A Wicked Hunger (Creatures of Darkness 1) (32 page)

He now belonged to Cora.

Cora lay under Mason’s quivering body gasping for air and trying to regain a sense of equilibrium. She was dizzy from the overdose of pleasure that had accompanied his carnal taking.

“Did I harm you?” he asked next to her ear. He was hunched over, clutching her to him, his breaths as harsh as her own.

She ran her fingernails through the dark hair at his nape. “No, but I’m sure I’ll have trouble walking for a while after that.”

He exhaled as his form relaxed. His lips come down over the spot where he’d bitten her. The action was so tender she almost couldn’t stand it. She’d never before felt emotions like the ones rolling off him now. They were so raw, so piercing; she didn’t know what to make of it. The sheer magnitude of them was frightening.

As if she’d known how to do it all along, she slammed a mental barrier down between them. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to experience his feelings. It’s just that it was almost more than she could bear. Crushingly so. The excessive intensity threatened to tear her apart from the inside.

Mace didn’t appear to notice her blockade. Good. She wasn’t ready to discuss the extremeness of what was happening between them. It was all too much too soon. She’d met him not even two full months ago.

Exhaustion crept over her, and she yawned.

As if she’d issued an order, Mace rose and then lifted her in his arms to carry her to their room. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, taking in his scent and daring to admit one thing to herself: judging by the budding strength of her feelings for Mace, one thing was certain….

She had never really loved Winston.

After Mace tucked her into bed, he collapsed beside her and soon began a slow rhythmic breathing. How was it men could always fall asleep so quickly?

She watched him for a long while, running her gaze along the perfectly sculpted planes of his face, his hard, yet tender-to-the-touch lips. He really was a stunning specimen of masculinity.
My stunning specimen of masculinity
.

She didn’t bother to fight the small grin that slipped over her mouth. Her eyelids drooped.

Before she closed them completely, a dark movement brought her attention to the foot of the bed.

The shadowy figure was back.

Only this time, it was slightly more visible, more solidified. The edges were no longer a misty tempest, but a vaguely blurred outline in the shape of a human.

Stabbing fear had her freezing into place, her body stiffening. Her mind flailed frantically when she realized it wasn’t fear that rendered her motionless, but something else. Flat on her back, she couldn’t move. She couldn’t even use her lungs to scream, only to breathe.

The darkness crawled over her, creeping like an intelligent creature, hovering inches from her impossibly wide eyes. Though she surveyed nothing but a dark vortex of tightly packed mist, she got the horrific impression that it was looking back at her…and smiling.

If Mace sensed her terror, it wasn’t enough to wake him. Was her wall still up?

The apparition closed in. Icy air surrounded her, coating her lungs with a layer of frost. When she exhaled, condensation wafted out in a tiny cloud, dissipating swiftly. The dark creature sank lower, till it lightly brushed her skin, and then sank farther still, past her flesh, into her heart, her mind. The pressure wasn’t painful, but it was distressing as hell. Like being compressed to death with no ability to stop it, and yet not feeling a thing. The specter breached her very essence, invading, shoving her consciousness into a dark corner somewhere deep inside and effortlessly locking her there.

Her surge of unmitigated hysteria was the very antithesis of her body’s calming reaction. Her heart slowed to its normal speed, her tense limbs eased against her will.

Then, without her approval, she sat up. Her feet slipped over the edge of the mattress, landing softly on carpet. Next, her body eased out from under the covers, taking care not to disturb Mace, before skulking into the hallway and down the stairs.

Cora squirmed in protest when she realized where her hijacker was taking her.
No, no, no. Are you crazy?

If whoever was now in control heard her, they didn’t respond.

The panel opened. She entered the darkened cavern moments before the torches burst to life. Her hijacker didn’t slow, heading straight for the fissure that marked the entrance.

When she stepped through, into the vast complex, with its confining square rooms and oppressive low ceilings, there was no rush of adrenaline, no choking anxiety…because she no longer ruled her body. There was, however, a sense of giddiness that didn’t belong to her.

Although she wanted to deny the horrid suspicion, she couldn’t quite manage in the face of the familiar path being taken.
You can’t go there. He’ll kill me!

Her feet continued with swift, sure steps, and her plea went ignored. She struggled to regain authority over her actions, to push the overpowering consciousness out of her mind. It worked only to exhaust her, causing her to lose even more control.

When her hand reached for the metal door barricade, she screamed
No!

She thought her body flinched, but it did nothing to keep her hand from sliding that heavy bar to the right and tugging the door open with much more ease than she’d been able to before.

Knox sat up on the cot in nearly the same position as before, only this time it was as if he’d been caught off guard by the visit. It appeared to take him a moment to realize she was alone. When he did, his expression became a mixture of roguish interest and leery suspicion.

Cora expected him to do something: make another conjugal visit comment, move to attack, or merely shove right past her to freedom. The opportunity had to be too good to pass up. But he did none of those things. He only tilted his head and studied her with an ever narrowing gaze. Could he somehow tell she was different?

In a throaty seductive voice Cora had never before utilized, she heard herself speak. “Hello, Knoxy.” Then, to her horror, she leaned against the door frame flirtatiously.

Knox grinned then, the expression triumphant. “Hello,
Sadira.”

Sadira
?

Still smiling, Knox stood and took long strides toward her. Whereas Cora was flooded by a keen sense of warning,
Sadira fluttered with anticipation, and therefore Cora’s heart pounded with fervid anticipation instead of a dire need to escape.

Cora made one final appeal to this
Sadira.
Run! He’s dangerous!
But whoever Sadira was, she still wasn’t listening. She sauntered to meet Knox halfway, her body moving like a well-seasoned seductress.

Cora saw the clenched fist coming miles before
Sadira did. And just before hard knuckles knocked into her forehead with impeccable speed and precision, she felt Sadira’s utter surprise.

In the seconds it took for the blow to shut down Cora’s mind, she managed a succession of thoughts. First was a string of curses aimed at
Sadira. The second was a wish for Mace not to find her mangled body. She wasn’t sure what something like that might do to him. Hopefully Knox could back up his earlier and disturbing boast.
No one would have ever found the body
.

She thought of her parents next, wondering if she might see them on the other side, if she might finally get some answers, or better yet, some peace. The last, as she accepted her fate, was a tranquil goodbye to a life that, at best, had been tough; at worst, punishment for a crime she had no memory of committing.

But it was over now. Of that she had no doubt.

Just before she
dove face first into the hard concrete, Knox caught hold of her listless body and lifted her in his arms.

Her vision dimmed as a terrible blackness consumed her.

———

Don’t worry fans, Cora’s journey is just beginning. There’s a lot more in store for her. I have a lot of juicy twists planned for the series and all the characters in it. Stick with me because it’s only going to get better.

For news about the next book in the Creatures of Darkness series, sign up to Kiersten Fay’s newsletter at

www.kierstenfay.com

Other books by Kiersten Fay:

Demon Possession

Demon Slave

Demon Retribution

Demon Untamed

About

Kiersten Fay is the author of the steamy paranormal romance Shadow Quest series and Creatures of Darkness series.  Like many authors, she loves creating new worlds with brooding alpha males and strong, yet
vulnerable, female leads.

In 2012, she received a nominated for favorite author of 2012 via gravetells.com, and that same year, won Favorite Story of August for Demon Retribution, the third book in her Shadow Quest series. Before becoming an author, Kiersten worked as a graphic designer, and now enjoys designing her own book covers.

To learn more about Kiersten Fay, or to get info about upcoming release dates, go to

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