Darkest Risings (32 page)

Now
that he’d found her, he couldn’t live without her. He’d welcome death with open
arms, greet it like an old friend, rather than live without Wilhemina.

He
gazed down at her, her lips swollen and glistening from the wicked blowjob
she’d given him. He stood, pulled her up in front of him, then bent and took
her sexy mouth in a searing kiss that left him aching for more—and more he’d
have.

“Thank
you.”

“There’s
no need to thank me. I enjoyed every moment of it.” She brushed her fingers
over his chest.

“I need
you right now,” he murmured as he began tugging at the buttons on her blouse.

“Don’t
you need time to, um…recover?” She frowned then giggled nervously.

“I
assure you I do not.” He raised a brow when she looked down and saw that his
cock was erect once again.

“Oh
my.”

“One
of the benefits of being a vampire.”

“I
think I’m going to like that benefit,” she whispered.

“I’ll
make sure of it.”

He
unsnapped her bra and when her full breasts spilled free, he groaned. They
filled his hands perfectly as he cupped and kneaded them gently before urging
the nipples into hard, rosy tips with his fingers. She responded to him, to his
touch instinctively, without hesitation.

He
shrugged his duster off, hiked her skirt up around her hips, and gasped when
the tiny scrap of black that barely covered the treasure he sought was
revealed. He bent and kissed her. His tongue dipped, tasted, then tangled with
hers as she wrapped her arms around him, clung to him, strained against him as
if she couldn’t get close enough.

He
felt the same way. He wanted to crawl inside her and stay forever. He shoved
his pants lower on his hips so his cock was unhindered by the leather before
lifting her up.

“Wrap
those gorgeous legs around me, honey.”

She
did so immediately. He loved that about her. She trusted him, never questioned
the things he requested, confident that he’d never ask something of her that
would make her uncomfortable. Her gray eyes burned with want, with need, and he
cupped her ass and guided her over him. She sank down until he was buried to
the hilt. He took a deep breath and rested his forehead against hers.

“I
can’t find the words to explain what you do to me, Wilhemina.”

“You
don’t have to,” she gasped. “I feel it too.”

“I
don’t think things are going to be slow and easy this time. I need you too
much,” he ground out hoarsely.

She
rotated her hips and his knees nearly buckled. “I’m good with fast and hard.”

“God,
you are going to kill me, woman.”

When
she leaned in to kiss him, and he lost all control. His mouth slammed down on
hers as his body claimed her. She was tight, wet, and he plowed through her
slick sheath over and over. She clung to him and he drank every cry of pleasure
wrung from her. Still, even with his cock buried in her, his mouth and hands on
her, he craved more.

“
Can I taste you, Wilhemina?”

She
leaned back to expose the creamy column of her throat as he continued pounding
inside her, but he didn’t want her throat. He bent and suckled the tip of one
nipple as he flexed his hips upward. She cried out again, and he swirled his
tongue around the tight peak then flicked the pebbled point. She dug her nails
into his shoulders and panted.

“
Do it, Aldin. Take me how you want. I am
yours.”

He
kissed the top of her breast then lightly scraped his teeth over the delicate
skin. The sound of her heartbeat, the push of blood through her veins with
every thump, called to him as she strained toward him.

“
Please, Aldin.”

His
fangs slid out and he bit down, careful not to tear her skin. The pop of his
teeth gliding into her vein and the rush of her coppery, rich life force
hitting his tongue pushed him close to losing control.

“
So good.”
He sucked and the blood that
filled his mouth hit him like a train. His hips surged upward hard of their own
accord. “
So tight. Just for me.”

“Yes! Only for you. I love you,
Aldin.”

“I love you too, Wilhemina.”

Suddenly,
her inner muscles clenched around his cock so tightly he went to his knees, but
never stopped drinking her or plowing through the spasms of her climax. She
screamed his name over and over, and before her orgasm reached its pinnacle,
his release burst forth. He cried out against her skin before guiding his fangs
out of her vein and burying his face against her neck.

With
each stroke of his hips, hot jets of his release erupted inside her. She held
on to him tightly while her inner muscles clamped around him as he spent every
last drop.

Afterward,
he relished being held by her while his cock dwelled inside her. He breathed in
her feminine scent mixed with his musky scent and kneaded her ass gently as the
waves of both of their releases subsided to a pleasant lull. He’d never wanted
to be held by a woman until he met Wilhemina. In her arms, anything was
possible. In her arms, the world was a better place.

She
unwrapped her legs from his hips, and he reluctantly let her stand. No sooner
had he slipped from her warm sheath when his body—he—craved to be back inside
her. He stood, sat on the side of the bed, and pulled her down so she sat
sideways on his knees.

She
was beautiful with her breasts bared to his view, the tight, glistening curls
between her thighs on display, and her kiss swollen lips. Her pale skin was
flushed from their love-making, and he settled his gaze on the place just above
her breast where he’d tasted her. He bent and licked the two punctures to help
them heal, and her coppery blood hit him again.

“You
are the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth.” He sighed before
pushing some stray red hairs off her face and behind one small ear.

“Even
though I know I’m not, I feel that way when you say it.” Her breathless words
were low and husky.

“It’s
the truth. To me, no other woman could come close to your beauty.”

“Uh
huh. Not even Alaina, huh?” She snorted.

“Not
even close.” He kissed her long and slow.

“
Aldin. Things are starting to heat up here.
You need to get back soon.”
Ashe’s voice had never been as unwelcome as it
was at that moment.

As
much as he wanted to ignore Ashe, he couldn’t. “
I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“See you soon, brother.”

He
sighed and looked at her.

“I
hate that look. You have to go, don’t you?” She frowned.

“You
already know me so well.”

“I’m
scared. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” She leaned against him.

He
tucked her head under his chin and gently rocked her. “I’ll come back to you. I
refuse to be taken from you just when I’ve found you.”

She
leaned back, framed his face with her hands, and kissed him on the tip of the
nose. “Good. Because I’ll be really pissed if you get hurt.”

“So
will I.” He chuckled. He didn’t want to have this talk, but it was unavoidable.
“If you ever find that you need a safe place, protection, money, anything, go
to Ebony. There have been provisions made to assure the safety of our life
mates.”

“Don’t
talk like that. I won’t need any of that because you’ll be here to make sure
I’m safe.”

“Yes,
I will, but at least you know you have options for you and Lindsey if it comes
to it.”

She
placed her fingers over his lips. “Shh. Don’t say anything more on the subject.
You make sure you get your ass back to me. Do you hear me?”

“Yes,
ma’am.” He smiled. After another kiss—one that ended sooner than he liked—he
reluctantly stood and helped her right her clothes before buttoning his pants.
When he bent to pick up his duster, she gasped.

“Did
you have that thing on the whole time we were just—”

She
was undoubtedly referring to the sword on his back. He hadn’t wanted to waste
the time taking it off. He’d wanted her too badly to bother with it. “Yes.”

“Only
you could distract me to the point of not noticing a sword on your back.”

He
pulled the duster on and reached for her. “Glad to know I’m such a
distraction.”

He
closed his eyes as he hugged her, memorizing her scent, her softness…her. He
hoped like hell this wouldn’t be the last time he held her. He had every
intention of returning, come hell or high water, but shit happened. Sometimes,
life kicked you in the balls and stabbed you in the back without giving you a
choice in the matter.

He
kissed her tenderly, breathing her deep into his lungs to sustain him through
the battle. When tears sparkled in her eyes, he reluctantly stepped back and
barely resisted the urge to say fuck it and stay with her. She was putting up a
brave front. She’d squared her shoulders and put on a happy face, but he could
see that the smile didn’t reach her eyes. She was worried, and she had every
right to be.

“I’ll
see you soon. If you need me, you can call to me through our mind link.”

She
nodded. “I love you.”

He
reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. “I love you too.”

Reluctantly,
he shimmered back to the top of the building he’d been on before he’d come to
find her. He hoped like hell he didn’t keep his promise of coming back to her
via body bag.

Aldin
had only been gone a couple minutes when a knock sounded on the door. Wilhemina
opened it to find Ebony on the other side.

“Hi,”
Wilhemina said, noticing the concern etched on her friend’s face.

“Aldin
filled you in on what’s going on?”

“Yes.”

“Good.
I need you to get Lindsey and come with me.” Ebony turned and started down the
hallway.

“Why.
What’s wrong?” Wilhemina hurried after her.

“Nothing.
Ashe asked me to get everyone to the safe room until the battle is over as a
precautionary measure.”

“Safe
room?”

Ebony
nodded. “Yes. It’s actually a room under the basement.”

“A
basement under a basement? How does that work?”

Ebony
stopped, turned around, and Wilhemina nearly slammed into her. “Ashe had it
constructed about a year ago. I cannot even begin to tell you the mess it
caused or the ungodly amount of money it cost. I personally did not see the
need for it at the time. Now? I respect my husband for being overly protective.
The room is lined by eighteen inch concrete around twelve inch thick steel
around one inch iron. They had to demolish the entire basement to do it. Seriously,
it was a freaking mess.”

Ebony
turned and started walking again, and Wilhemina followed at a slower pace in
case she decided to stop again.

“And
Ashe thinks there is a need for us to use this room?”

“Yes.
He wants to make sure all of us are safe until things settle back down. The
room is the Mac Daddy of bomb shelters. We could live in there for years. No
one can get in once the door is sealed.”

“I
thought you guys could, um, just pop in and pop out.”

“Yeah,
but we can only
pop
in and
pop
out of public places or places not
owned by other vampires.” Ebony turned around again and frowned. “I guess that
means you know Avril and I are also, um,
poppers
?”

Wilhemina
couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes. I finally figured it out with help from Lindsey.
Since I came here, my uncanny gift of putting things together has seemingly
abandoned me.”

“Don’t
feel bad about that. That tends to happen when you find out things exist that
you never thought possible. And everything that happened with your sister?”
Ebony shrugged. “You had some serious overload put on your poor noggin.” She
turned and started walking once again.

“I’m
worried, Ebony.”

“So
am I, but don’t dwell too much on it until we have everyone in the room. You
have to keep it together right now. Be strong for Aldin like I’m trying to be
for Ashe. It’s not easy. My husband is lethal and can be scary, but he’s not
invincible. I know he is unmatched in skills, but it doesn’t stop me from
worrying about him every time he goes out. It doesn’t stop me from wanting to go
with him.”

“Why
don’t you go with him?”

Ebony
shook her head. “He has taught me to fight well. I can take care of myself, but
my first and second priorities are Marcus and Ashe—even though he insists they
are Marcus and myself. If I went with Ashe, I would only be a distraction. I
would never forgive myself if I was the reason for him getting hurt. Or what if
something happened to me and I left Marcus without a mother?”