Darkness Falls (37 page)

“Thank you, Malorie,” he said in a rough rasp as he gathered up his new family.

Chapter 14

The moment they made it into their bedroom, Feryn grabbed Malorie’s arm as she walked past him and he spun her around until the front of her body was intimately pressed against the front of his. She opened her mouth to say something but his mouth was there and his tongue was in the way as it pushed past her lips. He turned them until her back was against the wall and he was against her. His hands burrowed into her hair as his kiss became more and more passionate, more and more desperate. She could only hold onto his waist as he devoured her where she stood.

Holding her in place with only his lips, he started tugging at her clothes, tearing and pulling them from her body in his haste to have her. The moment she realized his intent, her fingers flew over his shirt, unbuttoning it and pushing it from his hard body, exposing his luscious flesh to her wandering fingers.

“I need you,” he rumbled, pushing her pants down her legs and grabbing her around her thighs. She squealed as he heaved her over his shoulder and stalked over to the bed. As if she weighed nothing, he tossed her onto the bed and towered over her, his erection straining towards her. “I don’t want you to go through that.”

She would have laughed if she wasn’t desperate to feel the slide of his heavy erection. In a breathless voice, she panted, “It’s a little late.”

Crawling onto the bed, he covered her body with his, the heat penetrating the layers of doubt and confusion that had been plaguing her for months. All that existed was Feryn. His fingers tunneled through her hair until he was framing her face, holding her gaze steady. He captured her lips as his erection probed the opening of her sex, stealing her moan as he thrust into her.

Tearing his lips from hers, he glared at her, “I’ll take all of the pain, Malorie,” he vowed vehemently, his green eyes fierce with determination. “I’ll take the pain for every child we have.”

Rubbing her cheek against his palm, she met his glare with passion-glazed eyes, “We’ll see how you feel after this one is born.”

“
All
of the pain,” he vowed feverishly.

“Do you really want to discuss this now?” she managed, her body trembling with its need to come. After so many weeks without this, without
Feryn
, she needed release, preferably with less talking. Reaching behind his head, she curled her fingers into the thick strands of his hair and twisted as she pulled him closer. With her lips against his mouth, she breathed, “Kiss me.”

A low growl came from the back of his throat as the fingers of his right hand curled into her hair and the fingers of his left hand moved down her body and curled into her hip. His tongue claimed her mouth, filling her with the dark, powerful taste of him, making her body weep with desire. With bruising force, he made love to her, ravaging her with every punishing stroke of his body.

Jerking her hair until her scalp stung, he pulled his face away from hers and looked down at her with burning green eyes. Without a word, he slowed his movement and claimed her anew. In weighted silence, he grabbed her thigh, opening her up even more, and pushed further into her willing body. Thrusting slowly, deeply, he growled, “You’re mine.”

“Yes,” she purred, wrapping her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and kissing him with all of the fierce love and tender passion in her soul. Her body arched upwards with each powerful possessive thrust, his body spreading her further and further apart as he tried to bury himself in her soul. Her thighs burned, on the knife’s edge of pain, and she loved every moment.

Bending his head, he ran his tongue along her neck before he latched onto the tender fleshed and sucked without biting. She could feel the sensation of being marked in her toes and she never wanted it to end. He moved his mouth upwards, trailing kisses along her neck until his lips were next to her ear. As he continued to claim her with ever deliberate movement, he asked, “What am I going to do with you, my love? You defy me at every turn but I can’t get enough of you.”

“And you’re incredibly stubborn and arrogant,” she panted. Dragging her hands over the hard muscles of his shoulders, along the long lines of his torso, she curved her body and grabbed his succulent ass. “But we have this.”

“We have so much more than this,” he countered. Lifting his head, he looked down at her with bewilderment and passion. “You have so much power over me, Malorie, and you don’t seem to even realize it.”

Cupping his face in her hand, she told him, “You own me, Feryn.”

A low groan came from the back of his throat as he buried his face against her neck and lost control, pushing her relentlessly towards completion. All of her thoughts disappeared as she gave her body over to Feryn, letting him take her where she wanted to go. Her body trembled as she went under, pulling Feryn with her.

As he collapsed onto her, his weight a comfort after the long absence, she heaved a sigh of contentment, “Oh, God, I needed that.”

“It wasn’t too rough on the baby, was it?” he asked, his sudden concern making her laugh.

“Sweetheart,” she crooned, brushing her fingers through his silky hair and taking great pleasure from the simple act. “The baby is fine.”

Lifting himself off her, he slid his hand between their bodies and rested his palm against the slight swell of her belly. Staring at his hand as if he expected the baby to suddenly appear, he was silent for a long time and she took the opportunity to just drink in the sight of him. She had missed him so much and now that he was here, she wasn’t sure she had the strength to defy him any longer. They had to talk because she couldn’t live in limbo anymore.

After a long time, before she could say anything, he said in a low rasp, “I’m sorry my brother stole Hunter from his life.”

He was apologizing and he was sincere! Tears filled her eyes as her lips trembled in a smile and she covered her hand with his, “Feryn.”

Raising his head, he looked at her, his green gaze boring into her soul, “We won’t stop looking for him but we won’t imprison him either. But, Malorie, he isn’t safe out there.”

“He’s with someone I trust,” she murmured, grateful that Feryn was giving her brother a chance at a normal life, such as it was.

“Another vampire hunter?” he asked, a slight smile curving his lips. At least he wasn’t sneering or being condescending. After the whole mess with Taella and his son, maybe he was finally learning to listen to her.

Shaking her head no, she didn’t tell him about the angel. “He’s safe.”

Collapsing onto the bed next to her, he let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Malorie, you make me feel powerless. You’re so capable and yet you’re so young.”

“We’re not going to discuss this now, are we?” she groaned, curling into his warmth and yawning, her eyes closing as her body relaxed in perfect contentment.

“Come home with me,” he crooned, lightly running his fingers along her bare arm. “We’ll sit down and discuss everything like rational adults.” She smiled but was too tired to respond. As he placed a kiss against her neck, he kept his mouth against her ear as he whispered, “And if we happen to be naked at the time, I’m sure we’re mature enough to focus.”

A small chuckle pushed past her lips as she melted further into his embrace. “What about my dad and Tari and the baby?”

He laughed unsteadily, “I’ll talk with Tari and your father about what they want to do.”

“Thank you, Feryn,” she murmured, falling asleep with a smile on her face.

Lying in bed, back in Feryn’s arms, Malorie lightly caressed the smooth planes of his hard chest, tracing the lines of the mark that swirled over his skin. Thoughts were crashing through her head now that she was with Feryn once again. After everything that she had gone through, she hadn’t actually expected to find herself right where she belonged and the joy was mixed with a healthy dose of worry. Their differences were still there, lingering just beyond the comfort of the bed, and sex wasn’t going to change that.

Tilting her head back, she studied his handsome face, the hewn jaw, the full lips, the curve of his eye lashes against his cheeks. Even in sleep he exuded such intensity and she realized she could spend a thousand years studying him, re-living his memories, loving him, and she’d never get enough. An eternity wouldn’t be enough time.

His chest rose and fell with each breath he took and even in sleep, he held her so tightly, as if he was afraid she’d leave him. It was humbling to be loved by such a powerful, passionate man, to know that she was responsible for bringing him back to life when he was ready to move on. Her heart ached in her chest for everything he had gone through and once again she wanted to rip Taella’s head from her slender body for what the bitch did to Feryn and his son.

With a grunt, Feryn’s hand came over hers and she realized she was so furious, she had been curling her fingernails into his flesh. Tilting her head back, she saw the grimace on his face as he looked at her with those beautiful eyes of his, “Have I done something to piss you off?”

Uncurling her fingers, she gently stroked his abused flesh before kissing it to make it better. Pushing herself up his body, she pressed a soft kiss against his lips and smiled, “Not you, Taella.”

His eyes moved over her face as he murmured, “She’s no longer a concern.”

She huffed out an unexpected laugh because he had said those words before and had been wrong. “Did you finally kill her?”

“Such a blood-thirsty, little thing,” he crooned, stroking her cheek as a slight smile played at his lips. Shaking his head no, he explained, “She’s in a dungeon re-living every nightmare she has ever caused. It will eventually destroy her but not before driving her mad.”

“Clever,” she said approvingly. “And much more just than the quick death I had planned for her.”

“Blood thirsty, little thing,” he repeated with a chuckle, brushing his thumb over her lower lip. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes darkened but he restrained himself. Clearing his throat, purposefully bringing himself back from the edge of desire, he met Malorie’s eyes and murmured, “Thank you for giving me back my son.”

She could only offer a slight smile because she hadn’t really done anything. Varick was the one who had reached out to her through her dreams and if she had been less stubborn, she would have been able to save him sooner. Licking her lip, tasting just a hint of Feryn, she asked, “Does having Varick back change your mind about our baby?”

He looked at her in horror. Flipping her onto her back and covering her with his hard body, he glared fiercely down at her as he rested a hand on her belly, “This baby was conceived in love, Malorie. If anything, having Varick back makes me love you and the baby that much more. It makes me love my son that much more. Don’t
ever
think I don’t want you or our child. Ever.”

“Even with all of the trouble I cause you?” she asked in a soft voice as moisture glistened in her eyes. “It’s not all a game?”

“You have to understand that before you and your father, a Breeder’s life was so short and it was all we could do to keep them alive. Humans succumbed to death so easily so it was easier to keep the Breeders in an isolated village to… protect them,” he offered instead of giving her an answer. Gently caressing her cheeks, he continued, “You and your father have changed everything and I am still figuring out how to adapt. And it’s not a game, Malorie. This is very real.”

She wanted to believe him but he had seduced too many girls with heated words and solemn promises to easily accept it. Someday she’d believe him, when he wasn’t running so hot and cold… or maybe that was why she should believe him. In all of his memories in her head, he had never lost his cool. Biting her lower lip, she softly asked, “Are you going to keep the others here against their will?”

He shook his head but his expression remained grim, “Malorie, you have to understand that humans are incredibly fragile despite their feelings of invincibility. Breeders are no different and infinitely more precious to us. I can promise to give them as much autonomy as possible while keeping an eye on them but to be perfectly honest, not everyone is as fiercely independent as you.”