Shadowfae (19 page)

I dragged back damp wisps of hair, my eyes streaming. Dark vampire blood steamed in the bowl, thick and clotted. Disgusting. I wiped my mouth, blood smearing on the back of my shaking hand.

The rush of water made me turn. Rajah flipped the tap off and handed me a glass of water, wordless, his eyes dark and inscrutable.

I took it, my gaze slipping away. Embarrassment crawled on my skin. He must think me so gullible. I swilled cool water in my mouth and spat into the spotless porcelain sink. Twists of bloody phlegm swirled down the plughole. I shuddered, and washed my mouth out again and again until my spit ran clear and the foul taste was gone, but it still didn’t feel clean.

I touched my aching shoulder gingerly, trying not to flex it and reopen the wound. My own blood stained my skin, crusting darkly on the red satin, streaked with viscous vampire spit. My fingers shook, desperate. I wanted it gone. I fumbled for paper towels, frantic, smearing my skin as I tried to wipe the mess away.

Rajah’s hot hand gripped mine as he reached from behind to steady me, his body warm and firm against my back. “Careful. Let me.”

Unwilling, I relented. He pried the bloody paper from my fingers and got some more, wetting it under the hot tap and pressing it gently to my fouled skin. His fingers were delicate, tender, soothing, the hot tissue fresh and cleansing. I closed my eyes, relaxing, letting him take care of me. He brushed a stray curl away from my neck, sliding the wet paper over me, dabbing gently. Warm tingles spread across my back, climbing my neck, and I shivered, letting my head fall to the side so he could touch me.

I could feel him breathing, tense against my back, and I realized his rapture probably wasn’t helping the situation. I opened my eyes. “You don’t have to—”

“What if I want to?” He tossed the mess in the bin and soaked a fresh lump of towel, moving down over my collarbone where sticky clots still formed. Hot drips glided down to my breast, soaking into the soft low neckline of my dress. I imagined his fingertips following, sliding the fabric aside, tracing the shape of my breast, teasing my nipple to hardness. I didn’t want him to stop. His gentleness unnerved me, made me yearn for more.

He dabbed at the dress’s stained edge, hesitant, his fingers brushing the top of my breast. “I can’t get this off.”

“It’s okay.” His touch flooded tingling sensation into my guts. My nipple strained against the wet satin, and I struggled to keep my breath slow and regular. Had he noticed? He must have noticed.

I felt him swallow, and slowly his fingertip slipped down over my breast, tracing a deliberate circle around my tight peak. I shivered, my lips parting. His thumb joined in, and he pinched my nipple, delicate, pleasure shooting deep inside me.

I closed my eyes. “Rajah . . .”

“Mmm?” He bent his lips to my neck, his tongue flicking out to pleasure me with a long slow lick toward my ear, his thumb and finger making delicious wickedness at my breast, rolling and tugging until my nipples swelled, tight like pebbles, yearning for his palms, his mouth, his teeth.

His cock pressed into the curve of my back, long and hard, and I trembled, the air pregnant with his energy like an imminent storm. He was right. I didn’t want to be with anyone else. Not Dante, not Luna, not anyone but my beautiful Rajah, who cared who hurt me and how. I didn’t mind if his arousal was just rapture this time. For once, I’d take what I wanted.

“Kiss me,” I whispered, turning my head toward him.

He dragged his lips over my throat and my chin, sinking hot trails of desire into my skin. I caught his mouth with mine, and his tongue delved into me, tracing my teeth, seeking my own tongue and stroking it until I moaned. His energy mingled with mine, pure and arousing. He cupped my breast, palming the nipple through wet satin, the friction delicious. I leaned back into him, finding a place for his cock in the hollow of my bottom, sliding him against me. My sex swelled and moistened in sympathy, hurting. I wanted his length driving into me, pressing against my limit, stretching me until I was full of him.

He pulled me back onto him, strong fingers gripping my hip, his mouth sliding reluctantly from mine. His voice husked, hot on my cheek and thick with need, his touch still alive on my swelling breast. “This is impossible.”

I leaned my head back on his shoulder, burying my nose in his dark fragrant hair, my body aflame in his arms. I wanted to trail kisses over his throat, down his chest, bite his smooth brown nipples. How was I supposed to keep him at a distance? He was too alluring, too wonderful. “I know. What are we going to do?”

“Well, there’s this.” He teased his fingers under the satin, tugging my bare aching nipple. I gasped from pure sensation, my teeth grazing his throat. He crept his other hand beneath my skirt, feathering a shiver up the hot inside of my thigh. “And this.”

I willed his touch upward, shifting my stance to let him in. “I meant about . . . Oh, god.” He’d slipped his fingertips inside my underwear, finding hot wetness. A bolt of fierce need shot up into me, my clit swelling for him. He teased my entrance, sliding over me lightly, maddening, and I thought I’d explode with boiling desire, heat pouring off me in waves. His fingernail brushed my sensitive clit, and I whimpered, nerves afire all over my body. I reached up to crush his hair, gripping it tightly, pulling his lips back onto my neck. This was worse than rapture. This was heaven.

“Do it.” The words burst from my lips, strained with lust. I was begging before he’d even undressed me, and I didn’t care. “Please, just do it.”

He slipped a long, smooth finger inside, all the way in. I groaned in pure delight, my flesh quivering and clenching. He buried his face in my neck, his mouth gentle but ravenous, and crept his other hand down to massage me, two clever fingers sliding around my clit, rubbing while he pushed inside me. Tension gripped me, pleasure building rapidly. But fear tinged my sensation with hot edginess. I was too raw, Rajah too overwhelming. “No,” I panted, “it’s too much. Stop.”

“Must I?” His breath burned my skin, heavy. “I want to feel you come.”

“I can’t. There’s still Luna . . . no. Stop it.” I grabbed his wrists and dragged him from me, my flesh whimpering in protest. I’d need all the energy I could muster to seduce Luna. I couldn’t afford to waste it now, no matter how much I wanted to.

Yeah, okay. I hadn’t made him stop because he frightened me, or anything. Not because when he touched me I forgot who I was. Not because he made me feel like a woman instead of a machine and I didn’t know what to do.

He leaned his damp forehead on my shoulder, closing his arms around me, and gave a deep shuddering sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean . . . Oh, Jade. What are we going to do about Luna?”

I wriggled away, his closeness too much to bear. “I don’t know. I’ve tried rapture and he just shrugs it off.”

He eyed me darkly. “That’s not what I mean.”

I swallowed, the mirrored wall cold against my shoulder. Luna was one thing we couldn’t share. But I didn’t want us to fight, not now. “Well . . . he’s no good to either of us still alive, is he?”

A tiny smile turned Rajah’s lips. “Fair enough. First trap our soul?”

“And bicker about it later?”

“I’m game if you are.”

“Okay.”

“What did you have in mind?” He licked his shining fingers delicately, and I blushed when I remembered they were still wet from being inside me.

“I’ve got this.” I fumbled in my bag for the fairy’s sparkling drug. “Confidence. He’s not afraid of me. We can use that.”

“It might take both of us to break his defenses. I don’t see him letting us get him alone.”

“Both of us? Not a chance.” I thought hard, trying to ignore the ache still burning deep inside me, and an idea glimmered. “But he doesn’t have to see both of us, does he?”

Rajah grinned slowly, a hint of centuries-old malice lighting his eyes. “I like the way you think.”

My mind raced. “Give him the drug. Make him think I want him. Get him alone . . .” Fear pricked my skin with icy needles. I never wanted to be alone with Luna again. The way he’d scattered my rapture into thin air scared me. I’d never realized I relied so much on my glamour for self-confidence. Was this how I’d felt as a mortal? Defenseless, weak, helpless? I bit my lip. Damn it.

“Only you won’t be alone. I won’t let him hurt you, Jade.”

I closed my eyes briefly, shuddering, letting my head fall back against the cool mirror. “I can’t. He’s too powerful. He’ll know—”

“No, he won’t. You’re good. One weak moment is all it takes and he’s ours.” Rajah gripped my hand, sliding his damp fingers between mine. “Then one orgasm, he’s dead, it’s over. Improvise. You’ll be fine. I’ll talk you through it.”

“How? If you make a sound, he’ll know you’re there.”

Trust me.

His voice resonated in my head, caressing me like a warm feather. His lips hadn’t moved. I stared. “How did you—?”

He smiled, cheeky.
It’s magic. How else? Another of the few things he couldn’t steal from me.
He brushed my cheek with his knuckles, tender. “You ready?”

My sex was still slick from his caress, and I considered going to the toilet to clean up. But I might need that wetness later, to convince Luna my skin wasn’t creeping at the thought of him touching me. I tugged my damp underwear off over my heels and tossed it in the bin, and heaved in a breath. “Okay . . . oh. Wait a second.”

I popped the cork on the vial and leaned over to wipe my finger in the stained toilet bowl, wrinkling my nose at the metallic, acid stink. A drop of Dante’s blood quivered on my nail, still warm. I tapped my finger on the rim of the glass, and a single scarlet drop plinked in, dissolving in golden sparkles. I jammed the cork back in tight, pressed the flush button and wiped my stained finger on a paper towel as water gushed into the bowl, frothing away the stink. “A little persuasion. Just in case.”

Rajah watched me, grinning. “You have a real talent for this, you know.”

I grinned back in spite of myself. “Don’t be too happy about it. It’s my bottle his soul’s going in.”

His smile twisted. “We’ll see.” He blinked out like a popping lightbulb, his reflections vanishing.
Can you still hear me?

“Sure.” His disembodied voice unnerved me, but knowing he’d be there kept me warm inside. I slipped the blood-tainted vial back in my purse, straightened my shoulders, and walked out of the bathroom.

My heart leapt, blood throbbing hot in my veins.

15

D
ante smiled at me, leaning against the mirrored wall with his arms folded, his reflection copied in infinite corridors on either side.

I swallowed, flushing, wondering how much he’d heard. “Shit. You scared me.”

“I worried about you. Taking so long and all.” He straightened and reached for me, his hand warm and gentle but somehow unyielding in the bend of my arm. His blue eyes glowed bright and intense, dizzying.

I wanted to look away, to break his stare, but my gaze slid inexorably back to his. My wits thrashed, sluggish. Bastard. How had I not noticed this before?

“You look tired, sweetheart. Can I get you a drink?” His soft whisper shot straight to my skin, cold shivers rippling. My thrall bangles buzzed, distant but definite, my wrists itching.

Don’t, Jade. Remember.
Rajah’s voice slid into my head, gentle but insistent, the smell of his skin still warm in my nostrils.

“No.” My lips slurred, and I had to force the words out. “No thanks.”

Dante’s fingers slid delicately over the twin scarlet dents in my shoulder where Rajah had cleaned up the mess, and he slipped his fingertip into his mouth, tasting. “My, my. Defiance. It doesn’t taste good. Someone whispering poison in your ear, my sweet? Maybe you need another taste of my antidote.”

Darkness smeared the air, crashing Dante back against the mirror. Rajah materialized, his fingers squeezing Dante’s throat, muscles rippling and male bodies crushing together as Rajah forced him against the glass. “Take your filthy fingers off her.”

Dante hissed, pink spit flecking, and broke free, his movement a blur. Effortlessly he threw Rajah against the opposite mirror, glass creaking under the impact. He bared shining wet fangs an inch from Rajah’s face. “Careful where you piss, puppy dog. It might get you into a fight.”

“Go on, then.” Rajah gritted his teeth but didn’t back down, challenge ripe in his flashing eyes. “Do it, in front of everyone. I’ll die in a noisy mess they can’t possibly miss. You really want that?”

Mad relish swirled in Dante’s ultra-blue gaze. “You’d better be sure I give a shit.”

Apprehension wrenched my long-suffering guts once more, and I forced a laugh. “Steady on the hormones, guys. Not in front of a lady, huh?”

Rajah stared Dante down, raising a defiant eyebrow, sweat trickling down his perfect temple.

Dante shoved him aside, swallowing a snarl in an effort to keep his dignity. “I’ll not make demands on you, Jade. Do what you like. I only ever asked you for trust.” He turned his deep blue eyes on me, hurt and distant. “Only I care for you. Only I understand you. Come back to me when you’ve realized that.” And he was gone, air rushing in to fill the sudden space.