“Don’t be. I know a thirty-year-old virgin is so seventeenth century.” She took another bite.
He laughed. “Even though you met someone you like and have major chemistry with, you don’t want to go out with him because of that? How do you know you he’s not the right guy, huh?”
If only her new friend was UA. “Trust me. He isn’t.”
Stefan rolled his eyes with the drop of his spoon, clearly over her pity party. “Whatever you say. All I know is elevens don’t come around every day.”
After they split the check, she walked out with him to his car. The second she was outside, Nya became restless again, trying to direct Kimber’s attention to the park.
Maybe she should go. Just to prove that Shain Trevyn wasn’t there.
“Need a ride to your place?” Stefan offered.
“No, thanks. I’ll Uber it.”
“You sure?” At her nod, he gave her a hug. “I’ll see you on Saturday.”
It was a clear night, not a cloud in the sky, the humidity dense but the air cool. The walk to the park was quick and easy. She found the directory and followed the path toward the north side, where the lake and restaurant were. Her wolf was attentive, heightening her senses of awareness.
Once she found the restaurant, she stopped and cast her gaze around.
She was alone. Nya would immediately alert her otherwise.
Coming around the restaurant’s side, she turned on the sidewalk that wrapped around the rear and cut off to a dock on a lake. A quiver of energy shimmied down her spine. A breeze caressed her tresses.
She looked behind her. No one.
Nya remained calm and quiet.
See? He’s not here.
Why did that disappoint her?
She resumed to the dock, stood at the end and stared at the water. A trio of swans glided across the surface, paying her no mind.
I can’t wait until I’ve forgotten him. And I will.
With renewed strength in her vow, she walked off the dock.
“Kimber?” someone whispered her name.
Startled, she looked back at the lake, at the trees.
Had she really heard her name? Carried with on the air, a sweep of crackling energy made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
Nya barked.
Okay, now she wasn’t alone.
Impatient, Nya came forward and looked through Kimber’s eyes, forcing a keen alertness, sensing a presence. It sharpened her sight, her heightened sense of smell hitting her like a bolt of lightning.
A soft tap on her shoulder. She spun around, seeing no one, but recognizing a faint scent she would never forget.
Oh, my God.
Smooth as a panther, Shain came from around from a tree, even more handsome than the first time she laid eyes on him. He was a vision of masculine elegance, wearing a pair of black pants and a well-cut, black button-up with the sleeves cuffed to his forearms.
Her wolf retreated from Kimber’s sight, practically purring.
Like an invisible tether tugged at her, she drifted toward him, in dazed disbelief.
“You...”
Chapter Seven
Shain leveled his gaze on her. “You.”
Snapping out of it, she stopped about ten feet from him, fearing that any closer was a red zone. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
His mouth quirked, but there was no humor in it. “A gentleman never lies.”
A shaky smile moved her mouth. She hadn’t seriously imagined he would show up, days after the night they met, no matter how attracted he was to her. Then again, she hadn’t imagined she’d ever show up either.
Yet, there they stood.
He stared at her, his dark blue eyes smoldering like a bonfire had lit behind them. “The first night, I came here and waited for hours. I was sure you would be here. When you didn’t come, I thought you were just scared. Naturally. So I came the second night, walked around this park three times, telling myself you didn’t come because you couldn’t get away, telling myself lies so I’d stay. The third night, I convinced myself that would be the final time, that I was fooling myself to think you would meet me, and that my desire would eventually lessen.”
His jaw clenched. “It did not. The fourth, fifth, and sixth night, no matter where I began my evening, I would blindly find myself coming here at midnight. Waiting for you. I vowed I’d never come back. To just forget all about you. And yet, here I stand. Again.”
That wasn’t pleasure in his voice and expression; it was resentment. Kimber took a small step back. Why did she feel like apologizing? “I—”
“Now that you’re here, I beg you to stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Whatever you’ve done to make me this way.” He briefly closed his eyes. “Please. End my obsession. Break the spell or whatever magick you have on me. I’ll give you whatever you want. Name your price.”
“There’s no spell—”
“End it!”
“I’m a shifter! I never mess with witchcraft.”
He advanced on her. “Yes, you are a shifter. And I don’t want to want you. If I knew how to stop this yearning, by the gods, I would do it a thousand times, then a thousand times more.” He narrowed his eyes. “Why are you here?”
Since he was being so honest, she ought to do the same. Folding her arms, she was unable to meet his eyes as she admitted, with reluctance, “If anyone cast a spell, it was you, vampire. I think how I let you kiss me, and touch me, and I hate it…” Okay, that might’ve been a little too honest. She slowly raised her gaze. “I thought if I just came to the park tonight, I would see for myself that you weren’t here, and I’d move on.”
Moments ago, they were yards apart. Now they were so close, she could feel his breath fan her mouth, inches away. How had that happened? Had she moved forward, or had he?
“All this is,” he said, his deep, hypnotic voice igniting her nerves, “is basic sexual attraction. Nothing more.”
There was nothing basic about the need powering her blood. She cocked her head. “And, you know? The shifter in me doesn’t care.”
A corner of his mouth lifted. “The vampire side of me says…the forbidden is what we live for.”
She licked her lips. “Right,” she agreed softly, feeling madness take over her brain, a desperation to be intimate with the enemy. It was so powerful, her wolf was also going crazy, howling and scratching her claws in the back of Kimber’s mind. “Just chemistry.”
The tip of his nose brushed hers. “Yeah. Chemistry.”
Her lips parted on a desirous sigh. He smelled so good, cologne mixed with healthy, masculine immortal.
Then he made a sound; it could’ve been frustration or lust. She didn’t know. His canines lengthened a couple of centimeters. Coming from any other vampire, she would’ve screamed in terror.
Instead, it turned her on. A lot.
If memory served, a vampire’s teeth came down when they wanted to feed or mate, or if certain emotions were triggered. It could mean all three, and that thrilled her, knowing she affected him.
Shain cupped her jawline with his hand, his thumb grazing, his fingers wrapping around her neck. Her eyes hooded as she melted into him.
She should push him away. She should be scared for her life.
“This is a goodbye kiss,” he whispered. “After this, we’re walking away.”
Maybe he would. She would run.
Kimber opened her mouth to say yes, but he closed his lips on hers, slowly sliding his tongue inside, stealing her agreement with it. Unlike the first time, there was no frenzy. It felt disciplined, controlled. And good. Oh, so good. His sensual kiss brought visions of how he might make love to her, with measured, mind-numbing thrusts while she moaned for more.
The fantasy snapped her composure, provoking a fiery, untamed lust, unleashing her arousal at maximum. She gave a sound of helplessness and grasped the back of his neck with both hands, kissing him harder, forcing him to adjust the rhythm and
match hers. The hunger inside consumed everything that would make her stop. Kissing him was like being starved for days and finally finding food, mixed with a high so powerful, she was an instant addict.
Tears gathered behind her eyelids at how weak he made her, when she knew she was strong.
With a wolflike growl, she tenderly bit his lower lip.
Shain groaned, gathering her in his arms, his strong hands charting down her sides and waist, his fingers digging in. His body shook as she ran her palm down the hard plane of his chest, whimpering at the strength and muscle hidden beneath his fine clothes. Just below his belt, she ran her palm down his hard, thick girth, and gasped.
Shain yelled out and tore away so fast he cut the side of her lip.
She hissed at the pain, eyes wide, experiencing the crashing devastation that could only accompany being wanted one moment, only to be rejected the next.
Shain’s chest heaved. He looked at her with anguish, denial, and desire. “Gods,” he breathed, staggering back a few feet. “No. Stay away from me. Leave me alone.” He strode away without a backward glance, disappearing around the corner to the parking lot.
Kimber’s legs refused to move.
She covered her mouth, shaken and bereft. Oh God, what had come over her? Why, why, why were they so attracted to each other? Was something seriously fucked up about her, her wolf?
If any shifter could read or see how she felt about Shain, they would probably lock her up for life, or put her out of her misery. She looked around, heart thundering, realizing they’d been kissing and groping in a big open space where anyone could’ve spotted them. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be another soul around.
All it took was one shifter or vampire to witness it, and her life would be over.
Tears still burning her eyes, she ran the opposite way Shain had gone.
No one could ever know. And no one ever would.
Shain weaved in and out of traffic lanes and around cars at a careless speed.
That time of night, there wasn’t much traffic to deal with, but the sparse vehicles on the road ahead of him were in his way. He had to get as far away from that shiya as possible. Initially, he aimed to seduce her, but had abruptly changed his mind the second he spotted her. The lust had overwhelmed and angered him.
More startling, it’d scared him.
It wasn’t simple, familiar lust, nor basic attraction, as he’d called it. It was much, much more dangerous than words could express.
It’d begun as a quick lock of lips, by his design. But damn it, she’d changed it. He’d had every intention of maintaining control and giving her one last kiss, walking away, and wishing her a nice shifter life.
He slammed the steering wheel with the heel of his hand.
That wasn’t at all what happened.
Obviously, she hadn’t performed a spell, but she sure knew how to put her tongue to wicked good use, how to make the right sounds to ensure he wouldn’t be able to stop kissing her, how to slide her hot hand along his dick. Just with that one brief touch of her hand over his pants, a rocket of lust had seized him like a spirit’s possession, and any substance of control melted away.
Madness like that could kill a man.
He’d cut away so fast he hadn’t even tasted any blood. And good thing, because that could’ve been her doom—and his. Then he’d blurted to her to stay away from him as if it was all her fault, and managed to find his way to his car, though he had no memory of the short journey to get to it.
What a miscalculation. Whatever chemistry they had was a volatile combo deal, a mixture that only formulated obsession.
Why had he gone to the park at all?
No good excuse. With all of his friends gone, he had nothing better to do. And because he could think of little else. There was nothing on his calendar except for Tanaka’s visit, and most of his coven were gone until autumn. His social life had paused. He was adrift.
The security bar automatically lifted as he pulled his Tesla in his building’s garage. He supposed he didn’t have to stay in town until Tanaka’s arrival; he could go away for two weeks and come back. All he had to do was ask Brooks to make the arrangements. Then again, he thought, climbing out of the car and up the elevator to his loft apartment, what if Tanaka came earlier and Shain wasn’t there? Or couldn’t get home quick enough? Tanaka would take that as disrespect and leave.
No, better to stay and ride it out. It was a matter of weeks now. Not years. Not months.
Thirty days or less to entertain himself. Once Tanaka arrived, he’d be plenty distracted to win the man’s favor. All he had to do was quit thinking about the shiya.
He punched in the code to his front door and entered. Hearing voices, he wondered if he’d left the TV on.
“You’re late.”
Shit. Sasha. Setting down his wallet, he sighed. “I completely forgot.”
The brunette picked up the remote and muted the sound. “You forgot? Have you fed elsewhere?”
“No. I just…failed to remember we were scheduled for tonight.”
“How can you forget to feed? Aren’t you starving?”
Gods, yes, but not for blood. “I’ve been preoccupied. I guess hunger takes a backseat when your mind is full.”
She got up from the sofa. Human, in her forties, almost always donning activewear, Sasha had been his whilling for a little more than seven years. The reason he didn’t have to go out and use his vampire powers to nourish one of his three main appetites.
Energy feeding was easiest. Sex? Easier. Blood? Hardest. Many of his kind employed humans for the convenience and steady supply of blood. Despite the mass number of potential stock, it was a task finding one who would commit to such a job. Not only did they have to be underworld-aware and trustworthy, they had to be older than young, younger than old, follow a certain diet, not on any kind of drugs—recreational or prescribed—and able to be bitten twice a month. Although they were paid, it was a lot to ask.
He was lucky to have found Sasha. And she him, for that matter. Without his interest-free, no deadline loan, she wouldn’t have had the capital to start her own business, which was now thriving.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked.
“Not particularly.” He raised a brow and glanced at her, pondering. On the other hand, she could talk some sense into him.
Sasha patted his favorite velvet chair. Reluctantly, and concerned his preoccupation with Kimber had totally overridden his bloodlust, he sat down. “Have you ever met someone you wanted beyond rationality?”
She sat down on the ottoman facing his chair. “I’ve met a few of those, actually. Even dated one for a year. Total disaster.” She ticked off her fingers. “He cheated on his taxes, would blow me off for his friends, laughed at my dream of opening a boutique gym, and made fun of anyone who didn’t fit his definition of intelligent. He was the worst.”
“Relieved to hear you came to your senses. What about him attracted you?”
Looking off, rubbing her palms on her knees, she blew out a breath. “My best guess? He was something different than what I usually went for. I only dated athletes or tough guys, but he had an artist’s heart. Despite his shitty qualities, he was so enthralling to talk to. Very well-read, knew so many facts. I loved listening to him tell me about philosophy and how things worked. He was passionate, creative. Especially in bed. Best sex I ever had.” She groaned, shaking her head. “That’s definitely what made the relationship last more than a month. The sex was that good. We couldn’t get enough of each other. But, in the end, I ended it.”
“Nothing to be ashamed of. Good sex could keep anyone tethered to a toxic person. Happens all the time.”
She roved disbelieving eyes his way. “To you?”
“It’s different for me. Sex is more or less a food group.”
“Humans can be addicted to sex too. Plenty of addicts out there who’ve ruined their lives for it.”
“True. Every vice has its worshippers.”
No matter how much he trusted Sasha, he never allowed anyone the opportunity to have leverage over him someday. Best to stroke with a broad brush. “Unlike your ex, I can’t comment much about this woman’s character. And I don’t care to have a relationship with her. In fact, that’s out of the question, so the only thing we could have is sexual. But she fascinates me. The way she…speaks. No pretense, no overtures. Her carpe diem attitude about life. Her courage…” he trailed. “Like your ex, she’s different from what I’ve met before. I’ve tried to forget about her, for her sake and mine, but I can’t. I just can’t.”
“Don’t you need to focus on the Japanese gentleman? You’ve been preparing for the opportunity for a long, long time. Put your energy toward that.”
He frowned. “I’m trying to.” And failing.
“Take it from me, boss, if your instincts are warning you to stay away from her, then listen to them. You might think a sex-only relationship is cut and dry, but you’re no more immune to falling for someone because of it either. And if she’s that bad for you, I wouldn’t even go there.”
Only, his instincts were in collusion with his desire. They were pushing him to seek Kimber out as much as lust was. There was a reason they met, but he wanted to know what that reason was first, because he didn’t see any benefit in spending time with a shiya other than taking pleasure. That was not enough to risk getting caught.
Fuck, his mind hurt. He squeezed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gratitude, for listening.”
“Anytime. Now,” she said, turning around and moving to the floor, clipping her long hair up, and setting her palms on the ottoman. “Feed from me to get the strength you need.”
If only all he had to do was drink blood to gather the strength to get over Kimber.
He scooted to the edge of the chair and leaned over, smoothing away the loose tendrils from Sasha’s neck, licking his lips.
His Dark Embrace Page 6
