Love is Darkness (A Valerie Dearborn Novel) (33 page)

Empath
.
 
The revelation cut through the fog of lust and anger that was wrapped around her.
Finally, an answer.
What he wanted from her and why.
His fascination with her.
Did it explain her fascination with him too?

 
“Are
empaths
human?” She was scared of the answer.

“Yes. For all practical purposes, an
empath
is human.”

“Why practical, what does that mean?”

“The
Others
are gone. You would have no one to use your powers on, assuming you had power. You are not a full
empath
,
your abilities would most likely be limited. It's dangerous to be an
empath
, even part
empath
. Vampires are all that remain, the only species you could affect, and they would not thank you for it.”

“Except you?”

His voice was oh-so-neutral when he said, “Except for me.”

“Why?” she touched his face and his hair, stroked his neck, couldn’t stop touching him as she listened to him talk to her quietly. He held eye contact with her, like he wouldn’t look away if she wouldn’t.
forging
a bond of some sort, maybe wanting her to know that he was telling the truth.

“Because I feel very few things.
My attraction to you and your response to me…I have been
existing
for a very long time. Marion was right when she said my existence has become a curse of sorts. I stand on the outside looking in and there, just over the threshold
is
you. There is much I would give to cross that space.”

“What happened to the
empaths
?

He paused and she tried to feel what he was feeling, straining as though listening for music played far away.

He’s keeping himself from me.

“I did nothing to protect your kind. The wolves did. They revered
empaths
, whereas the vampires feared them like a vengeful God. And the Fey— they had their own issues with
empaths
. The wolves were decimated and the vampires turned their backs….”

“Why don't I feel your answer now?”

“Restraint comes with age child,” he said flippantly.

No, she needed to know these things, what he felt about the destruction of... her kind. Yeah, that little nugget was
gonna
come out of the vault for examination later. She was an
empath
? Did WTF suffice as a response?

“I can’t tell when you’re lying anymore or what you’re feeling. I want to know.”

“If I relax my shields so that you can feel the bond, we shall both regret it.” He spoke to her like she was a child.

“Who are you to make that decision? I need to
know
. Not just be a pawn.”

“I will answer your questions and then I must go. Ask.” His voice was implacable and cold.

What was the point in asking questions when she wouldn’t know if he was lying to her or keeping things from her? Fuck that.

The anger was overwhelming. She wanted to kill him, stab him,
destroy
him. Her hand flew, slapping his cheek hard, but he moved and her nails scraped his neck, creating deep red marks on his still soft flesh. He hissed in a breath and looked back at her, a light in his eyes that made her shiver.

“Will you protect me?”
Gasped and husky words.

His brows drew together as though confused, and he reached a hand up to the scratches, touching them lightly as though they actually hurt.

“How could I not?” The words were ironic but his emotions came from him, a fierce sincerity followed by desire. “Be careful with that.” His defenses were lowered again, his words almost having an emotional echo that slid through her veins and made her feel weighted.

Be careful with what?
Her nails?
Provoking him? His shields went
up,
the weight went away, that feeling of rightness gone again.

Her hand went to his jaw then scratched her fingers down his neck, scoring the same place as before. Desire slapped her back, making her gasp at what he felt, like she’d been floating without gravity and was now being squashed under its heavy weight.

His hands were on her hips, jerking her forward so that she fell towards him, legs spread over him as he settled her on top of him, his eyes level with her own, every long lash delineated, blue eyes so close that she could see his pupils contract slightly.

“It's very bad for your longevity to try and make a vampire lose control.”

Someone’s heart was pounding, so loudly that it ricocheted around the room and between them like a live thing. Was his heart beating? Was it hers? Hers as he heard it?

And then he kissed her, gentle at first, almost hesitant and tender, no response she’d ever attribute to him. His hand came up, cradling her head in his large palm before tilting his head and plunging his tongue into her mouth with desperate urgency.

Yes.

Her whole body relaxed, her core settling against him more firmly so that he moaned lightly and twitched her even closer, rocking his hardness deeply against her.

She gave a small cry of surprise and delight, winding her arms around his neck.

This
was what she needed. Too much was happening: her father, Jack,
empath
bullshit. But this immediate fulfillment was something she could lose herself in. She could deal with consequences later.

Abandoning herself to the pleasure she leaned forward, pushing her breasts flat against his chest as his arms clasped behind her then stroked her back and sides. His hands roamed to her thighs, resting on the inside, along the juncture where her thighs met her pelvis. He rubbed this thumbs along that slope in a firm caress that made her wriggle closer to him, showing her what he would do to her when he moved his fingers to the very center of her.

Still he kissed her, gentle kisses turning into deep hungry strokes of his tongue, but once she started moving against him more urgently, her body restlessly wanting his, the kisses changed, his head tilted again so that he could taste more of her, claim her, mimicking what it would be like when he sank his cock deep into her body. They were both breathing harshly and his hands lifted to her face, cupping her tenderly even as his tongue devoured her.

His hands swept down her neck, then her chest, grazing her nipples so lightly that she made a noise of frustration. Despite her protest his hands skated lower until they were resting beneath her breasts but not touching them.

She arched farther into him, trying to put her breasts into his hands, the motion pressing her damp heat against him hard. If he'd been human it would have hurt but he groaned, a sound more animal than man and he did as she wished, his hands cupping her breasts in his palms, his fingers finding her nipples through her sweater and bra.

Pleasure coursed from her nipples to her center as though he was toying with her there instead. A great sigh of pleasure came from her and he inhaled, taking her breath deep into his body.

Breaking the kiss, she moved her lips to his jaw and down his neck to where his pulse was beating steadily. She ran her tongue over it and he shuddered beneath her, his hands splayed over her ass, shoving her closer, deeper as he met her from below.

His breathing mirrored hers, a fine tremor in his hands as they roamed her body restlessly. Her body was tight, swollen and on edge. And there was that duality again, that desire was everything but she didn’t know who it belonged to.
Hers or his or the both of them together.

Her mouth hovered over his neck, most of his body frozen as he waited, still pressing himself against her, almost despite himself. And then she struck, letting her teeth close lightly against the marks on his flesh, before licking him soothingly.

She sucked on his flesh as though the skin was directly linked to his cock. And
fuck
, maybe it was.

 
His breath had turned ragged, but he groaned and stopped her, making her stand although her legs were shaky and she wasn’t done yet. She felt the loss of his cock against her core like a phantom limb, something she’d never forget and needed to have back.

She almost fell, gripping his hard bicep as he tucked his thumbs in her underwear and pulled them down her legs, fingers trailing downwards. She stepped out of them and his head was so close to her core that she began to tremble.

Very slowly, he looked up at her, his eyes meeting hers, maybe reading the desperation on her face. He smiled so cockily, so surely that she didn’t know if she wanted to hit him or kiss him. “Don’t I get to see what fifteen hundred years of experience gets a girl these days?”

He laughed thickly and stood up, hands on her legs again, caressing firmly up her body until his hands were back on her ass, under her skirt while he stepped backwards to the chair, pulling her forward again so she straddled him. Her skirt was like a stage curtain between them.

His heated gaze was focused between her legs like he could will the fabric away, hands roving from her hips to her thighs and her ass, the skirt moving and shifting, almost exposing her but never quite.

Voice thick with desire, gaze still focused between her legs, hands moving, confidence purring from him, he responded, “What does fifteen hundred years get you?”

His gaze climbed her body, stroked her breasts, her neck and lips before reaching her eyes. She bit her lip, the teasing, his voice and everything they had already done putting her close to orgasm.

He made a noise like a growl before answering, “Knowledge, stamina, control. The right touch and the right time, in the right place.” And then his fingers were touching her, stroking so that she writhed on his hand and began to tremble, the orgasm
close.
The match to her spark.
The pressure and stroke of his fingers as perfect as he’d promised.
 

She could only half hear
him,
she was so close to coming.

“But that’s not the question you should be asking.” His breath teased her ear, voice close and intimate as he kept her on the edge. He knew how close she was, her body writhing, begging him unashamedly, to finish her. “The question is how much passion, lust and desire can a woman stand when a man hasn’t been this…
hard
…hungry…and desperate, for
centuries
.” He flicked his index finger across her gently and she came.

His fingers slid along her slick flesh, coaxing aftershocks from her, making her feel limp…but hungry.
Hungry for him to fill her and take her, hungry for his flesh and his blood, even for his gasps of passion.
She wanted to devour him.
Is that what I want or does he want it?