Awakening

  She took portions of her hair, crisscrossing them to lay down her back, otherwise the fall of her hair would block the sight of what she intended to do.

  Slowly, she leaned down and licked the crown of his cock, flicking around the sensitive edge, then drawing him into her mouth. He groaned heavily as he watched her head move up and down, her lips pulling on him, her mouth sucking.

  He put his hand on her head, encouraging her and to some degree controlling her. She liked a certain amount of pressure and restraint. Her earthy garden scent was rich in his nostrils, adding to the pleasure.

  He slid his finger along her cheek and played with the feel of her lips on his cock, so that at times he touched his own cock and the wetness she left behind as she sucked.

  But again, he quickly reached a place where his balls tightened, so he pushed at her shoulder gently. “Wait.”

  She leaned back on her knees, still facing the mirror.

  He rose up, shifting positions until he was behind her. He surrounded her with his arms and held her for a moment, meeting her gaze in the mirror. “I love that you’re here with me.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Yolanthe guided her voyeur window around the couple, looking at Rachel first and lusting for her beautiful breasts, then panning to see Duncan from the side. She’d been so close to him for the past two weeks since having set up her powerful mind-link that she felt as though he was being unfaithful to her by coupling with Rachel. She even felt a little heart-achy.

  Foolishness, of course.

  She knew the couple was at Duncan’s lakeside house because she could see the lake. She wasn’t stupid.

  The problem was finding the actual Second Earth location within the Darkening Grid. It wasn’t a simple process. She had the grid operators hunting even now for a place to bust through, but it would take time. The darkening grid had tremendous potential, but Chustaffus had not invested nearly enough capital to get all the bugs worked out.

  While the operators worked on her behalf, she saw no reason why she shouldn’t engage in a little pleasure herself. Besides, she wanted to see what kind of skills the man had. It would make for a smoother transition when Duncan became her lover.

  She called for two of her favorite sex-slaves, a small woman and a very built, warrior-type male. When they arrived, she had them remove her clothes slowly, encouraging each to pet her and kiss her. They were well-trained and knew every erotic place on her body.

  All the while, she watched her voyeur window and enjoyed the sight of Duncan changing positions as he moved behind Rachel. He pressed his cock up and down her buttocks. Rachel’s wing-locks had begun to weep as well, one more sign the woman was thoroughly aroused.

  Moving to stand in front of a wall, Yolanthe planted her hands on the rust-and-marble tile for support. She commanded the woman first, “On your knees and I want a lot of tongue this time, not just suckling.”

  “Yes, Princess.”

  Yolanthe spread her legs and gasped as the small, feminine tongue began to play with her folds and make small dabs against her clitoris.

  She instructed the male slave to oil her anus and to use her well. As he obeyed and penetrated her with his fingers, the woman eased lower until her tongue was flicking over her opening. Yolanthe once more set her gaze on Duncan and Rachel.

  Duncan now had the woman laid out on her stomach, her legs spread wide, his tight, powerful buttocks and strong muscular back making her clench. How she wanted him.

  ~ ~ ~

  Rachel fingered the cool silk sheet as Duncan settled himself between her legs from behind. She was spread eagle, very vulnerable and loved it when he placed a hand firmly on her back. “You’re mine, Rachel.”

  That she couldn’t move, excited her. That he had control of her made her wing-locks weep even more. His cider scent intensified every sensation.

  “I’m going to suck on your back, Rachel. Would you like that?”

  “Yes.” The word came out hoarse.

  He’d moved the mirror up to her shoulder so that she could watch his tongue and his lips. She was breathing hard as he finally drew close to her upper left lock and swept his tongue the entire length. The locks were in rows all down her back and during wing-mount, each would release a gossamer web and a portion of feathers that joined together forming a mesh-based super-structure.

  But during sex, the locks leaked fluid creating another sensual, erotic layer. With his left hand, he caught the fluid and used it to massage all the sensitive locks. At the same time, he sucked on the first lock tonguing the aperture until she was gasping with pleasure. Getting to watch him in the mirror made her clench heavily and the sound he made with his mouth as he sucked brought her close to orgasm.

  Her hips rose and fell on the bed.

  With his hand still wet from the locks, he reached from behind and slid his fingers into her well. She groaned.

  He met her gaze in the mirror. “You’re close, aren’t you?”

  She nodded, her face sliding on the sheet. “Very.”

  “Then let me take you the distance right now.”

  He leaned down and began to suck heavily on her lock as he continued to drive his fingers in and out. She panted and cried out. “So close. Duncan, so close.”

  He moved faster and deeper with his fingers and just like that the first orgasm was on her. Pleasure gripped her and once more her cries filled the air. He kept sucking and whipping his fingers in and out, which drew the ecstasy on and on, her well pulsing in exquisite sensation.

  He only stopped when the last of her cries left her lips and she lay slack on the bed. “That was amazing.”

  He withdrew his fingers and kissed her back repeatedly. “I like making you come.”

  He stretched out on top of her, his cock rigid against her bottom. She could hardly wait to feel him inside her.

  ~ ~ ~

  Yolanthe moved her voyeur window to Duncan’s hips. She wanted a good look at his generous cock and as he rose and fell, not yet penetrating Rachel, she watched him stimulate her sex. She pulled the hair of the slave in front of her. “Faster.”

  To the man behind her. “I’m ready.” He pierced her anus with his cock this time and she gasped, then relaxed as he began to drive in and out.

  “Duncan,” Rachel said, “I have the oddest feeling we’re not alone.”

  Yolanthe chuckled. There were so many reasons she had to get rid of Rachel, her growing ability to perceive Yolanthe’s voyeur window being one of them.

  “Faster,” she commanded.

  ~ ~ ~

  Duncan took a moment to look around, to really sense his surroundings. “I don’t see anyone. I think we’re good.”

  He felt Rachel relax so he leaned down and kissed her neck once more. “I want to drink from your vein, Rachel.”

  “I’d love that, and I’ll take from yours at the same time.”

  He growled softly.

  He scooted back to give her room to turn over. As she rolled onto her back, her lips were swollen and her eyes dark with desire. Spreading her legs wide, she held out her arms. “Make love to me, Duncan. God, I’ve missed you, missed doing this with you.”

  Duncan’s chest felt tight as he looked down at Rachel, at her blond hair spread over the royal blue sheets just as he’d imagined, at her parted lips and her partially emerged fangs. She’d loved drinking him down in the past and she especially enjoyed piercing a vein at his groin. She wouldn’t be taking him low this time since they were ready to engage, but soon maybe.

  Before he did anything, however, he shifted to plant his arms on either side of her shoulders then kissed her. She slid her arms around his neck, cooing softly as he thrust his tongue in and out of her mouth.

  Duncan, she murmured telepathically.

  I love kissing you, he responded.

  He slowly let her feel his cock, lifting his hips and dragging the head over her landing strip then lower to tease her sex.

  Her body undulated as she wrapped her legs around him,
pulling him closer. He used his hand to position his cock, then began to push.

  She gasped and sighed with each thrust and each slow pull-back. He wasn’t sure, but for a moment, he felt as though he could feel her pleasure and what it felt like for her to have his cock inside her.

  The sensation revved him up. He kissed her again, rolling his hips, thrusting his tongue. He fondled her breasts, pinching her nipples in turn, which caused her to gasp and still he kissed her.

  He moved faster.

  Her arms snaked around his neck and she pulled him closer, her breasts pushing against his chest.

  Rachel, he sent softly.

  I’m here.

  He slid his lips along her cheek, then kissed a line down her throat.

  She moaned and writhed. “Do it, Duncan. God, how I’ve needed this.” He licked just above the vein, encouraging it to rise. She made short gasping sounds.

  His fangs descended and in a quick strike, he sank into her vein and her blood began to flow. But how different she tasted than before. Her blood had always been rich and satisfying, yet now she tasted of her garden, of everything bountiful in life, everything that was Rachel.

  His hips worked her at the same time that he suckled her vein, as he took what made him feel powerful and strong. He couldn’t believe Rachel was here, back in his life, in his bed, beneath his fangs.

  She tugged at his arm and he knew what she wanted. He lifted his wrist to her mouth. “I’m going to bite you, Duncan. Is that what you want?”

  Yes, he sent. Please, yes.

  Her sharp fangs sank into his wrist and sent a thrill that travelled straight to his cock. When she began to suck, the sound forced his hips to move faster still. They were joined, his cock to her well, and each set of lips sealed around life-giving punctures.

  Maybe it was the breh-hedden, or maybe it was just them, but his mind filled with a kind of euphoria he’d never known before.

  He moved faster still, all the while drinking from her neck. Her hand held his wrist steady as she suckled.

  I’m ready, Duncan.

  He knew what she meant. Me too.

  He didn’t let go of her throat as he pumped even faster. Suddenly, the orgasm began to fly through him, pulsing in brilliant flashes of profound pleasure so that he was grunting heavily as he came.

  She made rhythmic sounds against his wrist, never once pausing. But he could feel her ecstasy as he continued to drive, as the orgasm continued to pulse, as one lightning bolt of intense pleasure followed another.

  As Rachel released his wrist, he lifted off her throat at the same time and roared. The orgasm continued to drive the length of his cock on and on.

  Unbelievable.

  Was this the breh-hedden?

  Rachel screamed, holding onto his arms, her eyes wild, her body gyrating beneath his. Tears fell from her eyes. Her nails dug into his skin. Her body arched.

  And as if all had been a preamble, a finale of pleasure exploded one last time as another orgasm, more intense than before, rocketed through him.

  Without warning, suddenly his wings mounted and he was airborne, taking her with him. He worked his wings, supporting them midair. And still he pistoned into her as she screamed her ecstasy yet again.

  When the pleasure finally passed, Rachel looked at him. “Duncan, what happened? What was that?”

  He embraced her, still connected low and breathing hard. “I don’t know, but it was magnificent.” His wings undulated slowly, keeping them aloft.

  “It was. And your blood tasted of your spicy cider scent. Oh, Duncan, even lovemaking has changed for us. What does all of this mean?”

  Slowly, he lowered them onto the bed and let his wings cover them both, the upper arch of the feathers forming a private canopy above them.

  She withdrew her arm from around his neck and lightly ran her fingers over the soft feathers. “Your wings are bigger now.”

  “I know. And you’re right, everything has changed.”

  She held his gaze. He adjusted his vampire vision in order to see her better and knew she’d done the same. “You are so beautiful, Rachel. I don’t deserve you.”

  She caressed his face, leaning up to kiss him. “Do you think things can be different between us now?”

  The hopeful look on her face and the tenderness of the moment brought something from deep within rising up and it wasn’t good. He felt panicky and for a moment had trouble breathing. He tried to stay focused on her, but couldn’t.

  Rachel called it ‘building walls’.

  Maybe some things had changed, but others hadn’t, like how he felt about any kind of serious relationship with Rachel.

  His gaze skated past her eyes, to her hair, to the feathers of his wings, to anything but Rachel. “I’m sure it will all make sense in time.” Even his voice sounded dull.

  She caught his face with her hands, forcing him to look at her. “Duncan, don’t leave me. I can feel you drifting away, like you always have. Duncan, please don’t do this.”

  But there was nothing he could do as the familiar panic spread through his chest. His breathing hitched. She would leave him one day. She always left. Women left.

  He needed a way out. He couldn’t remain in this bed with Rachel.

  His mind shifted swiftly to the black ops team. There was so much to be done, battles to be fought, an even tougher war to win against Chustaffus, his minions, and the three generals.

  “Duncan, please. Don’t do this.” She gripped his shoulders hard now, trying to hold on.

  Her voice seemed so distant as he pulled out of her. “I have to get back to work. I need to contact my old squad, see if they want to join up. You remember Owen.” He was saying ridiculous things, blocking Rachel out, holding her at bay, like he always did.

  He leaned back and after three deep breaths, he drew his wings into his wing-locks.

  “I don’t give a fuck about Owen.”

  He glanced down at Rachel. She was angry. And that was typical as well.

  But her anger fired his. “I suppose you’re going to yell now, like you always do.”

  She sat up and began hitting his thighs with her fists. “You disappeared. You always disappear when we get close and I hate you for that.”

  Rachel was getting hysterical again. “And I hate it when you act like such a needy female.”

  ~ ~ ~

  His words finished the moment for Rachel, reminding her why she had broken up with him the last time and why she’d promised herself never to get involved with him again. She knew she wasn’t any such thing as a ‘needy female’. He’d used those words to hurt her so he could create the distance he needed to feel safe.

  He wouldn’t even look at her, and like at least a dozen times before, it was business as usual. He slid off the bed and headed into the bathroom. A moment later, the shower was running.

  She folded a washcloth into her hand from the bathroom and slid it between her legs.

  She was completely on her own. Again. Well, he’d just made all her decisions supremely easy. Like hell she was joining Luken’s black ops team or spending one more second working alongside Duncan.

  “Rachel?”

  “What?” she snapped, all out of patience.

  “Something’s wrong.”

  She moved into the bathroom, and found that he’d left the shower and was drying off. He looked really perplexed, worried.

  “What’s going on?” Though she hardly cared.

  “There’s a buzzing in my head.”

  “How unfortunate.” She moved past him, dropping the washcloth in the hamper. She turned one of the shower heads on to let the water warm up once more. She wrapped her hair up in a towel and hopped in, washing between her legs and everywhere else as though trying to get rid of the recent experience.

  She didn’t give a fuck that Duncan’s head was buzzing. She hoped it turned into a serious pain and stayed with him for a decade.

  He said nothing more.

  From her peripheral
, she watched Duncan finish toweling off and leave the bathroom.

  So what if he had a buzz.

  She’d like to give him a buzz, a deep painful one right in his crotch.

  She’d been so stupid. And even if it was the breh-hedden, the myth-that-wasn’t-a-myth had made one big-ass mistake this time.

  Suddenly, something didn’t seem right, didn’t feel right.

  She shut off the heads. “Duncan?”

  But there was no response.

  She extended her vampire hearing, letting it roam the entire house, but nothing returned to her. Oh, shit, had Duncan just been abducted?

  Leaving the shower, she toweled off quickly. Her heart slammed through the next several beats. She hurried into the bedroom and found Duncan lying prone on the floor, dressed in battle gear. His eyes, though open, stared at nothing in particular.

  “Oh, no.”

  Yolanthe had taken Duncan over again, because he was back in that horrible trance.

  The buzzing now made sense. If she hadn’t been so mad, maybe she could have helped him.

  And then things got worse, because she heard a familiar rumbling sound.

  Wreckers.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The soul

  Yields every answer.

  Collected Proverbs – Beatrice of Fourth

  Wreckers.

  Think.

  They were usually men.

  And she was naked.

  That was a good start.

  Mentally, she reached back to Apache Junction Two and the shooting range. She located the wrecking gun and a box of ammo. Holding out her hand, she folded each to her and with fingers that shook, she loaded both barrels.

  The rumbling got louder. She only had seconds.

  She slid the ammo beneath the bed, out of sight.

  Staying close to Duncan, she rose to her feet but held the wrecking gun behind her right thigh; sawed-off worked.

  The next moment, the wall that led into the living area of Duncan’s home exploded. She covered her face with her arm, but the initial break-through blast didn’t send shrapnel far. The second round would, though.