Bound to the Fallen (Prophecy #2) (11 page)

Gavin

Slamming the door to my car, I took off jogging across the street
toward the entrance of the bricked building. I stopped in front of the door, my lips unable to harness the pull of a smile as I thought of what lie behind it. My pulse drummed in my chest knowing this demonic hunger was about to be fed.

I knocked loudly on
the weathered exterior, stepping back to wait. The sound of the lock unfastening sent another rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins. The door pulled open slowly and the familiar face of a woman greeted me, her blood red lips curling up into a devious smirk.

"Well, good evening
, Gavin. Pray tell, what brings you here this time of night? I wasn't expecting you so early."

The door swung open and she stepped aside
, allowing me into the entrance way. The familiar smell of incense filled the air, but unlike usual there was no music pulsating through the narrow corridor.

"I don't need an invitation, now do I
, love?"

"No
. I knew you would be coming." She locked the door and turned to go down the long hallway. "Lucky for you, I just so happen to have a
few
willing ones for you. They just came in tonight, so…" Her soft voice trailed off as she rounded the corner.

"I'll take what I can get. The way I feel
..." I failed to finish my thought.

"What's gotten you so riled up?"
she asked as she pressed her back against the cinder block wall and examined her long, pointed nails. "Wouldn't be a woman, now would it?" Her dark eyes shot up at me with a judgmental glare.

Narrowing my eyes
to slits, my gaze steadied on hers. I grabbed her chin tightly between my fingers and slowly curled my lips up. "Now, you know me better than that, don't you, Raven?"

She let out a small laugh. "I
’m sure that there's one woman that will do you in eventually." She yanked her chin away from my grasp and crossed her arms in front of her plump breasts that were pouring out from her satin bodice. "And, personally, I think it's going to be such a shame when that happens —" she paused again and cut her eyes back at me. "To watch the fallen fall even further." She quickly turned and motioned for me to follow her to the back room.

Raven opened the doo
r and my eyes greedily scanned over the chamber.

"Enjoy," she purred a
s she exited the room, the latch clicking behind her.

I studied
the faces of three women sitting on the dark gray couch. None were familiar to me and I could sense the fear and anticipation welling inside each of them.

One
of them sprinted to the corner of the room and my eyes darted over in her direction. I heard her release a fleeting gasp the moment my gaze met hers. The sound of her terror was so tempting I couldn’t keep myself from lunging toward her.

My hands
felt across her bare breast, and chill bumps mapped their way over her soft skin. I found the bumpy texture utterly delicious. I tenderly moved her blonde hair behind her ear and then allowed my fingers to caress along the side of her neck. "What's wrong? Did you not volunteer yourself for this?" I whispered as my fingers wandered down her sides and across her naval.

"I did." Her tone was filled with curiosity and fear.

"Then why are you so afraid?" I ran my hands back up her stomach and between her breasts. Her eyes were closed and tears threatened to seep from her thick lash line. My fingers curled around her chin and I pulled her face toward mine.

"Look at me." I demanded
, pushing up on her chin.

H
er eyes opened and I watched her pupils dilate, shrinking the soft brown coloring of her irises.

"There's no need to be afraid. It won't hurt." I paused, allowing a seductive smile to mold across my lips. "It'll just feel a bit
– peculiar, so I’ve been told. You wanted to be part of this darkness, it was your decision to come here.”

I pressed my lips against her neck. The warmth of her skin
sent a torrent of heat across my body. My mouth made its way across her neck to her jaw, and finally to her trembling mouth. When I bit down on her lower lip she released a slight whimper.

B
acking away from her, I said, "You're not going to try and fight this, are you? I
would
like that, if you tried to fight back — it makes it more enjoyable for me." My mouth found the perfect spot on her neck, my lips brushed against it as my tongue traveled over her flesh, sucking gently.

H
er body relaxed and one of her hands wandered up my side. She couldn’t help but give into it. Raking my teeth across her skin, I pulled a small amount of flesh between them. Her muscles tensed up again from the expectations she had of what was to come.

My
hands skirted up to the base of her neck and my teeth clamped down on her skin, her breath catching in the most delightful of ways. I brought her skin into my mouth, moaning and sucking furiously while my hands pulled and tugged at her hair.

The woman’s hands flailed and pushed at my shoulders
, trying to force me off of her. I finally drew away and gave a passing look to her. One of her hands flew up to her neck, wiping the wetness from her skin. Her eyes were tightly shut when she pulled her hand away, tears carving small rivers down her cheeks. She hesitated to open them, only peeking through the tiny slits between her fingers. Her eyes enlarged, her lips quivered, and her shocked stare found me.

"What is it?" I asked. "Oh
— I see. You expected there to be blood, aye?" I laughed and leaned against the wall. "I didn't draw blood, now did I — isn't that peculiar?"

I
shot my gaze back across to the other two women sitting on the couch. "Did the two of you expect me to draw blood as well?" They both sat motionless and silent on the couch, afraid to provide the wrong answer.

M
aking my way back to the blonde, I said, "It's not your blood
I
want, loves. That’s just a luxury with no substance to it. It's tainted and purely mortal — although it does have a nice taste to it.” I paused and rolled my lips underneath my teeth. “I want the piece of you that belongs to my race. Your soul. The only part of you that truly is immortal."

R
eaching up, I traced my fingertips across the woman's lips. I could see the absolute terror blanket her eyes. "You agreed to be a host — to feed us, what does it matter what part of you we feed from?" I placed my mouth on the full, smooth lips of the half-naked woman I had pinned up against the concrete wall. My lips barely touched hers and I held my mouth in place as I stared at her closed, quivering eyelids.

“Open your eyes,” I
hissed the words over her lips.

The woman reluctantly opened her eyes
. I rested my lips on hers as she stared into me, her body shaking.

“Very good
, love, very good.” My tongue traced inside her mouth. “Am I not everything you’ve wanted?” I asked, my hand feeling down her chest.

The tremble in her lips grew
.

“I asked you a question.”

“Yes.” She was barely able to whisper that single word.

P
ulling my lips up into a partial smile, I positioned my mouth against hers, prying her lips open with my tongue. The rough texture of her tongue brushed against mine and I groped at her body, pinching and fondling at all the right areas. My fingers found their way back up into her hair and massaged the back of her head. My tongue plunged deep inside her mouth and the warmth of her being seeped into my mouth; the pure taste of her crept through my veins, filling me in the most beautiful way. I kissed her more deeply, unrelenting as I drained her essence from her. My kiss was depraved and the pleasure of it caused her legs to buckle beneath her. She flung her arms over my shoulders and I felt her surrender to my powerful touch.

My fingers wandered through her hair, wadding
the tresses up into the balls of my fists. Her fingernails scratched across my back and clenched down as she pressed her body against mine. Lashing into her mouth, my tongue lapped up the sweetness of her soul as it fled from her body. I grabbed between her legs, palming her, and she moaned helplessly.

I
abruptly released my hold on her and she languidly slid down to the floor. She flattened her back against the wall and stared at me with a look of complete desire.

"It's lovely
, isn't it?" I asked as my fingers wiped the corners of my mouth.

"That was
…" she trailed off and fought to catch her breath. She was experiencing a weakness she’d never fathomed.

"The kiss of death
— not nearly as unappealing as it sounds, aye?” I tugged at the sleeve of my shirt as I made my way toward the door.

The woman
forced herself to her feet, her legs wobbling beneath her, and she made an attempt to come after me. Seizing the back of my shirt, she tried pulling me back. I stopped and turned to face her.

“I want more of
…” she panted, trying to catch her breath before continuing, “whatever that was. More of you. Don’t leave,” she begged.

I glanced over at the
other women on the couch; they both looked more than curious at the abrupt change in this woman who, moments ago, had tried to escape me and had been near tears at her decision to come here. They stared at her now pleading for me to stay, to take more from her.

My fingers pried the woman’s grip free
from the material and tossed it down to her side. The act of rejection caused tears to flood her slightly dulled eyes.

“It’s similar to a drug, isn’t it?” I asked as I nodded
. “Sins are pleasures. Very rarely do they inflict pain, which is what makes them so tempting, so addictive, such a weakness to your kind. If you’re not careful you won’t be able to separate yourself from it. You’ll forget who you were and your need for this darkness will consume you, it will course through your veins with a vengeance and hold you captive.”

I stood still, my eyes focused on the back wall as I remembered how I’d come to be a captive of my own sins. “Understood?”
I asked in a low voice. She shook her head, her eyes growing glassy. “Well, you will soon enough.”

L
oud music rushed into the room from the outside corridor when I opened the door. The percussions radiated through my chest as I pulled the door closed behind me. Through the dimly lit hall I could see people heading to the open floor of the club, many of them completely unaware of the room I’d just come from.

Just as I placed my hand on the deadbolt of the front door I felt a tap from a firm, slender object on my shoulder. “You’re not going to stay?” Raven
asked.

“No.” I turned
toward her. “Not interested in it tonight.”

She tapped the end of
the riding crop in her gloved hands. “There’s gonna be a lot of disappointed ladies tonight. You know you’re the reason half of them come here. The allure you have to these women—” Raven rolled her eyes and huffed. “I just don’t understand it, honestly.”

My
face relaxed and my lips tightened. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand it,” I said and slid the deadbolt to the side, pushing the door open and walking out into the humid night air.

The inner turmoil I’
d encountered since meeting Brooke was unreal. I lusted after her and I knew the only way to tame this immoral desire would be to have her. The way I wanted her made me restless and was damn near as strong as the urge I had to feed from mortals. I would just have to make certain to maintain control. I could
not
allow myself to become too involved with her. If I became entangled with a mortal not marked for me the consequences could be great. The way she haunted my mind; she made me exert a level of self-control I’d never had to before. I had to will the thoughts of her, of what I could do to her, out of my head more times than I liked to admit. It would require discipline and restraint in order to keep myself in check. In essence, because of who she was, she was much like the forbidden fruit. I’d been instructed to keep my teeth away from her, but the temptation I had for just a small taste was undeniable. The way I felt, I would have damned my soul all over again to feel her naked body underneath me.