Caught in Darkness (20 page)

He broke the kiss, held her gaze
for a beat, and then dropped his eyes to her waist as he methodically released
her shorts and slid them off her legs. His hands burned their way back up her
legs, making her squirm with anticipation and desire, before his fingers hooked
beneath the hem of her panties. They were gone an instant later and the air was
heavy with expectation as his gaze lingered over her. His jaw was tight and his
eyes were dark with a very different kind of hunger and that expression went
straight to the coil tightening inside of her.

As she watched him examine her
suddenly-nude body she frowned, realizing that he was still fully clothed. That
won’t do at all. She watched as he swallowed visibly and, deciding that was her
cue, she lifted her hands again and pressed them into his chest to get his
attention. His eyes immediately focused and lifted to hers, and she offered him
a seductive smile as she curled her fingers into the fabric of his shirt.

Without hesitation he shifted his
weight, leaning over her as he lifted his arms to allow her to remove his shirt
on her own. She complied eagerly, letting the fabric fall to the floor beside
them as her eyes reacquainted themselves with the sight of his
perfectly-muscled chest. She only had a moment to stare, however, before he was
leaning into her again and had curled one arm around her waist, pulling her in
close. Their lips met hungrily, her hands losing themselves in his hair and her
body burning anew with the sensations of his bare chest pressed to hers. His
tongue rolled over hers and her hips arched into his in response, reminding
them both that he was still half-dressed.

She barely had time to miss him
when he pulled away suddenly, his irritated growl hanging in the air, and then
he was back and kissing her like a man starved. It took her a full thirty
seconds to realize that he’d shed the remainder of his clothing. His arm was
once again shoved between her back and the couch, holding her chest to his, and
his other arm was braced above her head, supporting the bulk of his weight. One
of her legs was bent at the knee, the inside of her thigh brushing teasingly
over the outside of his and sending jolts of electricity shooting through her.

Then, suddenly, she could feel him
everywhere as he surged into her core. He filled her to the brim with one swift
thrust and she cried out into his mouth, her nails scraping his scalp. And she
had been right. The fire that was spreading through her body was unlike
anything she’d ever felt before, and it was addictive. Her body was practically
purring in ecstasy with him buried so deeply inside her and she was acting
purely on instinct now, all thoughts—rational or otherwise—scattered to the
wind.

He broke from the kiss then,
allowing her to drag in much-needed air even as he bowed his head and trailed
blazing kisses across her throat and down her collar until he’d captured one of
her breasts in his mouth. She gasped, her head falling back as her body arched
up, at the perfect angle to take him even deeper as he plunged into her again. His
teeth scraped, lightly, over her nipple as a rumbling growl vibrated up his
chest and she cried out breathlessly. Her hips lifted to greet his next thrust,
rolling into his and forcing him to release her breast in order to exhale
harshly.

She was moaning and mewling beneath
him, one hand tangled in his hair and the other now curved over his spine, as
one leg lifted and curled around his hip. He bowed his head again, sliding his
tongue around her neglected breast as he continued to surge into her, and she
knew she wouldn’t last much longer. She was delirious with a kind of pleasure
she’d only ever fantasized about, and when his fangs scraped gently over her
nipple she cried out his name, her back arching again as her hips slammed into
his. Suddenly he was thrusting into her at an amazing pace, hard and fast and
filling her every time, and she felt like she was about to explode.

And then he hit just the right
spot, surging forward again quickly, and his name tore from her lips in
ecstasy. One more thrust sent him tumbling after her and he released her
breast, growling something incoherently into her skin.

Oh, had she ever been right. Everything
about him was impressive.

****

Seth wasn’t sure he’d ever been so
distracted on a hunt. But dragging his mind entirely away from Veronica was
proving to be an impossible feat. Of course, the lingering taste of her blood
in his mouth was certainly not helping. Two nights had passed since they made
love for the first time, and in the hours since that afternoon they had hardly
left his condo. She had, conveniently, been given the following day off work
and so Seth had opted to forgo the search in favor of keeping her in his arms
that night. The feel of her skin on his was unlike anything he had ever
experienced and even now, several hours after their latest bout of lovemaking,
all he wanted was to return to her.

But this night apart was necessary
for more than one reason. And, though his search really was important, he
couldn’t help putting emphasis on the other one. He needed to figure out what
was going on inside of him. Or, more accurately, he needed to take a deep
breath and allow himself to admit the truth. Despite all of his (admittedly
poor) efforts, he had fallen in love with Veronica.

He sighed, letting himself lean
against the wall of Troy Wilson’s living room. Some of the papers on the coffee
table were recently disturbed, lending credence to the tip that they had been
seen in the area recently, but he still couldn’t focus. As much as it hurt to
admit, loving Veronica was exactly the problem. Whatever feelings they held in
their hearts didn’t change the fact that she was still—as she should be—human. Vampires
were incapable of Bonding with humans, which meant he would inevitably lose
her.

His eyes closed and his fists
clenched, one sliding back to slam into the wall, as he realized exactly how
hard he’d fallen. Never once had he considered forming a Bond of his own,
despite knowing several couples who had. Bonding was nothing to be taken
lightly, as it quite literally bound the life-forces of the two vampires in
question. He preferred to be in control of his own fate, but he also recognized
that he lived a dangerous life and whoever he
Bonded
with wouldn’t survive his death if or when it ever came to that. Bonds, by
nature, were unbreakable and inescapable, and because of that Seth had long ago
decided they weren’t for him.

Until now.

There was no doubt in his mind
that, were Veronica a vampire instead of a human, he would be suggesting it by
week’s end. But that wasn’t an option for either of them. Their time together
was painfully finite—even more so if he did what he was supposed to and left
town once his job was complete. The very idea sent a foreign stab of pain
straight through his heart. He couldn’t decide which was worse—the idea of
leaving her behind, or the possibility that his doing so would hurt her just as
much as it would hurt him.

Forcing his eyes open, Seth looked
around, attempting to return his focus to what he was getting paid for. But his
mind was just not on the job that night. The apartment was empty, though it
likely had been recently reoccupied, and he wasn’t in the mood to sift through
the minutiae in search of a clue that might lead him toward their new hideout. He
needed to go back to Veronica—and though he knew he should go back and sit her
down for a serious, uncomfortable conversation, he also knew that he wouldn’t.

****

Veronica was curled up on Seth’s
couch, dressed in nothing but a pair of panties and one of his black t-shirts,
trying to tell herself that she really needed to be getting some sleep. Though
she’d slept until nearly noon that morning she was still tired—a combination of
their frequent lovemaking and the blood loss that came with feeding a vampire
twice in a twenty-four hour period, she was sure. Before he’d left Seth had
instructed her to try to sleep, telling her he wouldn’t be back until early
morning anyway, and she knew he was right. But she just couldn’t bring herself
to go to bed (his, of course) while he was out there searching for murderous
monsters. She wanted to be up and waiting when he came home, either to make
sure he was all right or to help him get better (though she suspected he’d
refuse to drink from her even if he was injured).

Her head snapped up, eyes wide and
blinking rapidly, a moment after her chin hit her collar. Okay, Veronica, if
you’re falling asleep while you’re trying to justify not sleeping that’s
probably a sign. It was hard to argue with that logic so, with a final,
resigned, glance toward the locked front door, Veronica pushed to her feet. She
did still have to work in the morning, after all.

She’d barely taken three steps
toward the hall when she heard the doorknob start to turn. Pulling in an
anticipatory breath, she turned to face the door, but before she could start
forward again she finally registered the prickling sensation at the base of her
skull. It was the same feeling that she’d had when she’d found Richards in her
house, and when she’d seen those two now-deceased vampires walking toward her
and Seth in front of the bakery. And, though she hated putting any faith in
what Dennis had told her, experience agreed that that could mean only one
thing: there was a vampire that was definitely not Seth on the other side of
the door.

The knob stilled as the mystery
vampire clearly realized that the door was locked and Veronica held her breath.
Would they break in or give up? And, more importantly, could she make it to the
kitchen—where her
purse, and pepper-spray, were
innocently
resting—before the intruder actually became an intruder? The low-level rattling
resumed and Veronica made her decision, spinning on her foot and running toward
the small kitchen that was opposite the living room.

Her hand landed on her purse in the
same instant that the door swung open.

Her stomach on the floor somewhere
between her feet, Veronica shoved her hand into the side that held the
pepper-spray even as she spun around, putting her back to the counter and
facing the doorway.

The intruder took all of a step and
a half before stopping and shifting his gaze to her. He was tall—really tall—with
long, perfectly straight dark hair that was currently pulled back into a loose,
low ponytail. He was wearing black denim jeans over heavy black boots with a
black shirt and, of course, a black leather jacket. Imposing was just about the
perfect word to describe him. And he was frowning at her, not quite bothering
with a glare.

“Who are you?” he demanded after a
long minute. His voice was deep and held just a little gravel, all of which was
surrounded by a faint, unusual accent.

It took a moment for his question
to sink in, but then Veronica found herself fighting back the strange urge to
laugh. “Uh-uh,” she said, finally pulling the pepper-spray from the purse and
aiming it at him. “You’re the guy who just broke in; I get to ask the questions
here. If you don’t like that, feel free to leave.” Please.

The frown deepened and something
similar to impatience darkened his eyes. “Woman, I don’t owe you any answers. I
have it on good authority that you don’t live here, so spare me that argument. And
I don’t like having to repeat myself.”

I’ll bet you don’t. She would also
bet he rarely had to, but she refused to let him loose in Seth’s condo. “You’re
right,” she began, opting to go with as much truth as she was comfortable with,
“I don’t live here. But I do have permission to be here, and you had to break
in, so that still gives me the right to ask the questions. Or kick you out.”

At this he raised a single, dark
brow. “You think you can kick me out?” She had the distinct impression that he
almost thought that was funny.

Tapping the nozzle of her
pepper-spray, she said, “Don’t think I won’t use this. It’s industrial-grade,
it packs a punch.” She was really wishing she hadn’t been dumb enough to leave
her cell phone on the charger in Seth’s bedroom. There was no way she’d make it
all the way down the hall, into the room, and be able to get a call out.

The mystery vampire sighed, closing
his eyes for a moment, before looking back at her and saying, “I’ll be very
upset if you push that nozzle, and if you do have permission to be here then
that would only cause more problems.” He paused, blatantly looking her over—though
she couldn’t actually read his impression—and added, “You’re close to Hunter, I
take it?”

For the first time Veronica
hesitated. So he knew whose condo he’d just let himself into…but was that a
good thing, or a bad thing? She swallowed, grateful that her hands were staying
steady, and replied, “Yes, I am. And he’ll be angry if you hurt me.”

This time she knew he was amused,
as his lips twitched in a near-smirk and he said, “I imagine he would.” Slowly—for
her benefit, she was sure—he dipped a single hand into his coat pocket and
extracted a shiny black smartphone. He held it up, screen out, and added, “I’m
here to pilfer his electricity, as my phone’s dead. For both our sakes, please
don’t try to spray me when I start walking.”

“If you need to recharge your
phone,” Veronica returned, “go rent a hotel room.”

“Don’t get smart,” he scolded,
sounding almost bored. He lowered his arm, phone still in hand, and took a step
forward.

“Don’t come any closer,” Veronica
warned, ignoring his words. For all she knew his phone was just off and he was
trying to get her to relax her guard.

The vampire stopped, looking
increasingly agitated, and said, “Fine, there’s another way to do this. Catch.”
Without warning he proceeded to toss his phone to her.

On reflex Veronica jumped, one hand
releasing her pepper-spray as she fumbled with the expertly-tossed device
before finally cradling it to her chest. It was another second before she
realized how dumb that
was, her eyes
snapping back up
to where the vampire had been standing. She expected to find him directly in
front of her, fangs exposed and smirking arrogantly. To her surprise he didn’t
seem to have moved a muscle. “What…?”