House of Darken (Secret Keepers Series Book 1)

by Jaymin Eve

  “How often do you come up here?” I asked, turning my head so I could see what Qenita was up to.

  She was not where we left her. It wasn’t until a cascade of water washed over me that I realized she was bathing in the next pool over, one large enough to fit her giant form. I chuckled as she played in the water, acting very puppy-like.

  “Before my time on Earth, Qenita and I would come here at least once a month,” Lexen answered me. “One of the benefits of being dragon lord.”

  The urge to press myself into all of his smooth chest muscles just got too much, and as I scooted closer he draped an arm around me. “Leaving Qenita was one of the reasons you hated going to Earth, wasn’t it?” My quiet question fell on his chest, my face pressed against it as it rose and fell gently.

  “Yes, it’s painful for us to be apart for extended periods of time. Plus, I missed her.”

  Such a simple answer, but the emotions behind those words were not. It had been more than a little difficult for him. I sat straighter, wanting to meet his eyes. “I’m sure you can petition the council to remain behind. As long as most of the overlord minors are there, no one would know, right?”

  Lexen’s lips hit mine, taking me completely by surprise. I recovered in a heartbeat, straddling him in a single movement. The going slow thing died almost instantly as the fire between us exploded. Hands were everywhere as Lexen’s tongue caressed mine and I lost all sense of reality.

  The scrape of skin, the taste of him on my lips, the rumble of his chest under my hands. Lexen was beyond hot, everything about him physical perfection, but it was so much more than that which had my attraction levels soaring into the sky. His loyalty. Heart. Caring nature.

  It was too much. But I definitely would not complain.

  When it was breathe or pass out, I wrenched my mouth from his. Our bodies remained locked together, all of his hardness pressed against my softness.

  “That was certainly a nice response to my suggestion of staying here on Overworld.”

  He grinned, cupping my face with both hands. I loved how much he touched me; it was like he couldn’t help himself. And I was a sucker for all of it.

  “While I would love to stay with Qenita,” he told me, “there’s no way you’re going back to Astoria without me. I have no idea what Laous is up to. I have no idea what the future holds for the treaty, but the one thing I know for certain is that I can’t be away from you.”

  I groaned. “Tell me again why we’re taking it slow.” I rocked into him, because my body ached. He did things to me that I didn’t even know were things. And I was not exactly innocent. Well, I had thought I wasn’t innocent, but I was starting to see my lame introduction to sex was nothing compared to what Lexen would bring to my world.

  And I wanted to experience it all with him.

  “We have all the time in the world, melerde.”

  The unfamiliar word, in his sexy-ass accent, was enough to have my pulse racing. Except it wasn’t completely unfamiliar. I was pretty sure I’d heard it before, but I couldn’t remember.

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  He pressed another kiss to my lips, his hands falling from my face to wrap across my back, pulling me even more firmly into him. “My love,” he replied, between the touches of our lips.

  I jerked back from him, sucking in a shot of air through my nose. “You love me?”

  Way to go, Emma … so smooth.

  Laughter burst from Lexen. “Despite the fact that you look horrified right now, I’m confident enough to confirm your suspicions. I do, in fact, love you. Everything about you. You’ve constantly surprised me, from the first moment you broke the rules and followed us on Daelight Crescent.”

  I managed to smooth my expression, sucking in another fortifying breath. “You’re wrong, Lexen Darken. There’s nothing horrifying about what you just said. More like overwhelming, unbelievable, absolutely amazing.” I breathed deeply again, finding the next words easy to say: “And while I’m not exactly an expert on love, I’m almost certain I’ve loved you since you kidnapped me.”

  “I felt it from that first moment, too,” he said, his eyes holding me with their intensity. “I’m sorry about the kidnapping. I just needed you to be safe, and I used whatever excuse I could to make that happen.”

  “Are you still worried about me being in your world?”

  He brushed a hand across my cheek, caressing it gently. “I still worry that you’re going to get hurt from being in my world, but it’s clear that you were always meant to be here. I won’t fight fate. I will take my gifts.”

  I smirked. “So I’m a gift now?”

  He flipped me over, so now he was the one pressing into me. Smooth rock lined my spine, and I held my breath, waiting for him to make his move.

  “Always tempting me,” he murmured, running his hands up and down my legs.

  Holy shit.

  21

  One Month Later

  The bell rang and I hauled my books up, almost smacking myself in the face. I was so ready to get out of my last class.

  “What’s the rush, sprout?”

  I glared at Jero, shaking my head. “Sprout? Really? I think you’ve officially run out of nicknames.”

  He waited for me to finish stacking my textbooks. He, of course, had no books to retrieve. The Daelighters were still rocking their bookless genius status. Meanwhile, I was studying my ass off because I had missed so much school and I was not keen on falling behind. No way was I repeating my senior year.

  Thank God for Lexen and his superior intellect. I didn’t even care anymore that he was smarter and more athletic than me, because I reaped the benefits of those skills secondhand.

  Jero took the heavy pile of books from me, slinging an arm across my shoulders and pulling me into him. Despite the fact that all of the Darkens were quite handsy with me, and had been for the past month at school, multiple gasps and hooded looks still shot in our direction.

  “Girlfriend! The gossips love you,” Ben trilled as he walked by us.

  I just shook my head at him, glad that I’d managed to explain away my absence to Ben and Cara. Both of them accepted a lame story about an impromptu road trip which ended up with me in hospital. I had the scars to prove it, so they’d fawned over me, and I’d been grateful for their friendship.

  Ben waved, heading toward the drama room. It was coming into the winter season of plays, which was apparently a big deal. Or so he liked to remind us. I knew Ben hid his pain in school activities. He was still having a lot of trouble at home, but he seemed to be able to handle it. Mostly.

  I wanted to smack his parents in the mouth, but Lexen had me on a strict no smacking ban. Apparently I needed to stay out of trouble.

  “Are you excited about tonight?” Jero asked, a shit-eating grin stretching his mouth.

  Trying my best not to blush, I shrugged. “You know, we’re just watching a movie and having dinner…”

  Despite the fact Lexen and I had never been closer, we’d hardly had any alone time since returning from Overworld. Sara and Michael suddenly developed some very real rules, and I was to return home at exactly 5 P.M daily. Since I’d almost lost them, and they in turn thought for days I was dead, I had been indulging their overprotectiveness. We were bonding over the new knowledge of the supernatural we all possessed.

  Michael and Sara might have always known there was an “alien” species on Earth, but they never expected it to be what it was. Me and my family’s ties to it, more than anything, astonished them.

  Jero interrupted my thoughts with a laugh. “Lexen has the entire house to himself while the rest of us return to Overworld … and you’re just going to watch a movie?”

  I shrugged his arm off me, narrowing my eyes on him. “I’m not discussing my sex life with you.” Or lack thereof. A fact that would hopefully be rectified tonight.

  Jero hooted with laughter. “Lexen is going to have his hands full with you.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Literally.” />
  I was just about to break my smacking rule when tall, dark, and deadly entered the hall we were in. I took off as fast as my lazy legs could go. Lexen caught me with ease, lifting me up so that our mouths could meet.

  “You know, you’re barely even puffing,” he said when we pulled apart.

  I snort-laughed. “Yes, because an evil sadist has been making me go jogging with him.”

  Setting me on my feet, he brushed some of my wavy hair back. “You’ve been three times, and I had to promise you ice cream before you’d even get dressed.”

  I folded my arms over my chest, tilting my head to the side as I gave a rueful shrug. “It’s never going to be my thing. You should just give up, accept that I have strengths in other areas.”

  “Yeah, she did knit you that wicked scarf,” Jero added as he caught up to us.

  I wanted to glare at the sarcastic asshole, but he kind of had a point. I was so distracted when I tried to knit around Lexen that I kept missing stitches and loops. My last creation was both holey and lopsided.

  But he’d worn it. Inside, at least.

  “Jero…” Lexen warned his brother. Apparently he didn’t have a smacking rule, so Jero heeded that warning and held both hands up in surrender, veering to the right, heading toward the moving sidewalk that would take him to the parking lot.

  “Have fun tonight, kids,” he called as he jumped on. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

  And I was blushing again.

  Lexen took pity on me, not calling attention to my pink cheeks. He just held his hand out and I placed mine in it, our fingers linking together.

  “Jero stole my books,” I murmured, trying desperately not to think about the fact that Lexen and I would have the entire night together. Our first true alone time in a month.

  “He’ll leave them at home. You always do your homework there anyway,” Lexen reminded me. “Have the Finnegans left yet?” he asked after another moment of silence.

  I nodded, pulling out my brand new cell phone. Being a member of House of Darken came with some additional perks – on top of Lexen’s abs. And no one took no for an answer. Pushy aliens. “Yep, Sara just texted me and said that they were halfway to California.”

  They’d won a weekend away, skillfully set up by the Darkens. They hadn’t wanted to leave me, but I told them I would be perfectly safe with Lexen, and since they loved him to death they eventually agreed it was time for them to loosen the strings. Sara even set me up on birth control, because they were too young to be grandparents to a little humalien baby.

  Michael’s word, of course.

  Birth control was not something I wanted to discuss with my guardians, but at least it meant they were accepting that Lexen was part of my life – for the long haul.

  “Come on, little human. Let’s get out of here.”

  We walked hand in hand to the car. Lexen opened the door to his low-slung sports car and I slid inside. We roared out of the parking lot. Daelighters loved to drive fast, and I was slowly acquiring a taste for it. The gates were open to our street when we arrived, no delay for us to enter, and then it was on to Lexen’s mansion. I eyed my shoebox house on the other side of the street, not at all sad that I wouldn’t be sleeping on that rock-like mattress tonight.

  While we were waiting for the gate to open, Lexen met my gaze. “Everything okay? You’re quiet.”

  As my smile grew, I arched an eyebrow in his direction. “Are you saying I talk a lot?”

  “Yes,” came his reply without hesitation. “You talk constantly. And I love it. I never thought I could handle the need humans have to chat constantly, but now, when you’re quiet, I miss your voice.”

  I laughed derisively. “There’s still an asshole hidden under your sweet side, I see.”

  He didn’t deny it as we traveled down the long driveway. It was kind of nice that he never lied to me or tried to hide who he was. The truth was, Lexen could be cold and lethal, like he was when I first stumbled into his world, but he also cared more deeply than anyone I’d ever met. His heart was huge, and the fact that even a small part of it loved me … that was more than I ever thought I would have.

  As soon as Lexen pulled into their underground garage, he was at my side in an instant. My door was open and I was hauled up into his arms before I could blink. “It’s okay if I carry you this once, right?” he said as he hurried inside. “Your human legs are just way too slow, and I want every second we have to be alone.”

  Yeah, I was definitely not going to complain. As soon as we were inside the stunning ground level, ocean crashing in the distance outside the window, Lexen crossed into the white kitchen. He sat me down on the island bench, stepping between my legs. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and then we both took a moment to enjoy the closeness.

  “What do you want to do first?” he asked me, leaning in close, his lips skimming across my throat. “Movie? Food?”

  Instead of answering, I let out a breathy sigh, digging my fingers into his shirt and pulling him closer. He had ditched the coat and was wearing the school-issued button-down shirt open at the collar, untucked, sexy and disheveled.

  “I … I want…” I sucked in another breath, trying to string a sentence together. His lips were on my neck now and I was self combusting. “Room,” I finally got out. “Take me … to … your room.”

  Lexen pulled back, fire in his eyes. “Are you sure? There is no rush, melerde. We have an eternity together.”

  An actual growl ripped from my throat, and the heat Lexen naturally exuded flared to life, sending hot trickles along my skin. He didn’t move though; he was waiting for me to say the words. “I’m sure, Lex.” I placed my hand on his chest, right above his heart. “I choose you, us, this … always.”

  Lexen’s hands went under me as he hauled me up and into his body. My legs wrapped around his waist and our mouths found each other again as he blindly strode away, heading in the direction of the stairs. He stumbled once, but quickly gained his footing, despite the fact that we couldn’t seem to separate ourselves. Not even for a second.

  In his room, the extra soft bed cushioned me as Lexen dropped me down onto it. He crawled over the top of me and I drank in the sight of him. I must have ripped a few of the buttons of his shirt – totally didn’t remember doing that – because I was catching delicious glimpses of bronze skin and muscles.

  Working my bottom lip between my teeth, I decided I might as well finish the job. Dropping on my back, I gripped his shirt on either side and yanked hard.

  Nothing happened.

  “Stupid buttons,” I groaned.

  Lexen laughed, lowering his body down, pressing me into the bed. “Maybe you should leave the buttons to me.”

  Somehow he managed to remove my shirt and his own before I could even blink again. His eyes skimmed down the top half of my body, clad only in a plain black bra now. He pressed his lips to the swell of my breast and I moaned, threading my fingers through his hair, running my fingertips across the etchings in the side of his hair.

  Lexen moved lower, paying close attention to every part of my bare skin, kissing and licking. My body was moving against him, an unraveling feeling inside taking over. “Lex,” I gasped, pulling him back up so I could taste him, feel his lips.

  The rest of our clothing disappeared in the same magical way as the shirts, and for a moment I was shy, because I was not often naked around smoking-hot dudes. At the same time, it was Lexen, and I trusted him more than any other.

  I lost all sense of time after that. It was just taste and touch, skin brushing across skin, spiraling sensations that took me to places I had never been before. Our bodies moved together, so in sync, almost as if we’d been designed to love each other exactly like this. The bond which had already been forming between our souls solidified. The love in my heart swelled.

  As I arched off the bed, everything inside of me came apart. “I love you, Lex,” I breathed, unable to stop the words from escaping.

  He captured my m
outh, along with my heart and soul. “Love you, always.”

  I shattered then, light exploding behind my eyes. Lexen followed me over the edge soon after.

  A million years later, or maybe only a few minutes, my breathing started to slow down as I curled myself closer to Lexen. He shifted to remove the condom, which I was thankful he’d remembered. I might be on birth control, but doubling up never hurt anyone.

  He wrapped me up in his arms, pulling me as close as he could. “You okay?” he said, his hands running up and down my arms. I was so relaxed I almost closed my eyes.

  “Better than okay,” I murmured into his chest.

  He chuckled, chest rumbling under my head. “Come on, baby girl … a quick shower before you fall asleep.”

  The next thing I registered was warm water hitting me from multiple directions. Lexen, towering over me as he always did, adjusted the showerheads so the spray was softer, washing down over us.

  “Thank you,” I said, tilting my head back so I could see him, almost groaning at the sight of the water slicing across him, sending his hair up in spiky tendrils, those long dark eyelashes framing obsidian eyes.

  “For what?” he asked me.

  I grinned and winked. “Mostly for kidnapping me.”

  His laughter joined mine. “Now that I’ve got you, I’m never letting you go.”

  “Goddamn Stockholm syndrome,” I moaned. Because I did not want him to let me go, not now, not ever.

  The shower turned out to be one of the best of my life, although I did get dirty a few times before I got clean again. When my skin was nice and wrinkly, we dragged ourselves out. Lexen threw me one of his shirts to wear, along with a pair of boxers. I followed him downstairs again and we dumped some pre-prepared meals into the oven.

  “Want to pick out a movie while we wait for the food?” he asked me.

  I nodded, jumping down off the barstool, and followed him down the hall to a huge cinema room. There were a dozen chairs, a massive screen, and an entire library catalogue of movies. I flicked through them, jokingly suggesting a few romances, before finally settling on something with action and drama. Lexen didn’t seem to care. I didn’t really either, because the reality was I probably wouldn’t see half the movie.