The Chosen Sin (22 page)

“Christopher, come in here. I miss you.”

She called from the bedroom, where the early morning faux-light shone in through the window and pooled on the hardwood floor. Emotion coursed through him at the mere sound of his name on her lips. He made his way into the bedroom and began to undress.

She lay tangled in the sheets, one long leg extended on top of the bedcoverings. Her silky hair cascaded over the pillows and she wore a small smile on her perfectly curved lips.

She was perfect, and she was his.

When he'd met his current lover, he'd discovered what undying and eternal love truly was. Compared to what he'd felt for Daria,
this
was an inferno to a flame.

It was fitting that Daria had come now to nail him—and he knew that was exactly her intention. If she'd arrived a couple of years earlier, he may well have turned himself in even though prison for a Chosen was a nightmare of eternal proportions. It was, for all intents and purposes,
hell
.

He'd mired himself in a large amount of self-hatred after the killings. The guilt had been so heavy, he'd been ready for punishment. He'd created the Shining Way as a retreat, a place he could separate himself from the rest of the world. All he'd wanted back then was to be a recluse. That's all he wanted still.

Then, on a trip to Angel One, he'd met his lady. He'd been immediately entranced with her and, while it had taken him a while to convince her she was entranced with him, had fallen deeply in love. After that he hadn't wanted to turn himself in anymore and the occasional urge he'd had to walk into the dawn—the
real
dawn—had completely faded.

His lady had saved his life. Nothing, no one, would take her from him or destroy their future together.

So, Daria had come back to him, dragging Alejandro along for the ride. The question was, what to do with them? He needed to know more about why they were here in order to make that determination. If they threatened him, threatened his woman or his current way of life, as much as he would regret it . . . bad things would happen to them.

He slid into his lady's welcoming arms.

“Where have you been?” she murmured into the curve where his shoulder met his throat.

He stroked her upper arm. “Just taking care of some business, my sweet.”

Her arms tightened around him. “Don't leave me again.”

“I won't.”

As much as he still cared about Daria, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she threatened him. He would do anything to protect the woman in his arms.

16

DARIA sat on the edge of the bed, wrapped in a sheet, surveying the clothing strewn on the floor and remembering the events of the night before.

Oh, god . . . what he'd done to her. She'd never allowed a man to touch her that way, bring her to climax like that. Her cheeks burned. And she'd liked it, too.

Alejandro walked out of the bathroom, with only a towel around his lean waist. Water droplets beaded on the muscular expanse of his chest and on his powerful arms—arms that had held her down on the bed while he'd fucked her silly the night before. Twice. Forward and backward. While she moaned and begged him for more. She glanced up at him, frowning.

He spread his hands. “Look, Daria—”

“Alejandro.”
She frowned even more. Soon her face would crack.

He sighed. “I'm sorry, but I had to release my whole veil over you. I couldn't hold anything back. You were too tense, understandably so. I had to do it.”

She looked away. “I know.”

“It was a necess—” He paused. “You know?”

“I don't like it, but I understand why you did it. I don't want anything to jeopardize this mission, Alejandro.
Anything
.”

“I did what I had to do.” He took a step toward her. “But it was a risk.”

She looked up at him, trying to meet his eyes, but failing. God, how many times had his name spilled from her lips the night before? “What do you mean?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I played on my bet that you wanted me but had been holding yourself back for . . . whatever reasons you hold yourself back. I could have been wrong. That's why I mean it was a risk. Once I broke down your walls with my veil, you could have just as easily kneed me in the balls, if that's what you'd truly wanted to do.” A grin spread over his lips. “I think that would have given us a fail.”

She blinked. “Does it count that I want to kick you in the balls now?”

“Daria you can't blame me—”

“I don't. I'm glad you did what you did. The rest, well, those were my desires free from my misgivings and fears right? Can't blame you for those. Anyway, I know I pushed you . . . afterward. After Sante left.”

“You did push me.”

“I know. It was all my doing.”

“I appreciate that.”

“It's the truth.” She dropped her gaze, feeling miserable. “So now you know just how badly I've wanted you.”

“Yes.” He grinned wolfishly. “Pretty damn bad.”

“Yeah, but I've had you now. A couple of times.” Anger flared and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Don't be looking for more where that came from.”

All Alejandro did was grin at her response. Clearly, he didn't believe her. She looked away from him. Hell, she didn't believe herself. Just looking at him, standing there with water droplets running down his body, she wanted him. Wanted to lick every one of them off his skin. Wanted to take his cock into her mouth and see if she could make him as crazy as he'd made her last night. Heat flushed her body, and she closed her eyes.

“Daria, it's the Choosing that's making your libido run this hard. Damn, I've never seen anyone with as much control as you have. Your will is very strong, but it's not as strong as the aftereffects of the change.” He took a few steps toward her. “Just give it up.”

She sank her teeth into her lower lip. After a moment, she said, “I never give up.”

He sat on the bed beside her and traced the bare skin of her back above the line of the sheet that wrapped her. “I gave you last night and, fuck, it was sweet.
Te deseo.
That means I want you. I want you now, I want you always.” His voice was a low, silken rasp. It made her shiver and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

She wanted him, too. It seemed that having Alejandro once was not enough. Her body—if not her mind—desired him again.

The question was, what did her heart want?

“Maybe,” he continued, still caressing her back, “maybe you should just let this be what it is, Daria. Just for now. Let this attraction between us play out for the duration of our time here. After it's over, we'll go our separate ways. No problem. The advantages are that we convinced Sante and the Shining Way that we are truly a mated pair and we also get to sate our lust for each other. No strings once this is all through, just lots of sex before we part ways.”

“The disadvantages?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

“Disadvantages?” He laughed, and the sound of it rolled over her. “Honey, for me there are no disadvantages.”

What if she fell in love with him? That was the disadvantage for her. It would be so easy to fall in love with this strong, good-natured, protective man. She drew a shuddering breath. “Let me think about it.” She stood. “Right now I have to take a shower and get back to making teddy bears.”

He nodded. “You think on it, Daria. Go ahead and think all you want, but I'm going to do my best to sway you in the direction I think you should go.” He slipped a hand under the sheet. His palm was warm on her skin. “Understand?”

She tried to back away, she really did. In the end all she could do was stand there and look up into his warm, dark eyes.

His pupils dilated. “I had a taste of you last night and it wasn't enough. Not enough by a long mile. So the gloves are off. When I want someone, I go after them.”

Daria forced herself to take a step back, away from that very dangerous hand and the more dangerous response her body was having to the look in his eyes and the words coming from his lips. “You can try.” The words were good, but her voice was a bit shaky.

Leave it to Alejandro Martinez to make her feel vulnerable. She turned and escaped into the bathroom.

 
 
ALEJANDRO had every intention of busting down more than just the walls of Daria's inhibitions. He wanted more than just sex from her. He wanted her to look at him the way he remembered she used to look at Christopher Sante.

Alejandro wanted more than just her body; he wanted her love.

He watched her disappear into the bathroom, her conflicted emotions clearly displayed on her face and in her body language. He fisted his hands in his lap, forcing himself to not go in there and tease her into sexual submission once again. She was very susceptible to him right now. He knew he could do it, but Alejandro wanted her for the long haul, and therefore, he needed to show restraint.

Daria had been betrayed badly and it still affected her at a deep level. Alejandro knew he had to win her trust before he could win her love. In fact, Alejandro could sense the beginnings of that lofty emotion in her already. She fought it, but it was there. He knew he needed to seduce her, not overwhelm her, gentle her to him slowly and with patience.

Patience not being one of his better traits.

The water started in the bathroom and he shifted on the bed uncomfortably, his cock happy with the image of Daria in the shower, water sluicing over her curves, beading on her nipples, and running between her thighs.

It wasn't just her body that he loved. Daria was strong and intelligent, a woman who could meet him head-to-head and come out the winner. She was caring, too, beneath the gruff exterior. After all, here she was at the Shining Way, having altered her life irrevocably, in order to gain satisfaction for the death of her friend.

Long ago Alejandro had recognized that Daria Moran was the woman for him, and nothing had changed except his resolve. This time he wasn't going to let her walk away, no matter what he said about meaningless sex with no strings attached. With Daria, there was nothing
meaningless
about it.

With effort, he pulled himself away from thoughts about what might happen if he entered her shower. If he used his hands and mouth to physically show her just how much he cared about her. Sex was the only way he could do it right now without making her cut and run. He couldn't say he minded. Having her climax while he'd been sheathed deeply in her cunt the night before had been the best goddamn thing he'd experienced in years.

Daria was his. He'd make sure she was his, heart, body, and soul by the end of this game.

 
 
“SO how much do you know about Sante?” Daria asked Jia Ying. They stood together on the line, stuffing teddy bears.

Jia Ying shrugged and shot her a shy smile. “Not a whole lot. I know he is one of the old ones and lucky he hasn't gone insane with the press of age on his mind. Know he's a little bit idealistic and that's why he created the Shining Way. He wanted to create a place just for Chosen, where we could be free to be ourselves. I respect his vision. Other than that, he's a private man. Talk is he's pretty serious about a woman right now.” She smiled. “I think she's lucky.”

Daria's head snapped up. “Really?” That was news to her.

“Oh, yeah, but they're being secretive about it. She stays in his house, never comes out, never sees anyone but him. No one at the Shining Way has ever even caught a glimpse of her.”

Interesting. Sante was in love. Was he even capable of that? The idea didn't jibe with the Sante she remembered. Cold. Merciless. Murderer. Loyal to none but his bitch of a blood mother.

“Why is that?” Daria asked.

Jia Ying shrugged. “I don't know why they're keeping it so shushed. There's speculation, but I think he's just protective of her. Some of the members are overly zealous in their devotion to Christopher Sante. Personally, I think he's just trying to keep her away from all that.”

“Sante's a real star around here, isn't he?”

Daria tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but Jia Ying still caught the edge of it since her answer was a little on the defensive side. “With good reason!”

Daria put her head down and stuffed teddy bears, unable to answer that one and keep any semblance of
Valerie
in place.

“Where's your man today?” Jia Ying asked after a while.

“They needed some help with the bees, so he's spending the day out there. He'll be back tomorrow.”

Brandon had hooked Alejandro with a temporary “in” over there, which was good since there had been a rash of full moons in the dome lately. They could have as many as they wanted, of course, and apparently someone wanted a bunch. It almost seemed like they desired extra light or something. Maybe to prevent people from sneaking around at night trying to see if they were trafficking blood slaves? It made Daria a little paranoid if she thought about it too much.

One of the factory managers approached them as they worked. “Your presence has been requested at Christopher Sante's home,” he told Daria.

Her body jerked in shock and she dropped the teddy bear she'd been working on. She turned to face the foreman. “Excuse me?”

“It's just what I said. Sante requests your company.
Now
.”

“Yay!” Jia Ying clapped. “You get to see inside his house! You're so lucky! I wonder what he wants.”

Yes, Daria wondered, too. “I feel like I'm being called to the principal's office.”

“Oh, no, Valerie,” Jia Ying replied with a warm smile. “Don't worry. Sante is no one to be afraid of.”