An Unwanted Hunger (6 page)

“I should have recognized your hand at play,” Constantine said.

Resa looked from him to Pandora. “You two know each other?”

“Indeed,” Pandora replied.

When the silence grew too thick for Resa to bear, with Constantine and Pandora locked eye-to-eye and neither even batting an eyelash, she stepped up beside Constantine.

“Someone want to tell me what the hell’s going on? Pandora?”

Constantine responded without breaking eye contact with Pandora. “Resa, meet Panzh DreeAnn Fehr Adahalla Birahn, SyFeth la Sybelle De’Fane V’Kar.”

Resa’s eyebrows rose then fell into a frown. “You want to run that by me one more time?”

He looked at her then at Pandora, with one elegant brow arched. “More trickery, SyFeth?”

Pandora’s eyes narrowed fractionally and Constantine smirked. “As I suspected. Resa, this woman you know as Pandora is, in reality, Mother Superior of the Sybelle De’Fane V’Kar, the Sisterhood.”

“You’re a…a nun?” Resa asked Pandora, eliciting a laugh from Constantine.

“What?” Resa asked. “You said she was the Mother Superior.”

“Indeed she is,” Constantine replied. “But they are far from nuns. The woman you see standing before you is not only the oldest of all V’Kar, but the mother of our race in a manner of speaking.”

Resa looked at Pandora. “And you’re in exile too?”

That provoked another laugh from Constantine, earning him a sharp look from Pandora. “She comes and goes at will, Resa. You see, the Sisterhood controls the Gate, enabling SyFeth to travel between galaxies at her discretion.”

Resa held up her hands. “Okay, this is getting really out there. I think we should take this inside, if you don’t mind. I could use a drink, or smoke, or handful of pills or…something.”

She didn’t wait for agreement, but headed to the house.

Constantine watched her go then turned to Pandora. “Has your meddling not cost our people enough, SyFeth? What game do you play here and of what interest is this woman to your aims?”

Pandora regarded him without comment and after a moment his eyes brightened. “Ah yes, now I see. She is another of your experiments. Which explains the presence of the Vox Narr within her. Azarth has been vexed trying to figure that out. She is not simply a creation of the Alliance, is she?”

“Tread carefully, Prince,” Pandora finally spoke. “You do not want to cross swords with me on this. And there is no need in this instance for antagonism. In this we stand united for a common goal.”

“And that is?”

“The propagation of our race.”

Constantine’s eyes narrowed marginally. “And for such an accomplishment you are choosing to promote the D’Harahn?”

“Pureblood,” she said simply. “Wise it would be for you to accept this honor without question. It would be an easy matter for my allegiance to shift if the cooperation I require is not given.”

Constantine did not comment. He knew all too well the power wielded by the Sisterhood. Even the J’Zhan would not cross swords with the Sybelle De’Fane V’Kar. He inclined his head a fraction and she nodded in acknowledgement. Pulling a small device from the pocket of her flowing skirt, she keyed in a code.

A swirling eddy of air with the quality of liquid appeared between them. Raising her hand in farewell, she took a step toward him. And vanished, along with the distortion in the air.

Constantine blew out his breath and looked in the direction of the house. Suddenly it was more imperative than ever that he gain Resa’s trust.

Chapter Seven

Resa stood in front of the window. Her eyes took in the landscape but her mind was occupied elsewhere. Her original assessment of nothing being as it seemed was mild compared to the reality of things. Exactly what was going on and how was she involved?

“I will attempt to explain,” Constantine’s voice came from behind her.

She turned to face him. “So, are we finally back to those truths you promised?”

“Yes. But first…” He approached her slowly and with infinite gentleness ran one hand along the side of her face and behind her head, pulling her into his kiss.

It was the thing she wanted the least and the most. Least because she had no power to resist him. Her need for him was a fire in her blood, making her deaf, dumb and blind to all else. It frightened her, the way her need for him eclipsed all else.

“Beloved,” he whispered against her lips.

Those whispered words breached the last of her defenses. Her lips parted beneath his, welcoming his questing tongue.

It was a kiss that promised everything she’d ever dreamed of and more. Passion, tenderness, love. Union. Her arms moved of their own accord to loop around his neck, fingers tangling in his silken hair as her body pressed into his.

The kiss deepened, his lips slanting across hers as his tongue explored her mouth. Time ceased to matter. She had no thought to end the kiss, or take things a step further. For now this was all that mattered, being pressed against him, feeling his heart beating against her as they lost themselves in the kiss.

His body moved, swaying as if to an inner beat, and she moved with him. Still locked in the kiss, they danced. Resa was scarcely aware of her feet on the floor. Nothing mattered. Here was completeness.

Constantine drew back, cupping her face to stare into her eyes. “I know you want answers, and I vow to you that I will disclose all information I possess to you. But not now. Let it wait. For now, simply be mine and let me love you.”

“Love?” The word blurted out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Constantine smiled gently. “Here is a truth you can count on, Resa. No matter how foolish our binding may be on a political level, I could never bind myself to a woman I did not love.”

“You…love me?” She shook her head. “Want me? Yes, I can feel the truth of that. But love? How could you possibly love me?”

“Your words are those of a woman who has no real love for herself,” he replied.

Resa broke away from him. He’d hit too close to the mark. How could she love herself? She was a murderer. She’d been fooled and tricked every step of the way through her life, bought into a lie and paid homage to a group whose motives were based upon self-interest and greed. What she’d thought was a holy charge had been nothing but a fragile façade, constructed to cover the true goals of the Alliance. The unholy Alliance. A group bent upon the genocide of the V’Kar.

Constantine pulled her back to him when she tried to turn away. “No, you will not turn away from me, Resa. You will face me. Face yourself and what you’ve done. And we will put that past to rest where it belongs, for as surely as I stand before you, you are as much a victim of the Alliance as any of my kind who have lost their lives to this war. You will not assume responsibility for their motives or their deceptions.”

“I should have seen the truth,” she argued. “How could I not have seen it, Constantine? How could I go through life so blindly, believing in something so strongly that I was willing to kill for it?”

“Your actions were those of a dutiful daughter. We are all victims of our societies and families, Resa. We live what we are taught to believe as truth, and act to preserve what we’ve been made to believe is the just and true way. Having been so duped, you are relieved of responsibility. The burden of guilt belongs to the Alliance. Not you. Only if you persist in your role as killer for them, knowing that they speak false, will you bear guilt for the life you take.”

Resa searched his eyes, needing to see in their violet depths that he believed what he said. That he didn’t hold her accountable. That she was worthy of forgiveness.

She found it. That and more. In his eyes and his words was truth.

“I’ll help you destroy them,” she whispered with determination.

He nodded and stroked her face gently. “In time. But for now we are safe and alone. Let us not waste this moment. Be mine, Resa. My mate, my beloved.”

Resa sighed in surrender when he lowered his head and grazed her lips with his, then trailed his lips along her face, down to her throat where her pulse pounded. His hands slid slowly across her shoulders then down to her waist where they tightened, pulling her firmly against him.

His lips sought hers and she eagerly accepted the kiss, lifting her arms to encircle his neck, pressing against him and deepening the kiss. At length she pulled away, her breath coming quicker and her skin flushed. “I want you.”

He smiled at her, running his hands around to cup her ass and pull her against him, his erection pressing against her belly. “And you shall have me. But this time without the hurry. Take off your clothes, darling. I want to look at you.”

He released her and moved to take a seat on the sofa. Resa saw the hunger in his eyes and it worked to restore her, freeing her to be who she was. With him she didn’t have to pretend. She smiled and sauntered to the stereo, selecting a sexy, slow track.

He watched with growing hunger. When music filled the room, she turned to face him and began to dance, her lithe body swaying and grinding to the beat. She inched her tank top up to the bottom of her breasts, and as she pulled it up over her breasts she pivoted, presenting him with her back. Holding the top over her breasts, she turned again, executing a seductive roll of her hips that had her sinking almost to the floor, knees bent and splayed out to the sides. He felt his erection straining at the fabric of his slacks, imagining her performing that same move, naked and with him beneath her.

As she rose, she peeled the top away to bare her breasts and dropped it with a flourish. Her hands moved to her breasts, cupping and caressing, thumbs circling her nipples as her hips continued to grind and roll. His eyes moved from her breasts to her hips, her movements driving the hunger higher.

Resa slowly unfastened the button of her jeans then equally as slowly unzipped them. Whirling so that her back was to him again, she began to peel the jeans down, revealing a narrow strip of black material that circled her hips. An adjoining strip disappeared into the cleft of her ass. His eyes followed the path of the jeans, passion expanding with each new inch of skin revealed to him.

When the jeans slithered down her legs to puddle at her feet, she bent forward, the movement presenting him with a view of her luscious ass, the thin strip of the thong cutting across her anus and joining with a narrow triangle of lace that did little to cover her sex. Need that was already burning within him developed sharp claws, cutting into him with razor sharpness.

She straightened and stepped out of the jeans, turning to cross the room to him. Her eyes locked with his and she leaned over, her luscious breasts hanging full and inviting as she deftly worked the buttons on his shirt. The moment she parted the material to bare his chest, she lowered her mouth to his skin. Wet and warm, her tongue traced a trail of fire from his neck to his waist. All the while her hands worked at his belt and the zipper of his pants.

Resa sank to her knees on the floor in front of him as she freed his erection. Her mouth closed on him, electrifying every nerve in his body. Her tongue circled the head of his shaft, creating a burn that spread down its length, into his testicles and radiated out, prompting him to peel off his shirt, toe off his shoes and work his legs free of his pants.

Silken wetness enveloped him as she deep-throated him, each stroke driving the need higher.

She felt his need spike and knew that his control was eroding. He was close to climax. His hands tangled in her hair, pulling her up to meet his lips. One touch and the need to devour him overwhelmed her. She gripped his face, plundering his mouth as their bodies strained against one another, need bringing perspiration bursting through their pores to slicken their skin.

Resa’s world narrowed to the confines of the room, then smaller. All that existed was him. Nothing mattered but the feel of his body pressed against hers, the taste of him as his tongue filled her mouth, and the fire that burned within her at the touch of his hands roaming down her back to cup her ass and press her firmly against his erection.

She ended the kiss and started another slow trek down his body, her lips and tongue working slowly toward their destination. As she knelt in front of him she felt his hands working onto her hair.

His grip tightened when she took him in her hand, running her tongue around the head of his penis, probing the tiny opening. Pre-cum gave him an exotic spicy flavor that was intoxicating. She licked at the tiny droplets, using her tongue to smooth the lubricant over the engorged head.

When she ran her tongue down the length of his shaft and back up, a low groan came from him that had the fire of her desire flaming higher. It was exhilarating to know that her touch affected him and she wanted to give him more. Take him higher and further than he’d ever gone.

His body was like a drug, one she’d formed an instant addiction to and had no desire to break. The only measurement of time she was aware of was the reactions of his body as she took him close to the edge, time after time. Every time she felt that slight vibration sing in his body, felt his muscles tighten, she would slow, pulling back to circle the head of his penis with her tongue. And each time she felt that tension in him release she would start again.

Finally he stopped her, pushing her away.

He’d never experienced anything like the sensations Resa could evoke in him, and he knew the same was true for her. But knowing wasn’t enough. He needed to demonstrate. Pulling her to the sofa, he pushed her back, working his way up from her navel to her breasts and suckling them until she gasped, that curious sound that signaled a mixture of pain and pleasure that drove her to grind against him and small moans to come from her lips.

Constantine had never felt this kind of need. The hunger to brand her with his love, his touch. To give her what she could not hope to find with another. No matter that she was his. The need to stake his claim could not be denied.

He captured her lips with his, tasting himself on her tongue. She groaned into his mouth, her hands moving down his sides to pull him more firmly on her. He could taste her desire and it inflamed him almost to the point of breaking. Of forgetting the pleasure he wanted to show her and spreading her legs to sink into her delicious warmth and sate his hunger.

But the desire to pleasure her was stronger. He lingered on her lips a moment longer then released her from the kiss, his lips traveling down her neck to nip at the tender skin.

Had the need possessed him, he knew she would not have stopped him from tasting her, taking her blood and her essence. But the time was not right. Saving the taste of her on his tongue, he moved lower, capturing one nipple in his mouth and flicking his tongue over the taut nub.

She pressed against his mouth, her hands tangling in his hair to pull him more firmly to her breast.

He flicked his tongue over the peaked nub, letting his hand drift down her body and over her mound. His fingers slid between the wet folds. She moved against his hand then gasped when his finger eased over her hard clit.

Constantine felt her desire flame higher and it fueled the fire in his mind and body, spurring him to trap her arms over her head and tease her nipple, his tongue circling and flicking over it before finally sucking it into his mouth.

She pressed up into the sensation, her breath coming faster as his fingers worked over her clit, pinching and stroking. When he felt a ripple run through her body and heard her breathy gasp, he knew she was about to come.

Easing back, he spread her legs and knelt between them. Her heavy-lidded eyes watched as he spread her sex wide and bent forward to lave her from perineum to clit in one slow stroke.

Her throaty groan preceded her arching against his mouth. He raised his head to see her hands moving to her breasts, pinching her reddened nipples.

She was sensuality personified. Gloriously uninhibited. Strong yet submissive to his every need. He wanted to dominate her, possess her and yet the need to pleasure her outranked his own desire. He needed to give her what no other could aspire to. Ecstasy that was complete. And in the doing know that it was him she wanted and needed. Only him.

His finger stroked between the lips of her labia then spread them to circle the silky wet flesh. When he pushed one finger inside her, she moaned and pressed into the feeling. He inserted another finger, gently probing the vaginal walls, pressing deeper. When her body arched he knew he’d found that one spot that delivered the most intense pleasure.

Resa’s hips moved in time to the strokes of his hand, her own hands tracing down her body to her inner thighs to spread them wider. The bond between them enabled him to feel her need almost as strongly as his own. It was an intoxicating blend, almost overwhelming in its intensity. He bent forward to lave slowly over her clit and she moaned, moving faster against his fingers. He felt the vibration that raced through her and stroked faster and deeper inside her, sucking her clit into his mouth and flicking his tongue rapidly over it.

“Now, Constantine. In me. Now!” Her panted words came a moment before her pussy started to spasm around his fingers and wetness streamed from inside her.

Before her climax could end, he straightened and pushed the head of his cock against her wet opening. She pushed against him, her body yielding to him.

The way her pussy clenched on him and her undulating movements beneath him threatened his control almost to the breaking point. She smiled up at him, that expression of sex and lust that said clearly she knew the effect she had on him. He nearly came before he was fully seated inside her.