Darkness Unbound

  “It feels the same once you’re on the dance floor,” I said, then pointed. “Your changing room is over there. I’ll meet you out on the dance floor.”

  “Don’t start without me.”

  I grinned. “If you’re not there on time, I most certainly will.”

  He laughed and strolled casually toward the men’s changing room. I headed for the ladies’, storing my clothes, keys, and purse in a locker before scanning in my prints to lock it and then heading back out.

  I paused on the steps heading down to the main floor, looking for any sign of Lucian. There was a sea of brown and black hair out there, interspersed with red, but no gold. He hadn’t come out of the changing rooms yet.

  Grinning, I headed down. Closer to the dance floor, the sensual beat of the music was accompanied by grunts of pleasure and the slap of flesh against flesh. Desire quickened and my breath caught. I should have come here sooner. Zane might be a safe and passionate partner, but there were plenty of others here willing—and more than able—to fulfill my need.

  I began making my way into the crowd. The press of flesh made my skin tingle with excitement, and my already erratic heart raced that much harder. I danced, I flirted, and I quickly caught the attention of a brown wolf—a big-shouldered, hard-bodied man a few inches taller than myself.

  We danced, and while it was both playful and sensual, it was also very much an erotic foreplay. We teased each other, sharing caresses, kisses, pressing our bodies close and enjoying the slide of flesh against flesh.

  I sensed Lucian before I saw him. The heat of him wrapped around me—a touch more electric than the caresses of the brown wolf. Then his hands slid around my waist and he cupped my breasts, his touch teasing, playful. He pressed me back against him, his body like steel against my spine, his erection pressing teasingly between the cheeks of my rear. Little flash fires of desire skittered across my already overheated skin, and I half expected him to herd me away from the wolf. Instead, he pressed me closer, until I was the meat inside a sandwich of two sexy, hard-muscled men.

  And oh, it was good.

  We continued to dance, the wolf’s touch roaming across my hips and down between my legs, teasing my clit and sending waves of pleasure spiraling through my body. Lucian’s clever fingers teased and pinched my nipples, his breath warm against my neck and ear, the kisses he dropped across my shoulders and neck as sensual as his touch. And his touch had me melting.

  All around us people danced and made love, and the smell of sex was so fierce it was almost liquid. We danced some more, played some more, teasing and tasting, nipping and kissing one another, until the need that pulsed among the three of us became all-consuming.

  Just when I thought I could stand no more, Lucian’s hands slid from my breasts to my hips, forcing me to bend forward, then holding me steady as he entered from behind. It felt so damn good I groaned.

  In this position, I took the wolf’s rigid shaft in my mouth, teasing his head with my tongue, then moving down his shaft, exploring his length before my lips touched him, drawing him deeper into my mouth. I timed my movements with Lucian’s, and savored the sensations flowing through me—the growing fierceness of hunger and need coming from the two men to either side of me. Waves of pleasure rippled my skin, their power increasing as our movements became fiercer, harder, until pleasure was a molten force that would not be denied. Then my orgasm ripped through me, temporarily stilling my movements as it spun me over the abyss and into that space of pure and utter bliss. A heartbeat later the two men came, Lucian inside me and the wolf in my mouth, until all three of us were replete and satisfied.

  I rose, kissed the wolf, then stepped back into Lucian’s embrace.

  “Not a bad opener,” he murmured, kissing my shoulder softly before adding, “Thanks, friend.”

  The wolf nodded and spun away, pressing himself thicker into the throng of flesh and desire. Lucian’s fingers slid down to mine, then he tugged me forward, away from the press of flesh and toward one of the privacy rooms.

  “Do they have private showers in this place?” He looked over his shoulder at me, the hunger in his expression making my pulse skip several beats.

  “No showers—other than those in the changing rooms—but there’s a spa room down at the end.”

  “That’ll do nicely.”

  His pace quickened as if he couldn’t get there fast enough. I trotted along after him, anticipation swirling.

  The room itself was on the small side, meaning the kidney-shaped spa dominated the space, filling the air with its aromatic scent. They didn’t chlorinate the water here, as the smell tended to be too strong for many wolves. Instead, they’d installed huge rainwater-collection tanks under the building, and the spa was fully flushed and the water replaced every time the room was vacated.

  He locked the door behind us, and the spa automatically came on, bubbling away merrily.

  “I have to say,” I said, rinsing my mouth out with the thoughtfully provided mouthwash before stepping into the spa, “I was a little surprised that you allowed that wolf to dance with us. I had you figured for the jealous type.”

  “Hardly.” He slid into the spa, his skin a gleaming gold in the soft lighting. He swam over to me, grabbed my hands, and pulled me toward him. “You forget how old I am. Let’s just say that I’ve indulged in more than my fair share of threesomes and orgies. They can be quite an erotic experience.”

  I smiled and wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling myself onto his lap as he sat down. The thick hardness of him settled between my legs but didn’t enter. I rocked back and forth, teasing him, teasing myself, as I placed gentle kisses on his chest and neck, then worked my way up to his lips and claimed them.

  “It was hardly a threesome,” I said after a few minutes. “The poor fellow never actually fucked me.”

  “But your mouth can do amazing things. I know this for a fact.”

  I said, “Do you want me to work magic with my mouth right at this moment? Because it’s a little hard in the water.”

  He slid his hands down to my hips and lifted me slightly, shifting on the seat so that, when I came back down, his cock speared me. “It most certainly is,” he said, a devilish smile teasing his lips and crinkling the corners of his eyes. “But I’d much prefer you to work magic with your body.”

  So I did. And then he returned the favor tenfold. It still didn’t match the power of his kiss, but it blew away every other lover I’d ever had, and that was more than enough for me.

  All in all, it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

  “God,” I said, looking at the clock discreetly placed near the door. The one that said it was four forty-five. “I’m going to be horribly late if I don’t get moving.”

  “Hmmmm,” he said, his concentration obviously more on the foot he was kneading than what I was actually saying.

  Not that I was objecting, mind.

  Although it was just as well we’d moved from the spa room to the jungle room an hour ago, because my foot—and the rest of me—would have resembled a prune by now.

  But as much as I knew I had to go, I still had a reason to stay—a reason beyond the teasing, erotic sensations being caused by the light caress of his fingers.

  “Do you know why a couple of Razan would be living in the city?”

  He looked at me. “Are there Razan living in Melbourne?”

  “Two of the men who attacked me wore the Razan tattoo, and one of them was apparently a half-Aedh.”

  “Half-Aedh rarely become Razan.”

  “Even if they don’t have Aedh powers?”

  “Many half-breeds don’t get Aedh powers.” He began kneading my foot again. “And few of them ever have such depth of power that they feel fully Aedh, like you do.”

  “Which doesn’t preclude the possibility that a half-breed could become Razan.”

  “That is true.” His touch moved up my leg, his fingers light against my skin.

  I licked my lips, the need to ask m
y questions warring with the need to just lie back and enjoy. “So, to repeat the question, why would there be Razan in the city?”

  He shrugged. “Their master could be here. I have met no other full Aedh as yet, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.”

  “So if these Razan are coming after me,” I said, my breath hitching a little as his fingers caressed the inside of my thigh, “then it’s because their master has ordered them to?”

  “They never do anything without their master’s consent,” he agreed, his expression distracted as his fingers brushed the junction between my legs.

  “Is there any way you could perhaps trace them back to their master?”

  He shrugged. “It’s possible. As I said, I have met no other full Aedh as yet, but there are ways and means of finding them. If you give me their descriptions, I’ll try to find who owns them. No promises of success, though.”

  “But you’ve more chance of succeeding than I do. And I really need to know who these people are, because they keep—”

  He moved with lightning speed, straddling my body and kissing me fiercely.

  “Darling girl,” he said, after a long and glorious kiss, “you talk entirely too much.”

  “But I need answers,” I said, resisting his attempts to lay me back on the lush green grass that carpeted the jungle room. “And I’m going to be late for work.”

  “Oh, you’re going to be very late,” he murmured, and kissed me again.

  The fight in me quickly fled, as did all thoughts of work.

  And he was right. I was very late for work.

  The place was packed by the time I got there. Thursday nights were always busy, with wolves getting into party mode and gearing up for a weekend of fun and games at the nearby clubs. After dumping my stuff in the upstairs locker room, I began pitching in, going wherever I was needed, be it helping to serve at the bar, clearing tables, or carting food out to patrons.

  The time slipped by quickly and, before I knew it, it was after midnight. As the girls on the next shift came in, I tugged off my apron and headed into the kitchen. Tao was scraping the grill clean, getting it ready for the next chef.

  He looked up as I entered, his eyes tired but his smile wide. “That was a great night.”

  “Yeah. I think you made Mrs. Lisborne’s week by giving her that peck on the cheek. It was all she could talk about for the next half hour.”

  He chuckled softly. “And next week, she’ll bring in more of her friends to show off her pet chef.”

  I grinned, even though she probably would do just that. The old dear had a crush a mile high on our brown wolf—and if she’d been any younger, she would have made a serious play for him. “I’ve got to go to my meeting. If I’m not back—or don’t ring—by three, come looking for me.”

  The laughter faded from his expression. “Where is the meeting happening?”

  “Sandpiper’s Inn, Charles Street, Seddon. I was warned to come alone, so don’t even think of following me. We need answers, Tao, and this may be the best way of getting them.”

  “If it is your father who left the message, and not the idiots who have been hassling you …”

  I didn’t answer that, simply because there was no answer. The reality was, it could be a trap. There was no saying that the notes and the Dušan had come from the same person, even if the packaging was similar.

  “Did you manage to find out who delivered the packages?”

  He screwed up his nose. “Yes and no. The same man delivered the parcel and the letter, but we checked the name listed on his ID tag with the company, and they’ve never heard of him. Stane’s using his image to run a license check through the Vic Roads computers and see if he can grab a match. But again, it could take a while.”

  I sighed. “No surprise there. It seems to be the pattern with this case.”

  “Yeah.” He hesitated. “Ilianna said to be careful. She reckons the shit surrounding us is on the rise, and it’ll splatter all over you if you’re not extra cautious.”

  I laughed softly. She did have a wonderful way with words. “Did she manage to get hold of her mom?”

  “Dinner is arranged for tomorrow night. Carwyn is on the menu.” He grinned. “She’s forwarded a copy of the writing in the Dušan’s book, and has asked her mom if it’s possible to translate it.”

  I hoped it could be, because I really needed to know what it said. Not that I didn’t trust Azriel; it was just that I had a suspicion he wasn’t telling me everything. About the book, about the Dušan, and about this whole situation.

  I glanced at the clock and sighed again. “I’d better go, or else I’ll be late.” I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “See you at three.”

  He touched my cheek lightly, his warm chocolate eyes filled with concern. “Make sure that you do.”

  I smiled and headed up the back stairs to the locker area, grabbing my things before heading out. I’d parked in the Blue Moon’s underground lot rather than our restaurant’s parking area, not only because there’d be more people about but because security patrolled twenty-four/seven. Most of the Moon’s patrons were well behaved, but in any crowd there was always that one small group of folk who got their kicks out of causing trouble or destroying other people’s property. Or, in my case, putting bugs on vehicles.

  By the time I got over to Seddon it was beginning to rain, making the streets slick and the night even more miserable. The Sandpiper’s Inn was situated in the center strip of shops, and there was a FOR LEASE sign out front. The bricks had been painted a dark red, the door and window frames were a gaudy faded gold, and the tattered remains of a swag valence decorated the inside of one of them. It reminded me more of a brothel than a restaurant.

  There were no lights on, and no indication that anyone had been near the place for months. I drove on past, found a side street, then cruised into the lane behind the restaurant. I parked, then turned to study the rear of the building.

  It wasn’t any more attractive from this angle. There were several windows, but each one was covered by rusting security bars and the glass behind them was smashed. Water poured from the corroded spouting and the wind tugged at the loose sheeting on the roof, filling the night with an eerie creaking.

  I shivered, shoved my hands into my pockets, and tried to ignore the whisper that said I should have taken Tao up on his offer. I would have felt safer with him at my back.

  I studied the back door. Like the windows, it was barred, but the metal around the lock was twisted and the door was slightly ajar. Another shiver stole across my body. Whoever had done that to the security door had been extremely strong. I just had to hope he or she wasn’t still in there.

  But the night was clear of any scent other than the rain and the nearby trash cans. If there were shifters—or worse—nearby, then they’d used something to erase their smell.

  I licked my lips and forced my feet forward. I paused at the door, one hand on the metal as I flared my nostrils, searching for any hint that something—or someone—was inside.

  Again, there was nothing.

  I released a shuddering breath, then carefully opened the door. The room beyond was small and dark, and smelled of piss and decay. I stepped inside, my nose wrinkling as I waited for my eyes to adjust to the deeper darkness of the room.

  There was dirt and garbage everywhere. Boxes of trash were piled up in one corner, while in the other was an old industrial washing machine that obviously held laundry long forgotten, if the smell was anything to go by.

  I stepped through another door and found myself in a kitchen. The trash was thicker here, and the scent of decaying food matter was interspersed with rancid oil and urine. I had a suspicion the cause was either cats or possums. It had more of an animal tang than a human one.

  I walked carefully through the mess and found a set of swinging doors at the far end. I had no sense that there was anyone waiting beyond these doors, and the only sound to be heard was the howl of the wind and the creak of loose roofi
ng.

  I flexed my fingers, then carefully pushed through into the next room. The light from the street filtered in through the dusty windows, creating two strips of brightness beyond which the shadows gathered. A few chairs and tables were stacked up along one wall, and along the other were a small reception desk and bar area. Beyond that, the room was empty. It also smelled a whole lot better.

  I glanced at my watch. It was five past one, so whoever was supposed to meet me here was either delayed or not coming. The latter wouldn’t actually surprise me, given everything else that had gone wrong of late.

  I walked around the room, keeping to the shadows and away from the squares of light. I stopped near one of the windows, which gave me a good view of both the kitchen door and the front door, and also gave me an exit—the window—if I needed it.

  After another five minutes, an odd sense of awareness stole over me. I’d heard no one approach—no one beyond the occasional pedestrian on the pavement outside—and the air remained clear of any scent other than the overripe smells drifting out from the other rooms. But in the midst of all that came a wash of heat. Not body heat, but rather the heat of a powerful presence. There was an Aedh close by, and he was in spirit form rather than physical.

  I licked my lips, then said softly, “I know you’re here. Show yourself.”

  “That is not possible,” came the measured, cultured reply. It whispered around me, familiar in a weird sort of way.

  Because it sounded like me. A male version of me.

  My pulse quickened. “Who are you?”

  “You know who I am. You can feel it.”

  “I can feel an Aedh. Of more than that, I can’t be certain.” I paused, then added, “After all, it’s not like I’ve ever had any interaction with the man whose seed gave me life.”

  “Under normal circumstances, you would not be interacting with me now. But these are far from normal circumstances.”

  “Yeah, you’re trying to permanently close the gates between the light and the dark path, and thereby bring about the destruction of life as we know it.”

  He paused, and a sense of surprise rolled across the darkness. I wished he’d show himself, because I really did want to see the man who was my father. But I guess I could also understand caution. He had no more idea of whether he could trust me than I did of him.