Darkness Everlasting (Guardians of Eternity #3)(18)

Feeling oddly bemused, Darcy watched as he nibbled along the length of her thumb.

She gave a choked sound as her entire body shuddered in reaction. Oh, boy. That felt good. Very good.

"Styx," she breathed.

"Where is the gargoyle?" he demanded, his black eyes shimmering with a dangerous glow.

"He ... he said he was going hunting."

"Good."

Without warning, he gave her arm a jerk. Darcy gasped as she found herself tumbling into his lap with his arms wrapping tightly about her.

"What are you doing?"

He gave a soft chuckle as he bent down to press his lips to the curve of her neck.

"It's been a long time, but I can't imagine that I have forgotten that much," he whispered against her skin.

Her free hand gripped the soft cashmere of his sweater as his tongue traced a wet line to the base of her throat. A heat was beginning to pool in the pit of her stomach. She vaguely recalled the sensation as that of raw, glorious lust.

It had been a long time for her as well.

Still, she didn't know enough about vampire sex, or this vampire in particular, to completely relax.

"Are you going to bite me?" Darcy whispered.

She could feel the shudder that rippled through his body. As if the thought of biting her was a potent one.

"Do you want me to?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Quite the contrary." He teasingly scraped the tips of his fangs over her skin. "A vampire's bite brings nothing but pleasure. We are forced to be very careful to ensure our companion does not become addicted."

Her breath caught in her throat as he nuzzled lower, tugging at the loose T-shirt so he could trace the line of her collarbone with his lips.

"Companion or prey?" she demanded.

Styx shifted her on his lap to allow one long-fingered hand to stroke over the bare skin of her thigh. "Sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes both."

Darcy had to swallow twice before she could speak. The heat in her stomach was spreading through her body at an alarming rate.

Not a bad thing, but it was making it increasingly difficult to think.

"And which am I?"

He pulled back to study her with pitch-black eyes. "Which do you want to be?"

She licked her lips as his hand moved toward the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. "I think I'm a hostage. One you intend to hand over to a pack of werewolves."

"Nothing has been decided yet."

She grimaced. "Well that's reassuring."

"Would you prefer that I lie to you?"

Darcy didn't know how she would have responded to the blunt question, and in the end it didn't matter.

Lowering his head, Styx captured her lips in a demanding kiss. At the same time, his clever fingers found the edge of her tiny underwear and slipped beneath.

Her hips gave a jerk upward as he parted her to discover the slick dampness within.

"God," she breathed in shock.

"Do you like that?" he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered closed as he pressed deep, his thumb easily discovering that magic spot of pleasure.

"Yes."

He groaned softly. "I can feel the beat of your heart. Taste it on my lips."

Darcy struggled to think. Struggled not to be swept beneath the dark, blissful tide.

It was all happening way too fast, but she couldn't seem to muster the will to stop the delicious onslaught.

Her hands slid beneath the soft sweater to at last discover if his skin was as smooth and perfect as she had imagined.

It was.

Like the finest of silk and it was cool as marble to the touch. She sighed softly as she explored the hard muscles that rippled beneath her fingers.

His groan came out as a low hiss, and with a sharp impatience he managed to jerk the T-shirt over her head and slip off her lacy bra.

"Angel." His mouth skimmed the curve of her small breast before tugging her hardened nipple between his lips.

Darcy's toes were curling as he gently tugged at her nipple while his finger stroked between her legs with a swift, heart-stopping pace.

Her hands slid along his rib cage to his broad back. She could spend hours just touching him, she realized. There was no fear that she might unwittingly hurt him, or reveal parts of herself that she had always kept hidden.

For the first time in her entire life, she was free of the restraints that had always bound her.

Glorying in the delicious sense of liberty, she arched her hips upward as the pleasure began to build to a point of no return.

"I need you. I need to taste you." Styx lifted his head, his dark eyes filled with a yearning that made Darcy's heart squeeze in the oddest manner. "Will you allow me?"

She shivered at his expression of stark hunger. There was something terribly thrilling in being desired with such force.

Even if it was for her blood.

Her fingernails dug into his back as that shimmering, glorious peak hovered just beyond reach.

At the moment she would have agreed to anything he demanded.

Anything.

"Yes," she whispered.

With a growl that would have terrified her if she weren't caught in the throes of passion, his head slowly lowered to the slender length of her neck.

Despite her excitement Darcy found herself tensing. There seemed no possible way for a pair of fangs to stab through the skin without pain.