Nikolai: A Dark Light Novella (Dark Light #2.5) (12 page)

“Where are we?” Amelie asks, seeing the makings of a large plantation-style home through the trees.

I wait until the entire grand estate is in view, before answering. “My house.”

Amelie’s eyes grow large and bright with wonder. “This is your house? You live here?”

“Yeah,” I answer, guiding the car around the fountain in the driveway before coming to a halt. I glance at her awestruck expression as she takes it all in. “Wanna see the rest?”

Amelie nods excitedly. “Yes! Yes, please.”

Before she draws her next breath, I’m outside her door, clicking it open and offering her my hand. She shakes her head, and takes it, a playful smile on those perfect, crimson lips. “Show off,” she teases.

We make our way up the stairs and through the front door, entering the grand foyer that’s immaculately decorated with artwork and tapestries from as early as the Renaissance. Amelie is nearly giddy with curiosity, her eyes and hands eager to explore every inch of the Greek Revival home.

“If you have this house, why the hell do you stay in the city? I mean, it’s nice there too, and nearly as large, but this place … this is spectacular.”

I shrug although I know she can’t see me, as she studies one of the many paintings. “Honestly? It’s more convenient to stay in the city. I need to stay on top of things to ensure everyone is taken care of. Plus … I don’t want to be alone. Even amongst all these treasures, the house seems empty. Lonely. And I hate it.”

Amelie turns to face me, sympathy etched in her soft features. “You’re not alone.” She squeezes my hand and smiles, filling me with comforting warmth. “Even before you even knew I existed, I was with you. A spectator, but I was with you just the same.”

I pull her into my arms, yet stop just before our lips meet. “Why are you so good to me? How can someone so beautiful care for a monster like me?”

“You’re not a monster. No matter what you are, you could never be a monster.”

I kiss her like she’ll disappear in a puff of smoke. As if she is a mythical creature, birthed into an ugly world of disease and pain, sent here to bring beauty to the devastation. Sent here to smother the dark desolation with brilliant, golden light.  

“I want to show you the house,” I breathe, my lips still brushing hers. “But I have to admit, all I’m thinking about is the bedroom.”

She giggles and nuzzles her nose against mine. “You’ve had me all to yourself in a bedroom for weeks. Show me your palace, my prince.”

I give her the grand tour, opting to leave the master suite for later. I know that once I lock her in there, she’ll never leave, not if I have anything to say about it. We end sometime later in the kitchen.

“The staff is off for the weekend but my cook left some food for us,” I say, opening up the refrigerator and removing a wrapped platter. “Hungry?”

“I’m always hungry,” Amelie replies with a wicked grin. The possibility that her appetite is for something else entirely causes my dick to twitch and I almost drop the dish of assorted meats, cheeses and olives. Shit. How long has it been? Weeks? A month? How am I even able to walk straight?

We sit at the marble-top island, talking and laughing over finger food and wine while watching the sunset through the floor to ceiling windows, wall-size windows.

“This is amazing,” Amelie breathes, as the setting sun casts hues of pinks and oranges across her face. “I don’t understand why you would ever leave this place. It’s like a museum, but it feels like … home.”

I reach out to grasp her hand, drawing her attention to my earnest expression. “I wouldn’t, if I had a reason to stay.”

“This beautiful home would be reason enough for me,” she shrugs.

“I’m glad you said that. Because that’s exactly what I’m hoping for.”

A cute little crease dimples her forehead in confusion. “What do you mean, Niko?”

I circle the kitchen island to stand before her, placing my hands on the curve of her hips. “I want you to come here to live, so I can be assured that whatever may come for me, you’ll be safe.”

Her eyes search mine for some sign of jest. “And what about you?”

“I’ll keep looking for answers, hoping that whatever happened the other night was a fluke. But I need to focus, and I can’t even think of anything but you when you’re near. Having you at the manor … that’s not a place for you. You belong in beauty, not surrounded by filth. You deserve to dance in the light, not condemned to the dark.”

“Then … no.” Amelie shakes her head and eases off the barstool, turning to leave the kitchen.

“No?” I ask, following her through the dining area.

“No. I’m not staying here.” She turns to face me, her eyes bright and sparkling with conviction. “Not without you. After everything I’ve been through - being ripped from my home, thrown into a freakin’ whorehouse, not to mention, all without an ounce of concern from my father who’s probably drank himself to death by now - the only thing I’ve come to rely on is you. I’ve slept next to you for weeks. I’ve seen you in my dreams a million times. You are the only constant in my life. You are the only reason I am even able to sleep every night. Because no matter what the hell you are and what you’ve done, you were placed in my life for a reason. And dammit, I was placed in yours. So don’t you dare…don’t you dare try to leave me like everyone else.”

I brush away the tears that have begun to slide down her cheeks. Eyes locked on her, I ease my thumb into my mouth and suck the salty moisture, drawing a gasp from her parted lips. I don’t stop there. I taste them all, placing open-mouthed kisses on every tear, soothing her anguish with tenderness, care…and love.

“I won’t leave you, baby,” I whisper between kisses. “I’ll always be with you. Always.”

I kiss her heated cheeks, her soft, lush lips, and the angle of her jaw. Yet, it’s not enough. Not enough to sate the hunger inside me.

“I need to kiss you all over,” I whisper, before running my tongue along the shell of her ear.

“Ok,” she breathes, her pert nipples brushing against my chest.

I lift my head and meet her sultry gaze. I need to know. I need to know that she’s certain. “Ok?”

“Ok,” she nods slowly, almost painfully. “I want you.”

I give her my lips, my tongue, my hands … me. Anything and everything to show her that I want her too, more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. When our mouths finally part, we’re in the master bedroom, surrounded by the soft glow of candlelight.

Amelie steps back, taking her warmth with her. Discontentment begins to flood my chest, but before the storm ensues, she smiles. Smiles at me like I’m
somebody
to her. Somebody special, deserving of her affection. The only
somebody
in this entire world that she wants to be with at this very moment, alone in this room.

I can’t wait another second, although my head is screaming at me to slow down and take my time. But shit… I’ve been waiting two fucking centuries to feel this way. To feel
something.

I step forward and grip the hem of her sweater, searching for any sign of doubt. But to my surprise and delight, Amelie lifts her arms above her head, and I am only too eager to comply. My fingers whisper across her waist and ribcage as I draw the fabric up and over her head. Before the sweater can even hit the floor, my lips are already aching to taste her luminescent skin.

“Amelie.”
It comes out as a plea … a whimper. Because,
fuck
, she’s too beautiful. It almost hurts to be in the presence of something so magnificent. I want to touch her, but for some reason, I don’t. I can’t. My eyes can only devour the expanse of her flat belly, the round heaviness of her breasts, and the delicateness of her collarbone. I’ve never been like this. Shit, I know the female form inside out. But the sheer wonder of Amelie’s body has left me speechless. Fucking speechless.

Almost as if she hears my emotions battling against my hormones, Amelie steps forward and takes my hand in hers. Agonizingly slow and gentle, she brings it to rest on her chest, right over the vital space that houses her heart. The very same place I touched days ago when I contemplated ripping it from her body to end her life. And now, as I feel her heart beat rapidly, the heat of her skin sizzling the surface of mine, I feel as if I have been reborn. Numb and blind for two hundred years, she has just pulled me out of perpetual darkness.

She looks up at me, those peculiar eyes gleaming with longing. “Touch me. Please.”

The fact that she even feels the need to beg has me hating myself. My fingers slide down her torso, taking in the silkiness of her skin, before rising up to meet her breasts. We both groan as I cup them, the nipples hardening against my palm.

“Baby, you…you are…” Shit, I’m a blubbering mess. I rub my thumbs across her nipples before giving her swollen breasts a squeeze. So soft. So fucking soft. “You are…perfect.”

My lips find hers, my tongue seeking entrance to her mouth, as I explore her body with my hands, the burn coupling with the unrelenting throb in my slacks. I could do this all night. I could be placated with just kissing and touching her like this. But I won’t. I need more of Amelie. I need all of her.

My fingers travel down to her jeans, and I slowly undo the clasp, giving her ample time to stop me. She doesn’t. She only tightens the grip on my hair, as she deepens the kiss.

When her pants lie in a heap next to her shirt after she’s kicked them off in eagerness, I stand back and admire the prize before me bare, unsullied and unashamed. Amelie.
My
Amelie.

I swallow, but my mouth goes dry. “I said I wanted to kiss you all over, and I fully intend to. But I need to know … is this what you want? Because once you give yourself to me, you’re mine forever. Once I feel you shake beneath me, every one of your trembles will belong to me. Once you call out my name, no other man’s name will fall on your lips in passion. I won’t be able to stand it, Amelie. I’ll kill someone before they get the chance to see what I’m looking at right now. I swear it. You’re too fucking beautiful for anyone else. Shit, you’re too beautiful for
me
.”

I don’t even notice that my fists are shaking until Amelie steps forward to still them. “Yours, Niko. I’ve been yours for a decade already. Forever is easy.”

We kiss with a fevered hunger that has us both panting by the time the bed meets the back of her legs. I ease her down gently and just take a moment to admire the view. She smiles up at me sweetly. “You know, it’s kinda hard to kiss me when you’re way up there. And it doesn’t seem fair that you’re still dressed, and I’m pretty much on display here.”

“Then tell me what you want me to do.”

Amelie licks her lips before pinning me with her own naughty glare, and my dick goes from rock hard to granite. “Take your clothes off.”

I do as she wishes, starting with my shirt. Amelie watches with rapt fascination, the scent of her arousal growing stronger and thicker with every button. By the time I undo my pants, she’s squirming and her skin is on fire.

I lay beside her, and we stare at each other, both completely exposed, unable to hide. We see it all - our sins, our virtues. The monsters that live inside us, and the ghosts of our pasts. And, as open as Amelie is for me, I am just as open to her - completely at her will, at her mercy.

“Now what?” I ask, my voice husky.

Amelie swallows down her fear and apprehension. “Kiss me.”

“Where?”

“All over,” she breathes. “Anywhere. Everywhere.”

And I do just that, starting with her throat, resisting the urge to breathe in her sweet essence. Pleasure. This is all about her pleasure. And for once in my life, that’s enough. I trail a path to her breasts, licking the outer mounds. When my tongue worships her nipple, Amelie cries out, and her fingers dig into my shoulders. I draw it entirely in my mouth and suck, causing her body to convulse.

“Careful, love,” I say, smiling against her skin. “I’ve only just started.”

She whimpers something unintelligible and I continue the delicious torment - sucking, licking and nibbling every mouthwatering bit of her as I slowly work my way down her stomach to the tops of her thighs. When I ease her legs apart, she gasps.

“Is this ok?” I ask.

I feel her body tense, but she nods. “Yes.”

Thank. Fuck. After seeing the pure perfection between Amelie’s thighs, covered in only a neat strip of dark hair, there’s no way I can resist now. I’ve seen it. Smelled it. And now, I need to taste it.

I part her gently, feeling her slickness on my fingertips. I start at the insides of her thighs, kissing each tenderly while my thumb still rubs against her clit. She’s wet, but I know it’ll take patience and care to get her as wet as I need her.

“Oh God!” she cries out, her quivering building into convulsions. Wetness seeps from her entrance and I rub it into the sensitive clit. She’s on the edge, ready to let go. Just as the flood ensues, I slip a finger inside her, and she comes, her tight walls clamping down on the digit. I feel every shudder, every pulse, as she moans my name, submitting to me.

I lower my mouth to her, lapping the sweetness that flows from her, my finger still tucked deep inside her pussy, moving in and out, fucking her, opening her. The erotic sounds she makes coupled with her taste have my head spinning and dizzy with expectation.

“You taste so good,” I groan, my mouth buried in her pink folds.

“Yeah?” she asks, breathless.

“Yeah.” I remove my finger, slick with her juices and offer it to her. “Taste.”

Her mouth falls open in wonder, her eyes heavy with pleasure. “I can’t do that.”

“No?” I smile, easing the finger inside my mouth. “Fine, more for me.” I really let loose then, licking her, sucking her, fucking her with my tongue. I slip in a finger while my mouth teases her clit. Then two fingers plunge inside her, stretching her walls, preparing her for my size. Her legs quiver on my shoulders, and her back and ass arch off the bed.

“Oh God! Oh Niko! I’m, oh my God, I’m...” she screams, and again, her sweet nectar meets my tongue, and I greedily drink every drop.

Her body is covered with a light sheen of sweat, and her breath is ragged when I climb up her body to kiss her lips. My fingers still move inside her slowly, milking her orgasm, and opening her even more. She trembles against my body.