A Hunger for Darkness (11 page)

“It doesn’t have to be this way. I don’t understand your problem. We shouldn’t be fighting, what do you have in common with these weak humans?” Gabriel nodded to the nearby body of a security guard. “They are food and entertainment, nothing more.”

“We are nothing more than parasites, an abomination that must be wiped out,” Connor said with his eyes still on Kenzi. She glanced to him and saw the toe of one of his boots twitch.

“We are the apex predators of this world!” Gabriel screamed. “Do the wolves hide from the sheep? We deserve to rule them by natural right.”

Kenzi turned slightly, looking for Katerina, and saw her still holding her arm close to her broken ribs.

“Whatever.” Kenzi shrugged and caught Connor’s eye, who was mouthing something to her.

Kenzi made out what he was trying to say
– one
.

“Really? You’ll let me kill you both because you are trying to protect your food? We all need the same thing to survive; their blood.” Gabriel continued to push the point of his spear against Connor’s back.

Two-
Connor mouthed silently.

Kenzi leaned forward, preparing to spring.

“The Elder Ones hide in their burrows in South America while we can destroy human power before it is too late, I… ”

Three.

Connor gathered his legs and threw himself backwards, against the spear, which sank deep into his side. Connor reached behind and grabbed the shaft, even as it tore into him and held it down as Gabriel tried to yank it free.

With a savage cry, Kenzi flew over Connor, her fingers talons at Gabriel’s throat. The shock of her impact drove Gabriel back, and he released the spear.

Gabriel gripped Kenzi, attempting to throw her clear of him, but her fingers had sunk into the older vampire’s neck. His strength was incredible, but she tightened her grasp and felt her nails tear through skin. Gabriel brought his arms up inside Kenzi’s, knocking her arms away. He caught her wrists and forced them behind her.

Kenzi fought fiercely, kicking out against his legs, driving her knee into his groin. Gabriel’s grip merely grew stronger, until Kenzi thought her wrists would snap under the unrelenting pressure. The vampire grinned as he began to draw Kenzi in, his fangs exposed.

“Remember this? It’s just like the night we met,” Gabriel laughed as he brought his mouth to Kenzi’s neck.

In the next moment Gabriel was screaming, and pushed Kenzi away so violently she pitched backward to the ground. Above her, Kenzi watched the spear that had just been lodged in Connor pierce Gabriel, emerging from his chest through his heart. The vampire clawed and jumped, behind him Connor held the shaft with grim determination, blood streaming from his own wounds.

Gabriel’s efforts grew weaker. His eyes bored into Kenzi’s with malevolent rage. His mouth gaped soundlessly before the face grew slack and darkened as the rapid decomposition began. In moments he began to look like a crumbling husk.

Connor began to topple, and Kenzi reached him as he sagged. Holding him up, they scanned the cavern together. Katerina was nowhere to be seen.

“We’re waiting, come on out,” Connor called into the darkness.

A heavily armed group emerged from behind several columns. Crossbows and assault rifles bristled from at least a dozen men and women, all trained on the surviving vampires. The team stood silently, and Kenzi recognized their faces. She straightened, and felt Connor attempting to stand taller as well, as though they were both determined to face the end unbowed.

A tall figure stepped to the front. Joshua strode with martial dignity until he stood before Connor and Kenzi. They looked calmly back at him for a long moment.

Joshua looked back over his shoulder. “Stand down.”

Slowly, with reluctant expressions, the team lowered their weapons.

“This isn’t peace, just a truce. Take advantage of it tonight, I make no promises for tomorrow.” With that, Joshua stepped aside, his face a tight mask.

“Did you get Kat?” Kenzi watched Joshua’s face, afraid of the answer.

“Not yet, but we’ll find her,” Joshua answered.

“You’ll catch hell for letting us go,” Kenzi warned.

Joshua stared back, and didn’t reply.

Kenzi couldn’t read the expression, but nodded, and she and Connor made their way back into the darkness, and the waiting tunnel.

Chapter Twenty
-One

Kenzi assisted Connor into a basement apartment on the opposite side of Manhattan from the one he’d abandoned. It shared the same minimalist aesthetic as the one they’d left. A few furnishings and not much else.

“I like it, below ground and no danger of sunlight. How many of these places do you have?” Kenzi asked, breaking the long silence of their journey.

“I have places in many cities, a vampire needs to have options when he’s on the run,” Connor grimaced a little as Kenzi lowered him to a leather sofa that was the twin of the one left behind.

“Just how do you afford all of this? I never thought to ask how vampires make money.” Kenzi paced the room.

“For one thing, there is the miracle of compounding interest. Put a little money in the bank, wait a century and see it grow.” Connor leaned back and relaxed into the soft cushions, his face still streaked with the dust of their battle underground. “It also helps to take the money of your enemies when you kill them.”

Kenzi found the bathroom and splashed cool water in her face, wiping the grime from her features and hands. Letting her hair out of its ponytail, she shook it free and allowed the tension to begin to ease from her shoulders. She longed to relax, the thrill of the fight was slow to leave her.

Connor was standing on his own, gently stretching his back by twisting from side to side. Kenzi stepped around him to find a chair where she could remove her boots.

“I’m sorry.” Connor’s face was a study in sorrow, deep lines made prominent in the amber glow of the a few old floor lamps in the corners.

Kenzi looked away, and sat silently, as though waiting for more.

“I was arrogant and wrong to think you needed a mentor, and I was foolish not to be honest with you from the start. I’ve forgotten what it is to have a partner, and that was what you should have been all along. You were stronger than I gave you credit for.” As if the effort of the words exhausted him, Connor sank again to the sofa.

“You weren’t wrong, at least, not completely. I needed help to figure out this whole feeding thing, and I needed a guide to introduce me to my new life.” Kenzi drew a deep breath. “I would have destroyed myself if not for you, not to mentioned dying in the park without you. I am grateful now that you saved me.”

Kenzi stood and paced in front of Conner, her bare feet enjoying the soft rug covering the cold concrete.

“It doesn’t mean I’m not still pissed over the way you tried to manipulate me. You should have told me earlier that you were the one to turn me.”

Connor sighed. “You’re right. I was too caught up in my war against Gabriel.”

“Our war,” Kenzi corrected him, and stopped her pacing to stand in front of him.

“Our war.” Connor nodded. “What can I do to make this right?”

“I want your blood.” Kenzi’s crossed her arms as she spoke. “I want more power if I’m going to continue this fight.”

“Are you sure?” Connor studied her without expression. “This will make your hunger worse.”

“I’m ready, if you will continue to teach me to control it, as your partner.”

Connor stood and took her hand. “You are a warrior in your own right, and I should have respected that from the start. I have only my own fear to blame.”

A puzzled look passed quickly across Kenzi’s face. “Fear of what?”

“You touched on it once before. After losing Rebekah I’ve been reluctant to take on a partner. I’ve been afraid to grow too…attached.” Connor looked away, and Kenzi saw an expression that looked like shame etched on his features.

Catching his face, she turned it to hers. “It’s too late to worry about that know. We’re partners.”

Connor led her to the platform at the end of the room that help a large bed. “I’m ready to give you what you deserve if you’re sure you want it.” He stripped off his shirt and climbed on to the soft surface.

Kenzi noted the angry red scar on his spine, and another, smaller one just under his ribs.. She touched them gently.

“Are you strong enough to give me your blood now?” Kenzi sat next to him as he rolled to his back, the broad muscles of his chest beneath her hand.

Connor smiled, and with it was an expression Kenzi had not seen from him yet; open joy.

“I will be healed properly by tomorrow, and then we will pay a visit to some of the rest of Maksim’s organization. There is no need to fear for me, just go easy.”

Kenzi laughed, “I never thought I’d hear that from you.”

Their eyes met, and an unspoken understanding passed between them, along with acceptance. Kenzi unzipped the tight jacket she’d worn into combat, revealing the dark tank top underneath. She pulled the arrowhead pendant free and let it hang as she crawled over Connor, who extended his arm to let her in beside him.

Leaning his head back, Connor exposed his throat in a gesture so trusting Kenzi stopped for a moment to commit it to memory. She caressed his chest as she moved close, kissing his neck once before placing the arrowhead in her teeth. His scent filled her nostrils as she bent to him; a rich, warm musk. With a quick movement she tore the skin, and plunged the stone deep.

Connor shuddered once, and then relaxed as she spat the pendant and began to suck at the wound. Unlike the sweet richness of human blood, Connor’s vampire blood had a more complex flavor. It raced across her tongue like dark alcohol, and a tingling warmth began to grow in her throat and stomach.

Pulling her to him tightly, Connor held her to him like a lover, and Kenzi reached around his neck, let her fingers trace the hard line of his jaw. The fire within her was building more slowly this time, the heat in her stomach spreading softly, filling every part of her with a gentle ecstasy.

Kenzi let her fingers trail down the line of Connor’s throat to the center of his chest, and as though her hand had a mind of its own, across the firm muscles of his abdomen. She shifted herself partially on top of him, her thigh riding over his as she sought to find a way to get closer. The heat in her began to grow, and she felt it began to pool in her core and chest. Connor gathered her in his arms, as he began to feel her mouth pulling more insistently at the wound on his neck.

A soft moan escaped Kenzi as she felt the fever in her begin to build, the sweet lethargy fading as a fiercer desire took over. She wanted nothing more than to let this feeling go on forever, the blood had ceased to feel like liquid, and had become almost pure energy pulsing through her, confusing her body with sensations of heat, cold, arousal and hunger.

Connor began to pull away, and Kenzi tightened her grip, desperate to keep the power flowing into her. Finally Connor gripped her hair, twisting it in his fist to tear her mouth from him. The torrent of wild desire threatened to consume her, until she opened her eyes to see his, bright green and fired by lust gazing into hers. Without a word he brought his lips to hers, and she opened to allow him to taste his own blood in her mouth.

A new fire blazed forth in her, as Connor rolled to his side in front of Kenzi. Without breaking the kiss, he reached for her, pulling her body to his. His hand reached the small of her back, and slid upwards until it met the bottom of her tank top and slipped beneath it.

Kenzi broke the kiss and leaned away, meeting Connor’s eyes. Pushing him gently backward, she straddled him, and pulled the tank top free. Connor smiled as he studied her, his eyes tracing her form. He reached up and cupped a breast, gently squeezing a nipple between this thumb and forefinger.

Connor pulled her down and their mouths met in another kiss, this one more urgent. They rolled until Connor was now on top, and he took his kisses lower, tracing the line of her neck to her collarbone until he plunged lower again, pausing to take each nipple in his mouth in turn.

These sensations, so long denied, almost brought Kenzi to tears. She arched her back, and held Connor’s head to her breasts as she savored the moment, despite the wild need for more. With skilled fingers, Connor undid her belt and unfastened the combat pants Kenzi wore. She moaned as his mouth left her flesh, but she was eager to raise her hips as he slid her pants down her legs.

Connor stood long enough to undress, and Kenzi watched with fevered eyes as he revealed himself. His muscles rippled beneath his skin as he crawled like a beast of prey back to her.

Kenzi grabbed for his hard length and stroked it once, bringing a sharp gasp from Connor. She brought it to her own sex, heated and slick in anticipation, and held it there.

“Don’t make me wait for this,” Connor breathed. “I’ve wanted this so long.”

Kenzi smiled, her own arousal breaking the last of her restraint as she opened herself to him. With a quick thrust he filled her, and her head fell back, teeth bared as she arched up to meet him. Her hips met his, frantic for contact as she wrapped her legs around him. Her fingers became talons, digging into his back, his hips, anywhere she could reach, to spur him to thrust harder.

With a strength she didn’t know she had, Kenzi flipped their bodies, riding Connor almost violently. Their eyes met, and she watched the green fire in his, knowing her hazel eyes would be glowing equally. Connor reached for her, alternately cupping her breasts and pinching at her sensitive nipples, before letting his right hand slid across her stomach, allowing a thumb to play on the center of her desire.

Finally, Kenzi felt the waves of pleasure beginning to crest in her. Both desperate for release, and wanting this electricity to go on without end, she felt herself being torn apart. Her lips parted, moaning loudly as she leaned back, she felt herself reach the point of no return. Connor sat up, wrapping his arms around her as he reached his own finale. As they stopped moving, Kenzi leaned forward, and their lips met in a long, slow kiss.

When it was finally over; after they had sated themselves in each other, their bodies intertwined, the day finally claimed them in its uninterrupted sleep.