When Darkness Reigns

by Trina M. Lee

  He pulled back to search my face. A storm of conflict brewed in his eyes. With his thumb he traced the outline of a bruise around my eye.

  I expected him to protest or muster a snarky jerk response to shatter the lull that had fallen. If he did I was going to bitch slap him.

  Instead he captured my lips in a kiss that stole my breath and rolled us over so I lay beneath him. The most intimate of positions. The one that had become a weapon he’d used against me during our angry fuck in my office. The one I went out of my way to avoid with him.

  Falon peered down at me, a hint of a smirk on his gorgeous face. “Still think this is a good idea?”

  A tremor of discomfort shook me. I had to be prepared to give him anything I asked from him. Swallowing down my nerves, I nodded.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  FALON

  Looking at her face killed me. Not for the usual reason, her being beautiful and annoying as fuck, but because it was black and blue.

  I told her to take what she needed. I had ample blood and power to offer. Other than some roughing up by Bane’s guys, I wasn’t in bad shape. Because that’s not the kind of pain Bane had inflicted. It was this, right here. Gazing down at Alexa’s smacked up face, knowing most of it had been caused by him, I just wanted to fix it.

  She wanted to turn this into a Las Vegas therapy session. I didn’t think we could purge what that night had done to us, but I wanted to try. Having her beneath me stripped down my guard, something I both loved and hated about being with her.

  Alexa peered up at me with wide brown eyes, nervous as hell. More often than not she went out of her way to avoid letting me on top of her, pinning her beneath me. I could bend her over the desk and nail her from behind, lay back and let her ride me, even a fast and furious pounding up against the wall. The second I was on top of her like this, she froze.

  I got it. It was intense as hell for me too. Especially after the last time, in her office at The Wicked Kiss. I felt like shit about that. Not just the pissed off sex but what I said to her after. I straight up slut-shamed her, and she didn’t kick me in the nuts like she should have.

  Still inside her, I stole another moment to let myself enjoy the way she stared at me like a frightened animal. Even if I didn’t know her better than she thought I did, the woman had no poker face.

  “What are you so afraid of?” I kissed the tip of her nose and started to move again. Slow withdraw, even slower reentry.

  “Nothing.” she said quickly, tilting her head and jutting her chin out in a manner that told me she was lying. I knew her better than she thought I did.

  Alexa’s full lips parted and she moaned. That sound set me on fire. I pressed my mouth to a bruise on her cheek. “Liar.” Holding her jaw, I peppered it with kisses, dragging my tongue along a small cut on her chin, all while still slowly thrusting into her.

  So Alexa wanted to rip our connection open and expose the mess inside? Then that’s what she would get.

  We’d fucked for pleasure, for restoration, and for freedom. Hell, we’d fucked while trading insults that would make even the toughest warrior cry. We reveled in our raw, passionate, hate-fueled sex.

  But we had never made love.

  Of course Alexa was scared. I was scared too.

  Her willingness to make herself vulnerable, especially while weakened and pained, it said more than any words that would ever pass her lips. And that was just fine with me. We didn’t do words. Not the fluffy, cheeseball kind. Not now, not ever.

  Honestly, I couldn’t picture either of us gushing romance novel clichés at the other. The thought alone made me want to heave. She could do that shit with her dark half and her wolf.

  I stretched my wings out over the bed, creating a canopy of feathers over Alexa. Now that she could see them, she reached to run her fingers over one wing. That gentlest touch had me stifling a groan.

  Rolling my hips forward on the next thrust, I drove deep, hitting the spot that always brought her claws out. She threw her head back and gasped, clutching my ass with both hands. The sudden sting of ten razor sharp points piercing my flesh almost made me laugh. I found something satisfying in knowing her so well.

  Still I kept it slow. A sensual punishing that would leave us both stripped down and raw. Holding Alexa close, I appreciated the way she felt against me. Her soft breasts pushed against my chest, one leg hooked around my hips as her fears gave way to pleasure.

  I kept expecting her to let the succubus side out to play, to change the course we were on and take us back to what we knew. But she never did. Alexa kept a tight rein on her vampire hungers, despite the pain she had to be in. Part of me willed her to take back the control and feast on me like she usually did, to take this strange affection out of the equation.

  Pressing my lips to the mark I’d placed on her, I breathed in the sweet shampoo scent of her damp hair. Husky moans in my ear had me struggling not to come. As bad as I wanted to fill her, I wanted her to climax on my cock first.

  Preferably while moaning my name.

  We settled into a steady rhythm that slowly grew in its urgency. No need to race to the finish, this was about enjoying the ride. Fuck did I ever hate how much I enjoyed it.

  Running a hand down Alexa’s side, I grabbed a handful of her ass, holding tight as I made her body my own private heaven. Every few strokes I rubbed against her clit. Her little whimpers were almost my undoing.

  With a hand tipped in claws, Alexa carefully touched the side of my face, drawing my gaze to hers. Her eyes were solid wolf now. Four wolf fangs peeked out from beneath her lips. More often than not when we were together, she was blue eyed and vampy. I felt like an idiot, but seeing her wolf out instead, it made this all suddenly very real.

  I didn’t want to define or explain my attachment to her. I couldn’t. But in that moment, I felt it more poignantly than I ever had.

  Alexa saw it on my face. She probably saw the panic that followed too because she kissed me, careful with those fangs, keeping me grounded. Touching my face, my hair, she made me hers without using so much as a flicker of power. Just her.

  The leg she had wrapped around me tightened, encouraging me to go faster. So I went slower. Teasing strokes, giving her just the tip, driving us both fucking crazy before plunging in as deep as I could go, filling the room with our moans and cries.

  Kissing her with the same passion that drove me, I devoured her mouth without care for the nicks and cuts from her fangs. I wanted to claim this woman in every way possible, as she’d already done to me.

  After torturing us both until I couldn’t take it anymore, I gave Alexa what she wanted and thrust harder, faster. She groaned a cry followed by my name, a soft pant on her lips. Gripping her hip until my fingers dug into her creamy skin, I released inside her.

  I knew better than to pull out until every tremor within her had ceased. Not that I was in a hurry to do so. Between Alexa’s legs was where I lost and found myself. I’d never leave if I didn’t have to.

  When I did withdraw from the warmth of her body, I didn’t go far. Rolling onto my side next to her, I pulled the awkward wolf against me and dragged the blanket up over us. We had a couple hours until sunrise, and I planned to enjoy every damn minute.

  Alexa lay next to me, relaxed but with an inner stiffness I could sense. Placing my mouth next to her ear, I murmured, “Stop thinking. We don’t do that here.”

  A smile crept over her face at having been caught. One of my wings lay stretched beneath her, and she kept running her hand over it, having no idea that it both soothed and tickled. “Should we talk instead?”

  “Yeah, tell me what happened with Lilah.” Steering the conversation toward Lilah felt safe after what we’d just done.

  Alexa seemed to agree, since she started jabbering with no further push. I shoved a tangled chunk of blonde hair out of my face and listened to her.

  Lilah’s challenge to fight one on one ended with the inevitable outcome. That Salem dragged her with him in
to the prison he’d made her didn’t surprise me. Love made people do fucked up shit. Even trapping themselves for an eternity with the one person who makes them the craziest.

  “Sounds like you kicked her ass and showed her why you’re the queen.” I flicked the edge of her nostril simply to annoy her. “You didn’t need me at all.”

  Alexa frowned and slapped my hand before I could flick her again. “I always need you.”

  A hand crept to her mouth in poorly contained horror. I broke out into laughter, which got me a tiny but sharp elbow between my ribs. It only made me laugh harder.

  “I’m going to save that one for when I really need something to throw in your face,” I taunted, blocking her fist before it could nail me in the chin. Pinning her arms down, I wrestled her into my embrace so her back pressed to my chest, spooning her from behind. I didn’t want to watch her face when I said, “Tell me about Bane. All of it. Don’t leave anything out.”

  Alexa tensed in my arms. She knew there was no getting out of it. I had to know. When I’d found her on the bathroom floor barely dressed, the absolute worst had gone through my mind.

  I could not predict what Bane might do next or how long he planned to drag this out. As she told me about his short but brutal visit here, Alexa’s voice cracked. Just once. But it was enough for me to know how much he’d scared her.

  It was enough for me to start planning.

  As she spoke she ground her sweet ass against me, bringing my cock back to life. I rubbed it against her, sliding between her ass cheeks. At Alexa’s encouragement, I entered her from behind.

  Now she would take everything she needed from me. Eager to be the one to take some of those bruises away and bring her back to full strength, I let her guide us this time.

  “I won’t let Bane break you, Alexa,” I promised, wishing there was more I could say. “I’ll do whatever it takes to stop him.”

  We both knew what that meant. I just hoped that when the time came she would also do whatever it took to stop me from becoming the worst of the worst.

  “I know,” she said on a gasp, reaching to clasp my hand in hers. “I know you’ll do anything you can. So will I. You have to trust me, Falon. Please.”

  I wanted to question that further, but with the rising succubus vibes making the very air itself taste of sex, the idea was lost. I had passionately loved the wolf. Now it was time to fuck the succubus vampire senseless.

  Alexa took control and ran with it. With both hands on my chest she shoved me down flat on the bed and climbed on top of me. Already I could feel the warmth in her palms as she drew on my energy.

  “Put your cock inside me,” she commanded, lifting her rear end enough for me to position beneath her.

  Now her eyes blazed a fierce dark blue. Succubus vibes coiled around me, grabbing tight. Alexa was intoxicating in a way no drug of any kind ever could be.

  I didn’t hesitate to obey. Pressing the head of my cock inside her, I let her do the rest. Sliding down my shaft, Alexa tortured me with a great view of her taking every inch. Already my balls tightened.

  My succubus queen fucked me like her life depended on it. She drew on my power, and I watched as it renewed her.

  When it was over she fell asleep in my arms. I didn’t know how she could pass out while amped up on that rush. I sure as hell couldn’t. But then again it had been a hard several nights.

  Not much rest for the Queen of Light and Dark.

  While Alexa slumbered I absently stroked my fingertips over the hair at her temple, staring at the ceiling.

  Plotting Bane’s demise.

  Finishing my fall meant giving myself to darkness. Completely. Maybe it had been inevitable. Still I’d never have dreamed that, of all people, I would do it to protect her. But if Bane pushed me on this, I wouldn’t hesitate.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  “Man, I missed this. We were way overdue for a night out.” Jez sipped a blazing orange cocktail with an umbrella in the glass. “I wish you could still drink with me.”

  “It’s probably better that I can’t. Or else I’d be drinking myself stupid like Falon.” I had to laugh at the thought.

  We sat in the lounge area of a trendy dance club Jez wanted to check out. She was right. We were long overdue for a girl’s night out.

  It had been a few nights since the showdown with Lilah and the incident with Bane. I hadn’t seen him since, and although he truly scared the crap out of me, I’d walked out of that hotel room stronger than when I’d gone in.

  After the sun rose and Falon had left, I spent the day in bed with the curtains drawn, alternating between sleeping and thinking about what had happened between us. That whole awkward as fuck love-making deal.

  I didn’t think any demon to date scared me half as bad as that had. At first. Falon had been tender. Passionate. Handling me like he thought I might come apart in his hands at any moment. Once the nerves slipped away, we’d shared something special. Something I found my mind wandering back to every night since.

  “What’s his deal anyway?” Jez’s painted red lips curled into a sneer. “He’s been a real prick since you guys got back from Sin City.”

  “I think he’s been struggling with what happened between us there. It created some issues since we got back. He’s been drinking and fighting.” Out of habit I scanned the nightclub, learning my surroundings, taking note of the people around us.

  Other than the two of us and one werewolf on what appeared to be a blind date, everyone present was human. It had been Jez’s choice to come here. She wanted a place for a few drinks, girl talk, and dancing, free of my usual train wreck of vamps and demons. And that was cool with me.

  We sat in an area off to one side of the nightclub, separated by a velvet rope from the rest of the room. A few steps led down to the packed dance floor. Our small table sported extra-large, comfy chairs.

  So far we’d been approached three times by men seeking a companion for the evening. Jez absolutely hated it. To me they all just looked like food.

  “Sounds like a healthy way to manage feelings,” Jez deadpanned, scouring the crowd for a nearby waitress. Her foot bounced in time with whatever dance song the DJ spun, and I just knew she was about six seconds from dragging me back onto the dance floor.

  “I think we all know a little something about shitty ways to manage feelings,” I replied with a pointed smirk. “You included. But you seem to be in a good place these days. I love seeing that.”

  Jez was a beacon of light, her face flushed with a happy glow. Her gold curls spilled down her back, accenting the bright red of her lips. Perfect cat eye liner gave her a classic look that made her green eyes pop. In a tight mini dress that hugged her lithe frame, her only jewelry was the black teardrop amulet that hung from a chain around her neck.

  The amulet was a gift from Gabriel, meant to suppress Jez’s recently awakened necromantic abilities. He’d been working with her, helping her as she learned how to control and use her power. Jez was so new to having an ability beyond her physical shifter strengths, but I entrusted Gabriel to be the best coach for her.

  A blush colored her cheeks. Long lashes fluttering, she beamed. “I’ve never been this happy. Smudge is… perfect. She’s easy to talk to, kindhearted. She just gets me. Honestly, I’m afraid to enjoy it.”

  I nodded and pressed my lips into a grim smile. “I get that. It’s hard not to feel like something is always waiting right around the corner to jump out and crush you the second you find a spark of happiness.”

  Or someone.

  “Everything ok, Lex?” Sipping from her drink, Jez eyed me with that keen cat stare. Always alert, she didn’t miss much. “I know you’re worried about Bane, even if you won’t say so, but you know Falon won’t stand aside and do nothing. You’re wearing that angel’s promise like a friggin’ brand. I’m actually surprised Falon’s not here right now, stuck to your ass like a clingy boyfriend.”

  Bane made me wary no doubt. But what really frightened me was F
alon’s inevitable final fall. Bane would push him to take it.

  To protect me.

  I forced a wry smile. “If I need him, he’ll come. But I think we both need a little time apart right now. Things got a little weird the last time we were together.”

  After the incident with Bane at the hotel, I doubted that Falon would be ignoring any of my calls for him from here on. He would come if there was trouble, but otherwise we both needed a few nights to process.

  Process what? I didn’t know.

  Having Falon on top of me, holding my gaze while he took me with agonizingly slow thrusts, it had broken me. Stripped me down until I was exposed in every way. I’d never been so vulnerable with him as when I’d made the choice to lie beneath him and face what we were without the walls of power, hunger, and purely physical desire.

  It was the moment of truth. I still broke out in goosebumps when I thought about how powerful our connection had been without succubus heat or anger to drive us. It both fascinated and terrified me.

  “Weird like he sprang a new kink on you without asking first? Or weird like you finally realized what that mark means?” Arching a finely plucked brow, Jez wrinkled her nose.

  “Shut it.” I shook a finger in warning. “I’ve heard from just about everyone now that Falon is in love with me, and if one more person says it, I’m going to lose my shit.”

  Tossing her golden curls over a shoulder, she pushed my boundaries as all best friends do. “Everyone but Falon. Because that’s something neither of you will ever say, even when the rest of the world can see it. Why is that? Does it feel like losing the war after all this time?”

  I grinned, flashing fangs. “Treading on dangerous ground now, Jezzy. We don’t need to talk about me. Tell me more about you and Smudge.”

  “That’s got to be it.” She snapped her fingers and leaned back in her chair, nodding to herself. “Neither of you wants to be the first to say it and lose this battle you’ve got going on.”