Darkness Comes (12 page)

“Going somewhere?” He arched a single eyebrow as he looked at her with those amazing green eyes of his. He was so dynamic and overwhelming and she could easily imagine him being a part of her future, an intimate part. Why couldn’t he let her go?

“I was hoping to leave,” she said evenly, holding Toby to her and taking a step backwards, scanning the area for another escape route. She was sure that there was another door somewhere….She startled when someone grabbed her from behind, preventing further retreat. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the diamond encrusted man.

With a frown, she cocked her head to the side, picturing him without the diamonds and bleached blond hair. In an instant, recognition hit her and she inhaled sharply, “You’re Jiro; you’re… his… twin?”

The man’s eyebrows drew together as he looked at her. Hopelessly muddled, she turned her gaze back to her captor, her own forehead crinkling in concentration as his memories flitted through her head. “And you’re Feryn; you’re both… Breeder-born, the first of your kind. You called me that earlier but I don’t understand; what is a Breeder?”

Both wore matching thunderous expressions which made it even more possible to see their similarities beneath the superficial differences and instinctively, she took a step backwards only to come up against a wall made of heated, muscled flesh.

“Don’t you know?” Feryn asked, once again morphing into a man of utmost serenity. She shook her head, held captive by the powerful Jiro behind her and the potent gaze of Feryn in front of her. Shaking his head in mock disappointment as he continued to hold her gaze, he tsked, “You’re so naïve and stubborn; I can see that you are going to be challenging.”

“Lucky for us we have the two males and they are both Breeders,” Jiro said from behind her, his voice as pleasantly rich as Feryn’s. But his words made her cringe, made her want to scream in misery; unlike her father’s claims to the contrary, males were just as valuable as females and if it weren’t for her, Gus would never have been captured. How would her father ever forgive her for being the cause of his imprisonment? If she managed to get out of there, she would rally a rescue operation, no matter how long it took; she wouldn’t leave her father behind. It was the best she could do. “I suppose she could be expendable.”

“No,” her green-eyed Aradian said decisively, holding her gaze. The intensity of his expression made her heart skip a beat or six and she feared looking too closely at her reaction. It wouldn’t be honorable to give in to her desire for him, but how could she deny it when she had felt it for nearly a decade? "She is mine.”

She inhaled sharply, unable to take her eyes from him. "At least let my son go.”

He shook his head, “I’m afraid I cannot allow him to leave. As fortunate as we are to find a male Breeder we have no guarantee that his offspring will be Breeders, let alone female. It is best to have a second male to increase the odds. And I cannot allow you to leave because it has been a very long time since a female Breeder has walked amongst us; we mean to keep you.” His eyes warmed as he looked at her, a slow, heated caress from her toes to her head. “I mean to keep you.”

Panicking slightly at the sensual promise in his voice, she shook her head in denial even as his memories plagued her. It had been hundreds of years since the vampires had destroyed the Breeder village; there was no way they would let her go. As she fell deeper into his spell, her alarm increased. Is this why the Breeders stayed? Why her grandmother chose an Aradian over freedom? Would Malorie have to make a similar choice? It was enough to add desperation to her voice. “Do you really need to? I mean, you’re practically immortal.”

“We are not invincible,” he rumbled honestly if not reluctantly, walking towards her until he stood in front of her. Running his finger along her jaw, trailing heat along her skin, he murmured, “With no replacement, each loss is… deeply felt. That is, until you appeared, you and your little… family. We will restore balance.”

“That will take generations,” she gasped, staring up into his eyes. He was so beautiful and she wanted to touch him, feel his flesh beneath her fingers. Every dream she had ever had of him – and there were many – rushed through her and she wanted…. Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced her mind back to the present. Taking a breath, she opened her eyes and realized that it was going to take more than a pep talk to get her head back on straight. She wanted him.

“We have the time,” he whispered, bending his head and pressing his lips against the wildly fluttering pulse at the base of her throat, unconcerned that Toby was between them. Heat pulsed from his lips to her spine and she wanted to feel his skin pressed against hers; feel his naked body moving against hers; feel his cock lodged deep inside her womb, driving her mad with pleasure. She tightened her hold on Toby until he grunted. It had to be a disease, a sickness, on her part.

“Mommy!” he squeaked.

She cried out, flinching away from Feryn’s lips. Kissing Toby’s cheek, holding the Aradian’s eyes, she whispered, “I’m sorry, Toby. I’m so sorry.”

Did her child know that she was apologizing for so much more than squeezing him too tightly? Swallowing against the guilt, she said in a soft voice, “If you leave Toby alone, let him stay with me, I will give you whatever you want; I’ll… I’ll beg; I’ll do whatever you want.”

He was silent for a long time, his eyes roaming over her face, studying her with such intensity she wondered what it was he was thinking. His brow pulled together and he relaxed his stance slightly. Nodding towards Toby but holding her eyes, he asked, “What happened to his father?”

She swallowed, pressing her cheek against Toby’s silky hair. “He died in the War before Toby was born.”

“Ah,” he murmured, as if he understood her… reluctance to simply succumb to him. Either he was sincere or he was a master of deception and Malorie didn’t trust herself enough to make the correct choice. There was so much that she didn’t understand and her heart and her mind were at complete odds. Her father’s words only made everything worse; were they descendants of gods? Or maybe they were really the descendants of aliens and the whole planet was fucked.

“Stop fighting the inevitable, Malorie.” Feryn’s deep voice interrupted her increasingly bizarre thoughts. Wrapping his fingers around her arm, he pulled her towards him. The wall of heat behind her back disappeared and she felt as if she could breathe once more. That is, until she looked up into Feryn’s face and felt the air rush out of her lungs. “It will be easier for you once you accept your place amongst my people.”

She didn’t like the sound of that; her father had told her how Aradians took their pleasure and then passed the Breeder on to the next Aradian. It would kill her if she succumbed to the temptation he promised only to be given to another Aradian when he was through with her. The thought made her physically ill; to betray everything she had been taught only to be betrayed in return. How could she possibly consider staying?

“Now, come; let me take you to your rooms. You should rest.”

Glancing at Feryn out of the corner of her eye, she wondered how she could refuse him. His memories continued to dance in her head making him nearly unbearable to resist. Learning about the betrayal he had suffered and the joy he had experienced made him more than a nameless stranger that tormented her while she slept. She forced herself to admit that he was unlike anyone she had ever met in her life, unlike anyone she could have imagined. Was she truly so ill-fated to yearn for a man so utterly wrong for her?

Shifting Toby’s weight, she reluctantly followed Feryn as he began the tour of his compound, her head buzzing with the impossibility of her situation. If she gave in, she would be lost; if she refused…. She stole another glance at him. Since she was sixteen she had been dreaming of this man; how was she to deny him?

But what was the price she would have to pay to be with him?

Chapter 6

After dazedly being led through the colossal compound, Malorie finally stood in the middle of an opulent room hugging Toby to her chest. Ignoring the burning ache in her shoulders and in her lower back from holding him for so long, she refused to put him down. She was afraid that if she let him go they would take him away again. He seemed to understand her need to hold him because he didn’t squirm or ask to be put down. Maybe he was just as relieved as her to be together once again.

Her brain was still trying to process the magnificence of his estate. The buildings and grounds were like a medieval castle, with all of its living quarters and shops built within the fortified lands, surrounded on all sides by dense vegetation and trees. She wished she would have studied a bit more structural design to be able to fully appreciate all of the details and architectural styles she had encountered, all seamlessly blended together to create a plethora of sensory indulgences. Elaborate pillars and arches, impressive stone work and extravagant stained glass windows; the compound was the very essence of indulgence and artistry.

And the gardens! Acres and acres of sumptuous gardens, from flowers to fruit trees; it was a feast for her horticulturist soul. The gardens alone would tempt her to stay, if she weren’t so afraid of the consequences, of losing herself…. She never was one for self-deception; Feryn’s pull over her was obscene in its strength and depth. She was tempted to stay even without the gardens.

“You can put the child down; he is asleep,” Feryn’s low voice rumbled from behind her, interrupting her thoughts. Even though he had been the one giving her the tour, it still surprised her to hear him speak. She turned around and saw him leaning against the patio door. His posture was of relaxed negligence, with his arms loosely crossed over his broad chest and his legs spread apart; but his gaze was shrewd. As she stared at him, he nodded his head towards a door on the other wall. “These are my private rooms; he’ll be safe in the bedroom.”

She shook her head no and held her son closer, taking a step away from the gorgeous creature before she did something stupid. “He’s safe in my arms.”

Feryn’s lips quirked in a half-smile as he looked at her, “But he is too heavy; put him down and I promise you that no harm will come to him.”

“How can I trust you?” she asked softly, her desire to escape warring with her desire for him. “You’ve taken me and my family….”

“You have no idea how precious you all are to us.” Relaxing slightly, he let his hands fall to his sides. “In all of my many, many travels, the three of you are the only Breeders I have seen in almost five hundred years. Can you imagine, Malorie? Five hundred years without even the hope of creating children? Knowing that each life lost can never be recouped?”

She frowned, “But kidnapping?”

“Had I asked, would you have come willingly?” he returned, taking a step forward. Before she was aware of what he was doing, he gently took Toby from her. A sound almost like a whimper escaped from the back of her throat as she watched him take her son into the bedroom and carefully lay the sleeping child down on the bed. She watched in bewildered amazement as he tenderly brushed a strand of Toby’s hair from the small cheek before covering him with the comforter. Her heart took a running leap towards the green-eyed man, crashing against her rib cage and making her breasts swell. She had to suck in a sharp breath.

She was in danger of losing so much more than her freedom.

When he came back, he closed the door behind him and glanced at her from beneath hooded eyes. He was seducing her with very little effort. “Now we can… talk.”

“I don’t want to talk,” she whispered, instinctively taking a step away from him, knowing she was close to succumbing to temptation. If she talked to him, listened any more to his beguiling voice, she’d forget everything she had ever learned and give in. She felt languid and soft when she needed to be wary and hard. The war within her was perilously close to being lost and she had barely even fought at all.

His eyes heated and he closed the gap between them as she stood still, a rabbit caught in a wolf’s embrace. As if sensing her uncertainty, he moved behind her, pressing his hands against her back, massaging the sore muscles that had been screaming in agony. A low groan of pain and pleasure eased between her lips as he worked her tight shoulders. All of the tension that had been building up for days, the time spent carrying Toby, began to fade away and she was in danger of melting into a puddle of boneless goo.

After a few heavenly minutes of his scorching hands massaging her sore muscles, his breath was hot against her ear as he whispered, “Good; there are far more pleasurable things we can do instead.”

With a squeak, she jumped away from him, her body mourning the loss of his talented hands. Spinning, she faced him, her cheeks burning in arousal and shame. “I don’t think so; my son is sleeping in the next room.”

He smiled slightly, a hint of sadness coloring his beautiful eyes. She had to force herself to remain where she stood, to not go to him and wrap him in her arms and offer him comfort. How could she be so drawn to him when she hardly knew him at all? Except for in her dreams and how she felt when he was near. He was a stranger; why did she feel so connected to him? “Relax, Malorie.”

“I cannot,” she shook her head, unable to tear her eyes away from him.

He took her hand and led her over to a couple of plush, red leather chairs that flanked a marble fireplace. With a flick of his wrist, a fire roared to life, making Malorie jump. Holding out his arm, he motioned to one of the decadent chairs, “Sit.”