Embraced by Darkness (6 page)

“I doubt he’d actually—”

“I don’t. I think he’s capable of any sort of violence imaginable.” Especially if it meant getting what he wanted.

He sighed. “So, are you coming home?”

“If you and Liander don’t mind me leaving a few days early.”

“Mind? We were taking bets on it.” I could almost see his grin coming down the line. “I win, by the way. I said the guilt of letting us down would keep you there until the last week.”

“So what did you win?”

“A one-night free pass to go anywhere and do anyone.”

“You do that anyway.”

“Hey,” he said, sounding highly offended. “I’ve been a very good wolf since we had our discussion four weeks ago. I’ve only had one lover, and that was work related.”

So why did he feel the need to break free now? If he was happy with Liander—and I knew he was—why fuck that up by dancing with other wolves? Especially since he’d agreed not to outside of work? “Why did Liander even agree to this bet?”

“Because he was sure you’d miss Kellen so much you’d be following him home two days after he left.”

“Well, I
do
miss him.”

“Maybe, but the telling point is, you haven’t even contacted him.”

“Because he wasn’t home. He’s been off on some business trip again.”

“He has a cell phone, Riley.”

“Oh, just shut up and stop nagging me,” I said, more than a little crossly.

He chuckled. “Want me to meet you at the airport?”

“Someone had better. I can’t afford a taxi after all the chocolate I’ve eaten on this trip.”

“Text me the details and I’ll be there.”

“Will do, bro.”

I hung up. The thought of going home had my hormones dancing, and I couldn’t help the great big grin that plastered itself on my lips.

Still, before I packed, I headed down to reception and checked if Jim had left me a message. He had, and it was the answer I’d been expecting. No one remembered a man matching the description I’d given him.

Maybe it was just a scam. It wouldn’t be the first time a boy had lied about his name to get an easy lay. Although that didn’t explain why Blake thought she’d bedded him, when no one up here could even remember seeing him. No one but Jared.

Once back at my villa, I got on with the serious business of packing. Jared appeared from nowhere, and helped carry my luggage to the little plane that would take me back to the mainland. I gave him a polite kiss good-bye, and used the moment to lower a shield and try to read his thoughts—only to hit what felt like a brick wall. Either he was mind-blind, or he had psychic shields as tough as any vampire.

Which raised the question, what might he be hiding? Anything? Or was I just being a suspicious bitch again? Probably, I thought wryly, as I boarded the plane.

Of course, getting a connecting flight back to Melbourne wasn’t as easy, so it was a day later when I finally reached the Virgin terminal at Tullamarine airport. Thankfully, Blake’s spirit or aura or whatever the hell that was didn’t manage to find me during that time. Maybe being on a plane and on the move made me difficult to track.

I collected my bags and walked out of the terminal building, shivering as a blast of cold air hit my skin. I thought about dragging a sweater out of my bag, but honestly couldn’t be bothered. I just wanted to get home. I stopped briefly and looked around for either Rhoan’s or Liander’s car, but found Kellen instead.

Pleasure shot through me, and I dropped my bags and ran into his arms. He laughed softly as he lifted me up and spun me around, then his lips found mine and he kissed me. Thoroughly and deeply, until my head was spinning and desire was pounding through my veins.

I sighed when he finished, then rested my forehead against his and stared into his bright, gold-flecked green eyes. “Missed you.”

“And I you.” He let my feet touch the ground but didn’t release me.

I pressed myself against him and wished there weren’t clothes between us. “So how come you’re here?”

He smiled and kissed my nose. “Because two weeks away from you is far too long. I’ve already informed your brother that you’re coming home with me.”

A grin touched my lips. “Oh yeah? And why would that be?”

“Because I intend to ravish you senseless.”

His words had my pulse skipping about dizzily. I restrained my excitement and tried to remain cool as I raised an eyebrow. “What if I don’t want to be ravished?”

He collected my bags, then hooked my arm through his and led the way over to the taxi rank and parking areas. “Too bad. You have no choice in the matter.”

“Not even if I’d rather a long and leisurely seduction?”

“Nope. Sorry.” His grin was decidedly sexy and not in the least apologetic. “It’s been two weeks since I’ve held you in my arms. Slow and leisurely just aren’t possible.”

“A man with no self-control.” I shook my head in mock sorrow. “Such a shame.”

“I’ve been with you for five minutes and I’ve only kissed you. How much more control do you want?”

I laughed and squeezed his arm, suddenly fiercely glad he’d come here to meet me. “Where’s your Mercedes?”

“Didn’t bring it.” Mischief twitched his luscious lips. “I thought the returning princess deserved a ride worthy of her status. Hence, the limo.”

He waved a hand to the long white limo lining the curb. Excitement began a triple-beat dance through my bloodstream. Making love in the backseat of a limo had always been something of a fantasy for me. In fact, any sort of making out that involved illicit locations was guaranteed to turn me on, but a limo was someplace I didn’t get to be all too often. And the few times I
had
been in them had proven a frustrating experience. But then, I’d been with Quinn, and for an old vampire he was amazingly staid in his sexual tastes. Luckily for me, Kellen had proven to be a wolf more than willing to push and explore boundaries.

“And the driver?” I asked, voice several octaves lower than usual, thanks to the force of desire suddenly driving through me.

“Is very discreet. And the modesty screen between us is soundproof and one way. We can see him, but he can’t see us.”

“And do you plan a ravishment in the backseat of said limo?”

He dragged me closer and dropped a quick, fierce kiss on my lips. “I most certainly do. And with the side windows open so that everyone who passes us can see me taking you.”

“Woohoo!”

He laughed, grabbed my hand, and raced me toward the car. The chauffer greeted our rush with politeness, but there was a twinkle in his gray eyes as he shoved my bags into the trunk. He obviously knew what was about to go down.

Me, quite literally.

I grinned as I seated myself comfortably on the plush leather seats. A bottle of Brown Brothers Orange Muscat & Flora—one of my favorite dessert wines—sat in a waiting ice bucket, with chilled glasses beside it.

“You don’t have to get me drunk to have your wicked way with me,” I said, as Kellen climbed into the car and the driver closed the door behind him.

“Oh, I know.” He reached for the glasses and the wine. “But we’ve officially been an item for a whole six weeks. And as that’s something of a record for me, I thought it worth a celebration.”

“So all the rumors of you being a ladies’ man are true?”

“Alas, yes. But all it took was the right woman to curb my straying ways.” He poured the wine and handed me a glass, then raised his own. “To the right woman.”

I clicked my glass against his and said teasingly, “I’d love to say ‘to the right man,’ but hey, I’m not entirely sure you’re him yet.”

He made a low sound deep in his throat, and pulled me toward him. “I
am
the right man. In fact, I intend to be the
only
man in your life.” He kissed me hard, leaving me breathless, then added, “And for the next twelve hours, you are mine, and only mine.”

Twelve hours? Oh my.

I took a sip of the wine that did little to curb the heat of excitement. Then, as the limo drove off smoothly, I leaned forward and tasted the same tangy sweetness on his lips.

“You do taste very nice.”

“I’d taste even better if you were naked.”

I raised an eyebrow, amusement teasing my lips. “And how does me being naked make you taste better?”

“Everything tastes better when there’s nakedness involved.”

“Such a male response.”

“Well, I am a male.”

I let my gaze roam down his lean, strong body. Wolves tended not to get muscle-bound—it just wasn’t in our makeup—but that didn’t mean the male of our species was in any way weedy. Just that they tended to be built like athletes rather than bodybuilders.

“It seems you are,” I said, letting my gaze rest briefly, teasingly, on his lap. “However, I refuse to be the only one to get naked in this car.”

Amusement touched his lips. “Then shall we remove our clothing?”

“Or remove each other’s?”

“An even better idea.”

He proceeded to strip me—slowly and deliciously—his fingers sliding so sensually across my skin, teasing and arousing. Then I did the same to him, allowing my hands to roam across the wealth of his chocolate-colored skin, reveling in the heat of it, the steel of muscles rippling underneath it every time he moved.

When we were finally both naked, I settled on his lap, enjoying the tease of closeness as I wrapped my arms around his neck and stared for several seconds into his beautiful green eyes. Then I kissed him, long and lingering.

“I want you,” he said after a while, his voice rough, urgent.

“But you can’t have me. Not yet.”

“Then what can I have?”

“Oh, this and that.” I slid my rump down his legs until I was kneeling in front of him. Desire and anticipation swirled around me, so thick, so strong that it sent little droplets of perspiration skittering across my skin. I lightly ran my tongue across the base of his penis. His groan of pleasure was all the encouragement I needed to continue.

I licked my way up and down his shaft, occasionally taking in his balls, enjoying the tremble of pleasure that ran through his body, the way his cock leapt and throbbed with eagerness. I smiled and swirled my lips around the tip of him before taking him fully into my mouth.

Again he groaned—a sound thick with enjoyment—as I drew him deeper, sucking and tasting and teasing him until his movements became desperate and the salty taste of him began seeping into my mouth.

But I didn’t let him cross that line. He made a sound thick with frustration when I pulled back, then his hands wrapped around my arms and he was pulling me up, pulling me close, as his mouth claimed mine.

As kisses went, it was pretty much meltdown material.

“Now it’s your turn to ache,” he whispered, after a while.

And he set about doing that very thing, touching and teasing, making me tremble and ache as I could never remember aching.

“Enough,” I said, as he brought me to the edge for what seemed like the umpteenth time, only to back away again.

He laughed softly, his eyes sparking with so much desire and caring that something trembled deep inside. “Then what do you want now?”

“You,” I said, and thrust down on him, claiming him in the most basic way possible.

He groaned and slid his hands to my hips, his grip almost bruising as he pressed me down harder. I echoed his groan, loving the way he felt inside.

I began to move and he was right there with me, kissing and caressing, driving me wilder with need. The deep-down ache bloomed, becoming a kaleidoscope of sensations that washed pleasure through every corner of my mind. I thrust my head back, gasping for breath as the need for completion built and built. Only the air itself seemed to burn as fiercely as my skin.

Then the shuddering began and I grabbed his shoulders, pushing him deeper still, wanting to feel every inch of him through every inch of me. Pleasure exploded as his movements became faster, more urgent.

“Look at me,” he growled.

I opened my eyes and met his gaze, and again something quivered deep inside. Desire and passion and something else—something that seemed a whole lot like possession—seared those depths, stirring me in ways I didn’t think possible.

“You are mine,” he said, and his hoarse voice seemed to echo through every fiber of my being.

Yes
, I thought.
Oh God, yes
.

And then all thought evaporated as the passion between us exploded and I was quivering, trembling, whimpering, as his warmth spilled into me.

Sated, I collapsed against him, sucking in his spicy, sweaty scent with every intake of breath, feeling it fill me, consume me, as his body had consumed me. Somehow, it seemed so right. He wrapped his arms around me, holding on tight, and for one brief moment, I had that oh so glorious sensation of belonging.

It was in the middle of that one perfect moment that the phone rang.

Chapter 3

L
eave it,” Kellen said, kissing my forehead.