Daring Fire: Paranormal Romance (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 2) (16 page)

During the elevator ride, he was still silent, but her mind had already moved on to how great she’d feel as she hit Marcus’s amazingly comfortable bed. The adrenaline of the night had worn off, and the emotional and physical events of the night had started to take their toll.

As much as the bed tempted her, a warm shower sounded even better. She leaned her head back against the elevator wall and moaned out loud as she imagined how the hot water would feel on her tired body.

Marcus’s head snapped toward the sound. Gena met his gaze, noting that his face was almost completely healed now. His gaze drifted to her neck, but he quickly averted his eyes to the elevator door.

Was he thinking about their shared embrace? She could only imagine he was if it had affected him half as much as it had affected her.

She’d never had a connection with any man like she was feeling with Marcus. Did it have to do with some shared history she had no memory of? Did he like her, or was he just hoping she was someone else?

Well, one thing was certain. He’d wanted her since before he knew she had anything to do with Mary, and if she was honest with herself, she’d wanted him too. The electricity she felt as she let him feed on her just cemented how great they would be together.

Before her thoughts went too far, the elevator doors opened to their floor. As they walked into the penthouse, an excited Lady greeted them. Gena knelt to give her a quick greeting and made a beeline for the bathroom.

As she reached the stairs that led up to the loft, Marcus’s voice called out. “Hope will be back in town tomorrow. I think you should stay with her.”

Gena froze in place as her teeth clenched tightly in rage. She slowly turned to face him as she tried to contain her anger. “What?” was all she could get out.

With a blank expression, he repeated, “I think you should stay with Hope. If tonight proved anything, it’s that you’re not safe.”

“No. No, no, no, no,” she said. “If tonight proved anything, it’s that
you
are not safe. I’m the one who saved you, or did you forget already?”

Anger clouded his features. “I haven’t forgotten anything,” he spat out. “I bit your neck and fed from you tonight. Doesn’t that bother you at all?”

She thought about that. Did it bother her? The idea of getting bitten by a vampire sounded terrible, but the reality of it was so much more erotic and sensual than she could have ever imagined. “No,” she said honestly. “It doesn’t bother me. And if it meant I could help you, I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

He cursed under his breath and brought his hands to his head in frustration. “I will not be the one putting you in the middle of a vampire war. You’re already changing.”

“I’m an immortal half angel now! Of course I changed. What did you expect?” she shot back.

“A couple of days ago, you were murdered because you were too afraid to possibly kill someone who had cornered you in your home and suddenly you have no problem unloading a round of bullets into three men? You didn’t hit arms or legs, by the way. Every shot went into the chest.”

The words hit her like a blow. “You’re sending me away because I didn’t hesitate to shoot them? Screw you for even comparing this to my murder! The last time I hesitated, I was brutally stabbed so many times I lost count! I’ll be damned if my hesitation would get anyone else hurt, let alone you!” she screamed at the top of her lungs at him. Her chest rose and fell quickly in time with her deep breaths that did little to calm her.

She continued, “I care about you and I will not stand back or hide with Hope while I could be helping you. You can’t get rid of me.”

“That makes you a bigger fool than I thought.”

“Fuck you,” Gena sneered at him.

She could no longer deal with his shit. She turned and made her way to the shower, no longer looking forward to the relaxing hot water. Now she just wanted to be away from him. As she reached the top of the stairs, she felt his grasp on her arm. She quickly turned to tell him exactly where he could put that hand when his mouth closed over hers.

The kiss was fast and brutal and angry and exactly what Gena needed. She responded immediately and opened her mouth for his tongue. In return, he grabbed hold of her hips and pushed her back until she was trapped between him and the wall.

Her hands fisted in his hair and pulled his mouth even closer toward her. Her tongue played with his and she nipped his bottom lip. His resulting growl told her that he liked it, and she let out a throaty laugh at her effect on him.

Her hands reached down to the hem of his shirt and pulled the material over his head. They had to break their ferocious kiss, but the result was so worth it. His broad shoulders looked like a perfect Greek sculpture. She lightly ran her hands over the ripples of his abs. Her fingers brushed the small amount of hair on his lower stomach and then reached the fly of his jeans.

She supposed that this was the point of no return, but in reality there was never a choice. She’d been slowly lowering her resistance to him since the moment they met, and as he’d fed on her, and she’d seen how explosive things would be between them, she’d known they would end up in bed together.

After looking at his beautiful shirtless body, it really would be a crime not to take him to bed.

Filled with resolve, she met his now jet-black eyes as her fingers undid the button at the top. The sound of the zipper going down filled the room, followed by the sound of Marcus’s sharp intake of breath. Gena reached a hand down until she felt his hard, hot length against her palm. Her fingers closed around him and she stroked him up and down.

A few strokes were all he allowed before he pushed her hand away and went to work undressing her. Her shirt was on the floor in a flash and her pants quickly followed. He took a moment to just stare at her in her undressed state. As she stood in front of him in only her sensible bra and panties, a wave of self-consciousness washed over her. She wasn’t hideous, but anyone would pale in comparison next to Marcus’s sculpted beauty.

As her arms moved to cover herself, he stopped her and pinned her wrists to the wall above her head. “Don’t hide yourself from me,” he whispered. “You look fucking delicious and I could stare at you all day.”

Her heart melted at the flattery. “You still hungry?” she teased.

Marcus leaned his head down to the curve of her neck where he’d fed on just hours earlier. His soft tongue ran along the sensitive flesh, and her entire body shuddered at the delicate touch. “I will always be hungry for you,” he said against her neck.

Before she could respond, he lifted her against the wall until her feet no longer touched the ground. She held onto his broad shoulders as she wrapped her  legs around his hips. In this position, his erection was firmly pushed against her wet core and the friction almost made her scream.

Instead, she pulled in for another kiss, and he was more than happy to meet her halfway. As their mouths met, Marcus ground his hips into hers, imitating the act they were both so desperate to perform.

HIs big hand found her bra-covered breast. He pushed the material aside and slowly circled her nipple with a warm finger. She moaned into his mouth at the triple assault. When one peak was fully erect, he moved onto the other one.

The sensations were too much for Gena. She frantically moved her hips faster and faster against his, cursing the undergarments separating the two of them.

As the friction between them grew hotter, she threw her head back against the wall and focused on the sensations building throughout her body until the feelings exploded through her in a climax like she’d never experienced.

Marcus kept himself busy kissing and sucking at her exposed neck as she held him tightly and slowly floated down to earth.

If that was an orgasm without even getting her panties off, what would it be like when he was finally inside her?

She couldn’t wait to find out. “I need you now,” she said breathlessly.

Without hesitation, he gathered her in his arms and walked them to the bed. He tossed her gently on the soft mattress, but before she could even bounce, his hot body covered hers.

She started to wrap her legs around him again, but he stopped her. His fingers hooked under her panties, and she took the hint to lift her hips as he slowly slid the soft material down her legs until she was completely bared to him.

He took the free moment to rid himself of his boxers and he looked over. She should have felt some sort of modesty, lying out before him naked on the bed. With him looking at her the way he was, as if he were starving and she were an all-you-can-eat buffet, it was impossible to feel anything but desirable.

When he came back to her, she was more than ready. Her arms and legs wrapped around him and she reached up for a devastating kiss, trying to make him feel exactly how much she wanted him.

He braced himself with one palm flat on the sheets while his other hand snaked between their bodies. After running along the edge of a breast and the curve of her waist, he reached the junction of her thighs. As he sank one finger inside her, her hands fisted in his hair. After he sunk in a second and a third, she raked her nails down his back.

“Please,” she begged. She was already ultra-sensitive from her first orgasm and didn’t think she could wait any longer.

“All you had to do was ask,” he whispered. As he removed his fingers, he pushed his hard cock against her clit. Her body jumped at the jolt of electricity that shot through her, and she couldn’t stop the moan that escaped.

He positioned himself at her entrance and slowly pushed until the tip was just inside her. Then, in one long stroke, he slid home. Gena didn’t just moan this time. She screamed.

Marcus seemed to be past the point of taking it slow. His hips moved fast as his cock slid in and out. All Gena could do was hold on tight and try to avoid waking up the whole building as the pleasure became too much to bear.

Marcus silenced her with a scorching kiss as one hand reached between them and rubbed her clit once more. That was it for Gena as she climaxed for a second time. Her nails bit into his back as her every muscle tensed in ecstasy.

That seemed to set him off. His already fast pumping became even faster as she felt his muscles tense. All at once, the thrusting stopped; Marcus froze on top of her and let out his own guttural scream with his orgasm.

As Marcus caught his breath, he relaxed his arms and gently rested on top of her.

For a few moments, the only sound in the apartment was their rapid breaths. What did it mean for a vampire to be out of breath? It had to be a good sign, she figured. Almost like a compliment. Gena had never experienced anything that powerful before in her life. What did she say after that?
Thanks for the mind-blowing sex! I’m so glad I met you three nights ago!

She couldn’t discreetly leave the bed because he was right on top of her, but she did start to move out from underneath him.

“Where are you going?” he murmured against her neck.

“Shower,” she responded. It wasn’t a lie. As she recalled, she’d been on her way to the shower when he had, um, interrupted her.

“Probably a good idea for both of us.” He pushed himself off her. As he stood, he pulled her with him. She gasped at the unexpected motion, and he met her open mouth with his.

This was a much softer kiss. Tender and gentle. It ended almost as soon as it had started. Gena found herself wanting more, but Marcus had already made his way to the bathroom.

She took the moment to appreciate his ass as he walked.
They just didn’t make men like him anymore
.

She heard the faucet turn on and couldn’t keep herself from following the siren song of the warm water.

It wasn’t yet dark when Gena woke. Marcus was still sound asleep, and she didn’t see any point in waking him. She rolled out of bed as quietly as possible and made her way to the living room. Lady was curled into a tight ball on the couch.

She’d been sleeping in the bedroom with Gena and Marcus at one point but must’ve gotten sick of all the noise they’d made.

Gena smiled at the memory of the extremely restless night they’d shared. Marcus had been more than she ever could have imagined in a lover. And he’d given her the best shower of her life. In between kisses, he’d gently washed her. And he had washed her
everywhere
, paying special attention to a few particular parts.

Gena felt a tingle between her legs just thinking of the things his hands were capable of. After that, he’d gone to work on her with his mouth. He started with her breasts, taking care to lavish each one with equal attention, alternating between stinging bites and soothing caresses with his tongue.

Then he’d made his way farther down. The electric sensation as he kissed her between her legs had been indescribable. While he was teasing her most sensitive nub with his tongue, he snuck a finger inside her and her knees almost gave out right then.

She’d managed to stay upright as he continued his assault on her senses, slipping two and then three fingers in and out of her as his talented tongue twisted her clit into knots. As she exploded in a powerful orgasm, Marcus had shot up, lifting her up and against the wall as he slid his cock into her in one quick, powerful stroke.

At least this time when they finished, they were already in the shower. Even though she’d managed to doze off for a bit, Marcus had woken her with his kisses again at some point, though Gena had no perception of the time by then.

She sat on the couch next to Lady and relaxed her sore muscles not used to being worked. She didn’t know what to do with Marcus and was still shocked he’d tried to send her away.

If she really was the same woman as this Mary, maybe there was some deeper connection between them than just sexual attraction. They at least owed it to themselves to see what they could be together.

Gena shook her head at the thought. She was getting ahead of herself. Marcus had never once made any mention of a relationship. He’d made it clear he’d wanted sex, but that was it. For all she knew, he really would send her away now.

Somehow, she doubted he would. He seemed too honorable to sleep with her and toss her out. Still, not throwing her out of his apartment and committing to a relationship were two different things.

On top of that, Gena wasn’t sure she wanted a relationship. Her life had just been dramatically altered. Was she even thinking clearly? She hugged Lady close as her conflicting emotions ran rampant through her.

She needed to get out of this penthouse. Marcus told her to have one of the doormen downstairs take Lady out during the day and that he’d make sure they were well compensated for the extra effort, but Gena wanted to take Lady out herself.

She missed the time she would spend with just her and her dog walking for miles with some great music on her MP3 player.

She hadn’t been going out during the day because of Ryan, but after she’d faced down three angry vampires last night, she was no longer afraid of Ryan.

Within minutes, she was just walking out the door when she heard Marcus’s cell phone start to vibrate. She looked behind her and saw his discarded jacket lying by the entryway. The phone must be in the pocket.

He normally kept the phone close to him, but he must’ve forgotten in the midst of their fight, and then he’d been distracted by, um, other things.

She figured that with a possible vampire war looming, any call could be important. She should let him decide whether it was worth getting out of bed early for. As she picked up the phone to take upstairs to Marcus, she was surprised when she recognized the number. Hope was calling.

It made sense. Hope was back in town and probably wanted to check on her. Gena took the phone with her as she left the penthouse with Lady.

When she got down to the street, Lady got busy making sure she knew every person and dog that had crossed by each tree for the past week. While Lady was happily investigating, Gena called Hope back.

After Hope answered, Gena said, “Welcome back.”

“It’s good to be home,” responded Hope. “Michigan is pretty and everything, but I’m not capable of being away from the city for longer than a few days. My body just craves it.”

Gena snorted, but she felt the exact opposite. The city was beautiful and had amazing sights around every corner, but she missed Michigan. She missed hiking in the woods and being able to just disappear to a place where you could walk for hours without seeing one person. “So, how was my funeral?” she asked, fully realizing it was a sentence no one should ever have the opportunity to say.

Hope gave a little chuckle. “It was a funeral. I don’t really know what to tell you,” she said. “There were lots of people and the flowers were beautiful. There were a lot of
sad
people. Your parents were pretty torn up. So was Joy.”

Gena felt her own tears welling up. Her friends and family were in pain because of her. Could she tell them the truth? She would ease their pain, but possibly drag them right into the middle of whatever supernatural shit she was knee-deep in. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Well, most of the spells I work are to ease pain, so it’s hard to be surrounded by so much of it. It would be easier if you were a bitch and everyone hated you,” said Hope teasingly.

Gena smiled. “If only.”

“In all seriousness, I do consider myself an empath. It’s not too overpowering, but I can channel whatever emotions are being felt around me.”

A week ago, Gena would have laughed at the idea of someone being a true empath. Now it didn’t seem so unrealistic. “Is that why you agreed to help me?”

“It was a big part of the reason. Your fear was rolling off you. I had to do something. It’s hard enough to watch people I don’t know going through pain, but Joy is my sister. I had to tell her.”

Gena took that with a mixture of happiness at being able to talk to her best friend again and fear of what she’d be dragging Joy into. “Damn it, Hope. I’ve been helping out Marcus and there’s a lot of shit going on around us right now. I’m not sure if it’s safe for you or Joy to be around me.”

“Joy was so happy to hear you were okay. I’m just giving you fair warning that she’ll move hell and earth to talk to you.”

Gena rubbed her temples. Joy could move all the hell and earth she wanted to, but the fact was that if Gena hung up the phone right now, Joy had no way of finding her. At least Joy knew she was safe. After everything with Marcus and the vampires blew over, she could get in touch with Joy.

But all she could say was, “Where do you want to meet?”

~~~~~

Marcus slowly came awake and reached for Gena. When he realized he was the only one in the bed, his eyes shot open.

He made his way down from the bedroom; he didn’t see her in the living area either, and Lady wasn’t greeting him with her usual enthusiasm. He cursed under his breath. Had he scared her off?

How could she even think of leaving after the night they had? He knew for a fact she’d enjoyed herself. He had made sure of it. Maybe she had taken his advice and gone to stay with Hope. On one hand, he was glad she was out of harm’s way, but another part of him wanted nothing more than to march over to Hope’s and drag her back here, kicking and screaming.

Marcus’s mouth twisted up in a little grin as he imagined what he could do with her after he dragged her back. He shook his head to clear away the images of a naked and bound Gena. Even if he wanted to storm after her, the sun wouldn’t be down for another hour.

He slammed his fist down on the kitchen counter in frustration. How could she leave him without a word?

Before he could hit anything else in anger, he heard the entry door open, and an excited Lady scampered toward him, followed by a smiling Gena. “Morning, er, evening,” she said, as she set down Lady’s leash and took off her jacket.

Marcus felt a rush of joy at the sight of her. She hadn’t left him. She’d taken her dog out for a walk. She walked toward him but stopped as she got closer. “What happened to the counter?” She stared at the many cracks his fist had caused.

Embarrassed by his loss of control, he just said, “It’s a long story you probably don’t want to hear anyway.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oooookay.” She leaned in for a quick kiss.

He grabbed her hips and deepened the kiss. She didn’t protest as she opened her mouth for him and held him closer. She pushed her hips against his and his already erect cock eagerly greeted the touch.

He moved his lips along her cheekbone and made a trail down her neck. As he reached the base of her shoulder, the smell of her overwhelmed him, and his fangs shot down, hungry for another taste. He pushed her away before he did anything he’d regret.

Gena looked at him questioningly, but realization came over her as she saw his black eyes and fangs. “Do you need to feed?”

Marcus took a deep breath and felt his fangs retract and his eyes return to normal. “I usually eat first thing in the morning. I have some in the fridge.”

“I’ll leave you to it then,” she murmured as she walked over to the couch and turned on the television and flipped through channels.

Marcus watched her for another moment. He wasn’t hungry for just any blood. He wanted hers. He had imagined she’d taste good, but nothing had prepared him for the power her blood held. It was almost as if every drink had ten coffees’ worth of caffeine.

He was sure she attributed his quick healing to his vampire abilities, but that was only a partial truth. Even with heavy feeding, it would take him a full night or two to fully recover from the harsh beating he received last night. With her blood, he’d been mostly healed by the time they reached the penthouse.

It was unbelievably dangerous for her. If anyone found out about the healing capabilities of her blood, every vampire would want to get their hands on her. Anael had been serious when she said Gena needed his protection.

After seeing her shoot those three vampires without even a second thought, he’d been convinced she was losing her humanity every second that she was with him. Now that he knew the secrets of her blood, he was just grateful she could use that gun if she needed to.

Maybe she was losing more and more of her old self, but it was much too dangerous for her to be unprotected. He would just have to make sure he protected her humanity and her body. He would take extra special care of her body. He would check it over one to three times a day just to make sure it was still okay.

He couldn’t prevent a naughty grin from forming. He wanted to kick himself for even thinking he should send her away. Well, after the many bouts of amazing sex in the past ten hours, it would take a fucking apocalypse for him to ever let Gena go. She was stuck with him.

Even though he wasn’t hungry, he grabbed a bottle of cold blood from the refrigerator. He needed to keep up his energy. The Tower was having its grand opening tomorrow night and he needed to be on alert.

Bottle of blood in hand, he sauntered over to Gena and sat down next to her. She looked at the bottle questioningly. “You don’t mind eating that in front of me?”

“If you don’t mind, I don’t mind.”

“Well, I suppose that once you let a vampire feed straight from you, drinking from a bottle doesn’t seem all that strange.” One side of her mouth upturned.

“Cheers.” He took a swig.

Gena looked at him for a minute before she laughed and glanced away.

Marcus put the bottle down. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” she said, but she didn’t stop laughing. “It’s really weird to see you drinking blood like a normal person drinks bottled water.”

Marcus looked at the bottle in question. It was shaped like a water bottle, but it was a dark blue opaque plastic so no one could see the contents. “Yep, it’s weird,” he agreed, and then took another long swig as Gena dissolved into more laughter.

The light moment was interrupted by the sound of a cell phone ringing. Gena’s brow furrowed as she looked to his jacket where the sound came from. “I took your phone out of there,” she murmured.

“That’s because it’s not my normal phone ringing,” he said with a grim expression as he got up to answer it. “Why did you take my phone?”

“It’s the rebels?” she asked, pointedly not answering his question.

But he didn’t have time to question her further. “Marcus,” was all he said as he answered the phone.

“Can you meet us in an hour? Same place as last time,” came the voice on the other end. Marcus recognized it as Rok’s.

“I can make it work.”

“Good.” Rok abruptly hung up.

“You can make what work?” Gena saw him put the phone away.

“They want another meeting.”

Gena looked as though she was as unhappy about it as he was. “You probably shouldn’t be here alone while they know I won’t be here,” he said. For all he knew, they just wanted to get him out of his penthouse so they could search it. He had done the same to other vampires before.