Defeat the Darkness (Hearts of Darkness) (27 page)

Chapter 33 Fever

Kyle kept his mouth shut and suppressed the guilt. All along, he suspected he was the one who infected Shelby with the jaguar mutation. The flashbacks from that night were progressively growing more vivid. Over time, details he hadn’t remembered came to him through his sense of smell and taste. What Victor was going to discover after compiling all their test results was that she was infected with his jaguar DNA.

Kyle suspected Victor already knew that.

Before dawn that night in Guatemala, after Amyra left the tent, he’d been too weak to fight his jaguar. The cat overpowered him and tried to claim Shelby while she slept fitfully in his tent. By the time he was able to fight back the cat, he’d already inflicted a small puncture wound on her neck. He licked the spot to stop the bleeding, but it was too late.

Too weak to do more than stumble back to his bed, he passed out. She was gone when he woke up in the morning.

Later he remembered nothing but the shame from the previous night, and now he knew she’d suppressed the nightmares of his attack.

So far, since the virus hadn’t killed her, his greatest fear was that it would drive her insane as so many of the jungle legends warned. The shifter gene he inherited from an unknown ancient ancestor saved his life and his mind. Otherwise, the attack would have been fatal or, at the very least, it would have caused him to go mad.

What were the chances she had a shifter in her family tree, too?

Hell, what he needed were answers.

After Max left and Shelby went back to bed, he took the opportunity to ask Dylan. “If the jaguar bit her and she ran a fever with all the same symptoms, why hasn’t she shifted?”

“She can’t shift because it’s not in her nature, and she hasn’t gone through stasis to blend her DNA.”

“Will she go mad or die as the villagers claim?”

“No. Stop worrying, Kyle. If it hasn’t affected her before now, she’ll live. The only explanation for her survival is that her DNA is acceptable. She may not be a shifter, but she’s definitely something. We just don’t know what. Only time or Victor’s tests will tell.”

Kyle exhaled heavily. “What now?”

“I’m going back to my wing. Call me if you need me. I have the wolves out scouting for any sign of Amyra.”

“Is Shelby going to be all right?”

“Victor says the draught you’re giving her will suppress all her pain. She won’t shift as you did, but whatever powers she inherited should begin manifesting soon. Keep your eyes open for signs.”

“I will.” Kyle walked Dylan out of the library “Thanks for everything. I don’t know what I would have done—” Kyle’s voice cracked under the emotional strain.

“You don’t need to say anything. Along with my mental abilities, my mother gifted me with a bit of her empathic side. I know what you’re feeling. You need to put the blame at Amyra’s feet, not take it on as your own, boy.”

“It’s not easy not to blame myself for what’s happened to her. I’m a doctor. I should be healing people not having to deal with all this intrigue.”

Dylan laughed a hearty belly laugh. “Go take care of your woman. I sense her body needs you, as well as her soul.” With those parting words, he vanished.

~~~~

Thirsty.

Shelby needed water.

Itchy.
If only someone would please scratch the itch across her back.

Burning.
Her skin was on fire. But what she needed were Kyle’s hands all over her and his mouth kissing and suckling.

Hunger.
She was starving. She wanted to taste every inch of him and ride him until the ache between her thighs subsided.

Sex.
He could feed this hunger, fill her empty heart, and soothe her aching body.

Her needs were insatiable, and she didn’t understand what was happening to her, but at least the joint pains and nausea dissipated.

Kyle stalked into the dark bedroom, and she immediately noticed his scent in the air. He was aroused.

“Ah, there you are,” she said and lifted her heavy lidded eyes to examine him, settling her attention between his thighs and the enlarged bulge at his crotch.

Moistening her lips, she moaned when his essence hit her tongue and she tasted him. “I feel better the minute you enter a room.”

Kyle lifted the sheet and inspected her body.

“My skin itched with my clothes on. I had to remove them.” She squirmed beneath his scrutiny. “I’m so hot. I mean, Kyle, I’m hot on the inside. Not like a fever. Like sexually desperate. I’ve never felt so aroused before.”

A sound like a lion makes before he roars rumbled out of him. The timber vibrated through her as if he’d physically touched her.

“I need you,” she whispered.

His eyes narrowed on her and flashed with a crimson glow. “You’re killing my self-control, babe.”

“Damn your self-control, Kyle.” She separated her legs, bending them at the knee, and groaned as she touched herself. God, she was wet. “I need you inside me.”

She squeezed her hand between her legs and rolled on to her belly.

“Lift your hips for me, sweetness.”

When she did, she peeked over her shoulder to watch him strip down to skin.

Damnation, he was fine before, but the extra muscle looks even better.

He glanced down to unzip, and she caught a brief sight of his erect penis before he ordered her to turn around.
Wow!
How had that happened? He was thicker than ever.

She was tempted to defy him and flip over to get a better look when his tongue licked a long swipe between her thighs.

Defiance be damned.
“More.”

His hands slid up and over her hips while he held her in position, separating her intimate lips and running his tongue over them until he reached the tiny nub. His lips circled and suckled the sensitive bundle of nerves then he gently pressed his tongue over it in a steady rhythm. She pressed back against him and groaned when he growled against her skin. The sensation sent vibrations inside her.

He tongued her seam before inserting his two fingers inside her, searching for her g-spot. He pressed down on her clit with his thumb as he rubbed the magical place inside her and continued to lick.

The one thing she’d always loved about Kyle was how enthusiastic he was when it came to tasting her. The experience was like watching a gourmand savor a ten-course meal. He took making love to her seriously.

When she wiggled her butt under his assault, begging for something more, Kyle chuckled deep and low. “You asking for a little rear action?”

“Oh, God Kyle, I want it all, please.” She wanted him penetrating her every way possible. She loved him so much all she wanted to do was merge their bodies and souls. Would there ever be a way to be closer to him than having him buried inside her?

He flipped her to her back and drove deep with one long stroke. He felt huge and satisfying. While he savored her breast with his rough tongue, his fingers played with her other nipple sending bolts of lightning to her womb.

He released her pink nipple, lifting slightly. “Touch yourself. Show me what you like.” If possible, his voice grew deeper and his lashes hid his eyes from her as he thrust with steady strokes.

She groaned and touched her mound.

“You’re so exquisitely beautiful when you do that. I love the way your lips open and pant with need. Don’t stop.”

He pinched her nipple lightly and pressed his fingers against her bottom. Her breath hitched in her chest. He moistened his fingers with her juices and tested her. “I’m going to take you in every position I can think of tonight, but we are going to work up to more another time.”

With that, he slowly pressed a single digit into her. Once she grew acclimated to the presence, he pulled it out and added a second.

“Oh, I feel so full. So good, so close.”

“Just hold on, babe. I have one more thing that you’re just going to love. Keep working it.”

Shelby kept the pressure on her clit while Kyle kept up the steady pace with his hips and his fingers. He kissed her breast and cupped her head in his hand. When he reached her mouth and kissed her, driving into her with his tongue, she tasted herself on him.

He murmured words of love against her lips and sent a deeply satisfying sense of attachment straight to her heart. The slow decent of his kisses past her jaw, down her neck, over her collar bone and back to her breast, had her breathing rapidly with anticipation. Something was about to happen. Her eyes fluttered shut.

She heard the growl and felt the bite at her breast simultaneously, but her eyes were too heavy to open. She was shocked by the intimacy of the way he filled her. Nothing had ever felt as good as having Kyle suckle from her this way. Something about it felt different. She cupped his head in her hand and held him against her breast, never wanting it to end. She felt wanted, desired, and at one with the man in her arms.

Heat shot through her veins to every point in her body, and the heat merged with impressions of love.

His hips pumped higher and harder. She was so very close to her orgasm all she could do was beg, “Don’t stop, don’t stop, pleeease!”

When the moment of orgasm came for him, it exploded like a bomb detonating inside her. She released with him. The result of this climax was finite—a force of nature—something tangible—something to feed on like a good steak or fine wine. And the hunger she’d been feeling was momentarily satisfied.

He licked her breast where he’d bitten her and collapsed beside her, still holding her as if she were more precious than gold. She felt marked, taken, claimed. Loved.

~~~~

“Kyle, where are you?” Shelby’s voice sounded needy and whiskey smooth when she called to him.

“Right here.” He turned on the shower for her.

He’d just finished having another round of marathon sex with her and although they’d both been satisfied, she sounded ready again. The clean scent of her arousal called to him as well as her blood. No matter how many times he made love to her, he was ready for more as soon as she was.

If she needed him, his body responded.

After all that we’ve been through,” she asked warily, “do you need me as much as I need you?”

The simple uncertainty in her question hit him with an erotic slam to his libido. Who knew insecurity could be so arousing? As if he needed to add to his already heightened awareness of her. Part was caused by an intricate mental link they’d developed in recent hours. The other part was something he suspected was from that secret genetic code of hers.

Whatever she was, he loved her unconditionally, anyway.

“More,” he answered truthfully. Whatever had been between them at one time was growing stronger, like two souls merging. He linked their hands and kissed her knuckles. “I’ve never needed anyone or anything the way I need you. The only time my soul is at peace is when I’m with you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and practically shimmered with pleasure in his embrace. “Me too. The closer we get, the closer I want to be.”

He ground against her belly and kissed her. He wasn’t sure what she was, but she was wicked sexy. Even before all this started, he’d never met a woman more sensual than she was. In retrospect, the potential for this new being had been there all along. The sexuality had never exactly been dormant. This new highly charged erotic element was just another layer of her nature, something more to discover about Shelby.

He nuzzled her neck remembering not to drink from her again. She’d begged him to bite her after that first time, but he couldn’t risk taking more blood. And he couldn’t risk losing control. She was hard to resist and resisting grew harder with each passing moment.

If he had to describe how he envisioned her sexual layers, he would say the new one was a stream of molten lava bubbling beneath the surface of an inactive volcano, waiting for the right moment to erupt. Then the vent blew, and the lava rained down on him like a sexual blessing.

“Kyle, come shower with me. I need you to scrub my back. I think I have a rash.” Shelby tried to look at her back in the mirror, but Kyle steered her into the shower.

She didn’t need to see this yet.

“It’s not a rash.” It was a lacey imprint of wings.
Fascinating.
“Come. I’ll wash you all over.” The ripple under the skin along her spine reminded him of his own. They probably wouldn’t surface until she went through stasis. He was curious to see what hers would be like.

“The twitch in my back is so irritating,” she complained, then sighed. “I guess I should be happy the pains are gone.”

“Don’t worry. The irritation should let up soon.” He soaped up his hands and began the full body wash, complete with massage.

“Oh, that’s perrrfect.” She moaned and her reaction had Kyle’s cock bobbing up as if he hadn’t just climaxed with the woman three times in the last two hours.

He backed her up against the tile wall and slipped back inside her. “Mmm, I could stay inside you forever.”