Midnight Falls: Children of the Goddess, Book 4 Read online

  “Cursed One, huh? I bet you liked being called that.”

  “Midnight is better.”

  An older woman walked up to Wyley, smiling shyly at Hannah. “Jasyn Dydarren asked me to see to your comfort, Miss Hannah. We have a room for you to freshen up in, some clean clothes, and the men are putting together a late night barbeque with the trimmings to celebrate your arrival.”

  “I’ve missed American hospitality.” Hannah smiled at Liz and Wyley before following the chattering woman back the way she’d come. Liz shook her head. She missed having control. Over anything. Here, up seemed to be down, and black was white. Jasyn was Nicolette, and Liz was a sexual submissive to a cursed caveman. She missed Deva castle. And she really needed to find Midnight before she fell over. Maybe he could make her feel better.

  “Don’t let him bite you again.”

  “Regina?”

  “You’re sick, Liz. More than you know. Lux is coming. Wait for Lux.”

  Regina’s voice faded, the ringing in her ears blocking her out. Great Mother her head hurt.

  Wyley dipped his head to get her attention. “Dydarren mentioned something about more of you coming. Did I hear him right? Is one of them a real live giant?”

  Liz laughed, covering her discomfort with a smile. “You’re a real live werewolf. Why should a giant shock you?” He blushed and she laughed harder, utterly charmed. If he was an example of the other Weres around here, she might have a hard time disliking the furballs. “Don’t worry, Kit is a good guy. He and Jasyn are friends.”

  “Come to me, wildcat. Before I have to fight the pup as well as this giant you have fond feelings for.”

  She thought about resisting for a moment but she’d been longing to see him again. She hopped off the small garden fence she’d been sitting on, wobbled a bit, righting herself to head toward the outer doors of the compound. “Save me some of that barbeque. I’ll be back soon.”

  She walked slowly into the tree line, reaching out with her senses. “You know, it’s rude to stay out here when you’ve been invited inside.” She jumped when she heard a rustling behind her. Nothing was there.

  “I don’t belong inside. It’s safer for everyone this way.”

  “Of course you belong inside.” She thought about what it would be like for him. The curiosity of the children. The questions. And she thought she understood. How long had he been alone out here? A few hundred years at least. The Cursed One. She was surprised he hadn’t gone insane.

  “Your scent drives me insane. The taste of you. The feel of you coming around my cock. Your bite.”

  Liz stopped, unable to move as a rush of desire raced through her limbs. Goddess, her need for him was stronger than before. How was that possible?

  He’s your grathita. What I could never be, he is. Why are you fighting it?

  Large hands slid beneath her arms and pulled her up into the trees. Midnight. She was breathless by the time he set her down in front of him on a thick, sturdy branch. He caressed her cheek with his rough fingers. “The voice. It’s a memory.”

  “Yes.”

  “The memory makes you sad. Makes you regret.”

  “Sometimes.” Liz hastily brushed a tear away as it escaped down her cheek. “Sometimes it makes me face things I don’t want to.”

  He leaned his forehead against hers. “You’re sick. I should take you back. I wish I could…”

  She felt the pain this line of thought was causing him, and pressed her fingers to his lips. “Shh. Let’s do this your way. No thinking. No more talking.” She replaced her fingers with her lips, kissing him with all the pent up emotion inside her.

  “Make me forget.”

  “Mine, wildcat. You’re mine. That you must always remember.”

  She felt the cool breeze on her naked skin and smiled. Yes. This was what she needed. This would make her feel better. She wrapped her legs around his waist, lifting up until she was straddling his lap. Her damp sex pressed against his hardening shaft and she purred, loving the feel of him against her.

  His hands slid around her hips to grip her ass, squeezing, caressing. She lifted her mouth. “Aye. Take me there.”

  “I love it when you say that.”

  “Aye? I can’t concentrate when you’re touching me. Oh, do that again.”

  She rubbed herself against him, coating his cock in her arousal, and he growled, his cheeks flushing, eyes brilliant as they gazed into hers. He was trying letting her set the pace. In his own way, trying to give her back some of her lost control.

  And how she loved him for it. His hands tightened on her skin at the thought, but she shook her head, taking his mouth to distract him. No thinking. Only feeling. One of his hands left her hips, and she felt his fingers exploring her sex.

  He kissed her cheeks, her chin, her neck. His lips followed a path to her breast while his fingers filled her, fucking her. She arched into his mouth, his hands, lost to sensation. Only when she felt his extended fangs scrape across her nipple did she regain awareness long enough to push him away. “No biting this time.” A sound of disagreement rumbled in his chest, but she had to stay firm. Maybe she was using Regina’s warning as an excuse for not being able to face what would come after. She couldn’t handle sickness or Unity. Not right now. “No. Biting.”

  She could tell he was tempted to question her, but instead he lifted her off his lap and turned her until she was gripping the thick bark of the tree. She gasped at the scrape of the wood against her skin, and Midnight’s hands spreading her cheeks.

  One blunt finger, still damp with her juices, pushed through the tight muscles of her ass. “Great Mother, aye. Please.”

  “You want me to fuck you here? Fill your sweet ass with my cock?” He gripped her hips and dragged her closer. Liz shouted in pleasure as the wood scraped her sensitive nipples. The head of his cock replaced his finger. “Is this what you want, mArjara?”

  “Yes.”

  His carnal excitement fueled her own. She took a deep breath, trying to relax her muscles as his thick shaft stretched her inch by overwhelming inch. This is what she wanted. What she needed.

  She clawed at the bark, moaning at each slow, drawn out thrust. Her fangs extended, nicking her lip. She licked the blood and closed her eyes, yearning for his taste in her mouth.

  “Tight, wildcat. So good. Tell me what I want to hear.”

  “I’m yours. Harder, Midnight. Fuck me harder.”

  “Mine. Mine to fuck. Mine to bite.”

  “Yes. No. No biting.”

  The leaves around them quaked, fluttering to the forest floor below with the power of his thrusts. He wrapped an arm beneath her breasts and lifted her up to lean against his chest. The position pushed him deeper inside her.

  “Before I’m through you’ll beg me to bite you.”

  Chapter Five

  Heaven must be filled with scalding hot showers. After days of dirt and bugs and fresh air, Hannah had wondered if she’d ever feel clean again. She was not a nature girl. Never had been. The irony of falling in love with a Were, a species full of wilderness junkies, was not lost on her. But then, she hadn’t known what he was until it was too late.

  At least these Montana Weres had their priorities straight. And they were kind, not even a hint of superiority even though she knew they were aware of what she was. It felt like coming home. Though her home was a few thousand miles away. California.

  Growing up in Hollywood during the twenties, she’d thought she had it all figured out. The world was her playground. She would travel it alone and make a name for herself in Europe as a great artist.

  She had wanted to see everything, do everything. But first she had to get there. Her mother’s family was from a little town on a lake called Maggiore, so she had told her aunt that she wanted to learn about her roots. The elderly woman had doted on her, her last surviving relative other than Hannah’s younger brother, who she didn’t acknowledge because of his hard boozing, criminal ways. She’d given her enough to get there
and back, and made Hannah promise to write her a letter from the town of her grandparents’ birth.

  She’d only meant to stay a day. Mail the postcard and head for Rome. But the artist in her was lost from the moment she’d set foot in the tiny village. It was as though she’d walked into a painting. Everything was perfect. So it hadn’t surprised her when he appeared.

  Jasyn. She’d played the what if game a million times throughout the years. What if she hadn’t gone looking for him that night demanding he tell her why he refused to introduce her to his family? What if she hadn’t crashed that borrowed jalopy? What if she’d become his mate instead of an Unborn?

  But it had all happened, and he had changed from sensitive lover to cruel stranger. And now, now he was looking at her the way he used to, but he was holding something back. Still not telling her everything. Then again, she had her secrets too.

  Who knew such a small blood exchange could make this kind of difference? Alexei and the twins were so young, and their power was already unimaginable. She’d felt them with her, guiding her when she could no longer sense Liz on her own.

  When she’d seen the strange vampire apparently attacking Jasyn, the power had flowed not from her, but through her to put him to sleep. The chains too. It scared her, that she was doing these things. Especially since she couldn’t communicate with the children the way she had always been able to with Nicolette. All she had were vague feelings, or sudden knowledge, like the awareness that Kit and Lux were on their way to help, and that they’d been apprised of the current situation.

  Those kids were something else. She wished they’d tell her how to deal with her feelings for Jasyn. There’d hardly been time to talk with all the excitement, but that moment in the cave when he’d kissed her told her all she needed to know. She was still stuck on him.

  Nicolette would know what to do. There wasn’t a woman alive who knew more about men than she did. Of course, she’d had a lot of practice. But considering the current situation, a situation that had suddenly become a lot clearer during Jasyn’s fight with the Shadow Wolves, she wouldn’t be having that confidential girl talk anytime soon. She would just have to figure out how to get that pain in the ass Were alone, and maybe get another chance at that kiss.

  “Our hostess Amy didn’t want me to tell you, but people are beginning to wonder whether you’re a vampire or a mermaid. How long are you planning on staying in that shower anyway?”

  Hannah smiled, watching his blurred frame coming closer through the steamed up shower door. “As long as the hot water holds out. It’s wonderful in here. This may be the best shower in the history of indoor plumbing. And it’s so roomy.”

  Silence. Then she saw his hands reach for the buttons of his shirt. “Bold claim. I may have to test it. Just to be sure you’re not exaggerating.”

  Her stomach fluttered, skin heating from more than just the water temperature. This was exactly what she wanted. But she wanted it on her terms. “Slow down, Dydarren. I don’t think I extended an invitation. Yet.”

  “Yet?”

  “First, you’re going to answer a few of my questions. For every one you answer honestly, you can remove a piece of clothing. Deal?” She held her breath as he considered her offer. Please say yes.

  “Deal. But don’t take too long.” His voice was lower, gruff, and her thighs tightened in anticipation. She was just as impatient as he was, but there were a few things she had to know.

  “Why did you leave this time? What were you working on with Nicolette?”

  She peered through the steam, watching him unbuttoning his shirt as he answered. “That’s complicated. I didn’t want to leave. I was…in the middle of something back at home.” She knew what he meant. “But Arygon asked for my help. Not long after Nicolette arrived in England and was given permission to peruse the Clan Trust records, a history of rulings as well as the minutes of every meeting, she found anomalies.”

  “Anomalies?” Hannah swallowed. His shirt was gone. She could see the dark hair on his chest and her hands curled on the glass, aching to touch him.

  He nodded, leaning against the sink to remove his borrowed boots. “References to a fanatical group within the Trueblood community. A group who thought a lot like our old friend Sebastian Abaddon, who believed that the rules created by the Trust hindered the race. They’d reached their peak before the Great War between the Truebloods and Shadow, and apparently a few of the elders believed they might have had something to do with it. One or two even thought some of their own members were involved.”

  Trueblood elders involved in starting the war? She’d always thought that the Shadows forced the confrontation. She wiped the moisture off the shower door so she could see him more clearly. “Why did she need your help?”

  “I was a distraction mainly. A Were hanging around Haven and sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong was highly distracting for the Truebloods.” She heard the wry humor in his voice. “I also kept watch on Abaddon keep after she moved in there. She’d light a candle every night at a certain time, and I’d know everything was all right. She didn’t want Regina or the Mediator to know that she was worried. I guess she knew no one would suspect the two of us of working together.”

  “She trusted you.” He shrugged, his hands on the top button of his jeans. “What are you waiting for?”

  Jasyn smiled tightly. “Your next question. I’m following your rules, Sheba, but my patience is wearing thin. Is there anything else you want to know?”

  She slid the door open with a bang, the steam parting to reveal her naked and trembling body to his gaze. “Why didn’t you make love to me? I understand why you left after I’d changed. I know what happened between Nicolette and your family. I mean before. You touched me, kissed me, but you rejected me when I offered more. If you wanted me so much, why?”

  He swallowed hard, his gaze on her small, firm breasts, her pale skin. “I wanted you too much, Sheba. You have a better idea now of what mating means to my species. I knew from the moment I smelled your scent on the wind that you were mine. I’d been so angry, at everyone and everything, but you took it all away with a single smile.”

  She gripped the door until her knuckles went white, wanting to comfort him, wanting him to tell her everything. He unbuttoned his jeans. “I could have bitten you that first day, taken the choice out of your hands hoping the chemistry between us would be enough. But I wanted you to…”

  “Love you?” He nodded, his eyes closing in remembered anguish. “I was walking along the shore where we’d met, trying to work up the courage to tell you what I was, how I felt. I didn’t reach you in time. You would have died, but I was too angry to be thankful. Too much of an ass.”

  “You’re still an ass. I guess the only question left is, are you thankful now?”

  He came forward, not stopping until she was pressed against the far wall of the shower, the hairs on his chest tickling her sensitive nipples. “Oh, Sheba.” He wrapped her wet hair around his fist and tilted her head back. “Never doubt it.”

  Her body melted against his at the possession of his kiss. This was what she remembered, what she’d waited for. The man she’d fallen in love with. Her mouth opened to his tongue and his taste pulled a moan from deep in her chest. Too long. It had been too long.

  She rubbed his shoulders, his back, her leg lifting to tangle with his, desperate to feel more, to get closer. He lifted his mouth, his breath shallow. “Hannah, wait. You have to know before we go any further. Nicolette…she…”

  She hopped up, twining her legs around his waist so his erection was pressed against her sex. “I know for a fact she’s experienced a threesome before. Just tell her I can’t wait any longer, and kiss me.” She watched as what she said hit him. The awareness that she’d figured out what he wasn’t telling her, that she knew that he was sharing his consciousness with Nicolette because of the Shadow’s mark and she didn’t care.

  “Anything you say, Sheba.” He lowered his mouth to hers, growling wh
en she took his lower lip between her teeth and tugged, licking the wound with teasing flicks of her tongue. “Don’t tease me, honey. I need you too much.”

  She lowered one arm, wrapping her small fist around his cock. “No teasing,” she panted. “Not this time.” Her legs tightened around him, feeling his muscles tense and flex with that first, powerful thrust.

  “Fuck. Great Mother, Hannah, I knew…knew you’d feel this good around me. Holding me so tight, honey. So tight…”

  “Oh, Jasyn. Yes, harder. Fuck me harder. Make me take it. All of it. Yes.” She knew she was screaming, but she couldn’t think, couldn’t care. He was here. Finally. And reality was better than the nights she’d spent alone, touching herself, imagining his hands, his mouth on her body.

  He gripped the small window ledge above her and spread his feet, bracing himself as he slung his hips hard against her, jarring her body with every pounding thrust. And she loved it. Loved his lack of control, his wildness.

  He bent his head to suck one nipple, then the other, deep into his mouth. He pulled back and she could see his eyes changing, his canines lengthening. Her own fangs had extended from her gums. She craved his blood. She needed to be inside of him. To taste him. He shook his head, closing his eyes even as his hips increased their speed. She cried out and he bit his own lip, drawing blood. “I love hearing you call my name, Sheba. Love to hear your screams as I take you.”

  She licked the blood from his lip, moaning in delight at the addictive flavor. “Bite me, Jasyn. I’m so close. So close. Bite me and make me yours.”

  He slammed his hips so hard against hers the tile behind her cracked. So hard she couldn’t hold back her shout of pleasure. “You are mine, Hannah. Mate. You’ve always been mine.”

  He came with a roar and she followed him into oblivion, loving his passion, trying not to feel rejected by his refusal to bite her. He kissed her forehead, leaning his own against the tiled shower wall. “When I bite you, there will be no going back. And I want to be the only one in my head when my heart joins with yours.”