Darker (Alexa O'Brien Huntress Book 6) - By Trina M. Lee
Chapter One
Sin and sacrilege. From fornication and bloodletting to death and obsessed addiction, those two words summed up the vampires’ world quite nicely. The Wicked Kiss was all of that and more. It was also the only place I felt comfortable with myself these days.
Blood dripped into my mouth, taking me away to a place where right and wrong ceased to exist. The scent of desire accompanied the steady pulse of arousal deliciously coating the atmosphere. I drank it in, savoring the heady sensation of spiraling headlong into euphoria.
“Bleed for me, my dear.” Arys’s throaty murmur was thick with yearning. He nuzzled the neck of the woman sprawled on the bed between us, driving her wild for him.
I lay back, holding her bleeding wrist above me so the scarlet nectar dripped from the vampire-inflicted wounds into my mouth. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Both Arys and I were doing the very thing we’d sworn never to do, feed from the willing victims at The Wicked Kiss. I wasn’t proud of myself. In fact, I’d be downright disgusted with my actions when I came down from the high.
If I’d been alone, I likely would have killed her. Arys kept me from doing something I’d hate myself for. As the dark power inside me grew, so did the hunger. I was still mortal, a werewolf with a twin flame connection to a vampire. However, the balance of our yin-yang bond was shifting.
Arys believed his darkness would consume me. Two witches had warned us of the dangers of our connection. One had gone so far as to show Arys a vision of our future: my death at his hand. There were too many possibilities and not enough concrete answers. All we could do was take it one day at a time. In the meantime, I needed to sate the bloodlust, preferably without adding to my death toll.
Our victim writhed in pleasure as we fed upon her. The club was constantly crawling with willing victims because they got as much as they gave. Arys easily stirred her longing. The right words whispered in a low, seductive tone or a carefully placed caress or two, and she was a swooning mess. Perhaps watching my lover so easily seduce another woman should have bothered me. Instead, I found it enticing.
Watching Arys in action was mesmerizing. It stirred my hunger to life as well as my libido. He wasn’t always like this though, a careful predator manipulating his prey into bliss. The things Arys did when he wasn’t with me were far more horrific. Screaming, begging and fighting, that’s what Arys loved in a victim. There lies the essence of our differences. He was a monster who loved every minute of his curse.
“Alexa, my love.” He beckoned me with a finger.
I dropped the woman’s wrist and sat up. At Arys’s command, I joined him near her head, watching as he sank fangs into her throat. Blood welled up from the wounds, spilling down her neck and chest. She moaned, clinging to Arys with a desperation that bordered on fearful.
He disentangled himself from her and turned to me with a devilish glint in his midnight blue eyes. Pulling me into his arms with a demanding aggression, he kissed me hungrily. Blood dripped from his mouth into mine, tangy and hot.
With a low growl, I slipped a hand up into his unruly thick black hair. A crimson drop escaped the corner of my mouth to slide down my chin and neck. Arys quickly captured it with his tongue, warm and moist against my sensitive flesh.
I quivered at the sharp sting of fangs scraping over my skin. I wanted him to take me right then and there. He would have gladly done it, too, but I wasn’t willing with a stranger present. Most certainly, I didn’t want someone watching who we were using as a food source.
“Arys, stop,” I gasped when he buried his face in my cleavage. “We can’t do this here.”
“Like hell we can’t.” Ignoring my protest, he sought to free me of the tight black top I wore.
I shoved his hands away. “I can’t do this with you. In this place. I feel dirty.”
Annoyed, I left the bed and stood awkwardly near the door. Glancing around the room, I felt suffocated by its close confines. The back rooms at The Wicked Kiss were private enough for those seeking a place for some dirty fun. However, they were no less sleazy than any cheap motel room.