Taming the Darkness: Love & Monsters, Book 2 (10 page)

“Stay still and let me finish,” she said. He kept trying to thrust into her hand. When she was done she took a step back and gave him a long look. For a moment he feared she’d changed her mind despite the fuck-me scent surrounding her. He growled his frustration and gave the chains a sharp tug.

“Get on your back,” Claire said.

That was weakness, vulnerability. Showing your belly and your throat meant submission, and he did not submit. He fought and won. Victor lifted his lip and snarled at her.

She stared back. “Lay down, Victor. Do you want to fuck me or not?”

His mind focused as the human part of him understood what she was saying. The snarl died and his mouth snapped shut. “So hard to think,” he told her, hoping she would understand. He backed away far enough for the chains to allow him to lie on the floor of the AV. The metal was cool against his hot back. He lifted his head so he could see her. Claire took a few cautious steps toward him.

“Stay still,” she warned. A fine tremor went through his body as he forced it to stay still. She took another step and another. When she stood at his hip, she pulled off her thong. She watched him as she did it. “You can control it, I know you can.” She straddled him, one foot on either side, and he got a very nice view. She squatted down to sit on his stomach, and he trembled with the effort to stay still.

“Claire, please.” His mind filled with images of fucking her in every way possible.

The look in her eyes was so serious it cleared his head. “I trust you not to hurt me. Remember that.”

If he lost control he would not only be hurting her, but betraying her trust. Victor nodded and his trembling eased a little. Claire shifted to hover over him and gripped his cock. He closed his eyes for a moment, clenched his hands as he held the monster back. She lowered herself and he had to watch. At the first touch of her wet pussy, he sucked in a breath and held it while she eased down on him. The way she bit her lip and frowned made him think she wasn’t drawing it out to make him suffer. She was getting used to the size of him, and watching the way she stretched around his cock was a beautiful kind of torture. He held on to the ragged edges of his control. The trembling got worse, but otherwise he stayed still until she settled against his hips and his cock squeezed tight within her.

The sharp smell of blood reached his nose. His hands were clenched so tight his nails cut into his palms. The scent of blood didn’t make the situation better. It drove the thing inside him even wilder, until Claire reached for his hand. “No,” he jerked it away. “Blood is infectious.”

“I know. I wasn’t going to touch the blood.” She leaned down and he hissed at what the movement did to his cock. She was so tight. “What did you do?”

He opened his trembling right hand to show her. “Trying to keep control.” The little cuts were already healing.

“Is it really that hard for you?”

He nodded.

She leaned farther and kissed him. “Then I shouldn’t draw this out.” She kept her face inches from his and rocked her hips. Victor groaned. He wanted to touch her, but he couldn’t even do that now that he had blood on his hands. He thrust against her, forcing himself to be gentle. It would be so easy to hurt her, to lose himself in sensation and forget how strong he was.

Claire kissed him again, pulling his attention back. Her tongue slid against his, thrusting into his mouth as he thrust into her. His hands crept up and he forced them down, laying them flat against the floor. Claire pulled back, sucking in a breath, and she bucked harder. The thing inside him tried to slip his hold, and he shut his eyes. The safest thing to do was stop, wait until dawn when he had much more control. But it was too late now, and he knew it. He could hold back, stay gentle, but he couldn’t stop.

She stopped and his eyes flew open, wondering if she’d seen how crazy this was and wanted to stop. That was what the chains were for. If she wanted to, she could get away from him. She met his gaze and trailed a finger down his cheek. “I want you to touch me so I need to take care of your hands.” She gave him a quick kiss and got up. He felt suddenly cold and alone, and the monster wasn’t happy. Claire went to the trunk and dug out the first aid kit. The urge to jump on her and sink his cock into her warmth was almost too strong for him to fight.
Leave her alone. Leave her alone,
he told himself. He closed his eyes again. It was a little easier to stay in control if he couldn’t see her, but he could still smell her. Their mingled scents filled the whole area, and despite everything it seemed so
right
.

Claire cleaned the little crescent-shaped wounds on his hands and wrapped gauze over them for good measure even though they’d stopped bleeding. “Patching you up is getting to be a habit.”

“Done?” The word scraped its way out of his throat. His control kept slipping, and he didn’t think he could get it back this time. It felt like sinking, downing in scent and desire and he wasn’t going to come back up until he had claimed her.

“Yeah.”

Victor lunged at her, the chains rattling as he grabbed her around the waist and twisted. She only had time for a surprised gasp before she was on her back and he was over her, spreading her legs. He plunged into her with a groan, all the way up to his balls. A muffled cry escaped her, and he was aware enough to check her expression. Surprise mingled with pleasure, no indication she wanted to stop. She stared up at him as he drew back and thrust into her again. She arched her hips and pleasure took over in her eyes.

“Mine,” he growled as he thrust again. Faster and faster, he slid in and out of her tight pussy. Better than he could have imagined, claiming his mate, listening to her low cries. She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, thrusting harder. The chains kept up a steady
clink, clink, clink
as they fucked.

The tension in her body changed. Her scent altered slightly. Claire was getting close and it drove him wilder. He tilted the angle of his hips, and by her sharp cry, he knew he’d hit the right spot. He drove into her again and again.

“Fuck, fuck,” she panted. “
Fuck!
” Her pussy clenched tight on his cock. The only thing better than claiming his mate was making her come while he did it. Pleasure rose higher, and now it was his turn to curse as he joined her in release.

His body kept up stuttering thrusts for a moment and then, with a sigh, he rested his head against her shoulder. It felt so good, so right, to lie with his mate. Victor couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this content.

Chapter Eight

Claire tried to get her breathing under control, but it wasn’t easy with Victor on top of her. “Hey,” she nudged him. “You’re heavy.”

He mumbled something and rolled off her. She turned to look at him, wondering what she would see in his eyes. They were closed. He pressed against her side, his breath slowing. The bastard was falling asleep on her. Typical man. She rolled on her side and noticed how sore she was. A good kind of sore, but she was glad they weren’t walking back to the lab today. “Hey,” she said again. “We can’t fall asleep.” Even as she said it, the idea of curling up next to him and sleeping was very appealing. She had a vision of them sleeping in a bed in a house somewhere like a normal couple but slammed a mental door on the thought.

Victor slowly opened his eyes. He looked at her with sleepy contentment and smiled. “Mine.” He brushed a hand across her cheek and down her chest, settling it on her waist. The chain rattled between them, dragging on the floor. Then his expression fell away and the human side of him was looking back at her. “Did I hurt you?”

“Yes,” she admitted, “but in a good way.”

His frown deepened. “It wasn’t too much?”

Back to this again. She cupped his cheek. “I know you think you lost control, but it wasn’t enough for me to want to stop. It was rough, but it was good.”
So
good. Her pussy tingled. If they had more time and if she wasn’t so sore, she would go for another round.

“Are you sure?” He slid his hand down to her hip.

She nodded. “I knew you wouldn’t hurt me.” She hadn’t been a hundred percent sure, but she’d been sure enough.

“I should stop doubting you. You keep being right.”

Claire smiled. “Nice to see you’ve learned something.”

Victor chuckled. “I do learn eventually.” He turned serious again. “You didn’t have to take such a risk to prove it to me.”

“It wasn’t just about you.” Her stomach fluttered.

He watched her, one hand gently rubbing her hip.

She drew in a breath as she gathered her courage. She didn’t even want to admit this to herself, but she wanted to be honest with him. “I had to prove it to myself too, because if you can’t control yourself, if there’s not enough human left in you, then I’m just…”

“In love with a monster.”

She blinked at him. “That’s a…strong word.” Too strong and too soon.

“It’s the right word.” He looked into her eyes, the way he’d looked at her that first day, as if he was trying to look inside her. No, it wasn’t exactly the same. It was…deeper. “At least for me.” He slid a hand up to her face, fingers gently caressing her cheek. “I love you, Claire.”

She swallowed past a sudden lump in her throat. “I’ve known you for a week.” It sounded hollow and she wanted to take it back, to find something better to say.

“Long enough for me. It’s still night, so I’m still honest. Imagine that, a guy who tells you exactly what he’s thinking.”

“What a novelty.” She tried to turn it into a joke but it fell flat. She was too bothered by his confession and her own confusion. She had some feelings for him beyond weird kinky lust, but love? That was jumping the gun. “It’s too soon.” As long as he was being honest with her, she would try to do the same.

“Not a marriage proposal. You don’t have to say yes or no.” He kept touching her cheek. “Just telling you how I feel. As long as you stick around I’m happy.”

In that case, she had a better response. Claire smiled a little and told him, “I’m your partner. I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

He kissed her, sweet and gentle. Not at all what she expected when his wild side was still out. “Want to go for another round?” He slipped his hand down to her shoulder.

It was so, so tempting. Claire sighed. “No, we should check in and get going. Maybe we’ll get back on time today.” Victor grumbled and wiggled closer. She sat. “Really, we should go.”

His gaze drifted to the roof. “I think I’ll stay back here. Sunrise in less than an hour.” He sat up with eerie grace, chains rattling.

“Okay, but we need to take the chains off first.” She looked over at the storage box. “I hope there’s a key in there because I really don’t want to explain this situation.”

When they got back to base, one of the lieutenants gave them a brief report on Patterson and let them know his first night out had been a success. Major Alston came by just before they were dismissed and let them know he was quite pleased by the success of both teams. Now that two pairs had completed a night in the field, the whole program was starting to look viable. He didn’t outright say it, but Victor could tell the other faction in the lab was having a hard time backing up their arguments. Victor and Patterson were buying time for the others.

Claire went with him to his cell, and he considered asking her to stay. Neither the scientists nor the soldiers were likely to allow it, and considering what was inevitable if he had Claire in bed with him, it was probably best not to. As adventurous as Claire was, he didn’t think she was an exhibitionist, especially when her commanding officer would be one of the people watching. Even Victor was embarrassed by the idea of a room full of scientists and soldiers watching him and Claire go at it. Not that it didn’t also turn him on, but still.

So he watched her go with an aching heart. Were stolen moments in an AV all they were going to have? He wanted more. He wanted a fucking house and a real bed and some goddamn privacy. Most of all, he wanted out of this underground cell. He looked around at the three white walls and one clear observation window.
Am I gonna spend the rest of my life in this fucking place?
He hoped not, because the idea made him want to run off in the night and never come back.

But only if Claire comes with me.

For all the complications being altered caused, it did make a few things simple. He wanted Claire, he loved Claire, and that was that. There was no doubting his feelings even now with his more logical daytime mind.

He got an armed escort to the shower room then went back to his cell to sleep. When he got up that evening, he tried to read one of the battered books they let him keep in the corner of his cell. As usual, he could only concentrate for a few pages before his mind wandered or he got restless and had to pace for a while. Pace for two minutes, read three pages, get fixated on a smell drifting from the hall or the vents, read four pages, think about the nasties he’d killed last night, read another page, think about Claire…

She showed up just before sunset, like she had yesterday. Victor sighed. “Again?”

“It’ll be easier this time.” Berkstrom opened the door for her.

“But you proved your point yesterday.”

She shrugged as she stepped in. “We can make it part of our routine.”

“Why?”