Kiss Of Twilight (22 page)

The fire took him and he didn't care.

She would rejoice later. For now, she had Dupree. In her arms and her body and he wasn't holding back. It was a wild ride. His hands were everywhere. On her clit, on her nipples, cupping and molding the flesh of her breasts and ass and hips. His hands were rough and demanding, wringing every ounce of sensation from her that he could.

She'd always known it would be like this. The first couple days together had been just a taste. She'd dreamed of having him for so long. Craved him. She knew who she was. She knew she was a strong, capable woman. But did that mean she couldn't let herself be taken over by the man who loved her? He never said it, but she knew. He might never say it and she could live with that too. Though the words would be nice.

Later. Think about that much, much later
. That was easy to do with him thrusting inside her. She gave herself over to the wild ride and just when she could feel the orgasm building, it stopped. She opened her eyes and stared up into his face.

"You can't be changing your mind now." She refused to believe it. That couldn't happen to her.

He grinned. "Darlin', you couldn't get me out of this bed with a laser guided missile."

That was good. That was
excellent
. But... "Then why did you stop?"

She whined when his cock withdrew from her. Her hands gripped his hips. "Damn it, get back here."

But he wouldn't budge. He nuzzled the hollow between her neck and shoulder then left a trail of feather soft kisses up to her ear. "I've waited too long for you to hurry now, Kara," he whispered.

He kissed a line along her jaw to her other ear, bit down on the tender lobe and tugged a second before releasing her to continue covering her face, then her neck with those light, soft kisses. Then he shifted and began a long slow slide down till his face hovered over her chest. He stared and she held her breath wondering what he'd do, waiting for his next move. He glanced up at her with gleaming eyes and a wicked grin, before dipping his head to catch one nipple in his mouth.

She exploded. One man's touch should not make a woman lose her mind, but it did. She was lost in him and she didn't care if everyone knew it. Hell, she just wanted to feel
more
of it. She dug her fingernails into his back and hissed, but it was a sound of pleasure not pain. She released her grip.

"Don't stop," he ordered.

She smirked. "But you did."

Growling, he rolled to his back and pulled her over to straddle him. She didn't need more invitation than that, but she wasn't in such a big hurry anymore either. He'd had his turn. Now it was hers. She grabbed his wrists and stretched them over his head, leaning forward as she did to press her body against his.

"Kara," he groaned. "Don't tease."

"Turnabout is fair play." She bit the skin in the hollow between his shoulder and neck. "It's my turn."

He chuckled and she sat up to look at him, narrowing her eyes. "You aren't going to cooperate?"

He stretched his arms to the iron slats on the headboard and wrapped his fingers around one, then gave her a look of such promise her toes curled. "You're on borrowed time, darlin'. Make the most of it."

It was more concession than she'd expected and she was almost willing to hand it right back. Almost. She wanted to,
had to,
taste him first. She braced her hands on either side of his hips and leaned down. Rich, dark skin beckoned her. His abs were rigid, chest firm, nipples tiny and hard, a dark dusky rose. She flicked a tongue over one and his whole body jerked. She rubbed against him and went back for another taste before kissing her way down his torso. He grew tenser, even more still, the farther she went. Until she paused over his pelvis and gave the length of his cock a long wet lick.

"Kara," he growled, and there was much more demon than man in that voice. "Don't. Tease."

Oh, but it was so much fun. She dragged her nails down the inside of his thighs and his muscles tightened under her strokes. His hiss of indrawn breath electrified her. The urge to taste him grew to a craving she couldn't fight or deny. She blew a hot breath over his erection, looking up through her lashes to give him a sultry smile. He groaned as she took him into her mouth.

She wrapped her fingers around his shaft while she licked then sucked the head. He tasted perfect. Masculine with a hint of spice and salt. His moans of pleasure were divine music. She could listen it to for the rest of her life, but he had other plans. His hands buried in her hair and tugged her away, urging her to slide up his body.

He flipped her over before she could straddle him, and entered her with one hard, fluid thrust. He took her over so completely, so quickly, she didn't have time to complain about not getting her turn. She didn't even care. She could feel his urgency, could feel his desperation and her own rose to match his. When the tremors started in her body, he kissed her. Her orgasm rushed through her and he swallowed her cries moments before joining her.

Luke walked down a crowded street in the heart of Camden's hippest district and looked over the offerings. There were plenty of women, single and accompanied, who gave him inviting looks. Tall, short, thin, curvy. According to the calendar it was time for summer to fade into fall, but the memo hadn't arrived here. It was warm and breezy and the human females were dressed for it. Once he would have strolled through the crowd, admired the endless variety of beauty, and found one to sate his needs, but now no one looked tasty. There was only one woman he wanted to feed from. Only one woman he wanted in any way.

He liked his feeding to go with sex, but that was out of the question because Gia wasn't here. He fought the temptation to punch something. The question was, where the fuck was she? And how was he supposed to feed if not from her? Yeah, sure there were single nightwalkers who fed from people they weren't sleeping with. Sometimes even of the same sex. But he was old and set in his ways and he only wanted Gia.

And there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it.

The energy and emotion of undisciplined minds beat at him as he wended his way through the crowd. His mind reached for it, like a sponge searching for water. If only feeding were that easy. He'd have to lower his surface shields, embrace the mind he wanted to feed from, and make himself vulnerable. In a secluded one-on-one environment, no big deal. But in this crowd there could be other nightwalkers, lupines, hybrids, or even demons lurking in the shadows. He couldn't lower his shields without taking a risk. And he didn't want to whisk away some lonely woman under the pretext of seduction when he had no intention of following through.

He'd gone beyond hungry. He was starving now. Worse, he was despairing. Gia was gone and the longer she was gone the less he believed he would find her alive, or sane. It was one thing for her to run from him. He'd made it too clear at the beginning of their affair that it was purely casual. No commitments. No strings. He got to feed and she got to focus on something besides fighting her demon half. They hadn't realized at first that their relationship was so much more complicated. His feeding from her was as effective as her bonding with another male. The more they were together, the more stable she became. She'd been so dangerously close to going rogue when he'd met her.

Where the fuck are you, baby?

She didn't answer. She never answered.

He was on a side street now, moving away from the noise and lights and people. A long night stretched before him and he mentally checked the map he'd memorized. He'd started out at the Order compound where Gia used to live and had worked in an ever expanding search pattern since then. Every night he searched. Every night he moved a little more toward accepting she was gone forever. And not because she'd just taken off. Him, she would abandon with no explanation or further contact. He'd set up the rules of that relationship and he understood. But her friends? Winter and Dupree? She might leave the area to emotionally protect herself from Luke, but she'd never disappear from her friends' lives.

His new sister-in-law, Winter, was not a very expressive woman, but Luke had been around long enough to read her. She was worried. She didn't think Gia was dead, but she thought she was running out of time. Luke thought that might be because she just wasn't ready to accept it. Winter would not give up hope until she had no choice.

Dupree was much harder to read.

Luke was surprised how much he'd come to like the hybrid male. There was fire under his cold, restrained exterior. He was dead loyal to his people and a menace to the demons who hunted on their world, or anyone who harmed the few people he allowed himself to care about. Luke had cultivated an easygoing, charming bad boy reputation, but beneath that, he wasn't so different from Dupree Jackson. There were few people he'd tear the world apart for. Gia. His brother and his mate and now Dupree and his woman.

Luke had walked his way into the residential streets. Big pretty Victorians were tightly packed together. The city's A-list neighborhood. A long mournful howl broke the silence and Luke tilted his head back to peer through the trees. The moon was close to full. He grinned as more howls answered the first. No doubt the local citizens would chalk the sound up to exuberant dogs. He knew better. His grin became a chuckle as the night's serenade continued. Many walkers and hybrids thought it was stupid. The way lupines seemed to invite discovery. But Luke had had three hundred years to observe them. The more society tried to tame itself, the more lupines fought against the bit.

The phone in his pocket buzzed a silent alarm and he looked up into the trees again with a softly exhaled sigh. It was time. Winter had asked for a triumvirate meeting and as Marcus's second in command he had to be there. Lot of powerful people from all three races in one room. Some who knew him well. He'd come out to feed. He'd
intended
to feed. He could hide his hunger, his deteriorating condition from most, but not his brother. And if Marcus knew, Winter would know.

It was impossible not to smile when thinking about Winter. He'd been concerned at first. Nightwalkers did not mate with members of the other races and definitely not hybrids. Never hybrids. That had been part of Gia's appeal, hadn't it? But no. He was going to take a break from worrying about Gia. And hell. He didn't need to worry, did he?

Winter worried enough for
everyone.
Luke had thought Gia was a mother hen, but damn, Winter gave her a run for her money. Fuck, all three of them were control freaks who didn't know how to delegate. Fun was an alien concept to them.

He shook his head, took a deep breath and tried to remind himself he wasn't like them. Life was long for a nightwalker. Might as well live it well. Great sex, superb food, exhilarating fights. Bah. Who was he fooling? Gia had infected him with caring and now he was screwed. Because without her...it wasn't worth the pain was it?

His phone alarm beeped again. He took several moments to compose himself, to put on a familiar mask and shove away all those doubts and feelings, before teleporting home. A bare second later he arrived in the foyer just in time to see Kara jogging down the steps. She gave him a distracted smile as she spun on the bottom post heading into his brother's study. But that moment was enough to tell him Dupree had finally given in to instinct and gone after her. She was flushed, happy, and it was damned hard to hide a hickey the size of the one on her neck.

Dupree came down the steps behind her, his expression a combination of shock and pure possessive male. Luke had seen that look often enough to identify it. Hell, he was pretty damned sure he'd worn it the last time he'd been with Gia. Unlike a lot of predatory males from the other races on the planet, Dupree was in control. You had to admire that in a comrade in arms. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, clapped Luke on the shoulder and steered him toward the short hall that led to the study.

"You're in bad shape, my friend," he said softly.

Luke stopped a couple feet from the door. They were the same height, six feet two inches, and he looked Dupree right in the eye. No time to play games now. "It shows?"

Dupree looked him over and eventually shook his head. "Your brother will know, but no one else."

He didn't stop to think. If he did, he'd give himself away. He was Luke: nightwalker, second in command, unflappable playboy and unbeatable foe. The only one who had a right to know what was inside his heart and head was out of reach. He walked into the study, Dupree close on his heels.

We'll find her,
Dupree assured mentally.

Whatever the cost,
Luke answered and it was also a whispered promise to the woman who haunted him. He would live a long, lonely, miserable life if he must, but he had to know, if she lived, that she was safe and content. He'd never believe either of them could be happy if they were apart. Content? Possibly. As long as she lived.

Whatever the cost,
the hybrid agreed.

He took his place beside his brother and met Dupree's gaze with a nod.

Dupree wondered if he should warn Winter about Luke's deteriorating state and decided against it. He was confident the walker would take care of it before it became a danger. He focused instead on telling them about the excursion underground. He and Luke would have to rearrange some of the regular patrols so more hybrids could be used to explore the tunnels with the lupines.

They had the maps spread out to do just that when the first unknown number came in on his cell phone. He sent the call straight to voice mail, but when the same number rang again minutes later he stepped out into the hall.

"Yeah," he snapped, assuming it was one of the younger soldiers and irritated he or she was bypassing the chain of command.

"Nice to hear from you, too, old friend," the caller responded with a slightly raspy drawl no one ever forgot or confused with someone else.

"Elora, you're supposed to report tonight. In person."

"I know, boss, but I have a hunt to finish up first. Should be taken care of by tomorrow night." She paused. "Any leads on Ben or Gia? I assume they're my priorities when I get there."

He moved farther down the hall for more privacy. "You shouldn't know anything about them yet."

"The ban prevents
me
from communicating with
y'all.
It doesn't stop anyone from sending me updates."

And he or Winter most likely would have done that, but they didn't have any way to contact her. "Who's been updating you?"

"I don't know." He could hear the unconcerned shrug in her voice. "They come by email, always a different address and canceled accounts when I try to trace them back. I haven't heard anything in a few days, which is why I asked about Ben and Gia."

"It has to be someone on the council." No one else knew how to contact her. "Baas Contee?" he speculated.

"What about Baas?" she asked sharply.

"He was murdered."

She was silent a long time. Dupree wondered how exactly she knew Contee and if his murder was going to make her snap again.

"Elora? Talk to me."

"I'm okay." But she didn't sound okay. Her voice was huskier, strained, and he heard the demon in her tone. When she continued, she was back in control. "He was the only member of the council who voted against banishing me. What happened to him?"

"He was killed in Ben's office, made to look like the work of a demon, but it was done with an obsidian blade. He isn't a priority right now, Elora."

"I know. Ben and Gia. I'm in control, Dupree. You have my word. I just want to come home."

He hesitated. If she wasn't stable and he allowed her to return, anything that went wrong would be his fault. But she wasn't a resource he could afford to ignore, either, and his feeling was she was telling the truth to the best of her ability.

"Can you track them?" He knew she was capable, but would it be too much too soon? Returning to the family and immediately sinking her mind into Ben's evil?

"I can. I'll call you when I get to town."

He hung up a few seconds later and hoped like hell he wasn't making a mistake bringing her home.