled. Capturing her hands, he held them above her head while he pulled his shirt off, tossing it to the side. Sonya arched her back, craving the feel of his solid, muscled chest against her breasts. He released her hands and took her lips again. Aggressive and masterful. She gripped his shoulders, reveling in the feel of him. She glided her hand down, over his pecs, his taut abs and past the waistline of his jeans. She curled her finger around his long, hard shaft.
Falcon bit out a curse as she began to stroke his cock. He bent his head to her breasts. Nipping and suckling each nipple in turn. Sonya moaned. Every cell in her body burned for him.
He brought his hands up to cup her breasts. His rough palms scrapped over her damp, sensitive nipples as he kissed her neck. She eagerly shifted beneath him, desperately seeking more contact, more friction. God, she was about to come.
“I want you,” Sonya said on a breath.
He grazed his teeth over her shoulder. Torturous shivers of pleasure coursed through her. With her free hand, she drew down her zipper. Falcon came to his knees and pulled off her boots then yanked her jeans down her legs.
His gaze fixed on her light blue panties. He traced the lace pattern with his fingertips. Sonya trembled beneath his gentle touch. Her breath caught when he pressed a kiss to her naval.
“I need you,” she panted.
His sensual lips turned up in a smile. “You will have me,” he rasped. “But first,” he tore her panties away, “I’ll have you.”
Sonya cried out when his fingers caressed her sex, rubbing up and down. She reached for him, but he pressed her down, his palm flat over her chest. He dipped one finger inside. Sonya’s head fell back.
“So hot,” he whispered. “So wet.”
He withdrew his finger then thrust in two. She moaned in bliss. The sun kissed her skin, the breeze danced over her body, heightening her pleasure.
Sonya perceived Falcon shifting over her. A sharp cry fell from her lips as he claimed her sex with his mouth. Her claws extended and dug into the grass. He sucked her clit until she felt as if she would die from ecstasy. Her orgasm came hard. Her moans carried away on the wind.
Dazed, she tried to sit up. She wanted more. She wanted him. She craved the delicious sensation of him filing her. Falcon held her down. His hand pressing against her chest.
“Not yet.”
“Yes,” she hissed. “Now.”
He thrust his tongue into her core, distracting her. Sonya’s back arched. She felt him smile against her trembling flesh. He replaced his tongue with his fingers.
“Oh, God. Falcon!”
He drove two fingers in and out of her tight sheath, the rhythm was maddening while he continued sucking and licking her. Sonya screamed. Her body clenched. His other hand roughly palmed her breasts. She shuddered through another orgasm.
Through her pleasure blurred vision, Sonya watched him work his pants down and off. The instant his cock sprang free, she shot up. Taking him into her mouth, she stroked him with her tongue.
His head rolled back. He cupped her face while she suckled him, moaning at the taste of him. Sonya wrapped her hands ar
ound his length, pumping up and down as she lapped at him.
Sonya resisted when he drew back, but his strength was greater than hers’. He rolled to his back, positioning her over him. She straddled his hips, his tick erection straining towards his naval. Falcon cupped her nape, pulling her face down to his. Silver and gold clashed as they gazed into each other’s eyes. He kissed her so hard when he pulled away she was left gasping.
Falcon palmed her hip and reached down. Holding his shaft, he pressed the head against her slick core. Sonya rocked back. His cock slid over her cleft and brushed along her clitoris. Falcon’s fingers tightened on her hip. With a shove, he forced her down. Sonya called out his name as she took him into her body. Nothing felt more right.
Framing her hips with both hands now, Falcon lifted her then slammed her back down. Sonya threw her head back. Her long flaxen hair tumbled down her back. She scraped her claws down his chest and across his abs. Rocking against him, Sonya took control, setting the pace.
Falcon gazed up at her, his silver stare a mix of love, desperate need, and awe.
Oh, yes. This was so right. This was what she had been missing. He was everything she had been missing in her life.
Sonya opened her knees wider, taking him even deeper. She swept her hair back, piling it atop her head as she rode him. Falcon’s hands moved over her body. Flames of pleasure burned everywhere he touched. Turning her face up, she gloried in the sky, in the spring scents that surrounded them, and in the rapturous sensation of Falcon buried inside her.
He sat up, his arms locking around her. He kissed her shoulder and traced the circles of their mating brand with his tongue. She trembled. Then she felt his teeth. Her instincts went wild. Anticipation spiked her desire, driving her closer to the edge of pleasurable madness.
“Are you going to bite me?” she asked breathlessly.
Falcon flashed her a smile, revealing his elongated fangs. In a whirl of movement, she was on her back.
“Yes.” He licked her sensitive flesh above her pulse. “I want to feel you come with my cock and my fangs buried deep within you.” Falcon punctuated his words with a hard thrust.
He scraped his fangs along her throat. He sunk them deep before she could even gasp. With his first draw on her pulse, her eyelids fluttered closed. Pressure built within her, tightening every muscle of her body. She circled her legs around his waist. Her claws cut into his back, which spurred him on. He pounded into her, rocketing her toward the heavens.
The combined pleasure of his skilled thrusts ad his pulls on her neck was indescribable. Earth shattering. Sonya’s toes curled. Bliss unlike any she had ever known claimed her. She climaxed again, screaming his name in ecstasy to the sky.
Falcon’s fangs sliced even deeper into her flesh. Her blood sweetened with her orgasm. He shuddered and sucked even harder, taking more of her. Sonya cradled his head. Holding him against her, she tunneled her fingers through his hair.
She begged for mercy. She didn’t think she could come anymore. Gasping for air, she believed she would die from pleasure.
His body plunged into her, demanding more.
“Falcon!” she cried, her eyes flashing open when she climaxed once more.
Her entire body shook as her sheath clenched around his shaft, squeezing him.
Falcon came with her. Throwing back his head, he roared. She felt him ejaculate, pumping his seed hotly and relentlessly inside her.
When the last after shock released him, Falcon rolled to his back. Supporting himself on his elbows he studied their surroundings. Sonya reach up and caressed his jaw.
“The sun will be setting soon. We should head back and get ready before the team arrives.”
Sonya sighed. She was not looking forward to returning and facing the Validus and Voidukas counsel. Her stomach knotted as she imagined their reaction to their mating. Their love was forbidden but – her fingers dropped down to trace his newest scar – this changed everything.
Falcon bent down and kissed her shoulder. When that didn’t snap her out of her dark thoughts, he nipped at her.
She laughed. “That tickles.”
“You’re gorgeous when you smile,” he whispered.
Sonya frowned and gave a pout. “You’ve wounded my pride.”
Falcon chuckled. “Is that right, my wicked queen?”
“I’m always gorgeous.”
“Please, I humbly beg your forgiveness.”
Her smile brightened, her eyes shimmered with amusement. “You’re forgiven.”
Sonya rolled to the side. She lay atop their discarded clothes, her head resting on his chest. She leisurely traced the lines of his abs.
“Let’s be serious.”
Falcon groaned, “Only if it is absolutely necessary.”
She really didn’t want to have this conversation either, but they had more than a few things to clear up before they returned to vampire territory.
Brushing her fingers over the mating brand on his shoulder, she whispered, “This changes everything.”
Falcon captured her fingers and brought them to his lips. “I know.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means,” he wrapped his arms around her, tucking her tightly against him, “that I will never let you go.”
Sonya felt tears gather in her eyes. She wanted to believe that, but her logical side couldn’t comprehend how their relationship could work.
“Hadrian will─”
“Understand,” Falcon said. “Besides, my king has found his mate. Eva is strong and intelligent. She will keep him under control.” His chest vibrated with a short laugh. “She also has a supernatural ability. Eva calms him. She can bring him back from the brink of madness with just a word or a light touch.”
“What of the law?”
He shrugged. “I am your mate, Sonya. That trumps any vampire law.”
“The counsel may not think so.”
“They will.”
God, she wished she could feel as confident as Falcon. She didn’t have much faith in her counsel in this situation. Her Clan had a history of viewing the law in black and white.
“You needn’t worry about your Clan Counsel.”
Sonya huffed, “You don’t know them I like do.”
Falcon fell silent for a long moment, his fingers absently skipping over her back.
“The Shaw will support our union as will the other vampire monarchs,” he said.
He had a valid point. It was the shaman who cast the spell creating mates for the rightful rulers. Her fellow rulers of darkness would not turn their backs on them.
“Why do you doubt our relationship?”
Sonya’s chest tightened. She could hear the hurt in his voice. “I’m not purposefully fighting us. I’ve been alone for so long and I’ve told myself countless times we could never be together…I need some time to adjust.”
She hoped he understood.
Falcon lovingly pinched her chin and titled her head up. Their gazes locked. “We need to trust our instincts,” he said, the deep baritone of his voice sent delicious vibrations through her. “Right now, every part of me says this is right.”
Sonya kissed him. “I know this is right.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jordan nervously tapped her foot as she waited for Mattie and Lynn to return. They had abandoned her back stage nearly thirty minutes ago. Those brats had said they were getting drinks and would be right back. Jordan rolled her eyes. Team Bimbo must have spotted a couple of hot guys and forgotten all about her. Normally, Jordan wouldn’t care if either or both friends ran off, it was their usual M.O., but she really didn’t want to be alone right now. In her state of mind, she couldn’t be held accountable for her actions.
Any second Ryan, her ex, could walk by and Jordan seriously doubted she would be able to resist the urge to punch the sleazebag in the nose.
She mumbled a curse. Why was she here? She should have canceled the show like she had wanted. Jordan knew the owner, Ryan�
��s mother, would understand. Tara was a nice, sensible woman and she carried no delusions about her son. He was a cheater, apparently like his father.
“Sadly, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, J,” Tara has said when Jordan arrived at the bar. “You’re a great girl. I had hoped he would make it work with you.”
Jordan rubbed her brow. It was too late to back out now. The bar was packed and even though she wasn’t the only act on stage tonight, her name had been the one to draw the crowd. Which meant Ryan would definitely be here. He could never resist the opportunity to surround himself with drunk women.
Anger sparked within her once more. She wasn’t mad at Ryan, although she had every right to be. She had walked in on him in bed with another woman and the bastard had the nerve to smile at her and ask if she wanted to join. God, her stomach churned even now just thinking about it.
Okay, she was mad at him, but she was infuriated with herself. She should have seen this coming. Every relationship she had ended in disaster. Her intimacy issues were her doom. And like an idiot, she had fooled herself into thinking this time would be different. She had lowered her walls and allowed herself to trust Ryan. Big mistake. After being raised by the system, she had learned early on she could trust no one.
Giggles came from the right corner of the stage and were quickly followed by stumbling footsteps. Jordan jumped from her perch atop an oversized speaker and swept the corner of the heavy red velvet curtain aside.
“Hey!” Mattie greeted, tripping over the top step. “Damn it, I spilt my beer.”
“Try watching where you step,” Lynn said.
“The shot survived,” Mattie pointed out, holding up the small glass in triumph. “This is for you, honey.”
Jordan shook her head. “No thanks. Tequila will get you knocked up.”
“Since my future husband is the one who bought it, I don’t see a problem with that.” Mattie tossed the shot back and chased it with a gulp of her beer.
“Future husband? Girl, you talked to him for a second,” Lynn laughed.
Mattie scoffed, “More like five minutes.”
Caressed by Shadows (Rulers of Darkness Book 4) Page 20
