Taming the Darkness: Love & Monsters, Book 2 (8 page)

“Victor, let go.” She leaned up on her elbow so she could see his face. His eyes were squeezed tight. “Come for me.”

His breathing hitched and his eyes flew open. His cock pulsed in her hand as he came, his body making small little jerks. A long, deep groan escaped him and his eyes eased shut again. Then he stilled, and for a moment all the tension in him was gone. Claire took her hand from him and Victor grabbed her wrist, the sudden movement making her gasp. He rolled, coming face-to-face with her, and took her mouth in a kiss. He kissed her like he wanted to devour her, and it was all she could do to kiss him back. She tasted herself on his lips, his tongue. A hand brushed against her hip and across her thigh, and then Victor’s fingers were inside her again. She cried out against his mouth as he thrust his fingers, circling his thumb against her clit.

“Victor,” she said between gasps for air. “Victor…” She wanted to say that it was too much, but he took her mouth again. She couldn’t remember being kissed like that before, with so much need it was almost feral, and yet somehow there was tenderness in it too. He curled his fingers inside her and that was it. She broke the kiss so she could suck in a breath and held it as she bucked against Victor’s hand. He kept thrusting his fingers into her, prolonging her orgasm. Several seconds went by before she grabbed his wrist and forced him to pull his hand away. “Too much,” she gasped, struggling to regain her breath.

He nuzzled the side of her neck and started kissing her. He murmured something but her heart was pounding too loud for her to make it out. As her heart rate and breathing slowed, she realized what he was saying, over and over. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

She didn’t know what to say or do, other than to lift his face and kiss him.

Chapter Six

Alston hadn’t been happy about the smashed AV, but they were able to recover it and determined they could repair it. It took a bit of convincing, but he agreed Victor and Claire could take out another one tonight, they just couldn’t go out as far and they
had
to bring this one back in working condition.

While Victor ate breakfast, Berkstrom caught him up on the gossip. The brass had been getting an earful about the other alts and how slow their progress was. Some of their partners still weren’t willing to be in the same room with them, and one that had dared had gotten his arm ripped open. He’d recover, but the partnership was over. Victor and Claire were the only ones that had gone out, and it wasn’t enough to convince the brass that alts were useful. Doctor Lathell and the rest of his faction kept insisting the alts were too dangerous and it might not be long before the brass agreed.

“They’re sending Patterson and his partner out tonight, to prove you aren’t a fluke,” Berkstom said.

“Well, he hasn’t killed anybody, so he’s got one up on me.” Victor gulped down another mouthful of bacon. Over the smell of his breakfast and despite taking a shower when he got back, Victor still smelled Claire all over him. Just like he wanted, he’d woken with the smell of her on his skin. He kept thinking about that morning, replaying it over and over. It was so unbelievable he could almost convince himself it was a dream. Only two nights before he’d been worried she might never touch him again, and then she’d done more than touch him. Much more.

Before he’d been altered, what they’d done in the back of the AV would have been no more than a pleasant interlude. Back when he was human, a woman’s touch was something nice to enjoy when he was off duty or off shift, and for a few months he’d had a steady girlfriend. But Claire’s touch had meant so much more. The trust she’d shown him was more trust than he had in himself. She should have been afraid and disgusted, but she’d treated him like a man.

It terrified him because it meant he had something to lose.

Night approached, and for once he didn’t dread it. Yes, it meant that the monster would be in control, but it also meant he would see Claire again. Both sides of him wanted that, and as the sun crept closer to the horizon, he started pacing his cell. A knock on the outer door made his head snap up. His nostrils flared and he caught a faint scent of Claire. Berkstrom opened the door and she stepped in. The sight of her made him feel lighter and warmer and he smiled. “Come to see the other side?” he asked. Twice now she’d seen the change that came over him at sunrise, but she hadn’t seen those moments when the monster took control.

“Yes, up close.” She reached for the inner door.

His smile fell. “You can’t come in here, not when it happens.” Panic rose up and he backed toward the far wall.

“You’re not going to hurt me.” She walked into the cell and he couldn’t smell a weapon on her, not even a knife.

“You don’t know that.
I
don’t know that. When the monster takes over, it’s bad, Claire. You gotta get out.” Only a few minutes left, it was stirring inside him as the sun slipped low.

“I trust you.” She closed the door behind her and stood next to the chair she’d sat in that first day.

Victor growled as he bumped up against the wall. “Trust is gonna get you killed.” His heart pounded. Yes, she’d been next to him as he fought, the thing inside him calling out for blood. But in those first few minutes after full dark, he was
gone
as the monster rushed to the surface.

A hint of fear leaked into her scent. “You won’t kill me.”

“I won’t want to, but it won’t be me. There’s a nasty inside me, Claire. You can never forget that.” He never did. “This morning was a mistake. You treated me like I was human, and I’m not. I’m
not
.”

She clenched her jaw. “You’re more human than you think. You’re
stronger
than you think.”

So close now. Victor rushed across the room and grabbed Claire. He’d get her out of there even if he had to throw her out of the room. “Open the door,” he yelled at Berkstrom. The door didn’t open from the inside even when it was unlocked, as a security measure.

Berkstrom reached for the handle. “Don’t you touch it!” Claire turned, struggling in Victor’s arms. “I’m staying in here.”

“You’re
leaving.
Open the fucking door, Berkstrom.” He wasn’t going to let her die because of stubbornness. The thought of losing her was bad enough, but to know he was the one to do it would break him far more than being altered had.

“I’m going to watch you.” She glared at him.

“You can watch from outside.”

Sharp pain flared in his knee as Claire kicked him. His hold slipped just enough and she ducked out of his arms, backing away as quickly as she could. “I’m staying,” she repeated.

He was slipping, and the anger wasn’t helping at all. “What the fuck are you trying to prove?”

“That you’ve got more control than you think you do.”

“And you’ll risk your life to prove it?”

She nodded.

Above them, the light kept slipping away. “I can’t lose you, Claire.”

“You won’t.” Her fear increased, but she stood there like an immovable rock. Smart enough to be afraid, but too stubborn to get out.

“Oh, Claire.” Full dark rolled through him, and the monster burst to the surface. He closed his eyes against the rush and for a moment he forgot everything but how good it felt. Victor opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Claire watching him. He drew in a deep breath, inhaling her scent. Never could get enough of that scent, wanted to smell it forever. Just a hint of his own scent still on her. Wanted to mark her again, wanted everyone and everything to know she was his. He closed the distance between them in a blink and pulled her into his arms.

Claire gasped and tried to pull away.

“Want you,” he rumbled, bending to rub his nose in her hair.

Much of the tension went out of her. “Not here.”

He lifted his head. “Things to kill. Out there.” He looked at the ceiling, the night calling to him. The chase and the fight and the kill calling to him.

“Yes. So let’s go.” Claire moved to get out of his arms and he let her go. She went for the door and he appreciated the view, licking his lips. First fighting, then fucking.

“Good plan,” he muttered to himself.

“Let us out,” Claire said to Berkstrom.

Berkstrom shook his head. “No way. I’m not letting him out of there for at least fifteen minutes. He needs to calm down after nightfall.”

Claire turned to Victor and studied him, then turned back to Berkstrom. “Looks calm enough to me.”

Berkstrom shook his head again. “Fifteen minutes. I can get the major to confirm it if you want me to.”

Claire sighed. “No, I understand.”

Victor rushed past her and slammed his fist against the glass. “Out!” He could almost feel them out there, nasties roaming through his territory.

“Victor, calm down.”

He turned and growled. “Need to get out.”

“I know, but we can wait fifteen minutes.” The fear in her scent was almost gone, the ghost of it lingering in the room.

Victor growled again and paced. Claire watched him, and he watched her. It got easier to think, to hold more than one or two thoughts in his head at the same time. With an effort, he stopped pacing and sat on the edge of his bed. “How much longer?”

“A few minutes,” Berkstrom told him through the intercom.

Claire sat next to him. “So you didn’t eat me.”

“You’re fucking crazy.”

“I’m also right.” Her smile made him want to take her right there. He pulled her into a rough kiss and it took all his restraint not to go farther. A faint scent of desire rose off her, making it even harder to pull away, but he did.

She looked up at him with her cheeks flushed. “Careful. We don’t want to give Berkstrom a show.”

The image that flashed through his mind was very appealing. “He can watch.”

“Down, boy.” She put a hand on his chest. “We have a job to do first.”

He looked up, thinking of all the nasties out there. “Yeah. Fighting first.”

By the time they drove through the gate in the third wall, Victor was more focused. Claire knew getting into the cell with him for nightfall had been crazy, but over the last few days she’d seen that how much control Victor thought he had and how much he actually had were two different things. At least when she was around. It might be different with anyone else, but with her he wouldn’t get out of control.

“We’re not going out as far tonight.” She laughed as an odd thought occurred to her. “It’s like the three bears. Last night there were too many, the night before there weren’t enough. Maybe tonight it’ll be just right.”

Victor turned with a grin. “How many other fairy tales can we fit in? Little Red Riding Hood isn’t going to work. How about Beauty and the Beast?”

She looked at the dark street. “I think it’s little early to plan happily ever after.”

“How about just happily?”

She squeezed the steering wheel. “A few days ago you threatened to eat me.” She was reminding herself more than she was reminding him.

“Yesterday I gave you an orgasm.”

She glared at him.

He looked back, one eyebrow slightly raised. “What? It’s true.”

“Is that your way of saying things have changed?”

“Yeah,” he said with a little chuckle.

When they were about half as far as they’d gone the night before, she stopped the AV. She put on her goggles and checked her gun. “Let’s go kill something.” She exchanged a grin with Victor and both of them got out.

“Let’s try to stick as close to procedure as we can. Stay within fifty feet of the AV, get back inside if we want to chase something farther than that, all that kind of stuff.”

Victor shifted from foot to foot, his nostrils flaring. “How about you get back in and follow me if I chase something. I’ll be fine.”

“Like you were last night?” The image of him being clawed and flung through the air made her sick.

He glared at her. “If it’s that big, I’ll get back in. Happy?”

“No.” Following familiar rules would make her feel safer. “We stay within fifty feet of the AV.”

A soft growl vibrated in his throat. “If I see something out farther than that, I’ll get back in. But if I start chasing something, I’m not gonna stop.”

Claire considered it as she scanned the area. “Fair enough.” She’d pushed him more than enough for one night, and she understood there were limits to his control.

“Good. Mind if I get more comfortable?”

She turned back to him. “What do you mean?”

He tugged at his sweatshirt. “Clothes are annoying.”

She made a face. “You mean you want to get naked?” She had mixed feelings about the idea of him running around naked all night.

Victor smiled. “Nothing you haven’t seen before.” He stripped off the sweatshirt and tossed it on the street.

Claire rolled her eyes. “At least put your clothes in the AV.”

“Should I fold them all nice and neat?” He pulled off his pants and she tried not to stare. She
had
seen him before. Even in the green glow of night vision, looking at his naked body was more enjoyable than she’d expected.

Victor leaned over very deliberately to scoop up his clothes. “Getting ideas, aren’t you?”