An Unwanted Hunger (5 page)

His chest pressed against her, pinning her more firmly to the wall. Resa knew what was coming and welcomed it. The fight had stirred her blood to damn near boiling point.

Constantine’s hand moved down to pry her hand away from his erection. Winding both hands with hers, he spread her arms out wide, holding them locked against the wall.

Resa’s legs tightened around his waist, her sex grinding against the length of that glorious hard shaft pressing against her.

His mouth closed on hers again in a kiss that was as savage as it was passionate.

“In me,” she moaned against his mouth. “Get in me.”

He freed one hand to guide himself to her wet opening. One hard push and he was fully seated inside her. Resa gasped at the size of him but even that moment of pain couldn’t stop her from rocking her pelvis against him.

Constantine growled and pounded against her, in and out, fast and hard, reclaiming his grip on her hand to keep her pinned against the wall. Resa burned for all he could give and that burn only got hotter and more intense. And with the increasing heat came more speed.

The groan that rumbled up from deep in his chest had her banging her head back against the wall, her hands tensing into claws that longed to rake the length of his back.

“Oh fuck,” she panted as the first wave began to crest. “Oh!”

His voice was like sandpaper, hot and raspy. “Say it. Say my name. Tell me how much you want me.”

“I—want—it!” As much as she longed to comply, she could not bring herself to cry his name. It was more surrender than she could muster. “Oh now. Now, now, now!”

A cry of protest was ripped from her when he suddenly stopped and his grip on her released. “Noooo!”

He gave her a smile sexy enough to spike her blood pressure and pinned her hard against the wall again. She tilted her pelvis against him, the rocking motion providing an erotic scrape of the thick hair at the base of his shaft against her clit.

She wound her arms around his neck, fisting his hair to pull him to her. The moment their lips met, he curled his spine, the motion tilting her higher against the wall so that his pelvis was firmly beneath her.

She moaned into his mouth as he rammed fully inside her. His muscular chest crushed against hers, plastering her against the wall in near breath-stopping pressure, signaling that he had her just where he wanted her. And that was fine with her.

Resa wrapped her legs more firmly around his waist and rode him, meeting his thrusts eagerly. Her breath came shallow and quick as he pumped inside her. Every nerve in her body was tingling and her sex was about to burst into flames at the heat building inside her. The angle of entry and his generously endowed manhood had her stretched to the limit.

There was no way for her to stem her groans or stop the vibration in her belly from radiating out to take control of her body.

“Oh god…oh god…don’t…stop.”

Her gasped plea seemed to have the same effect as a red flag to a bull because he pounded so hard that her body slapped the wall in a rapid rhythm.

“Yes. Yes, yes, yes!” she screamed and reared her head back, pulling his head against her.

When she felt his mouth fasten on her neck, licking then sucking, she moaned, not caring what came next. Let him leave a hickey as dark as night for all she cared. Release was so close, orgasm pressing in ever nearer, making her oblivious to all but the sublime sensation.

Constantine growled, grabbed her ass in both hands, lifting and spreading her more, his stance widening to allow him to ram harder and faster inside her.

“Resa,” he whispered against her skin a moment before she felt a stab of pain in her neck. For a moment she wondered if he was going to leave a permanent bruise. Then the pain vanished, replaced with the most exquisite pleasure she’d ever known that spread through her body like a drug.

“Yes. Constantine, yes.” There was no more doubt, no question. She was his, being carried on a wave of pleasure, heedless to all else but the sensations he evoked. “More, more.”

Her gasps provoked him to push deeper and harder and she took it, welcomed it, exulted in it as it carried her ever closer to that precipice. And then she fell into that chasm where nothing else mattered, where everything else faded and exquisite pleasure reigned.

His body twitched and tightened. Sweat-slicked skin met in slaps, rapid and hard, her body slamming into the wall in a quick cadence. Breath came in harsh gasps. Resa’s fingers tightened into claws in his long hair as his fingers dug into the flesh of her ass.

A groan rumbled up from his chest as he climaxed. His mouth tightened on her neck, the pain intensifying into an unbelievable sensation of pleasure she’d never imagined.

She clung to him, sensing him with her in that endless vortex of pleasure. At length his tempo slowed, his strokes lengthening to take her slow and steady. Her sex clenched around him as the climax diminished. She drew in a long shuddering breath and another orgasm hit.

“Oh god…” Her hands moved to his shoulders, digging into the firm flesh. “Constant—”

His mouth drowned out the rest as he abandoned her neck and took her lips prisoner, searing her with a kiss that had her lips throbbing and burning in equal measure to the burn of her nether lips.

When at last the climax abated, he drew back, his eyes hooded and dark. She moved one hand up to trace the side of his face, feeling a swell of emotion when his eyes closed at her touch and he leaned into it, an expression of longing and tenderness on his face that had tears threatening her eyes.

Her thumb stroked down over his lips. And that’s when she noticed the stain. She lifted her hand to see better in the darkness. Her eyes widened and went from her hand to his eyes.

“Blood?” she whispered.

He did not respond and a heat rose in her that had nothing to do with lust. She grabbed his wrists and pried them from her as she unwound her legs and slid down the wall to a standing position. Her hand moved to her neck and withdrew.

She took one look, balled up her fist and slugged him in the jaw. “You fucking Vampyre! You bit me!”

Chapter Six

Journal Entry

As time passed, the societies on all three of our worlds reached a measure of stability. An uneasy treaty was formed between the three peoples. The Nurians controlled the flow of pyrithium, the Valians, the supply of oltuck and lirma, and the D’Harahn controlled all of the old knowledge—knowledge of machines and technology that was forgotten over time to the worlds of Nuria and Valia.

Being Pureblood, un-mutated V’Karian, the D’Harahn ruled the central government of the star system. Headed by the Emperor, the day-to-day governing was left much in the hands of the Tribunal, a body composed of twelve men. The Emperor and his heir claimed the first two chairs, followed by eight men of D’Harahn, the most powerful of the continent, each the ruler of a kinship or city, controlling some aspect of science or technology. Of the remaining two members, one came from Nuria and one from Valia, ambassadors with the power to speak for their people. This body was known as the J’Zhan. In time it became the most feared force in our star system. The Nurian and Valian people did not support the percentage of D’Harahn as opposed to Nurian and Valian, but could not voice too strident a complaint. For there was one other thing that the D’Harahn controlled—they controlled the most devastating weapons in our system.

For a time Shadallah was an opulent jewel. There the wealthy and powerful were pampered and indulged. They guarded their indulgences jealously. Only those Nurian and Valian who worked as slaves to the D’Harahn ever saw the grandeur of the great capital of Shadallah, the great coliseums and museums, the theaters and libraries and temples, gleaming like works of white marble art.

The Nurian people were the first to complain of the D’Harahn yoke. It was one of the most radical changes in the evolution of that race. From a passive, non-aggressive people, they evolved into a race of warriors. Those who ruled did so by fear and strength. They were the strongest, the most brutal. Nuria was ruled by a Praetor, who selected a Council from the most loyal and most lethal of the other families or regions. The Praetor recalled their ambassador from Shadallah, demanding that he voice strong demands in exchange for an uninterrupted flow of pyrithium. Nuria wanted what Shadallah had. The D’Harahn were withholding technology that would enable the Nurians to make great strides in conquering the harsh, arid climate of their continent.

The Valians were just as unhappy with the balance of power, but they were a non-aggressive people, preferring the bargaining table to the battlefield. They urged their ambassador to negotiate for the relaxation of export laws so that Valia could buy the necessary equipment, tools and technology from Shadallah. Valia was ruled by a Chieftain, the head of the oldest and largest kinship, with his son as second in power who presided over a cabinet of eleven elected representatives from all of Valia.

What neither the Nurian nor Valian people could have anticipated was how seduced by luxury their ambassadors would become. But the life of power and wealth was too seductive and the ambassadors switched loyalty from their own people to the J’Zhan.

Then, in the midst of the uproar over lack of representation came the realization—where were the children? How long had it been since a child was born on any of the worlds of V’Kar? For a time all energy was focused on the answer to that question. It was Azarth, Prime Minister of Science and Medicine, who verified what all feared. Not only had all the remaining worlds of V’Kar been stricken with a form of radiation sickness that was systematically decreasing the population, but V’Kar had lost its ability to reproduce. In the time that had passed, three generations should have been born.

The D’Harahn set all their energy to discovering a way to correct the problem. If they could find a way to cure the sickness caused by the cosmic radiation and also find a way to reproduce, then eventually V’Kar would be inhabited by the Pureblood again. In time all Nurian and Valian would die off and the system could be set to right again.

And so all communication stopped. The mood was ripe for revolution.

Constantine lay the pen aside and closed the journal. Occupying himself with a recount of the history of his people was not freeing his mind from what troubled him. Resa.

Nothing could stop her from leaving when she discovered he’d bitten her. Nothing could convince her that he had not lied, that Vampyres were nothing more than a label invented by man to try to explain his kind.

He’d almost admitted the truth to her. That he’d lost control and committed an act that was as deadly to him as to her. When he bit her, tasted her essence, he released something of himself into her. It was an act of binding, a ritual of mating as old as V’Kar, and something that stemmed from the most primitive parts of his race.

That he’d committed such an act horrified him. She was a mutant, a half-breed that would never be accepted by the Royal Family. He could not take her as consort or wife for her blood was not pure. And yet, in his passion, in his need for her, he’d bound himself irrevocably to her.

Why then could he not sense her?

Constantine was unaccustomed to worry and certainly had never fretted over a woman. The fact that his people had been unable to locate her for the last three days and he could not sense her filled him with a sensation he’d never before experienced. Anxiety. He did not like it. Didn’t like the gnawing in his gut, or not being able to sleep or food lacking taste.

Was this what it meant to bind yourself to someone? That you could not find peace if you were unsure of their safety and well-being? That concern for them overcame all else?

If so, then he sorely regretted his rash action, committed in the heat of passion.

“Madron!” he shouted as he bounded up from his chair. “Madron!”

His Consul appeared at the door. “Sire?”

“Is there word?”

“No, Sire. She has not been located.”

With a snarl, Constantine snatched up his jacket and stalked from the room. He would find her himself.

* * * * *

Resa walked out onto the pier overlooking Tampa Bay. She’d stayed in the rental house in Tierra Verde before, always paying cash and registering under the name of Sandy Myers, the name of a young woman who’d been killed by the Vampyre a few years ago. They were alike enough in appearance that Resa could get away with using her identity and had even kept Sandy’s credit cards active.

At the moment she was glad she had. As suspected, the Alliance had effectively erased Resa Vânător. Had it not been for the bank account in Sandy’s name and her credit cards, Resa would have been in a real fix. She knew the funds would deplete quickly, but right now her financial standing was at the bottom of her list of concerns.

At the top was Constantine, and what he’d done to her when he bit her. She had no physical ill effects. She was not weakened by it physically. Emotionally, it was another matter. She could feel him. Every moment. It was as if he’d put something of himself inside her, making every cell in her body tuned to him.

And it was driving her mad. She could feel him seeking her and it was taking every ounce of mental strength she possessed to keep a barrier raised against his questing mind. She was afraid to sleep, to let her guard down. She couldn’t afford for him to find her. Not until she’d come to terms with what had happened.

“You never mentioned this,” she whispered to herself, thinking of Pandora.

“You never asked,” came a reply from behind her.

Resa whirled to find Pandora smiling at her. “This is lovely,” Pandora said as she stepped up beside Resa. “Quiet. Peaceful.”

“He bit me,” Resa said in a flat tone, fixing her eyes on the water again. When Pandora didn’t respond, she turned toward her. “Did you hear me?”

“Yes.” Pandora didn’t turn her eyes from the water and sky.

“He fucking bit me!”

“Yes.”

“And now he’s…he’s inside me. I can feel him and I know if I let my guard down for a minute—”

“Yes, he will find you.”

“In other words I’m totally fucked.”

Pandora finally looked at her. “In your vernacular, he is just as fucked.”

Her answer surprised Resa. “Excuse me?”

“Had you stayed you would have discovered the answer for yourself. What happened between you and Constantine is unprecedented.”

“Unprecedented?”

Pandora smiled slightly. “You were correct, in a manner of speaking, about him being inside you. While he may have taken from you, he also gave in return. What happened between you is as old as our people. It is an act of binding, of mating.”

Resa’s eyes widened and her heart gave a funny jolt in her chest. “What do you mean?” she whispered.

“Exactly what I said. Whether either of you asked for or wanted it, you are mated, irrevocably linked.”

Suddenly Resa wanted to sit down. “Then I really am fucked. Pandora, I can’t be mated to him. I’ve…I’ve killed so many of his people. They hate me. As much as the Alliance hates them, they hate me. If he really is some crown prince…”

“That he is,” Pandora said. “Heir to the Throne…unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless the Emperor dies while the crown prince is in exile, then succession will go to his younger brother.”

Resa frowned at the answer and rubbed her hands over her face, closing her eyes and pressing her fingertips over her tired eyes. “Just exactly why is he in exile anyway?”

A split second before she heard his voice, she felt him close by. “That is a long tale.” Constantine’s voice made her jump, her hands flying away from her face. She looked around for Pandora. There was no sign of her.

“Why’re you here?” She steeled herself, resisting the inclination to throw herself on him.

“Why did you run away?”

“You bit me!”

Constantine looked away briefly. “Resa, I vow to you upon my life that I had no intention of that happening. Believe me when I say to you that binding myself to you is by far the single most foolish act of my life.”

“Well thanks a fucking lot!” She stomped past him and headed for the house. Nothing like being told that you’re a horrible mistake in someone’s life. That you’re not good enough for them and they see what was probably the most significant night of your life as their supreme act of foolishness.

Humiliation was too painful to bear. Easy to let that unwanted emotion mutate into anger. Anger she could deal with. By the time she stomped into the house she was halfway to a full-blown case of rage.

Constantine followed and stuck his hand out to stop the door as she slammed it behind her.

“Go away,” she snarled and marched to the kitchen.

“Resa, we must talk.”

She whirled on him, eyes flashing and fists clenched at her sides, her body tight with tension. “I think you’ve said plenty, your Highness.” She felt the pang of shame that stabbed him and took small satisfaction in it, refusing to allow herself to weaken at the contrite expression on his face.

Constantine approached her slowly, his hands palm out to his sides. “I will not retract my words, Resa. Binding myself to you was rash and foolish. Politically. Once discovered it will erode my position, cost me support, and that could cost my people more than I care to consider.”

Resa leaned back against the counter, unwilling to bend even though she knew he spoke the truth. It was political suicide for him to be with her. They were enemies and none of either of their people would ever support such a union. Look what it’d cost her. She was an outcast, shunned and hunted by her people.

She couldn’t wish that for him and found herself amazed that she would feel that way. Until recently they were mortal enemies. No…now she couldn’t look at him without feeling that she was seeing the man who completed her.

It scared the living shit out of her. If she was smart, she’d do everything she could to drive him away. It wouldn’t save her skin, but it might save his.

“I see your point and completely understand.” She modulated her voice with power she’d learned to control long ago, projecting the image of what she wanted him to see and feel as she spoke. She had no idea if it would work on him, but it was worth a try.

“What happened was…well, it was just one of those things. There’s some kind of chemistry between us and we let it take control and it was a mistake. So for all our sakes, Constantine, just turn around and leave. Forget about me and what happened. I’ll find a way to disappear, go somewhere neither your people nor the Alliance can find me.”

“No!” He’d traversed the distance between them and had his arms wrapped around her before she could move. “Resa, no,” he said more softly. “That is not the answer. Not for either of us.”

“Yes it is,” she argued, trying to staunch the painful swell of emotion that threatened her shaky control.

“No.” His hands moved up to cup her face. “I need you.”

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Please, don’t make this harder than it has to be. I’m a liability to you, Constantine. A danger. You have to walk away.”

“You’re wrong.” He followed when she pulled away and hurried from the room.

She went outside onto the deck, staring out across the bay. Constantine came up behind her and turned her to face him. “Listen to me. Setting aside all emotion, I say to you in complete honesty that you are of great value to me and all my kind. Think, Resa. Inside you are secrets of the Alliance, information that can be used to destroy them.”

“You think too highly of me,” she argued. “Bram never let me get close enough to the ruling Council for me to know their plans or strategies. I’m a foot-soldier. Just another weapon in their arsenal.”

Constantine opened his mouth as if to respond then closed it and tilted his head back slightly. His eyes closed briefly then abruptly he opened his eyes and leveled them on her.

“There are things you don’t know about yourself, Vânător.”

Resa stiffened at his choice of words and something sharp and fearful slid down her spine. “Like what?”

“Like who your parents really were and what you really are,” Pandora’s voice came from the doorway, making Resa jump. Even Constantine started and pivoted to face Pandora.