The Dark-Hunters (186 page)

Looking at the myriad of faces from the past, she thought of the woman upstairs in the portrait outside of what was now Kat’s room. Wulf had known a lot about her and it made her wonder how much he knew about every face on that wall and buffet. Faces of people who most likely had had little knowledge of him. “Did you have to reintroduce yourself constantly to Isabella?”

He closed and locked the door behind him. “With her it was a little easier. Since she was from a Squire’s family, she understood that I was the cursed Dark-Hunter so whenever she met me, she would smile and say, ‘You must be Wulf. Nice meeting you again.’”

“So all their spouses know about you?”

“No, just the ones who are from the Squire families. You can’t exactly explain to the average human that there’s an immortal Viking living in the basement who they won’t remember seeing or speaking to. So the ones like Chris’s mother never know I exist.”

She watched as he sat down and pulled off his boots. The man had exceptionally large feet …

“Chris’s mother isn’t a Squire?” she asked, trying to distract herself from the fact that those bare feet made her long to see more bare parts of him.

“No. His father met her while she was working at a local diner. He was so in love with her that I didn’t interfere.”

“Why did they only have Chris?”

He sighed as he placed his boots under his desk. “She couldn’t carry children very easily. She had three miscarriages before his birth. Even Chris was born seven weeks premature. Once he was born, I told his father that I didn’t want either of them to go through another pregnancy.”

She was surprised by that, given how important his lineage was to him. “Did you really?”

He nodded. “How could I ask them to keep doing that? It almost killed her to give birth and the miscarriages always broke her heart.”

It was an admirable thing he’d done. She was glad to know he wasn’t truly the barbarian she had feared him to be earlier. “You’re a good man, Wulf. Most people wouldn’t have thought of someone else.”

He snorted. “Chris would disagree with you.”

“I think Chris would disagree with a signpost.”

She was rewarded with a real laugh from him. It was deep and pleasing, and sent a raw shiver through her. She really loved the sound of his accented voice.

Oh, don’t go there
 …

She had to do something to keep her thoughts off how delectable he was.

“Well,” she said, yawning, “I’m tired, barely pregnant, and really could use a good night’s sleep.” She indicated the closed door behind her. “Bathroom?”

He nodded.

“Okay. I’m going to change and then go to sleep.”

“There’s a new toothbrush in the medicine cabinet.”

“Thanks.”

Cassandra left him to get ready for bed. Alone in the bathroom, she opened the cabinet and paused. Inside were all manner of medical supplies, including a scalpel and sutures. Wulf must not be able to go to a doctor any more than she could.

As she reached for the new toothbrush, she remembered the shots the Daimons had fired into him.

Her gaze went back to the supplies.

He must have had to tend his own injuries. Alone. He hadn’t even said a word about them. Nor had they existed in her dreams.

Then she thought of the way Stryker had healed when she stabbed him and wondered if Wulf’s body had the same regenerating ability.

“Poor Wulf,” she breathed as she changed her clothes.

It was so strange to be here. With him in his domain. Not once had she spent the night with a man. The few guys she’d slept with had been momentary flings and she had left their places as soon as she could. There was no need to stay and have them become attached to each other.

But she was attached to Wulf. A lot more than she should be. Or was she? He was the father of her baby. Shouldn’t they have some degree of closeness?

It only seemed right.

She left the bathroom to find him sitting fully clothed, except for his bare feet, in the recliner in the sitting area.

“You can take the bed,” he said. “I’ll take the sofa.”

“You don’t have to, you know. It’s not like you can make me pregnant or anything.”

He didn’t look amused by her words.

Cassandra closed the distance between them and took him by the hand. “C’mon, Big Guy. There’s no need for you to wedge that extremely tall body into a small couch when you have a perfectly good bed waiting for you.”

“I’ve never gone to bed with a woman before.”

She arched a brow at that.

“To sleep,” he clarified. “I’ve never spent the night with one.”

“Never?”

He shook his head.

Boy, they were a lot more alike than she would ever have imagined. “Well, you’re never too old for new experiences. Well, maybe
you
are, but in most cases that’s a true statement.”

His scowl deepened to that familiar level. “Is everything a joke to you?”

“No,” she said honestly as she led him toward the bed. “But humor is how I get through the horrors of my life. I mean, come on. It’s laugh or cry and crying just takes too much energy that I need to make it through the day, you know?”

She let go of him to braid her hair.

Wulf took her hands in his and stopped her from plaiting it. “I don’t like for you to do that.”

She swallowed at the hungry look in his midnight eyes. She had an odd sense of déjà vu here in his room with that look on his face. Even though she shouldn’t, she liked to see the fire in his dark gaze. Liked the sensation of his hands on hers.

Or better yet, the sensation of his hands on her body …

Wulf knew he had no business being with her, no business sharing a bed or anything else, and yet he couldn’t keep himself from it.

He wanted to touch her skin for real this time. Wanted to have her legs wrapped around him as he let the heat of her body soothe his weary heart.

Don’t.

The command was so strong that he almost heeded it, but Wulf Tryggvason had never been the kind of man to listen to orders.

Not even his own.

He tilted her head up so that he could see the passionate heat in her green eyes. It scorched him. Her lips were parted, welcoming.

He skimmed his fingers down the line of her jaw until he buried them in her strawberry-blond hair. Then he took possession of her mouth. She tasted of warmth.

She pulled him close, her arms tight and demanding as she ran her hands over his back. His body stirred, his cock hardened immediately.

Groaning, he picked her up in his arms. To his surprise, she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist.

He laughed at her response even as the heat of her body stung him. Her core was pressed against his groin, making him well aware of how close that part of her was to him.

Her eyes dark with passion, she tugged his shirt off over his head.

“Hungry,
villkat?
” he mumbled against her lips.

“Yes,” she breathed to his delight.

Wulf laid her on his bed. She reached down between their bodies and unzipped his pants. He growled deep in his throat the instant her eager hand reached down and touched him. The sensation of her fingers stroking his shaft shook every part of him. She even remembered how he liked to be touched. Stroked.

He almost felt like weeping from the miracle of that. Maybe he should have taken an Apollite or Were lover centuries ago.

No, he thought as he buried his lips against the column of her throat and inhaled her rose scent. They wouldn’t have been Cassandra, and without being her, they, too, would be lacking what he needed.

There was something about this woman that filled him. That made him burn in a way no other ever had.

Only for her would he breach the code that forbade him to take an Apollite to his bed.

Cassandra lifted her arms as Wulf pulled the T-shirt over her head. She moaned at how good the heat of his naked body felt pressed against hers. All that gloriously male skin was a divine feast for her eyes.

He ran the back of his fingers over her breasts, making them tight and aching. He took the right one into his mouth and savored her in a way that made her heart pound. His tongue was light and gentle as he flicked it back and forth. Her stomach fluttered in response to the intense pleasure he gave her.

Then, he trailed his kisses lower, over her abdomen. He stopped to nibble her hipbone while his hands slid the sweatpants down.

Cassandra lifted her hips so that he could slide them off. He dropped them on the floor, then used his hands to spread her legs wide.

She stared at him in needful expectation as he looked at the most private part of her body. He looked feral and hungry. Possessive. And it sent an electrical surge through her.

She hissed as he ran his fingers down her cleft. His touch teased and excited her. His touch was divine. Sating and inciting.

Wulf watched the pleasure on her face as she rubbed herself against his hand. He loved the way she responded to him. The way she was completely open and unguarded.

Climbing up on the bed, he laid his body over hers, then rolled over with her. She wrapped her body around his as they kissed hungrily. Her skin slid against his in a sensuous symphony that ignited him even more. Wulf sat up with her in his lap. She wrapped her long legs around his waist while her hands caressed his scalp, her fingers tangling in his hair.

He was honestly afraid of what he felt as she lifted herself up and took him into her body. She rode him hungrily, her body milking his as she took what she needed and gave him what he craved.

He didn’t want to let her go. Didn’t want to ever leave this bed again.

Cassandra bit her lip at the ecstasy of having Wulf deep inside her for real. He was so hard and thick. He felt even better in the flesh than he had in her dreams.

The light hairs on his chest teased her sensitive breasts while he cupped her bottom and urged her movements. She stared at his eyes, which were dark with passion.

Their breathing was synchronized as she slammed her hips against his groin over and over again.

She’d never made love to a man like this. In his lap, their bodies wrapped together. It was the most intimate thing she’d ever experienced.

She leaned her head back as Wulf suckled her. Cradling his head, she felt overwhelmed by pleasure.

And when she came, she cried out loud.

Wulf lifted his head to watch her face as she orgasmed. She was so beautiful to him. He laid her back on the bed without leaving her body, then took control. Closing his eyes, he thought about nothing except the feel of her warm and wet underneath him.

There was no past, no tomorrow. No Dark-Hunter. No Apollites.

It was just the two of them. Her hands on his back, her legs entwined with his, as he thrust himself deep inside her.

Needing this more than he had ever needed anything else, he buried his face in her hair and released himself deep inside her.

Cassandra held Wulf tight as she felt him convulse. His breath tickled her neck. His body was damp from perspiration and his long black hair teased her skin. Neither of them moved as they breathed raggedly in the afterglow.

She took comfort in his weight pressing down on her. The feeling of his rough, masculine body prickling hers. She ran her hands over his muscular back, over his scars, then she idly traced the tattoo on his shoulder.

He lifted himself up so that he could look into her eyes. “I think I’m addicted to you.”

She smiled at his declaration even though it made part of her sad to hear it. His hair fell around his face, which was soft and tender in the dim light. Tucking his hair behind his ears, she kissed him.

His arms tightened around her. She loved that feeling. It made her feel protected. Safe.

Sighing dreamily, she pulled back. “I need to go clean up.”

He didn’t release her. “I don’t want you to.”

She cocked her head at him in confusion.

“I like the sight of my seed on you, Cassandra,” he said raggedly in her ear. “My scent on your skin. Yours on mine. Most of all, I like knowing that in the morning you’ll remember what we did tonight and you’ll still know my name.”

She laid her hand on his whiskered cheek. The pain in his eyes touched her deeply. She kissed him lightly, then snuggled against him.

He withdrew only enough so that he could spoon himself behind her. She rested her head on his biceps as he cradled her tenderly. Her heart pounding with joy, she listened to him breathe.

He lifted his head, kissed her cheek, then settled down with one hand buried in her hair.

Within a few minutes, he was sound asleep. It was the most peaceful moment of her life. Deep in her heart she knew that tonight Wulf had shown her a side of himself that he had let no one else see.

He was gruff and stern. But in her arms, he was a tender lover. And in the back of her mind was the thought that she could learn to love a man like this. It wouldn’t be hard.

Cassandra lay quietly in the stillness of the early morning. She wasn’t sure what time it was, only that Wulf warmed a part of her she hadn’t realized was cold until now.

She wondered as she lay there how many centuries Wulf had been confined to an area like this one. He had told her that this house was only a little over a hundred years old.

Looking around, she tried to imagine what it would be like to be here alone, day after day, decade after decade.

It must be lonely for him.

She reached down and placed her hand on her belly as she tried to imagine the baby there. Would it be a boy or girl? Fair in color like her or dark like its father?

She would most likely never know the baby’s real hair color. Most children’s baby hair fell out and it wasn’t until they were toddlers that you could tell.

By then she would be dead. Dead before its first tooth. Its first step or word.

She would never know her child at all.

Don’t cry
 …

But she couldn’t help it.

“Cassandra?”

She didn’t answer Wulf’s sleepy call. Her voice would betray her if she did.

He rolled her over as if he knew she was crying and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t cry.”