Shades of Darkness

by Alexandra Ivy

  “A temptation I don’t want to resist,” she rasped.

  “Exactly the words I longed to hear.”

  She dug her nails into the flesh of his nape, the need inside her becoming a physical ache.

  “Basq…wait.”

  Chapter 17

  Basq swallowed the rancid curse that hovered on his lips. His entire body trembled with hunger for this female, but the last thing he wanted was to pressure her into a decision that she was going to regret. Especially when it was a forever and ever and ever decision.

  Eternity was a long time for regret.

  With a heroic effort he lifted his head, gazing down at her with a wary expression.

  “Is something wrong?”

  She glanced around the darkness that surrounded them. “Where are we?”

  “Ah.” He occasionally forgot that Chaaya had spent most of her existence trapped in a hell dimension. Her ability to peer into the world meant she had kept up with the changes to modern culture, but she was still learning and discovering hidden magic. “It’s a warp.”

  “Wharf?”

  “A warp,” he gently corrected. “It’s the space between space between space—”

  She placed her hand over his mouth. “I get it, but why would Kgosi bring me here?”

  It was a question that was nagging at the back of Basq’s mind. Jinn were notoriously cruel to lesser demons. And they considered any creature not a jinn as lesser. But it was possible that Kgosi’s role as an oracle overcame his natural desire to cause pain.

  “A warp is usually connected to a doorway,” he told her.

  She furrowed her brow, once again glancing around. There was a long silence before she sucked in a shocked breath.

  “Oh. I see it. It’s just a faint shimmer, but I’m sure it must lead somewhere.” She returned her attention to Basq. “I still don’t understand why he brought me here. Unless you did it?”

  Basq shook his head. “I can’t control magic. My guess would that he’s giving you the opportunity to decide that rushing into an unknown danger with nothing but a spear and outrageous belief in your invincibility isn’t the smartest decision.”

  “He’s a terrible oracle if he thinks anything would make me decide not to rush into danger,” Chaaya dryly pointed out.

  “True.”

  “So this is some sort of hallway?”

  Basq shrugged. “Basically.”

  “And anyone can walk in?”

  Basq shook his head. “The warp is like a private bubble that surrounds us. Nothing can get in or out except us.”

  “So we’re all alone?” she pressed.

  Basq slowly smiled, belatedly realizing where their conversation was leading. He skimmed his hands down the curve of her back to grasp her slender hips.

  “All alone,” he assured her, his cock fully extended as he urged her closer.

  “Good.” She pressed her mouth against his, allowing his fangs to scrape against her lower lip. “It would be a shame to waste this rare seclusion.”

  He groaned in aching anticipation. She wasn’t a soft, delicate creature who had to be handled with gentle care. Instead she was a fierce warrior who could meet him kiss for kiss. Thrust for thrust. And the feel of her warm, battle-hardened body rubbing against him was better than any aphrodisiac.

  “A sin,” he agreed in a rough voice, sweeping his mouth over her cheek before nuzzling the hollow beneath her ear. There was a faint tingle as his lips brushed over the tattoos that ran the length of her neck. “Who did these?” he asked.

  “My mother.” Her voice was distracted, as if she was having trouble concentrating. “She was the head druid priestess of our village.”

  He used the tip of his tongue to trace each intricate design. The tingles were strange, but oddly sensual. As if the magic was a part of Chaaya.

  “Do they have meaning?”

  “They match the hieroglyphs on my spear. My mother told me they were for protection.” She snorted. “Another lie.”

  Basq didn’t miss the edge in her voice. Slowly he lifted his head, staring down at her beautiful face.

  “Another?”

  Chaaya glanced away, as if to hide some deep emotion. “She also told me she loved me.”

  Regretting his unintentional reminder of the female who’d been willing to sacrifice her own daughter, Basq gently cupped her face in his hands and urged her to look at him.

  “Chaaya.”

  She reluctantly met his steady gaze. “What?”

  “Do you trust me?” He waited for her slow nod before continuing. “You have enchanted me,” he told her, each word filled with the emotions that churned inside him. “Even when I am gritting my fangs in frustration, my heart is filled with so much love it feels like it’s going to burst. And there is nothing that I wouldn’t do to ensure your happiness. Nothing.”

  Her lips parted, her eyes softening at the sheer intensity of his promise. “You…”

  “Yes?”

  She helplessly shook her head. “I don’t have the words.”

  “Then show me.”

  A wicked smile curved her lips. “I can do that.”

  She impatiently tugged at his black sweater, nearly ripping it off his body as her mouth explored the hard planes of his chest. Basq eagerly kicked off his boots and dealt with his slacks while she nibbled and licked a path downward, as if savoring the taste of his skin.

  His fangs throbbed. Chaaya wasn’t the only one eager for a taste.

  The mere thought of plunging his fangs deep into her flesh and drinking the intoxicating sweetness of her blood was creating a near-unbearable hunger. In fact, the only thing keeping him from tossing her on the ground and completing the mating was the intense pleasure she was creating as she lowered herself to her knees.

  Nothing, not even an attack by an enraged dragon, a jinn, and a unicorn, would induce him to distract Chaaya from her avid investigation of his aching body.

  Her slender fingers glided down the tight ripples of his stomach before lowering to grasp his erection in a firm grip. Ancient words of pleasure tumbled from Basq’s lips as she examined his cock from root to tip, seeming to take pleasure in his shudders of painful bliss.

  Then, when he thought that the sensations thundering through him couldn’t get more intense, she leaned forward to take him between her parted lips.

  Basq’s head fell back, his body clenched as she sucked him deep into her mouth before she slowly, excruciatingly pulled back.

  Oh…hell.

  He reached down to touch the downy hair that covered her head, his knees threatening to buckle as she used her teeth and tongue to create erotic chaos. He wanted to spend the rest of eternity savoring the sensation of her wet mouth surrounding his cock. But he was just a vampire, not a superhero.

  There was only so much a poor male could endure before he lost complete control of the situation.

  Grasping her shoulders he tugged her upward. “Enough, Chaaya.”

  “I wasn’t done showing you,” she protested with a smile of pure female satisfaction.

  He wrapped his arms tight around her waist, circling the base of her throat with openmouthed kisses.

  “You do it very well,” he assured her, continuing to brand her soft skin with kisses as he headed down to the curve of her breast.

  She circled her arms around his shoulders, moaning softly as he reached the tip of her nipple.

  “You’re not so bad yourself,” she assured him.

  He chuckled. “I’m glad to know my efforts are appreciated.”

  Her nails dug into his flesh as he laved her nipple with his tongue before sucking the tip between his lips.

  “Much appreciated,” she assured him.

  The sweet taste of her was like nectar on his tongue, tempting him beyond all reason. He had to h
ave her. It was that simple. And that complex. She was his mate, and he had to claim her in the most basic, primitive way possible.

  Lifting his head, he gazed down at her. “Chaaya, are you ready?”

  Her face was flushed and her eyes smoldering with the same hunger that echoed deep inside him.

  “Can’t you tell?”

  The scent of her desire drenched the air, making his cock twitch with impatience. But that wasn’t the question he was asking.

  “Are you ready to become my mate?” he clarified.

  “Yes.” The word came without hesitation.

  Still, he had to make certain. “You’re sure?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Do you want me to beg?”

  He flinched in horror at the mere thought. This female’s pride was an integral part of her, as important as her tattoos and leather and badass attitude. He would never do anything to compromise it or demand that she become less to satisfy some male need for dominance.

  “Never,” he swore in a harsh voice. “Not unless you’re begging for more of this.”

  He captured her lips in a kiss of savage need, and without warning she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist.

  Basq cupped her ass in his hands, angling her over the straining head of his erection. Then, lowering her inch by luscious inch, he speared deep inside her. They groaned in unison, both taking a moment to absorb the shockingly intense impact of this moment.

  After all the bickering and teasing and wary refusal to accept the inevitable, they were one.

  Finally.

  Chaaya wiggled against him, clearly impatient. “More,” she demanded, tangling her fingers in his hair.

  He chuckled, moving his hips in a slow, ruthless pace as he scraped his fangs along the base of her throat.

  “More,” Chaaya rasped, meeting him thrust for thrust with a strength that sent sparks of bliss shooting through him.

  Yes, he silently acknowledged. He needed more. Pulling back his lips he bared his fangs, and with one smooth strike he plunged them into the yielding flesh of her upper breast.

  He sucked deep, a dizzying explosion of emotion bursting through him as her blood slid over his tongue and down his throat.

  She was just as sweet as he imagined, with a hint of sage. But it was more than that. There was a wild, reckless power that coursed through him.

  This magical warrior woman. This creature of pain and sacrifice and untold loyalty.

  She filled him until his heart overflowed and he couldn’t contain himself any longer. Pumping into her at a ferocious pace, he continued to drink deeply until she clutched her legs around him and screamed in a shattering release.

  His own orgasm hit in unison, his muscles contracting as the ecstasy erupted through him like an earthquake.

  “Mine!” he cried out, his joy reverberating through the darkness.

  * * * *

  Brigette opened and closed her mouth a dozen times. Like a beached fish.

  This dazzling, exotic, outrageously gorgeous male was a jinn? She’d somehow expected a blob of smoke that floated around causing disasters. Instead he was…male perfection.

  Her eyes lingered on the bare torso, mesmerized by the shimmers of color that swirled over his midnight skin. She could stare at them all day. And night. With an effort, she tilted her head back to meet the emerald gaze.

  “I…” She stopped as the word came out as a squeak. Well, that was embarrassing.

  “Did you forget how to speak?” Levet asked.

  Brigette flushed, clenching her teeth. Her humiliation was complete. “No, I didn’t forget how to speak,” she snapped.

  Levet sniffed. “How was I to know? My aunt Bertha forgot how to speak after she was struck by lightning.”

  “Stop,” the jinn commanded.

  Amazingly there was a shimmer of magic that sealed the gargoyle’s mouth shut. Levet squealed in annoyance, but Brigette returned her attention to the male who towered over her.

  A rare occurrence considering she was over six foot in her bare feet.

  “Who are you?” she managed to ask without squeaking or squawking.

  “Kgosi.” The word reverberated through the desert, as if the demon inside was as vast as the universe. “I’ve been expecting you.”

  Brigette stilled. Was this the creature who’d been whispering to her? How else would he know her? Then she grimaced. No. It’d been a female voice. And she’d called herself Greta, not Kgosi.

  Besides, this male had the sort of power to crash through any barrier. He wouldn’t have needed to use mer-folk to release her from the dungeons.

  “You’re not the voice,” she said, a lame part of her nurturing the hope that he would confess to being the one who’d freed her from her prison.

  He shook his head. “No.”

  Disappointment speared through her. Of course she couldn’t be so lucky as to have her mystery helper be a tall, dark, yummy jinn. Life was never that good. At least not to her.

  “Then this is a trap.” Her jaws clenched. If she could still reach her animal, she would have shifted into a wolf and run away. At least he’d have to catch her before he could do whatever horrible thing he had planned. But she didn’t even have that satisfaction.

  All she could do was stand there and wait for fate to kick her in the teeth.

  “There’s no trap.” The emerald gaze darkened as it swept over her stiff form. “I foresaw your arrival because I’m an oracle.”

  She scowled. “I don’t believe in oracles.”

  The male cocked a dark brow, his expression unreadable. “I’m getting a lot of that lately. Do you want to touch me and prove to yourself I’m real?”

  His words wrapped around her, stroking over her skin like a physical caress. Brigette was suddenly convinced that she had never wanted anything more in her entire life than to stroke her fingers over his chest. And abs. And…

  Her mouth went dry and her heart did somersaults in the middle of her chest as she allowed the fantasy to fill her mind.

  Beside her, Levet at last managed to pry his lips free of the spell. “She does,” he chirped in bright tones. “I can smell it.”

  “Shut up,” she hissed, heat scorching her face even as the jinn studied Levet in astonishment.

  She could have warned him that no power was great enough to keep the tiny gargoyle silent.

  Levet flapped his wings, holding out his hand. “Very well. I will touch.”

  Sand swirled as the jinn held up his hand. “Stay back.”

  The gargoyle halted, but his wings flapped as he continued to study Kgosi with a curious gaze.

  “I know a jinn,” he said. “Well, she is not a full jinn. Her name is Laylah and she is my FFB.”

  Brigette rolled her eyes. “BFF.”

  “Oui.”

  Kgosi looked baffled, his gaze moving from Levet to Brigette. “Does he belong to you?”

  “No.”

  Levet puffed out his narrow chest. “I am my own agenda.” He paused, wrinkling his snout. “Agent.”

  The sand continued to swirl around the male’s large feet and the ground shook as he took a step forward.

  “Then you don’t mind if I kill him?”

  “Hey,” Levet protested, sticking out his lower lip.

  Despite the fact that Brigette had just denied any connection to the aggravating gargoyle, she found herself moving to stand between Levet and the towering jinn.

  Why? Because she was obviously as crazy as a luna sprite.

  “I’m looking for a way out of here,” she said, hoping to distract the male.

  It worked. The emerald gaze returned to her, his beautiful face impossible to read.

  “No, that’s not what you’re seeking.”

  She stared at him in confusion. “Yes, it is.”


  He leaned forward, capturing her in the glowing depths of his gaze. “Tell me what you seek.”

  She licked her lips, feeling the world melt away. Long ago, when she was just a little pup, she used to visit the human village to play with the children. They told her about an old gypsy woman who lived in an isolated cottage who would put them in a trance and lead them away from their homes. She’d laughed. Maybe humans were weak enough to be hypnotized, but she wasn’t.

  Not until this moment.

  “The voice,” she breathed.

  He nodded. “A promise.”

  “Yes.” Kgosi was right. The mysterious female had offered her a promise. And her greatest desire.

  The jinn reached out to touch her cheek. His touch was light, nothing more than a brush of his fingertips, but it sent fire cascading through her body.

  “Be careful what you wish for,” he whispered.

  His soft words sent a chill down her spine despite the blazing heat that threatened to choke her. With an effort, she asked the question that had plagued her since she’d escaped from the dungeon.

  “Can you take me to the voice?”

  The fingers drifted downward, resting over her racing heart. “Remember, Brigette, there is more than one way to redeem a soul.”

  She gasped in shock. “How did—”

  The words were torn from her lips as the sand beneath her feet began to shudder, as if there a massive earthquake threatened to destroy the strange dimension. Fear squeezed her heart, but as she reached out to grab the jinn, the ground split open and she was falling through empty space.

  Spinning round and round, Brigette felt her stomach heave. She had no idea where she was or what was going to happen when she finally landed, but she assumed it was going to be awful.

  Squeezing her eyes shut in the hopes of blocking out the dizzying sense of vertigo, Brigette was astonished to hear the flap of wings followed by the unmistakable scent of granite.

  Levet was falling next to her.