Carnal (Her Dark Desires #1) (12 page)

I’d
remembered how good it felt, how free and light to revel in my sexuality. When
I was clad in nothing more than a lacy bra and underwear, I looked over at Hector.

He’d
gone silent, stopping mid-sentence in his review. His large hand gripped the
edge of the desk, making his knuckles whiten against his tanned skin. The whole
time his eyes hadn’t left the screen.

“Um…
Hector?” I asked.

When
my underwear came flying off and I began caressing and touching myself,
throwing my head back and moaning, Hector leaned forward on his desk, closed
his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

I
rose and went over to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Hector? Are you all
right?”

He
chuckled darkly. “No,” he murmured. “I’m not all right. I haven’t been all
right since I first ran into you on the elevator. Your touch has haunted me
since.”

I
blinked, not expecting that. “What are you talking about?”

Finally,
he opened his eyes and stared at me. “I’m talking about the way you’ve been on
my mind ever since. I can’t stop thinking about you, Sally.”

I
lost my breath, taking a step back. “But you - you’ve been so silent. So…”

“Cold?”
he provided, standing and sauntering toward me.

I
backed away, though not out of fear he would harm me. It was out of fear of
having my heart torn in half if my instincts, my darkest, deepest desires, were
wrong.

I
wetted my lips and swallowed against my suddenly parched throat. “Yeah. Cold.”

“I
had to be. Professional, that is. It’s the number one rule around here.”

My
back hit the wall, and he threw up an arm on either side of my head, cornering
me as he leaned in. His mouth was about an inch from mine. “And what I want is
strictly forbidden,” he whispered.

I
stared at his full lips, wanting to run my tongue along them, to fully taste
him. “What is?” I breathed, trembling.

He
smiled. “That a teacher will not lust after his pupil.”

I
forgot how to breathe as his lips brushed mine in a questioning kiss. “I want
you, Sally,” he whispered. “More than I’ve ever wanted anyone before. You’re
intoxicating.”

That’s
when it hit me - he was asking for permission to continue. “I want you too,” I
said, then wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

He
kissed me hungrily, one hand tangling in my dark hair, the other roving around
my back to pull me closer to him. Every inch of him felt rock hard beneath his
silk shirt and jeans, and I wondered what he would feel like without any
barriers between us. At our contact, our energy began siphoning into each
other, draining and filling us up at the same time. It was the strangest
sensation I’d ever felt, but it was more powerful than drawing from a mere
human. I’d never been with another of my kind before.

“God,
you taste amazing,” he breathed, blazing a path of kisses down my neck and
along the top of my breasts. “Like honey and sugar. So sweet. So innocent.”

I
wanted his mouth all over me. Waves of white-hot heat coursed through me as he
slipped my shirt up to gently nip at my right nipple. Thank God I hadn’t
bothered with a bra. The halter top had one built-in.

Hector
cupped my breast, squeezing as his tongue worked the tight little cherry lump.
I clawed at his back in an effort to pull him closer as I moaned. God, if it
felt this good to have him play with my breasts, what would it feel like to
have him kiss me down there, or feel him, hard and long, inside me?

“Take
your shirt off,” I begged. “I want to feel more of you.”

He
gave one long, hard pull on my nipple, shooting a bolt of pleasure through me
that caused me to cry out. “Why don’t you take it off?” he challenged,
grinning.

I
smiled at him. I was up to this dare.

I
nearly ripped off the buttons in my ferocity to get him naked. I stared in awe
at his sculpted chest. No matter how many times I saw this, it never ceased to
amaze me how perfect he was.

Once
his shirt was on the floor, he took both my wrists and pinned me to the wall,
taking my mouth with his again. His tongue forced my lips apart, tangling with
my own as he ground his hips against mine. I wrapped a leg around his hips, and
he ground harder, his long length pressing against my damp clitoris.

Closer.
I needed to be closer.

I
reached down and began unbuttoning his pants when a sharp knock at the door
startled us both.

“Aurelius,
are you in there?” Dean Prescott called out.

Hector
swore, grabbing his shirt and shrugging it on. He gave me an apologetic smile
as I pulled my top back down and looked at myself in the mirror. Good Lord, my
lips were swollen. Not even thinking twice about it, I willed my lips to return
to normal. A few tingling seconds later, and they’d shape-shifted back to their
original pink hue. I stared, surprised. It was the first time I hadn’t had to
really work at shape-shifting. The question was, why?

Another
knock, this one louder. Jeez, Dean Prescott sure didn’t have a lot of patience.

Once
I was presentable, I grabbed my notebook and purse, and Hector opened the door.
“Sorry about that,” he said. “We were caught up in a lesson, and I didn’t hear
you knock the first time.”

Prescott
gave him an irritable look and tapped the window. “This is supposed to be open
at all times, Mr. Aurelius. You know the school rules.”

“Sorry,
sir. Given the explicit nature of my assignments, I felt some people walking by
might be offended at what was on the tape. You know how my kind are viewed in
the paranormal community.”

As
whores and sluts
,
I thought dryly,
the scum of the Underworld, even lower than the Hunters.

The
Dean’s smile stiffened. “Yes, I’m all too aware of your… reputation.”

My
eyes narrowed. Was that a whiff of malice I detected?

He
turned his black, cold eyes on me. “You must be new here. I’d think I’d
remember a face like yours.”

I
hesitated. His signature… no, it couldn’t be. I hadn’t been able to tell in the
auditorium because there were so many people around, but now it became clear
that his signature didn’t have a lock on it.

Just
like Damien’s.

Dean
Prescott arched a brow. “Something wrong? You look paler.”

I
flashed what I hoped was a convincing smile as he shook my hand, and I
introduced myself. “Sally Sanders. Nice to meet you, Dean Prescott.”
Thankfully, my voice didn’t show my fear.

“A
pleasure, Sally,” he said, the way he looked me up and down letting me know
exactly what kind of a pleasure he was talking about.

Hector
stiffened beside me, and a low growl escaped him. “Sally and I were just wrapping
up when you knocked. She’ll be leaving now. I’ll see you tomorrow for our first
field assignment?”

I
blinked, having forgotten about that. “Oh, yes. Of course. Bye, Mr. Aurelius.”

Hector
nodded, though his eyes lingered on me a bit longer as I turned and walked
away. A moment later, I heard his office door close.

I
frowned. I guess politics and pettiness weren’t limited to students. Seemed it
took on a whole new meaning at the teacher level.

The
whole while I walked, I couldn’t stop replaying what had happened in the
office. Hector had said he wanted me, but was he toying with me? A new “flavor
of the week,” perhaps?

I
reached up and touched my lips. I hadn’t had a moment’s hesitation this time
with shape-shifting, and I had to admit I felt more powerful than before. More
alive. It had to be Hector’s incubus essence flowing into me.

Succubi
and incubi didn’t have souls, per se. Our paranormal essence, the “magic”
within us that made us supernatural, was drawn out and exchanged during sexual
encounters. And being as experienced as Hector was, it made him super powerful.
My eyes narrowed in thought. Some of that power had leaked into me when he’d
kissed me. That certainly explained how I was able to shape-shift more easily.
Though powerful as he was, that wasn’t why I’d been drawn to him, although some
succubi became drunk on power. No, I was drawn to him because I wanted
him,
in
whatever quantity I could get.

By
the time I reached my dorm, I was horny again. Dammit. I had a feeling my
vibrator was going to be getting quite the workout these next few weeks. Good
thing I packed extra batteries.

I
paused outside the door to my apartment, remembering Delilah’s warning. Anger
rolled through me.

I
didn’t care who she was, or who she was in there with. This was my apartment
too, and I had just as much right to be here.

Plugging
the key in the door, I twisted it and stepped inside.

A
strong smell like overcooked meat hit my nose as I shut the door behind me and
walked forward. Everything was pitch black. Where was Delilah?

Splash
.

Huh?
Had the pipe burst and flooded the apartment?

“Delilah?”
I called.

Silence.

I
walked along, the smell getting stronger, mingling with something I recognized
all too easily - the smell of sex. Whoever Delilah had had over, they’d been
going at it.

I
tripped over something and nearly crashed onto the floor. Catching myself on a
chair, I swore and grappled for the light switch. It flicked on, illuminating
the room, and I finally saw what had made the splashing sound.

It
wasn’t water.

It
was blood. Lots of it, like several buckets had been dumped in the room.

Ice-cold
fear paralyzed me for a few seconds as my eyes slowly trailed to the figure
lying on the floor, and I realized what I had tripped on.

That’s
when I screamed.

Chapter 9

I
DON’T KNOW HOW long I screamed until help came. All sound, color, and sense of
time faded away as staff and guards flocked into my room and setup a perimeter
outside while trying to keep curious students at bay.

All
the while, I sat trembling on the bed until a familiar voice cut through my
terror-ridden haze.

“Sally?
Sally, look at me.”

My
eyes tore from Delilah’s chewed-up carcass, and I finally saw the blur hunched
in front of me. “Hec-tor,” I rasped, my throat sore from screaming. I’d have
laryngitis for sure. Or maybe I’d just sound like Mila Kunis or Emma Stone, in
that sexy, always-hoarse kind of way.

Look
on the bright side, Sally. Your new low voice will probably be a major turn-on
for clients, and hey! Delilah was a bitch!

Hector
wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and examined me. “Are you hurt?”

I’d
never seen him look pale before, and it was fascinating. I reached up and
touched his cheek, the stubble there grazing my fingertips. “I’m fine,” I said.
“Just scared the shit out of me.”

“Is
this her?”

We
both looked up as two business suit-clad people walked up to me. One was a man
in his late thirties who was handsome in a rugged, “woodsman” kind of way. The
other was a luscious ginger with plenty of curves, outfitted in a red dress
that accented the red in her hair. Both eyed me with a mixture of sympathy and
suspicion.

One
glance at their badges, and I knew exactly who they worked for.

D.P.I.
watchdogs.
I
was so going to need a beer to handle them.

“Evening,
officers,” Hector said, standing and shaking their hands. “What can we do for
you?”

He
moved to stand in front of me, blocking me from their view. I smiled.
Ever
the knight in shining armor.

“We’d
like to ask Ms. Sanders a few questions,” the man, Special Agent Rhodes, said.

“Sally
is my student, and as you can see, she is quite shaken,” Hector said. “She’s
been through a lot tonight.”

Agent
Rhodes’s smile tightened, but it was his partner, Agent Harris, that spoke. “We
understand she’s been through a lot, and as her mentor, you only have her best
interests at heart. But since this is the tenth victim in the last six months,
it’s crucial we interview her as soon as possible. There’s something sinister
happening to these students, and we want to be able to put a stop to it.”

Hector
stood eye to eye with Harris for a long while, probably measuring the size of
each other’s dicks. “All right,” Hector said, stepping aside. He looked at me.
“I’ll be nearby if you need me.”

He
shot Harris and Rhodes a warning look, then moved away.

I
answered the basic questions: where I was when the attack happened, what time I
came back, when I noticed something was off, was Delilah seeing anyone tonight.
I watched them furiously scribble on their notepads for a full fifteen minutes.