Hunt the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #11)(49)

There was no doubt to mar this precious moment.

Only the joy of two people who belonged together.

Stroking through her dampness, he located her tiny bundle of pleasure, teasing her until she was at last pleading for release.

Then, angling her hips over his straining cock, he cupped her ass and with one smooth thrust he entered her.

She gave a soft cry of pleasure and he caught her lower lip between his teeth, careful to keep his fangs from grazing her fragile flesh.

It was true that they couldn’t know what would or wouldn’t make their mating permanent. But the one certain means for a vampire was the exchange of blood.

He couldn’t risk accidentally taking her blood in the heat of the moment.

Not until Sally had the opportunity to decide what she wanted from her future.

Arching his hips off the bed, Roke drove himself even deeper, the intensity of the sensations almost overwhelming.

“Roke,” Sally groaned, her tongue dipping between his fangs to tangle with his.

His fingers dug into the softness of her backside. “Am I going too fast?”

“It’s perfect,” she moaned. “So perfect.”

“Do you feel me deep inside you?” he demanded.

“I feel you . . . everywhere.” She pulled back, her eyes dark with astonishment. “I feel everything you feel.”

“Because we’re mated.” He threaded his fingers through her hair, stroking in and out of her in a swift rhythm. “We’ve become one. Heart and soul.”

“Roke.”

She dipped her head downward, claiming his lips as Roke quickened his thrusts, his entire body surging toward a sense of completion that he never dreamed possible.

Chapter Twelve

There were few people or demons who were more familiar with the complex spiderweb of tunnels where the Oracles were staying than Styx.

Before his mating to Darcy, he’d lived in them for several decades along with the previous Anasso.

Which meant that he knew every secret passage and hidden nook.

A knowledge he put to quick use less than an hour after he and Viper had arrived.

Once they’d formally lodged their petition with a dour-faced Sota demon and been shown to their bleak caverns where they were supposed to wait for an opportunity to have their dispute heard by the Oracles, Styx had led them from the public chambers to the dank tunnels beneath.

Stepping through the illusion of a seemingly solid stone wall, Styx pulled his large sword free of the sheath strapped to his back.

“Bring back old memories?” Viper demanded, ridiculously wearing black chinos and a white ruffled shirt with a brocade vest. His silver hair was braided, emphasizing the beauty of his elegant face, and the sword he carried looked like it should belong to a fencer, not a warrior.

But only an idiot would believe that Viper wouldn’t have his heart carved out with a flick of his wrist.

Styx, on the other hand, didn’t bother with subtlety.

Leather, shitkickers, and plenty of snarly attitude.

Simple.

“Not so old,” he said, leaping over a large boulder that blocked their path. “Although it does seem like another lifetime.”

Viper easily kept pace. “Who would have thought just a year later we’d both be mated and saviors of the world?”

Styx snorted. “Be careful, Levet takes full credit for being savior of the world.”

“He would,” Viper said dryly.

Styx kept his attention on the widening tunnel, well aware there were cracks in the uneven walls where an enemy could hide.

He wasn’t about to walk into an ambush.

“I’ll gladly allow him to have the glory if it keeps him out of my hair.”

Viper gave a short laugh. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

“Miracles happen.”

“True,” Viper drawled. “You found a mate who hasn’t stabbed you with a stake.”

“Yet,” Styx pointed out, an indulgent smile curving his lips.

He wanted this business done so he could return to Darcy. The faster the better.

They turned down another tunnel that ended in the appearance of a dead end. This time, however, when they stepped through the illusion there was an unmistakable scent of decay.

“Viper,” he growled, coming to a sharp halt.

His companion moved to stand beside him. “I smell it.”

Styx wrinkled his nose. “Fairy.”

“Dead fairy.”

Styx nodded toward the nearby entrance to a small cavern. “Ready?”

Viper shrugged. “Always.”

Together they entered the cavern, discovering the fairy lying in the center of the smooth floor.

Without a sound Viper was sprinting toward the far end of the cavern, searching behind the nooks and crannies that could hide the killer.

Styx knelt beside the body, reaching out his fingers to touch the dead man’s throat as he made a physical inventory.

Outwardly the fairy appeared unharmed. His long red hair was untangled, his pale skin unmarred, his lean body in one piece, and there wasn’t so much as a drop of blood on the traditional robes that were given to most petitioners.

Rising to his feet, he watched Viper return.

“Anything?” he demanded.

The younger vampire gave a shake of his head. “No, whoever did this is long gone.”