Midnight's Jewel (Siren Publishing Classic) (18 page)

“Hush now, child,” a woman’s voice cooed in a thick Mediterranean accent. “You are not as alone as you feel.”

Sabrina looked up. A woman with long, braided, blue-black hair and an olive complexion watched her with wide brown eyes. She looked to be in her late twenties but no older than thirty. Her ample breasts were accentuated by a wide silver belt draped around her narrow waist and round hips. It looked like something worn in the Middle Ages. She wore a formfitting, princess-seamed, peacock-blue silk dress with a low square collar. A large black opal hung from a silver chain. A delicate circlet of silver held her hair off her face. Sabrina did not recognize the woman, but something about her was very familiar.

“Who are you? I feel I should know, but I can’t put my finger on it,” Sabrina questioned. She continued to stare at the woman. The fullness of her red lips and the way one side of her smile raised higher than the other triggered a long-forgotten memory. “Diana?”

“Grandmother!” The woman in the mirror nodded once in accent and continued to look on, amused at Sabrina’s revelation.

“What are you doing in the bathroom mirror?” Sabrina was puzzled. She had the sudden sinking feeling she had been watched while in the shower. It sent a shiver up her spine, and she was glad she had been alone.

“Fear not. I have been discreet. Your privacy has been kept. Eleanor spelled the mirror. Where is she? I would like to converse with her,” Diana requested. Her demeanor remained calm and became impassive.

Sabrina’s voice stuck in her throat. She could not make the words come out. Lowering her head, she thought of Eleanor laid out in the clearing turning to iridescent dust. The rest of the evening played out in fast-forward as if the inside of her head were a movie screen. A gasp from the mirror drew Sabrina out of the memory. Diana was clutching at her chest and visibly shaken. Although she had just suffered a shock, Diana regained her composure.

“I see. With Lucifer defeated and Eleanor’s passing into the summer lands, there is no reason for you to remain on Earth. It has been too long since you lived with me here in the Castle of Night. Please, Sabrina, come home,” Diana requested. She poured a great deal of longing desire into her gaze. Sabrina could feel Diana’s attempt to sway her emotions.

It was a ploy Eleanor had used during her more impressionable years. The sugarcoated force boiled the anger from deep within Sabrina’s core. The anger allowed her to push aside the sentimental veneer of the request to see the underlying motives. She shut her eyes, allowing her to focus on seeing what was beneath. Diana was the only Ancient left with a tie to her. It would give her an edge over her brother in their bid to return to Earth. Aradia had fulfilled her end of the night’s arrangement, except the part where she spoke to Brandon alone. There was an edge of annoyance at this turn of events, but Diana felt she could combat any ill effects of the meeting.

Sabrina opened her eyes and glared at her grandmother. “No. I want to stay here with my father. My whole life I was told I was an orphan. Now that I know I’m not, I want to get to know him. I appreciate your offer, but I’m not leaving,” Sabrina said, doing her best to keep the edge out of her voice.

“Is there nothing I can do or offer you? Is there nothing you want? You are my granddaughter. You belong amongst the heavens with those like you. Never again would you be the outcast. I can give you anything you could desire,” Diana tempted.

“Please, Grandmother, understand if you can. The Castle of Night is no longer my home. After the treatment I received, I don’t want to go back to coven life. Hadrian is here. I’m here. I want to stay with my father,” Sabrina replied in a less conciliatory tone. It was difficult to hold back the biting things she wished she could say. All the years of pain and lies were piling up behind her emotional dam, and it was about to break. It occurred to her only then. Diana could read her telepathically.

The goddess was obviously losing patience with polite requests. Her serene exterior was beginning to fade. Her eyes were taking on the same predatory look Eleanor’s had held. Her soft features were hardening into something dangerous. The smile lost its warmth and took on a cruel edge. The grandmother act was gone. What was left was a warrior goddess used to getting her way.

“If you will not honor the request of your grandmother, you will obey the command of your queen!” Diana reached out her hand to the mirror, her fingers curled into claws.

Sabrina could feel herself being pulled forward. She gripped the countertop and resisted with everything she had. She thought of Hadrian and her desire to know him. She thought of Brandon and how much she loved his earthy dark-amber scent. She thought of the lazy summer days by the water with Clay while he fished. The pull eased, but it did not stop. Not knowing what else to do she screamed in frustration and fear.

“Screaming did not serve your mother, and it will not help you. You are my servant. You are a creature of the moon and of night. You will obey me and return home,” Diana demanded. She poured more energy into dragging Sabrina through the mirror.

The bathroom door crashed in, tearing it out of its frame. Sabrina did not look to see who her rescuer was. She stayed focused on resisting the pull. The room had started to spin. Her feet felt like the floor below them was not entirely stable. Cool hands grabbed her around the waist. Another pair wrapped around her shoulders and upper arms. The two heavy bodies anchored her. The spinning lessened and the floor felt stable and secure beneath her.

A screech of rage filled the room. “You have no right to keep me from what is mine!” Sabrina chanced opening her eyes to see a furious goddess stalking toward the mirror’s polished, flat surface.

The surface rippled as she chanted the words that turned the swirling mist into a vortex. Small white grains pelted the mirror from the direction of the destroyed door. Another voice rose and fell in a language Sabrina had never heard. It was coarse and guttural and emanated from a woman who clearly had never been human. The vortex stopped advancing into the room. The rippling stopped and the mirror’s surface went back to being smooth and flat.

“Out of the way, demoness! It is not for you to stand between me and mine!” Diana’s fury was getting the better of her. All her outward beauty was lost with her fierce determination.

“Sabrina is a creature of the moon and of the Earth. She wishes to remain, and so she shall,” the demoness said, her voice dripping with venom and malice. “I cast thee from this place and bar thee hence, Diana, Goddess of Night and Queen of Witches.” The woman held a lightly scaled hand up, palm facing the mirror. A wave of energy rolled off her and out of her palm. The mirror shattered.

The pull ended abruptly. Sabrina fell backward, taking her two anchors with her to the floor. She landed on Hadrian. Brandon tumbled on top. She burst out laughing in relief. It was over. Her modesty kicked in and she checked that her towel was still in place.

Brandon lifted himself off their piled bodies. Hadrian pushed her up for Brandon to catch. She was exhausted from resisting Diana and fell forward into Brandon’s arms. He held her close and kissed the top of her head. She continued to giggle. Hadrian hugged her from behind, wrapping his arms around both her and Brandon.

“It’s okay, baby. We’ve got you. The building has been warded. No one is getting in this time,” Hadrian whispered.

Sabrina took notice of the other woman in the room. Her coarse dark-brown hair was French braided with a red velvet ribbon intertwined. The braid stopped halfway down her back. Her face was thin with sharp features. Her catlike eyes were an odd yellow-green, which matched the pale seafoam-green tint to her skin. She wore a red velvet corset over a black velvet knee-length skirt. Black fishnet stockings and three-inch black velvet heels finished the outfit. Her jewelry was thick, heavy, old-fashioned gold with no stones. Along the tops of her shoulders, at her elbows, and the backs of her hands were small, thin, scales. Her long, sharp nails were a high-gloss blood red. An amused smile played along her darker, sea-green lips.

“Well, this is cozy. What an interesting trio! Brandon doesn’t surprise me, but you, Hadrian, you do. I thought you were pining away for your lost love, and here you are, sharing a rather tasty tidbit,” the demoness smirked.

“She is not a tasty tidbit. She’s my daughter. Please, address her as such, Delila,” Hadrian admonished. “Your wire transfer has been completed. If you would, please, finish warding the cars down in the garage on your way out, I would appreciate it.”

“What? Nothing for fending off an irate goddess?” Delila pouted her lips and gave Hadrian a hurt look. “I thought you would appreciate my efforts more than a simple thank-you.” She put her hands on her very curvy hips. Her large breasts heaved up as she inhaled deeply to sigh. “It would have been far more expensive to mount a rescue operation than to prevent this dear one from being taken in the first place. Now, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes. You’re right. What does your heart desire, Delila?” Hadrian sounded as though nothing would please him more than to give her whatever she named.

“How about a new Ferrari 458 Spider? Something in a sleek black, maybe?” The playful smile turned into a wicked grin. Her super-white, sharp teeth glowed against her dark lips and tinted skin.

“Consider it a gift,” Hadrian conceded with an air of delight and gratitude.

“And there will be no reason to report this to anyone higher up?”

“Certainly not! For all I know, you’ve been saving until something came along that suited you. I just placed the order because I live in Italy. In fact, while I’m visiting my daughter, you’re welcome to use my Tuscan estate while it is being custom-built to your specifications,” Hadrian countered.

“Oh, I do love doing business with you, Hadrian. Brandon, it was nice to see you again. Now if you will excuse me. I was on a date when you called.” Delila made a curling, twisting motion with her hands. Flames came from the floor around her feet and engulfed her body. In a momentary whoosh, the flames took her and disappeared. Only a light discoloration on the tiles was left of the demoness.

Hadrian let go of Sabrina and stepped back. He cleared his throat. “Well now, I suppose you would like for me to leave. I’m sure this is not how you want to be seen by your father. I’ll just find myself something to do. Brandon, if you’ll excuse me.” He gave Brandon a wink and walked briskly out of the bathroom.

“What is it with you and wrecking my bathroom? First the flower garden and rain. Now a shattered mirror, a broken countertop, and the door. I’m not sure my insurance premiums can withstand you,” Brandon teased.

Sabrina tilted her face to look up at him and giggled. Warmth radiated out from his touch. It spread over her entire body and heated up to a slow burn. She saw the look in his eyes shift from knight in shining armor to lustful predator, and she liked it. His jaw clenched, as it always did when he needed to restrain himself in some way.

“I think I need to go back to bed,” she said. “Would you come with me?”

Without answering, he scooped her up into his arms and breezed into his room. Carefully, he placed her on his bed and locked both doors. Slowly, he stripped his shirt off, dropping it in the floor. He undid his jeans as he moved to the bed.

Sabrina recognized the returned item. “When did this get back?”

“It was here when we got back. Now is not the time to worry about such things,” he said.

“Well, what time is it?” she asked with faux bashfulness. The heat had sunk into her skin and was gathering into a molten pool. Dewy drops of fluid were gathering on her bush. Her pussy was already quivering with anticipation. Her nipples were hard peaks beneath the chilled, damp towel.

In a movement almost too fast for her to see, he freed himself from his denim. His cock was already so hard, the veins were bulging along the sides of his shaft. He reached over her stomach and clenched a fistful of towel. Tugging gently, he slipped the towel from her body, revealing her flesh in steady increments.

Running his hands up along her legs, he nudged her knees apart. She opened them, giving him complete access. He leaned in to nuzzle the insides of her thighs, teasing her clit with the tip of his tongue. She gasped as he made contact with the sensitive pearl. She could feel it swell under his cool, wet tongue. The teasing became sucking and licking. Pleasure was building, threatening to overflow. He slipped first one finger, then two into her dripping snatch. Working them in and out, he found just the right spot along the top of her tunnel. She gasped as he pushed her over the edge. As she came, more hot juice washed down, coating his fingers and hand. He pulled out to lap it all up. When he had licked her clean, he sucked the fingers he had used and groaned.

“You have the sweetest pussy, Sabrina.” He positioned himself over her. “If there were more time this evening, I would teach you more about the fine art of oral sex, but as it is, I need you like this.” He plunged his shaft into her pussy. As he slowly pulled out, he took a nipple into his mouth, allowing his fangs to bite into her flesh before plunging back into her body.

Sabrina inhaled sharply. The pain mingled with the pleasure and excitement. The smell of blood mixed with the musky scent of sex, perfuming the air. Brandon lifted his head. A thin trickle of blood trailed down from the corner of his mouth. He picked up the pace, thrusting in and out of her quivering cunt. Their breathing turned to heavy panting. Over and over he pounded into her, and the more he did, the more she wanted him. She knew she would never want anyone as much as she did him. Her legs could never part wide enough, could never take him deep enough, to be satisfied, to have her fill of him.