Текст книги "Chains of Darkness"

Автор книги: Caris Roane

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

CHAPTER 10

Claire let the kiss linger. She’d been wanting to try this for a long time, to see if it was even possible to kiss Lucian while in the middle of altered flight. Apparently, it was.

Claire, what you can do to me. But I’ll have to find someplace to land if you keep this up.

She drew back and smiled, hugging him, thankful that the ordeal was over. She held Lucian tight, feeling ridiculously safe in his arms while they passed through all kinds of solid matter. She marveled that she’d only been engaged in altered flight for a few days, but the movement in front of her eyes had come to look like soft swirling mist, nothing that could hurt her at all.

When he slowed and shifted to fly at a steep upward angle, she knew they were drawing near Eve’s specialty room, where the photo shoot had taken place. She recalled the short arched hallway leading to the room she had forbidden Lucian to enter.

The timing seemed perfect.

On an instinctive level, she knew Eve had wanted her to see the separate room. The setup spoke of dominance play, and of Lucian, in a way that Claire understood because of the shared chains.

The darkness she sensed in Lucian had resulted from his childhood torture, from the pain he carried around in him because he’d once been bound in chains. He needed to let go of something deep within, and letting him have control of her might just help. She wasn’t even sure she understood why this might be true, but she felt a profound need to allow the experience, as much for herself as for Lucian.

She had always lived a kind of safe life, choosing her path carefully, pursuing a profession that made sense to her in terms of building a stable future for herself. On the other hand, her social life had always been a mystery, since she’d never been satisfied with the men she’d dated. And she’d known a number of good men, with strong careers, determined to get ahead, qualities she valued. Yet she’d never felt completely drawn to them, as though something was missing.

Now she flew with a vampire and felt more like herself than she ever had before. So what did that say about her, about what she needed from a man and from life? Another mystery.

He landed her near the bench he’d sat on earlier, during the photo shoot. The hallway was opposite. “So what’s in there you didn’t want me to see?”

She could feel he was getting worked up, and not just from his desire for her. His blood-madness moved at the edges of his mind once more.

She stood in front of him and put her hands on his face. “We need to get cleaned up. Lucian, look at me.”

He dragged his gaze away from the hall. “What?” He scowled, his temper suddenly short. He drew in a quick breath, flared his nostrils, and squinted.

“You’re in pain, aren’t you?”

“Yes. A little. What’s in the room, Claire?”

She slid her right hand down his arm, all the way to touch his palm. She interlaced her fingers with his, then drew him toward the bathroom. “I want you showered up. How about we do that together?”

His eyes fell to half-mast, and a soft growl formed at the back of his throat. It was something only a vampire could do—that soft growl—and she loved it.

She led him to the shower, which turned out to be a deep open space, big enough for both of them.

But right now she had something else in mind. She turned the water on for him, then gestured for him to precede her.

He never took his eyes off her as he stripped, stepped in, and started lathering. She ignored the blood that washed down the drain. He’d been dirty from battle. He’d needed a good scrubbing. “Are you joining me?”

She shook her head. “I just want to watch.” Claire had never been so hungry for a man.

When he soaped himself low so that his fist worked his thickening column up and down, she slowly opened the upper portion of her robe.

His gaze dropped to her cleavage and then to her bare breasts, held upright and pushed together by the costume. Her nipples were now like hard beads.

“Get rid of the robe.”

That was what she wanted, right now, right here, with Lucian. She wanted him telling her what to do, commanding her. She dropped the robe.

He rinsed, shut the water off, and ran a towel over his body. Drawing close, he stroked the sides of her bare, supported breasts with his palms, then licked down the deep line of her cleavage, thumbing her nipples.

You don’t know how much I wanted do this.

I had an idea.

He sucked on her breasts, hard tugs, nursing her, which caused her more agony. She surrounded his shoulders with her arms and flexed her breasts against his mouth and face. He grabbed her waist with his hands, pulling her close.

“Lucian, I swear I could come like this.”

But at that, he rose up and looked down at her, his gray eyes glinting. Something very Ancestral, and very vampire, stared back at her as his gaze bored into hers. What’s in that room, the one you wouldn’t let me see?

You sure you want to know?

You know I do.

Very well. One of Eve’s specialty tables.

His gaze narrowed. And is that what you want? She felt his desire like a strong sudden wind.

She nodded slowly, but before she could say anything more he shifted into altered flight, throwing her over his shoulder at the same time. A second later she stood in that room, now lit with a dozen fat candles. Eve had been there, knowing what Claire intended and how Lucian would respond.

And Claire loved it, all of it.

* * *

The darkness in Lucian came alive at the sight of the narrow platform draped from above with a dozen different kinds of heavy black chains, some of them infused with preternatural power. He could trap Claire here forever, if he wanted. She’d never be able to break out, and no other Ancestral would have the power to release her.

He liked the idea.

His cock grew rigid as he slid her down his body and set her on her feet.

She’d seen this room earlier and planned to bring him here. She wanted to be here.

The bed was narrow, meant only for one, and had movable parts that, being a man he understood extremely well. He could place parts of his body next to her. He could reach other parts of her easily. And she couldn’t touch him.

Chains hung from a suspended box. More chains hung from wrought-iron loops cemented into the rock wall at the head of the platform. Over the last year, he’d been suspended on similar loops and beaten until his skin hung in strips and he bled in pools around his feet. He’d almost died twice under the whip of the women who tortured him and his brothers.

Now Marius was dead and he was here with a human female, a woman he intended to use. A woman who wanted to be chained down, wanted to be under his control.

She’d already seen the raw state of his dark soul and she wanted more, so that’s exactly what he would give her.

First, however, he needed to get the costume off her. He’d hated that other men had looked at her body, especially the two worthless vampires who traded in human flesh.

He needed her cleansed of at least that.

He caught the straps at her shoulders and slowly drew them down over her arms, away from her breasts, peeling them off her hips. He knelt in front of her, and as he removed the patch covering her narrow auburn landing strip, he leaned in and placed a kiss on her cleft.

Are you ready for this, Claire, ready for me?

Yes, God yes.

He rose up and lifted her quickly in his arms. She gave a cry and he smelled her sex. He turned her in his arms so that he held her parallel to the floor, balancing her.

He leaned over her and nipped at her stomach.

Again she cried out.

He met her gaze. “I’ll give you a choice right now, Claire. You can leave this room or you can stay, but if you stay, I will bite you, repeatedly.”

The sharp scent of her aroused sex flowed over him so that he had his answer before she spoke the words within his mind. I’m staying, Lucian. I want this more than I can say.

He looked into her eyes and saw her desire. She was into this as much as he was.

“Last chance. Leave now or stay and take whatever comes at you.”

“I’m staying.” The double-chains vibrated with her desire.

He threw his head back and roared, still holding her stretched out, barely balanced on the muscles of his biceps and forearms.

He moved her toward the platform, pushing the central portion in and stretching out a leg on each side. He used manacles and chains from above and locked her ankles within, which spread her for him, providing the view he wanted of her sex, of the place where he intended to work her until she came repeatedly. The arrangement allowed her some mobility, but not a lot.

He rounded the sides of the platform then locked her wrists up in a similar way. Again he left her with a short arc of motion: She could reach for things, but she wouldn’t be able to leave the table.

As soon as he had her completely chained, he stepped away from the table. He began to feel a swell of power up through his feet, his legs, hardening his muscles and his cock, tightening his abs, his arms, his neck. Again, he roared.

Her gaze tracked him, her light-brown eyes glinting in the candlelight. She streamed an erotic scent.

But the flood of power in his veins ignited his blood-madness. He needed to feed, and he would take from her repeatedly in dozens of places.

And he would start where she was most vulnerable.

* * *

Claire wanted this. The chains and being pinned down spoke to something primal, to dominance, and to belonging. That’s what she felt, as though the manacles on her wrists and ankles revealed just how much she’d already given herself to Lucian, how completely she trusted him.

What she loved even more was what this meant to him, something the double-chains communicated to her. It fed the desire that flowed in a heady stream throughout her body.

He breathed hard through his nose as he moved between her legs, the outrageous nature of the platform giving him complete access to her body.

With his gaze fixed between her legs and the chain vibrating heavily at her neck, his fangs emerged.

The quick strike just at the top of her clitoris rose to a sharp crescendo of pleasure. Then he began to suck. She arched as pleasure spiked, groaning heavily into the cavernous space.

After a moment he drew back, his eyes glazed, blood on his lips and chin. He moved down the inside of her leg and bit her again. It felt so good, especially when he sucked once more and took her blood in these small increments.

He switched to her other leg and did the same.

Her hips arched each time he drank from her.

He bit just below each knee, then moved down her leg and struck a vein on top of her foot. Pleasure streaked up the insides of her legs, making her hungry for his touch, his tongue, his cock, him.

He rose, then moved away from the center of her, shifting to her right side. He held her arm up and licked the inside of her elbow.

“Unh” came out of her mouth as her vein rose.

He bit, then drank, his gaze fixed on her breasts, on the way they bobbed up and down because her body wouldn’t remain still. She didn’t understand all that she was experiencing or why this turned her on like it did.

She could just reach her breast, and because she needed to be touched, she stroked her own nipple.

He left her vein and shoved her hand away. “You don’t do anything unless I tell you. Now what do you say to me?”

“Yes, master.”

He growled his approval, then leaned low and bit her breast above the nipple, sucking at all the small veins, drinking more.

She loved what he was doing to her. She loved that he was lost inside the darkest part of himself, that part of him he worked so hard for no one to see. But he could show himself to her. This was what Eve had wanted her to do, to honor all that Lucian was.

Claire understood that in a very essential way, she was healing him, something Lucian might never understand.

He shifted to her breast and nursed on her, suckling for a long time until she moaned heavily, wanting to touch him.

She lifted her hand and ran her palm down the back of his neck.

He came off her hissing. “Don’t touch me, Claire. You have no rights here. Do you understand?”

She nodded. No touching, no doing anything, unless he gave permission. Yeah, she loved it.

She rocked her hips once slowly.

His gaze fell to the line of auburn hair between her legs. He returned to position himself between her thighs once more.

Then he levitated.

Claire gasped.

He had so much power.

He levitated over her, stretching out prone and moving just a few inches above her body but between the chains hanging from the box overhead. The chains jangled where he touched them, or when she inadvertently moved them.

She thought he would kiss her or take from her throat. Instead he kept moving, sustaining his position in the air until his hips were near her face.

He took the sides of her head in his hands and moved until his cock was close to her lips.

“Open your mouth, Claire, but don’t do anything until I tell you.”

She panted as the tip of his cock touched her lips.

“Lick me, Claire.”

She took her time and slowly drifted her tongue over the crown of his cock, savoring the ridge, swirling. Let me suck you.

Just lick, Claire. No sucking. Not till I tell you.

Her chest rose and fell. Her breathing grew harsh. Her body undulated as he teased her with what she wanted deep in her mouth, pushing in and out, making the promise of the pleasure he could give her between her legs.

Please, Lucian.

Yes, Claire, beg me. That’s what I want.

Let me suck you, Lucian. I want your cock deep inside my mouth. I want to taste you. Give me every inch you can.

He groaned heavily. She felt the tremendous energy it took for him to sustain himself in the air, but he also loved the control of it.

She licked him in long, slow swipes. The impulse to suck was profound, but she kept her need at bay.

You can suck now.

She wrapped her lips around him and drew him in deep. He groaned heavily, or maybe she did.

Nothing had felt so good as moving her tongue over him, sucking him.

He stopped suddenly and withdrew from her mouth.

She could tell he’d taken himself to the brink; he could have released into her.

He remained prone, breathing hard, but he didn’t touch her.

Eventually he worked backward down her body and occasionally balanced himself with a hand on the platform beside her body, even though there was hardly any room.

When he stood between her legs once more, he knelt and went to work on her, feasting between her thighs.

She groaned and cried out.

He suckled and pulled on her clitoris, dipping his tongue to finally penetrate her hard, plunging his tongue in and out, going faster and faster, harder because he was strong and he was an Ancestral.

The orgasm bore down on her so fast that she pushed into his face and screamed, her legs flailing, chains jangling. Pleasure flowed, searing her veins, rushing up through her abdomen, her chest, her throat, exploding like a thousand stars within her mind. The chains made a strange cacophony of sound against the harsh cries that kept coming out of her throat.

He only stopped when her legs and body settled down and the chains grew silent. She could hardly move. She marveled at the strength of her orgasm. She thought it couldn’t get better. Then it did.

* * *

Lucian had never felt more like himself in his entire life. He’d kept this part hidden, the part that enjoyed dominating others, that loved having Claire completely under his control.

He’d bitten Claire and enjoyed every wicked response, equally aware that desire flowed each time he struck, the chains telling him the truth, keeping him going and worked up, knowing she loved what he was doing.

He needed this and he needed to do it to Claire. A female vampire could have fought him off, could have blocked some of his power, but a mere human, despite the fact that she siphoned some of his power, was vulnerable; she knew it, he knew it.

That vulnerability, the ever-present knowledge that he could crush her with his bare hands, or drink her dry, or open several veins in the matter of a few seconds and watch her bleed out on the floor—all of that kept his cock hard as a rock.

She had to do what he said. He was master now, in charge of the outcome, whether pain or pleasure, or even death or life.

Most of all, she trusted him.

And he loved it.

His biceps and pecs flexed in response, feeling the power he wielded. As he looked down at her sex-drenched face, the lethargy in her well-used body, he roared all over again. Claire was his. She belonged to no one but him and right now he could exert his will and do as he pleased.

I love your fangs. Use them again. Drink from me some more.

No, Claire, you don’t seem to want it enough.

She leaned up on her elbows. “Please, Lucian, I’m begging you. I need you to pierce me with your fangs. Please take a vein and bite me.” Her voice dropped. “Hard.”

He felt her desperation, which matched his own.

The time had come. I’m going to fuck you while I do it, do you understand?

She nodded, panting.

He moved in tight to her body, holding his cock and looking down at her sex. He pushed against her opening.

Her back arched and she cried out.

She was wet, streaming for him, so that with another thrust he slid inside and pushed to the hilt. He leaned forward and wrapped each of his arms around the chains that were manacled to her wrists. He pulled the upper half of her body a few inches off the table, rolling his hips and thrusting deep. She held her head up, her lips parted, small gasps escaping her mouth.

But he needed more.

He let go of the chains, and she eased back against the table. He split into two parts, as he’d done earlier, only this time his secondary self levitated to the side of the table and positioned his cock against her lips.

He wanted both sensations and he wanted her filled with him, subjugated in just this way. This was how he wanted to come, how he wanted to bring her again.

Suck me again, Claire. You’re going to take this with your mouth and your pussy at the same time. Now do just as I say.

“Unh.” That low sound of hers that expressed her desire, made him rock his primary hips.

His secondary self groaned as he slid his cock deep inside her mouth.

He loved this part of being a powerful vampire, of being able to separate into two selves. But he never thought he’d be doing it with a woman, a human, chained down on a table.

Her body moved beneath his, writhing, her hips slamming back into his. He was so ready, needing to come as he watched his cock go in and out of her mouth. He looked down and watched the same thing low as he thrust inside her. A threesome, with only two of them.

I’m so close, Lucian.

His double-chain vibrated with her excitement.

She moved her hand to the exposed side of her neck. She was just able to maneuver close enough to rub a finger down her throat.

He slapped it out of the way. “Do as I say, Claire.”

She eyed him while she sucked his cock. She let her tongue drift over the tip so that his secondary self thrust in hard.

His balls tingled.

Her soft brown eyes dared him.

He smiled and began to thrust into her faster. He shifted to the side of her throat and bit deep then began to take from her.

Claire.

His hips pistoned now, the cock in her mouth moving faster.

He sucked her blood, taking this woman who had dared him to bite her. He drank and fucked, taking her hard.

But he felt her response, potent with desire and passion, ecstasy rising in Claire, hotter and hotter.

He was a hard missile now, in her body and in her mouth.

His balls tightened, sending a thrill up through his groin in anticipation of what he was about to give her, the release he’d experience.

His Ancestral power, so new to him, sent him into overdrive. He pummeled, pushed, and thrust. He sucked down her blood. At the same time, she writhed beneath him, groaning heavily, her mouth still working his cock, all the chains jangling.

Let me wrap my legs around you, please Lucian. Please.

The plaintive, begging sound gave him more pleasure. You may.

The chains gave her just enough latitude that her legs wrapped around the tops of his thighs.

Let me touch you with my hands. Please.

You may.

But it wasn’t just her hands; she dug her nails into his shoulders. The unexpected sensation brought his release. He let go of her neck and roared. His cock jerked as pleasure shot through him, hitting every goddamn nerve in both his primary and secondary selves. His mind spun and his body shook.

His essence went two places at once, and he watched her swallow what he gave her.

But he wasn’t done.

He drew out of her mouth and re-formed, becoming one vampire again, all the while keeping his hips working her in quick, deep thrusts, his hands holding her hips, his cock still firm.

She looked up at him, her eyes dark with passion. He felt how tight she was, how wet. He knew he’d be able to come again, something he’d only done with Claire.

Do you want more, Claire.

Yes, God yes. Please, master.

He grew tight once more and the small of his back tensed. His hips moved like lightning and Claire arched and screamed, throwing her head back, the chains jangling and hitting his ass.

Watching her orgasm, knowing he’d put her there, filled him with a profound sense of power.

He roared yet again as he came this time, deep guttural vampire sounds of dominance and control. He fell on her and bit her again, on the other side of her neck this time.

Yes, Lucian.

He kept pummeling into her and she kept clawing at him and crying out. He felt every orgasm he gave her, repeatedly, one after the other. Sometimes he came with her, sometimes he just wanted to watch her shout and cry out.

Only when he felt a familiar human weariness come over her did he finally slow it down, resting his cock inside her.

She lay panting, eyes closed, the chains quiet at last.

With his hands resting on the sides of the platform, he felt satiated in a way he’d never before experienced. He felt good and whole, especially knowing that he’d brought Claire so much pleasure.

She opened her eyes to mere slits. He felt her exhaustion, which would soon pass, because he also felt her streaming his vampire power and growing stronger because of it. Her voice came out hushed. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

He stared down at her, amazed by the connection he felt to her. “I don’t know. You amaze me, Claire. This was astounding.”

He didn’t want to, but his internal clock knew they needed to get on with things, to clean up then head to Siberia.

But he didn’t want to leave the well of her body.

As he stared into her eyes, he felt his chest seize. At first he thought the blood-madness rolled again. But he quickly realized it was something else: One day, probably really soon, he’d have to take this woman to Santa Fe.

She put her index finger between his brows, rubbing at his frown line. “What are we going to do?”

He shook his head. He understood her. They were both trapped by the chains that bound them. “Everything will be all right.”

Slowly, he withdrew from her, his chest once more feeling tight. He went about his business methodically, but he didn’t meet her gaze again as he unlocked each of the manacles. He then helped her to her feet, but she fell limp against him; if he hadn’t caught her she would have dropped to the floor in a heap.

He scowled. “You okay?”

But she looked up at him, laughing. “I’m better than okay. You softened my bones with so much pleasure. I think I might even have passed out once or twice.”

He smiled in return and ran his fingers through her beautiful auburn hair. He wanted to say something to her, but words wouldn’t come.

She put her hands on his face, as she often did. His body stilled for her, waiting, as he looked into her light-brown eyes.

“I loved every minute of this experience.”

He nodded, searching her eyes. “I did, too.” He put a hand over his heart. “I feel better than I have in decades. Hell, maybe even centuries, and I have you to thank for that.”

“I feel the same way.”

“But you’re leaving.”

“I am.”

He nodded. “How about we gather up our clothes and get back to our suite.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

* * *

Claire sat on the side of the bed, her legs and arms crossed. She’d insisted that Lucian shower first because she’d need more time in the bathroom and she didn’t want him waiting around for her, especially if Rumy needed him. Men were quick in the shower, and she wanted to wash her hair and strip off all the makeup.

Her thoughts, however, had stayed fixed in the specialty room. She’d loved every second of the experience, which still stunned her. Where had this penchant come from for dominance and sex combined?

All throughout the lovemaking, she’d been so fully engaged, but now, separated as she was from his body, she felt terribly removed from Lucian. The chain at her neck was perfectly quiet. She could tell that Lucian held his emotions in check, not surprising. He’d said it exactly right: She was leaving.

The memories of what had just happened on the platform began to flow in a sudden stream. She watched them almost as an observer, especially each time she orgasmed and what she’d felt: the pleasure, the desire, and something more, something she had a hard time putting a name to.

Then it came to her: affection. She’d felt affection for Lucian the whole time, the burgeoning of something greater than mere like or even respect. Dammit, she’d started to love the vampire, the very thing she’d been avoiding.

She leaned over, planted her elbow on her thigh, and dropped her forehead into her hand. Oh, hell, what was happening to her?

She no longer recognized herself, which was part of the problem. She streamed so much of Lucian’s power that she didn’t know where he left off and she began. In psychological terms she was growing far too dependent on him, on a vampire with a darkness that lived inside him, one needing to dominate. She’d not only let him, she’d savored the experience.

She might even have treasured it, which made matters worse.

Tears burned her eyes. In the space of just a few days she’d grown fond of Lucian—yes, she loved him, or had the beginnings of love for him—but she couldn’t be feeling these things. She had a life to return to, a family, a job she loved, and a mission to continue with her social work.

She deserved a chance to be a wife and a mother, married to a normal human man, arguing with him about finances and how to raise their children, not whether he needed his blood-needs met or wondering if this would be the night Daniel would kill Lucian and she’d never see him again.

If this kept up, if she continued to have sex with Lucian, how the hell would she ever be able to part from him when the time came?

Everything okay?

Lucian’s voice drew her out of the sudden pain that had engulfed her chest. She sat up and squared her shoulders.

Everything’s fine.

You don’t sound all right.

I’m trying to be sensible and it’s proving difficult.

The water no longer ran in the shower. She rose to her feet, heading to the open bathroom door—and there he was. He stood with a black terry towel tucked around his waist.

She met his gaze, trying not to feel so much for the man.

He stared back, shaking his head as though he understood. “I don’t want you to be unhappy.”

His words did her in. Claire gave a small cry and went to him. He engulfed her in his arms, holding her tight.

Claire.

I’m sorry, I’m just feeling way too much right now. I loved what we just did together and I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t be caring for you as much as I am, but I do. And now we have an extinction weapon to find, my friend to save who-the-hell-knows-how, and some kind of River of Lights ride to take.

For a long time, he rubbed her back, just holding her. He said nothing, but the double-chains vibrated with his concern.

Knowing that she needed to get herself together, that they had critical tasks to accomplish, she pulled out of his arms. Don’t pay any attention to me right now. I’ll be okay. And I really do need a shower.

She threw levers and yelped when cold water hit her then yelped when the water got too hot. But she didn’t care. She’d made the mistake of getting involved, of wanting Lucian to see himself the way she saw him. And now she cared about him.

Lucian’s voice once more broke through her thoughts. Rumy’s sending over some clothes for the trip to Siberia, something warm so you’ll be comfortable.

She took a deep breath. Sounds good.

She spent the next several minutes washing her hair then getting rid of all the makeup, trying to find some balance. But the last thing she’d expected, when Rumy had given her the first blood-chain to wear, was that she’d fall so hard for a vampire.