Dark Dreams: HarperImpulse Paranormal Romance

Chapter 4

Jade abruptly found herself in a dark room, once again being held by her beautiful kidnapper. Although the room was only lit by the glow the moon and stars sent through the large windows, the fullness of the moon allowed her to see the essence of it. The furnishings were extremely nice, but different from the flat she had been in earlier. This was a huge bedroom, well appointed, even more moneyed. The change in the time of day implied she was in yet another time zone.

Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and she was still trembling and bleeding badly through what was left of her shredded clothing. She couldn’t feel animosity right now; hell, she couldn’t feel much of anything except pain mixed with some level of gratitude. The pain was worst from the front of her body and her arm, where the grotesque fiend had ripped her open. But Nias’s firm grip on her was calming and soothing and in his arms she got the sense she would be all right, which was completely insane since he was the one who had got her into this mess in the first place.

Nias walked over to a dark wooden four-poster bed with a dark-blue duvet and a pile of brighter-blue pillows. He turned his head toward the fireplace and under his glare the fire suddenly ignited and rose to warm the room. When he bent down to place her on the bed, she didn’t want to let go. She felt so confused, shaken, and hurt she wasn’t sure whether she needed his strength around her for a little while longer, or whether she should demand to be taken to a hospital. The latter seemed the right thing to do, but that wasn’t what her body, as badly injured as it was, wanted to do.

He looked into her eyes and she felt a pang of fear coupled with a need for him. He lowered her gently onto the bed and sat down next to her. She heard a thump and then another, which must have been his boots hitting the floor, because the next thing she knew he was stretching his expansive chest and long legs, clad in faded jeans and an old black t-shirt, out next to her. He leaned on one elbow, his long, shiny black and dark-brown hair falling and folding on to the bed.

Damn, he was something to see; she almost forgot about the pain. Then it shot back at her and he put one of his hands flat on her stomach, as if to comfort her. Even with the pain, she noticed his heavily muscled bicep shift when he moved.

She couldn’t help but read him; she was freaked, badly injured and in a strange place. She wanted to trust him, but the darkness in him she felt earlier was prevalent, like a pervasive hum, an unholy deadly enigma. Right alongside the darkness was his concern. She decided he was most likely her best bet right now. She certainly wasn’t going to try to run off and get taken by more of those things, even if she were capable of that kind of movement.

“Where am I?” she managed to croak out. He put one finger on her lips to quiet her.

“Be still, Jade. As I told you before, you are safe with me.” The matter-of-fact manner in which he said it, the gentle way in which he was now touching her after the rough manner of their initial meeting, it felt almost surreal how soothing it was. She reached up to take his hand. It was warm and she gripped it with both of hers. She looked toward his beautiful face. His bright gold eyes were looking into hers and they didn’t look cocky or sarcastic. For the moment, he seemed to be actively trying to calm her. She would even say he looked kind.

“I know you’re in pain. I can make the pain and the wounds go away, but you will have to trust me.”

“Honestly, that worries me, but I really want the pain to stop.” She gave him a half-hearted attempt at a smile, trying in vain not to cry. “Okay, what can you do?”

“Just close your eyes, Jade. You’re safe with me.”

“I heard you the first time, but, before I trust you, which I can’t promise I’ll be able to do, how about you tell me your name. Your full name.” Her voice was hoarse, but she was trying her hardest not to sound defenseless.

He gave her a smirk of sorts and chuckled softly. “Very well. My name is Nias Hu’dor.”

“Okay, Nias Hu’dor, I’m going to do my best to close my eyes and trust you here. I suppose if you are going to kill me I’m kind of screwed anyway,” she rasped. He smiled kindly at her attempt at humor, and it made her feel calm enough to lean back on to the pillows behind her and tighten her grip on his hand as the pain continued to sear her flesh. “Although trusting you for more than your warmth and monster-killing rescue seems a very risky prospect.” She closed her eyes.

Next thing she knew she felt his fingers take hold of her tank top and the sensation was followed by the sound of ripping material.

Jades eyes flew back open. Her tank lay on either side of her body exposing her cut flesh and barely covered breasts. Nias was astride her and was moving the inner crook of his elbow toward his mouth, where he licked and then calmly used his teeth to rip a hole in his own lower arm. His teeth sank in and tore at the soft flesh, causing his blood to begin a dense, steady drip. She started to panic and tried to sit up; Nias gave a searing glare as he looked straight into her eyes and pressed her back down. Moving his bleeding arm over her, the blood bubbled out and flowed on to her chest and belly. Again she squirmed and he held her in place. Using the hand that wasn’t bleeding to hold her by the collarbone, he began to cover her wounds with the warm red fluid. She struggled violently beneath him, frightened at this display, but couldn’t escape; it was as though his grasp were made of solid metal.

“Jade, look at me,” and she did, but it had to have been with fear in her eyes. “I will not hurt you, I promise. Trust me, you are safe now.”

He continued to repeat that mantra of safety as he threw her tank to the floor and unbuttoned her jeans. He began smearing the thick drops down her chest, smoothing them out over her cuts with his palm.

He started at the base of her neck, his flat hand and fingers swerving down her body. Then went back up to her bra, which had been cut slightly, his hand wandered inside and he let his fingers linger by her taut nipple longer than necessary. He grazed the hardened bud slightly as his fingers flowed so tantalizingly off of her breast, and continued down her body. His eyes connected with hers and she gave him no sign she wanted him to stop.

Her whole body convulsed and caused a wet heat between her legs. He stuck four sticky fingers below the top of her open jeans, barely sweeping them over the top of her tight curls to make sure the sliced skin was covered to its end. Again she shuddered involuntarily, and gave a tiny sigh of acquiescence. He finished by squishing more blood from his vein to the long gash on her arm and firmly sliding his hand down and off of her wrist.

She couldn’t help it as his touch sent a tremor through her and she began shaking. She was completely aroused, covered in this man’s blood; he had his hand practically at her throat and she wanted more. More of all of him, cocky bastard that he was. He had taken her full circle, from being attacked and nearly killed to a state of euphoria. And now she was face to face with a man, a seriously erotic one, who looked even better than the ones she loved to dream up and thought were perfection, and she looked like she’d just been murdered. It was a lot to take in all in the same day, much less in an hour.

“Thank you?” She asked it as a question in a breathy voice. Her wounds did feel better and she glanced down, seeing some of them miraculously starting to close. She had definitely lost control of herself and the situation.

“You’re welcome,” he said looking dreamily and directly into her eyes.

“Criminy, that was the sexiest ‘you’re welcome’ I’ve ever heard.” The words fell from her mouth before she could stop them. His voice was soft and deep. But the tone … the tone managed to stroke her entire body all over again. The electricity was palpable between them.

Then she thought back to his previous behavior; what an arrogant ass he’d been and how she had detested him. She thought about getting up and walking out, since she wasn’t having the sharp pain anymore. But her body seriously objected; it had gone to the dark side and it was staying.

She drank him in; this was much closer than she had been to him before. He had a chiseled strong, square jaw and full, kissable lips, but they were completely outdone by the intensity of his exotic golden eyes. She took in the entire length of him again; he had an energy emanating from his body and demanding attention. He somehow managed to be sleek, long, intensely muscular and amazingly masculine all at the same time; like a panther, a big sexy cat, staring with his intense yellowish gaze.

“Are you warm enough?” he inquired in a deep, sexy drawl; he had a hint of an accent she hadn’t noticed before. She couldn’t place it, but the sound of it slithered out, wrapped around her, and slowly whispered “sex”.

Her mind betrayed her next as she thought about her books and her dreams. What usually happens at this point? Should I begin running my fingers through his hair, do I stroke him? Should I … and then he leaned in and kissed her.

His hand was back to her belly, and he turned in and lightly brushed his lips against hers. She had wanted this so badly in her dreams and now she felt horribly nervous. With all of her wishing and dreaming and hoping, and even with the aroused state she was in, the fact that she had no practical experience at being intimate, and barely any at kissing, was all she could think of right then, and her body tensed. She began to tremble and wonder what came next, as the fear, excitement, anxiousness, and desire all came to her at once.

Nias could not believe how out of control this human girl was making him. He hadn’t had any intention of getting twisted up in bed with her. He had only gone after her to correct his mistake; he should have never let her go. But when he found her being dragged across the floor, her body torn open by that lowlife Shaitan, he felt a protective surge come over him. The need to safeguard someone had never before made him feel so hostile.

He had to pull her close. Seeing that she had put up such a fight even when outnumbered and surrounded by Daemons had made her nearly irresistible. She was courageous and feisty. It made him want to own her, to keep her, and he generally had no patience for humans.

He had brought her back to Phaeton’s knowing it was the safest place for her. He told himself he was only keeping her safe because they needed her. But the truth, he knew, was that he wanted her as well. She had a sass women didn’t normally have around him. They typically threw themselves at him. She was scared and injured and he still wanted her. Seeing her lying on the bed, her fire-colored curls spread over the blue of the sheets, made him crazy; and then to explore her body as he fixed her wounds with his blood brought him to a fervor and thirst stronger than he could have imagined. Her full, round breasts, her tiny waist, her heavenly ass; he wanted to fix her quickly so he could play with her. Her lack of knowledge in these activities, the innocence he never suspected, it just got better and better.

It made his cock thicken even more to think about being the one to show her the way to complete pleasure.

Nias eased his free hand up under her chin and lifted her face to take her in. She was so close to him, he could feel her warm, sensual breath. She smelled like ripe, sweet plums and warm sunlight. Innocent, feisty, naughty girl.

“Don’t worry, Jade, just listen to my words.” His pants were constricting as he felt himself harden even more with the thought of how she might taste. And it wasn't the blood running through her veins that had his taste buds watering. He suppressed the growl threatening at the back of his throat.

He stroked her hair back from her face, ran his fingers through its length and placed it behind her ear and up, cascading upon the pillow behind her head. Then he moved his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her up, as he changed his mind and decided to dispense with any verbalization.

His mouth took hers; his tongue pushed its way through her inexperience, showing her the way. And she began to follow his lead. Her pouty lips were claimed as his as he began to move his tongue within them. He leaned back to look at her and ran two bloody fingers across her bottom lip, pulling it to the side, smearing his blood across her face and making her lip swell.

He felt predatory, he wanted to be rough with her; he felt like strapping her down and owning her. Yet something pulled him back from the primal urge that normally claimed him. There was something different here, something on the edge of his consciousness that he couldn’t get his head around.

He wrapped a hand around her waist and easily scooped her forward until their bodies were flush. His hand went around to her exquisite ass, grabbing her firm roundness and pushing it in even closer; his hips rocked forward, and he pressed and ground his engorged shaft against her blood-soaked body. She melted into him, wrapping her hands though his hair and around his neck. A soft moan came out of her beautiful mouth, as they resumed the intense intertwining of tongues. The kiss was scorching as his tongue ravaged her mouth, cruel and demanding. There was an intense rush of heat, and he reached his hand up to fist her hair, pulling at it and biting her bottom lip, then slowly releasing it with his teeth. She languorously closed her eyes and moaned while she shuddered beneath him.

He shoved her, a little more violently than he intended, flattening her back to the bed. As she turned her head to face him, she was a perfect blend of innocence and vixen. She may have been inexperienced, but that wasn’t stopping her from enjoying everything he was giving. She gave him a coy smile, wiggled beneath him and her body began to purr. He could feel his pulse racing and his breath became short. It made him almost angry to be thrown off so much by this human.

He stopped to take her in and a moment of confusion washed over him; he hadn’t felt this kind of passion in so long. There was something about this girl he couldn’t get enough of, even in their short time together. His whole body felt alive and seething. He smashed his lips against hers. He knew he was being too rough but couldn’t help himself. He was drowning and she was his breath.

Growling at her, he grabbed both her hands and yanked them up over her head, holding them in place. He slid a knee between her thighs and eased her legs apart and moved his body between them. He crushed the seam of her jeans up into her pleasure point, grinding gently. This time her moan was not as soft, it was far more wild and severe. He went in for more of her and again their tongues coiled in an erotic dance. The inside of her mouth was so succulent he had to taste the rest of her. Backing up, he lowered his hand deep into her open jeans, his fingers found her slickness, and he pushed them inside as her muscles clenched around him.

He found she was untouched; she had never been intimate with a man. Blissfully he thought of all the things he could teach her; he wanted nothing more in that moment than to give her a thorough education in all the carnal pleasures. Inch by delicious inch he would take each soft, sweet fold of her body into his hands and into his mouth. He would show her sweet innocence what it was like to have him deep inside her. He knew how to bring her over to a darker side of sexual feeling than she could imagine. He would own her, his possession.

Between her legs was so warm and inviting, a momentary impatience wanted to remove his fingers and thrust his achy cock inside, but not yet, he told himself. His fingers plunged and curled inside of her. She ground her hips against his hand. Arching her back she moved her hips in time with his strokes. She was perfect. Her desires matched his own. And he wanted to ruin her for all other men so she would always need to come to him to be satisfied.

He felt raw as he shifted the top of her jeans lower, exposing the milky perfection of her thighs beneath.

“No, I can’t,” she protested, her voice breathy and weak, her eyes still closed.

Keeping a firm grip on her wrists, he traced her moist heat with his fingertips. “That was hardly a refusal, more like an invitation. Should I listen to your words? Or would you rather I hear their intention? Which I believe was to tease and coerce me into giving you real pleasure?” He taunted her as he continued to outline her sensual essence with the tips of his fingers.

“Yes,” was all she managed. Her body undulated beneath him, her breath panting. He laughed softly and resumed removing her jeans. Unzipping her boots with his wandering hand, he tossed them to the floor, then slipped the jeans over her ankles and into the air with one swift movement.

“Yes” Jade heard herself say. Wait! That wasn’t what I meant. But she couldn’t even fool herself with the weak protest. His body was heaven; his fingers were fire inside her. An ache of pleasure was forming in her lower body. It was growing, consuming her. Her nipples ached and she thought she might explode.

And he pulled away.

“No,” she managed through her haze.

“Kitten, I thought it was yes. You will make up your mind, won’t you?”

When she opened her eyes to protest further he reached around and unsnapped her bra, removed it and replaced it with his tongue.

“Aah,” she inhaled sharply and suddenly.

He grinned at her with amused, cat-like eyes. “Did you have something else you wanted to discuss? Should I stop?” He lifted his head just a touch to inquire.

She could only speak in barely whispered breaths. “No, don’t stop, it’s okay, I really don’t want you to,” she purred, despite her conflicted opinion of him. He was arrogant, conceited, talented, delicious, warm… and then he was licking her, lapping her tight bud, pinching and kneading the other. She began to rock as one of her hands ran through his long hair, involuntarily holding him there. Although inexperienced, her body seemed to know what to do, what it wanted.

His mouth left her breast, leaving one set of dirty fingers behind, and he began licking down her belly… past her tight curls… until he was between her thighs. With a roguish look in his eyes, he smoothly picked up one of her legs at a time and placed them on his shoulders; then he slid his belly to the sheets, wrapped his arms around her hips, focused his gaze elsewhere and pulled her to his mouth. Her moan escaped, still louder than before, and she could hear his chuckle in response. But right now, she thought the phrase “couldn’t have cared less” had never been more appropriate, or true.

He took long, lazy, controlled strokes with his tongue. Spreading her with his fingertips, she came completely undone; any vestiges of her feigned control were lost. Her hips bucked softly and her back arched. Again the pressure began to rise in her, right at the point where he laved her. His mouth expertly drove her to places her dreams had not even brought her, sucking and nipping at her pleasure point until the pressure drew to an explosion and she convulsed. Bliss ran through her in waves for what seemed like an eternity. But this bad boy apparently liked to see her lose control because he didn’t stop. He continued at his leisure until her body bucked and shook underneath his ministrations again and again and again for him.

Her mind was collapsing into a thousand random shards of rainbow-colored light as she croaked out, “no … please … oh God …” As she pitched, as if to get away, her nerves overloaded by the stimulation he was giving her, he pulled her legs back down off of his shoulders and pinned her ankles to the bed. Raspy, her voice cracked, “Yes … God yes …” as she succumbed completely, her hips undulating beneath his lips, the smell of sex filling the air. Drops of sweat pooled on her toned belly as a beaded mist coated her forehead and ran down into her dampened hair. Any remaining thoughts of the pain she had been through that night fled against the assault on her senses, until ultimately she mentally and emotionally exploded, crying out and crashing into the mattress underneath her, trembling.

Finally, writhing, she begged him to stop. Jade lay exhausted, dreamy, and sated as she dissolved into the bed. She looked up at his face as he moved up her body, and she could see the arrogance beneath his visage; a completely justified pride, power, strength of soul and body, a never-wavering confidence … and motherfucking gorgeous to boot. He is a primary being, a god, a deliciously evil dessert. Her thoughts ran rampant through her brain as the blitzkrieg on her senses abated.

He pulled his shirt off over his head. How could he drive me to such places without even removing his clothes? He kneeled there for a moment and licked his lips before ripping the duvet from underneath her, sliding up to her side, and pulling her into his warm arms, covering them both. She melted into his body, feeling warm, smooth, soft, hard, safe, and dreamy all at the same time.

Chapter 5

Jade was lying curled in his arms, molded to his body, her long red curls tumbling over the blue cover; and Nias didn’t want to be anywhere else. Knowing he brought her to peak gave him more pleasure than he knew possible. Could a human woman be making him feel this way? Not possible, he insisted. He was merely having a deep, intense lust for her, which in and of itself was a pretty unusual feeling for him to have toward a human. He deeply enjoyed sex with human women, even more so with Daemon, but this was stronger than that, like somehow she fit with him. There was a force which propelled him toward her, and held him there. He lay watching her in her languor; beautiful pink lips, the high, soft bone structure, her high-arched brows the only physical manifestation of her incredulous defenses toward the world. She was a fiery one; the flames of her hair suited her perfectly. And even though he normally would have had his own way with her, then cast her aside, a good hour passed while he placed kiss after kiss on her.