Carnal (Her Dark Desires #1) (18 page)

The
D.P.I. brought by several photos of all the hybrids on campus, none of whom I
recognized as Damien or the creature that had attacked me in the bunker.
Sighing in frustration, I slumped on the couch with my head in my hands.

Hector
rubbed my back soothingly. “Don’t worry. We’ll find him.”

“But
what if we never do? How can you find someone that can disappear without a
trace whenever he feels like it?”

“You
have patience and wait for him to slip up. All criminals do eventually.”

I
didn’t voice the sinking sensation in my chest, like a lead weight was dropping
farther into my stomach with each passing day Damien roamed free. Add to that
the helpful assurance the D.P.I. was “looking into it,” and I was all but ready
to pull my hair out.

To
keep myself distracted, I took to training as much as possible. The moves that
had felt awkward and foolish at first became surer, quicker.

One
day, Hector and I were in his office, facing off in a light sparing match. I
feinted, then hauled a punch at Hector’s head, which he narrowly dodged.
“Nice!” he said. “That feint was excellent. You’re learning to control your
facial cues now. You don’t glance to the side when you’re faking anymore.”

I
grinned. “Maybe I’ll actually knock you to the floor this time.”

He
smiled back, but it wasn’t arrogant. It was sensual, like everything he did.
“Let’s not get cocky.”

A
loud knock at the door signaled our lunch break, right at noon. Panting and
dabbing away my sweat-soaked body with a towel, I swiped up a bottle of water
and took several long gulps while Hector toweled off. “Wait here,” he said,
then vanished. A moment later, he returned with a big smile on his face. “I
have a surprise for you.”

“What
kind of surprise?” I asked, then my eyes widened as I spotted who was behind
him.

Angela
smiled as I wrapped her up in a hug. “Oh!” I said, hastily stepping back.
“Sorry about that. I’m drenched. It’s probably gross.”

“No
prob,” she said, waving it off. “I’m just glad I finally get to see you. No one
knew what to think. We all thought the worse, though Megan speculated you’d
eloped with Hector.”

Hector
choked on a drink of water and coughed to clear his throat, while I laughed
nervously. “Don’t be ridiculous!”

Hector’s
face flushed with an adorable blush, and he said, “I’ll leave you to eat. Lunch
should be here any minute.”

I
smiled at him.
Thank you, Hector.

Right
on time, sandwiches and potato salad from the kitchen arrived, and Angela and I
sat down in Hector’s dining room to eat. “This place is pretty swanky,” she
said, giving the place an appreciative once-over.

“He
knows how to decorate,” I said, nibbling on my sandwich without much of an
appetite. It had disappeared the night I almost died.

Angela
studied me with concern. “Do you need anything? It sucks I don’t get to see you
anymore, but I understand why Hector is as protective as he is.”

I
flushed. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Angela
smiled softly. “You don’t have to hide your true feelings for him around me. I
see the way you two look at one another, not to mention there’s something… I
don’t know, something in the air that feels different when you two are
together.”

I
furrowed my brows, my hairs standing up on end. The notion of soul mates still
seemed a little unbelievable, yet I couldn’t deny how wonderful it was at the
same time. “Being with him is the only time I really feel safe,” I whispered.
“My life has been turned upside-down. I can’t go anywhere alone. I’m not
allowed to talk to anyone or visit with anyone or even come down to eat. I have
to train exclusively with Hector, since he is my assigned guardian. Being with
him is incredible, a dream come true, but it’s like being stuck in a cage. I
want out.”

Angela
reached over and squeezed my hand. “This will pass. Don’t worry.”

“How
much do you know, about what happened?”

She
shook her head. “Not much. They’re keeping whatever happened a week ago under
tight wraps. All I know is someone - or something dangerous - broke into the
school and tried to attack you and Hector.”

Looking
into Angela’s eyes, I knew she could be trusted. It felt right to tell her, so
I did. I started with the alley, then worked my way up to the bunker, leaving
out the, ahem, R-rated moments that had passed between Hector and me.

Angela
had gone pale by the time I finished. “So it’s true. There really is a killer
on the loose here.”

I
set down my sandwich, knowing I wasn’t going to eat it with my stomach so full
of butterflies. “We don’t know for sure that thing is tied with the murders.”
Though the way it had ripped apart those guards was much the same as Damien had
done to that vampire.

I
shivered, suddenly cold.

Angela
and I didn’t talk much after that, each of us too worried to think up engaging
conversation. When Hector came back, I said goodbye to my friend with another
hug, and sank down onto the couch. “I want her to have guards,” I said, looking
at Hector. “I’m worried Damien will try to attack her to get at me. I can’t
risk her life.”

He
raised a brow. “I’ll have it arranged.” The cushion sank as he sat down beside
me. “Did you enjoy your visit?”

I
nodded and pressed the back of his hand to my lips. “Very much. Thank you.”

“You’re
welcome.” His eyes softened. “It won’t always be like this, all this hiding.”

I
swallowed hard. “I hope not.”

He
watched me a moment longer, then grinned. “Though you know, while we’re alone,
I can think of a few ways to stave off the sting of loneliness.”

“Oh?”
I asked, cheering up. “Like what?”

“Well,
seeing as I’m still sweaty from our workout earlier, I thought I might take a
bath.”

“You
don’t like baths.”

“I
do now.”

I
yelped in surprise as he hoisted me into his arms and whisked me away to the
bathroom, my clothes flying off before he’d shut the door.

AN
ENTIRE THREE MONTHS PASSED without incident. Hector had even taken me for my
second and third field observations. Of course, we were accompanied by guards,
and I was terrified we were going to run into Damien, but it never happened. Little
by little, I looked over my shoulder a bit less, and things started to return
to normal. Well, as normal as things could get in a reform school for wayward
paranormals.

I
was allowed to return to the dining hall, so long as guards accompanied me at
all times. At first, conversation was stiff between Angela’s group and myself,
and people stared an awful lot, but gradually they relaxed around me. I hadn’t
realized how much I’d needed this, to be surrounded by people, until I’d been
alone for three months straight.

Hector
and I trained relentlessly. As I got stronger and faster, I begged him to bump
up my sessions. He relented, and we started training of a morning, afternoon,
and of an evening before bath time. That’s right - we had bath time every
night, where we’d lounge in a tangle of limbs in a bubble-ridden tub, talking
and laughing and pretending like the rest of the world didn’t exist.

I
hadn’t noticed it until Hector declared me fit enough to take out into the city
one day, but I knew as I followed him into the sex shop, I was head-over-heels
smitten. And not just smitten - I was
gone
, as Monique would have said.
I wished I could have told her about our relationship, but I was still too
afraid to share it for fear people would find out, and Hector and I would be
punished. Angela had kept her mouth shut, and I was thankful to have her to
talk to, particularly about my growing need to be closer to Hector.

“Maybe
you need to get aggressive,” she told me one day while we were eating snacks
between her class and my workout session. “You know,
you
seduce
him
.”

I
gulped, nearly choking on my water. “I’m not sure I can do that.” Hector and I
had done a lot of cognitive therapy when it came to my aversion to seduction.
And while I did feel more confident, the thought of initiating the act still
made me a little nervous.

She
grinned. “You’re a fox. You got this.”

I
smiled back.

That
conversation came to the forefront of my mind as Hector and I walked through
Cupid’s Closet, a premier sex toy shop in downtown Kansas City. He was one of
their models and spokespeople, so he was here on business and wanted me to
learn the ropes. Only three guards had come with us this time, all men, and
they couldn’t hide their blushes as they reluctantly followed us in the store.

I
giggled, just happy to be allowed out and about somewhere that wasn’t within a
ten mile radius of Elysian.

Besides,
I was curious about this place. I’d never been in a sex shop before, having
ordered my vibrator online because I was too chicken to go in person to pick
one up. Even now, I felt myself growing warm as I looked at the cuffs, gels,
costumes, and other accessories, and an excited tingle shot through my core.

After
Hector made a pit stop at the counter to chat-up the manager about business
dealings, I started for the door when Hector took my hand and pulled me in a
different direction.

I
arched a brow. “Where are we going? I thought you had to get back to Elysian
for a faculty meeting.”

“They
can wait.” A mischievous - and I dare say, carnal - glint sparked in his eyes,
making me tremble. He stopped in an aisle away from the windows, in a secluded
corner toward the back of the store. “What do you think?” he asked, gesturing
to the rows of clitoris-stimulating toys.

I
eyed them, speechless for a moment as I read the labels. I hadn’t realized
there were so many variations. “Um, they, uh, look interesting.”

“Interesting.”

“Yeah.
Interesting.”

He
plucked a small plastic package from the shelf and without preamble, opened the
package.

My
mouth flopped open. “Hey, you can’t do that! You haven’t paid for it.”

“Consider
it already paid for,” he said, a smug smile pulling at his lips as he removed
the small vibrator within. “Here. See what you think.”

Giving
him a dirty look, I took it. Its surface had almost a velvety texture, and
gentle bumps covered the tip. “It’s so small.”

“That’s
why it’s called a bullet model. Care to try it on for size?”

My
eyes nearly bugged out of my head. “In here? Right now?”

“Right
now,” he said, almost like a dare.

I
stared at Hector. “You want me to masturbate. In public.”

“That’s
what I had in mind,” he said huskily.

At
the thought of it, my heart started pounding.
Be bold
. Finally, I
shrugged. “Why the hell not?”

Looking
him in the eyes, I attached the vibrator to my thumb via the strap and
discreetly lowered my hand down my skirt. The lacey outline of my thong touched
my fingertips, and my breath caught as my hand dove lower, and the vibrator
grazed my throbbing clitoris.

I
stood there, breath held, afraid to move. This was so outside the norm of what
I’d do, despite being a “whore of the Underworld.”

Hector
gently took me and turned me around so my back was to him. He wrapped his arms
around me, like we were a couple just browsing, and pressed a kiss to my neck.
“Turn it on,” he whispered.

I
swallowed hard and flicked the switch.

A
sharp gasp. Shoots of fire and electricity blazing through me, all concentrated
at that small nub. I moaned softly, and Hector pressed me against him, holding
me to him. “Stroke yourself,” he whispered, nipping at my ear.

I
obeyed, a puppet on strings. My breathing quickened in time to each stroke,
driving me closer to climax as I felt the energy tumble and coil, gathering in
an explosive ball at the center of my core.

“Faster,”
he breathed.

I
rubbed harder and quicker, barely aware of my surroundings, of the people
walking the aisles around us and the drone of the store music.

“I
want you to fuck yourself, Sally,” he whispered in my ear. “Think about what
pleases you most.”

What
pleases me most…

I
began rocking my hips a little, giving extra friction against the tiny
vibrating nub. I ran myself over it, up and down, as I stoked, increasing the
pressure. My breathing came in quick pants as my heart raced, making my blood
hot and my panties wetter.

I
imagined the way Hector had licked me the other night, how that felt. Slipping
my hand further into my pants, I dipped my fingertips into my slick, hot folds.

“That’s
it,” Hector whispered. “Loose yourself.”

No
problem – I was already gone. I forgot where I was, what I was doing.
Everything fell away as I focused on pleasuring myself, of increasing those
sweet, sharp shoots of ecstasy begging to be released throughout my body.