Bitten by Darkness (25 page)

“It
shouldn't take us more than a half hour, especially since it didn't snow yet,”
Jasper said, pulling the keys from her hand when she stopped to look at the
last rays of light sink over the brown landscape.

Sienna
nodded and let him fold her into the passenger side of the SUV. She glanced
over the house, thinking of the basement that Jasper had expanded into a lab,
digging much farther through the ground and into the meadow than was apparent
from the surface. He was building a new star-skimmer. They were happy.

“Sienna?
Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

She
nodded. “Yes. I owe her this, at least.”

Thirty
minutes later Jasper parked their car in an empty lot next to the cemetery.
Without a word, they walked through the field of gravestones until she found
the one where her mother was buried. For a long time, she just stood there,
remembering the woman who'd raised her. Sienna tried very hard not to think of
how strange her mom had been in the last few weeks of her life, when
Alucard
and his sons' had gotten hold of her.
Changed her.
Instead, Sienna remembered the woman who put
herself back together when her father left them. She remembered the mother
who’d teased her and laughed with her and held her when Sienna needed someone
to reassure her that she was loved.
Most of all, though, she
remembered the woman who'd given her life for her child.
Sienna knelt
and gently put the rose on the dried grass, wiping her face as she stood back
up.

“Done?”
Jasper asked her gently.

She
nodded and together they walked over to the next grave. They'd buried an empty
coffin for Sara. They didn't bring her flowers, but Sienna always said a prayer
for the woman who'd fought for freedom her entire life. After Jasper bowed his
head, they walked back to the car. The stars twinkled above them as though
nothing had changed in the past year.

“I can't
believe it's been so long,” Sienna said.

“Life
goes on,” Jasper replied, unlocking the car.

She
nodded, truly understanding what he meant, now.

The drive
home was quiet, but not sorrowful.

****

When he
pulled into the driveway, Sienna sat for a minute, listening to the ticking of
the engine.

“Sienna?”
Jasper touched her arm.

She
smiled at him. “Let's go for a walk.”

“In the dark?”
His grey eyes were luminous in the moonlight.

She
nodded.
“Yeah.
I want to feel the air on my face.”

He
grinned. “You got it.”

She
opened the door and slipped out, once again admiring the warm, soft boots he'd
bought her a few weeks ago.

“You
know, I don't get as cold as I used to,” she said as they began walking. There
was a path that ran through the meadow to the edge of the trees. She often
walked it in the morning when Jasper had gone to sleep for the day.

“It's my
blood. You're no longer entirely human, Sienna.” He slung an arm around her
shoulders.

“I was
never entirely human anyway, you know.” She thought about that empty space in
her soul, now filled with him. She was starting to forget what it had been like
to walk through life with a missing piece like that. The hole was gone.

“Yes, but
now you're even more like me. You're more sensitive to sunlight.”

“It
doesn't burn me,” she objected.

“No, and
it never will. It doesn't burn me either, but I feel better in the darkness.”
He paused. “Look. The stars are so brilliant.” He tipped his head up and stared
at the constellations.

She
grinned. The strong line of his jaw was nearly irresistible. She ran a finger
down it, lingering at his coat collar. “They're brighter for me, too.” The
trees loomed up close now. She ducked under a branch and leaned against an old
oak.
“Jasper.
Look at me.”

He turned
to her as she opened her coat and let it fall to the ground.

“What are
you doing?” His voice held amusement.

She
laughed and began to unbutton her sweater. “What does it look like?” The silver
threads in her bra caught the starlight, glinting against her skin. She let her
red scarf dangle down between her breasts.

“God,
you're beautiful,” Jasper rasped, stepping closer. “You're going to get cold.”
He touched a finger to her collarbone.

She shook
her head. “No. I'm not cold at all.” And she wasn't. Her blood burned. She
wanted him. Here.
Now.
Under the
cover of night.

“Kiss me,
Jasper,” she whispered. “Make me feel alive.”

He
groaned and dipped his head. The moment his lips touched hers, the blood lust
raged up and out. She gasped, opening to him. He bit her lip, sucking gently at
the sting. She panted.

“Are you
sure?” He kissed down her throat and lingered at her neck.

“Yes.”

With a
growl he lifted her up and pressed her against the tree. The thick wool of her
sweater protected her back as she wrapped her legs around him.

“You're
wearing too many clothes,” she said, struggling to unzip his coat. “Take this
off.” He kissed her again, muffling her protests. When he finally came up for
air, his hair was mussed and his lips were red. His eyes were dilated with
pleasure, the grey almost completely swallowed up by darkness. He stepped back and
put her back on her feet.

“Take off
your coat,” she said, biting her lip. She couldn’t believe she still felt so
crazed whenever he took off his clothes, but maybe that was part of what it
meant to be mated to him.

He
watched her as he peeled it off, revealing a body-hugging red sweater, the
cashmere one she’d bought him a month ago.

“The sweater, too.
Take it
off
,
Jasper,” she demanded.

He smiled
and stripped it off. She ran her eyes over his delectable chest, lingering on
his
pecs
. They flexed as he popped the button on his
jeans. His erection pressed up against the denim, thick and hard.

“Yeah,
those too,” she said, her voice thick with need.

“You're
overdressed,” he murmured as he pulled the zip down. His cock sprang out,
steaming with heat in the cold.

“No
underwear?” she managed to ask, fumbling with the clasp of her pants. Jesus, he
knew how to make her crazy.

He shook
his head slowly,
then
touched himself. His strong hand
slipped over his shaft, pumping once, twice. He threw back his head as his hips
stuttered.

“Fuck,
Jasper,” Sienna breathed. He froze, the tip of his cock peeking out from his
fist. Her mouth watered.

“Take off
your clothes,” he ordered, not moving.

She
swallowed and toed off her boots, then stripped. When she was naked, the cool
air chilling her skin, she dropped to her knees and licked his fingers.

He
groaned. She shuddered, the hard ground digging into her skin. She didn't care.
She had to taste him.

“I want
to bite you,” she said, looking up. He blinked, then brought her hands up and
placed them around his cock.

“Go
ahead,” he
said,
voice low and shattered.

She
leaned in and kissed the crown of his erection, savoring the sweet musk of his
pre-cum. Her teeth ached and she knew her incisors were lengthening. Jasper
told her this might happen, and so it had, just a few short months ago. With a
shuddering breath, she took him in, sucking hard. Jasper trembled, his jeans
trapping him in place. When she slid off, she looked into his eyes and bared
her teeth.

He
growled at her. “Do it.”

Quick as
a knife slipping into her finger, she nipped him right under the
glans
. He shuddered, swaying, and gasped. She grabbed his
hips and licked off the sweet, hot blood as it welled up. If anything, his
erection grew even larger. When she pulled back, she saw the cut had already
healed.

“Again.”
He had his hands in her hair, urging her close. “Please.”

She
licked her lips, careful not to nick herself and slipped him inside this time
before biting down. When the blood trickled into her mouth, she sucked and
sucked, loving the sounds he made with every movement of her tongue. When the
cuts healed again, she came up for air, panting hard. She was so hot it was all
she could do not to touch
herself
and climax, right
then and there.

“You like
that,” she stated, licking down his shaft. She tongued his balls, enjoying the
way he held himself perfectly still. She pressed with her fingers up behind the
delicate sacs until he shivered.

“Yes.
Again,” he growled, fisting his hands so that her hair became a leash. He moved
her face to his groin and she sucked him back in, biting her way down. She
never bit too hard, just pinpricks, enough for him to bleed a tiny bit.
Enough for her to taste.
When she felt his legs begin to
buckle, she eased away. She didn't want him to come so soon. She wanted him
inside her, where he belonged.

“Come up
here,” he said, tugging on her hair.

She stood
up and watched as he kicked off his jeans and boots, his dick bobbing as he
moved. She let her eyes roam over the thick muscles of his thighs and then up
again, lingering at the sharp jut of his hipbones. When he was completely nude,
she touched him there, rubbing her fingers over the hard planes of his abdomen
before moving lower and wrapping the base of his cock in her fist.

“If you
keep doing that, I won't last, Sienna.” He gripped her arms and gently tugged
her away.

“
Mmmm
, I can't help it.” She rubbed her cheek on his
shoulder, once again marveling at his height. His skin was hot beneath her
lips.

“Let me
taste you,” he murmured, tilting her head up for a kiss.

She
opened to him, not protesting when he nibbled down her neck. He didn't bite
her, though.

“Go
ahead, Jasper,” she gasped, arching her back.

He
chuckled.
“Patience.”

She
growled and yanked on his hair ineffectually. When he dropped to his knees and
nuzzled into the juncture of her thighs, she almost fell down.

“Hang
on,” he said.

“Hang on
to what?” she asked, shuddering, and suddenly he was lifting her, hands on her
thighs. She grabbed his shoulders just as he dipped his mouth into her pussy,
licking and teasing at her clit until she thought she'd die.

“Jasper,”
she gasped, writhing. His grip was firm, thank goodness, and his careless
demonstration of non-human strength aroused her even more.
When
he turned his face to the side and bit her inner thigh, she
orgasmed
all at once, completely unexpectedly.
He sucked her through it gently
and then drew back, licking her skin. The tingle told her she'd healed the
wounds and he gently set her down. Her back stung for a moment, scratches from the
rough bark of the tree, and then they, too, healed.

Jasper
stood up and kissed her softly, then tumbled her down to the ground. She lost
her balance and landed on top of him, the thick, hot length of his cock burning
into her thigh.

“Jasper!”
she said, laughing.
“I almost
smooshed
you.”

He
grinned and slung her over his hips so that his dick nudged up against her ass.
“Ride me. Here, now, so I can see the starlight in your hair.”

She
smiled at him, loving the way his eyes glittered in the darkness, and rose up
on her knees. He took himself in hand and she gently sank down, sighing as he
filled her up.

“Beautiful,”
he breathed, hips stuttering.

She
laughed again and kneeled up, letting him almost slip out. He moaned and
grasped her hips, fucking into her hard. His cock was so thick and hot she felt
another orgasm begin to build.

“You like
this?” she murmured, leaning back, hands on his thighs.

“Yeah,”
he managed,
then
sat up, arms going around her waist.

She threw
her head back as the new position pushed him even further inside. The long
strands of her hair tickled her back.

“Even the
dark can't hide your beauty from me,” he said, fucking into her slowly.

She let
her head fall to his shoulder and hung on. When his hand slipped down between
her
ass
and teased at her hole, she shuddered.

“Yes?” he
asked.

She
nodded. “I like everything you do.”

He licked
her neck, playing his fingers over the sensitive nerves of her asshole at the
same time. She moaned, trying to understand how he could make her feel so
broken and so whole at exactly the same time. He slid his hand down lower and
gathered her arousal before sliding back up to tease his way inside. She bit
down on him when his finger breached her body.