Dark Caress (The Fallen) (2 page)

“You are?” Amber asked.

The Fallen looked flustered for a moment. She was the only thing that now stood between her and the meeting with the leader of the Fallen, Kane. Amber wasn’t sure what had caused the reaction. Amber had only asked her name.

“Kane says I’ve given him too much advice over the years. He started calling me Advice years ago, but that was too long. So now he just calls me Vice.”

Vice’s dagger sharp heels dug into the glossy floor. She was
an alluring creature. They all were. She stopped in front of Amber.

“It stings.”

Vice brought her cupped hand to her lips. Golden dust clung to the long lines of her palm. She blew. Dust flew before Amber’s nose striking like a can of Aqua Net in the eyes.

Amber swore through the rough wave of ache. Blindness tumbled over in seconds. Sting didn’t even begin to describe the throbbing needle sensations. Her eyes watered. She sucked in air like that would make it all better.
Wrong.

“Wait here.”

Like she could go anywhere?
Her vision clouded, and then winked out. She was now blind. Part of her most sacred empathic side was now shut down. Amber closed her eyes and centered her breathing, focusing on her vow of tranquility. Elementals used their vows to stay in harmony with their environment. An Elemental’s vows were decided upon when their powers fully developed. It was Amber’s grandmother who had walked with her through the ceremony.

Beyond the wa
lls, she heard the sounds of another fight getting underway. A bell rang, and the crowd erupted. Cheers vibrated the floor, the walls. She moved restlessly around the room. She’d seen the stripper poles and the elaborate vintage bar. The room was made for infinite night and infinite seduction.

Kane was royalty. Amber was just a plain Jane from
Charleston, South Carolina, with a seven year career in law enforcement under her belt. She had just made detective a few months ago. Life was exactly the way she wanted it to be. Like most cops, she was married to her career. A pang of longing for more crept into her heart when she thought about the number of hours she put in. Deep down she knew she wasn’t truly happy. She was an Elemental who didn’t fit in a human world. She was an Elemental who didn’t fit anywhere.

Amber’s senses began to h
um. She took a breath and held it.

He was coming in
, and all she wanted to do was run away. For the love of God, she was a hot mess. She ran a hand through her long hair, trying to fix it. Amber rolled her eyes. She was pathetic.

The click
of the door opening signaled the leader of the Fallen, Kane’s, arrival. Despite her blindness, Amber sensed the light as it swirled around darkened forms. The leader of the Fallen was backlit by the lights coming in through the doorway. The door shut, taking the light. Despite her blindness, she kept her eyes defiantly open.

“You blinded her?”

“I wanted to be sure,” Vice said.

To Amber’s Elemental s
ide he was a dangerous seduction she couldn’t indulge. She sensed an entourage of three vampire warriors following behind. Amber focused on her other senses to glean what she could.

Tingles tickled her skin. She felt his gaze move from the top of her head to her heels and then back up again. Another shift in the darkness brought Amber’s head around. Amber tuned her empathic ability to the mood of the room. The three vampire warriors were watching her
closely. Amusement undulated off of them. Instinctively, she knew they were taking bets on who would make the first move and lose.

“Do you know who I am?”

A shudder danced down Amber’s spine, knocking each one of her vertebrae together. Only a Fallen sounded like a smooth, dark, forbidden piece of chocolate. The illicit kind, laced and imported from Eastern Europe. A bittersweet chocolate that would keep her tongue busy all night. There was sadness in the Fallen leader’s voice. What was the cause?

Amber felt her heart open. She didn’t want to feel compassion for this vampire. “I’ve heard some things about you.”

“Have you now?” he asked.

“
I know you have rein over The Holy City.”

“Yes, I do.”

“The crime rate sucks though. You might want to do something about that,” Amber said.

“Our burglary rate is low.”

The corner of Amber’s mouth ticked up. “The murder rate is way higher than the national average.”

“Are you saying that’s my fault?” he asked.

“Maybe.”

Va
mpires didn’t like being played with. He circled close. Every muscle in her body locked. Amber became very aware of his big, brooding height. Sorrow lingered in the way he moved. He was lonely. As an Elemental living in a human world, Amber knew all about loneliness. There were days she’d trade being an Elemental for the ability to live in ignorant bliss the way humans did.

“Leave us.”

Amber heard movement as the other vampires dematerialized from the room.. Amber focused on their auras. Dark energy twisted up from their feet.

They were alone.

Power undulated in spicy waves off his
body. She’d be a fool not to acknowledge how seductive he was to her Elemental side. She just might willingly jump out of a plane with no parachute, if he promised that he’d catch her before she hit the ground. Then again, at one time, she had been stupid when it came to all forms of men, even the Fallen warrior kind.

Amber
felt her heart rate spike as she sensed him moving closer. She was shocked that she wanted to get closer to him. Anticipation juiced her muscles for playing a game of sexual tag. A healthy dose of fear coursed through her body, quick and hot, but she ignored it. She was disappointed when he moved farther away. She wanted him closer as they spoke.

“I want to apologize for the fight.”

Amber heard a clink as a glass was set on the bar, followed by the swish of liquid being poured. She even heard the alcohol pass over his lips and down his throat.

“
You don’t need to apologize.”

“I’d like to make it up to you.”

He was smooth, and she was blind. “I want to see you.”

“
I can’t. I’m sorry. It’s for your safety. You cannot see me until I know for sure that you are the one.”

“The one?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She heard the catch of sadness
and longing in his voice when he started to speak. Her heart hammered. She could feel his erotic stare burning into the soft layers of her skin. Several long seconds slipped away. “Then I guess you won’t be able to make tonight up to me.”

She walked around the room as though she could see, putting one of the stripper poles between them. She leaned a cool hand against it for balance
. Amber let her empathic side reach out and caress his aura. As an Elemental she could read the emotional pathways of others. She quieted her breathing, listened to the way his body hummed. There was risk in letting her empathic side play, but she didn’t care. She stroked her hand up and down the pole.

Amber turned her head, listening to Kane’s movements.
The leader of the Fallen was a seduction she couldn’t indulge.
What if he offered and she said yes?

He stepped closer
, and she refused to step back. His silk shirt brushed her dress, and his heat, his breath, mingled with hers. She could almost taste the expensive bourbon on his breath.

“You’re not afraid
of me?”

Again, unhappiness lingered in his words. She wanted to know what circumstance kept him caged
. She felt breathless as their lips brushed. Amber lifted her hands to his jaw, seeing with her hands. “No.”

No, nothing about him was frightening. Kane put his hand on the back of her neck, edging her closer until nothing but slippery silk was between them.
Oh. My.

Amber couldn’t fight the sexual tension that was sparking between them. She wanted to feel all that
delicious body touching hers. She froze when his lips lingered at the top of her ear.

“Why are you not afraid of me?
” he asked.

“I fear no one.”

“Not even the Fallen you fought in the cage?”

Amber thought about the warrior. “No.”

Amber twisted her hands into the silk. There was hard, contoured muscle beneath her fingertips. She teased the tips of her fingers between the breaks between the buttons of his shirt. Why would the leader of the Fallen want her when he could have anyone of his choosing? For a split second, she considered running from him but knew she couldn’t run far or fast enough. It was then that she knew this vampire would ruin her for all men.

“
Have me, Elemental. I need you.”

Only a Fallen would use such familiarity. Centuries of conflict between the Fallen and Elementals made them instant enemies. Her heart beat wildly. Fear coursed through her blood, hot and quick.
He was serious. He wanted her.

She tried to calm her racing he
art.
Two of his warm fingers slid over her throat, and she was shocked to feel the adrenaline previously racing like a runaway train, calm. Amber didn’t dare move, but her body shuddered with quiet tremors. She knew he was different. He was the one she’d always been waiting for.

“I can’t.”

“I want you,” Kane said.

“You can’t have me.”

She turned away, but he snapped her around with a hand on her arm. Amber’s breasts struck his hard muscled chest. She gasped as desire coursed through her body, weakening her knees.

“I know you desire me.”

A shot of lust made her pussy flutter and her nipples harden. The Fallen tilted up her chin so that her mouth was positioned for him. His thumb rubbed across her lower lip, parting them. She wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him. Just once. She wanted to taste him.

Amber shifted her hips against his,
unintentionally brushing her pussy over his hardened cock. A shot of lust made her heady with desire. It’d been so long since she had anyone want to touch her.

He groaned.

“Why do want me?” she asked.

He didn’t answer.

The Fallen picked her up, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his hips. Amber twined her arms around his head, ignoring the alarm of warning in her head. She tilted up her neck as she offered her throbbing pulse.

Amber loved the feel of him between her legs.
“We shouldn’t do this.”

His mouth brushed over hers. “I will tell you what we should and shouldn’t do. You will
enjoy obeying me.”

“Will I?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

“You want what I have.”

He turned her back up against what felt like the bar. His hands crushed over her breasts as his mouth licked over the pulse in her throat. He kissed and sucked, scrapping his teeth over her neck. His fingers found her nipples to give them an erotic twist until her pussy pulsated with pent
-up frustration.

Amber threaded her hands into his hair, drawing his mouth down to her. “Kiss me
.”

He
cursed as she licked her tongue over his full, manly lips. They were both breathing hard as his mouth dropped to hers. Amber drew her hand around his neck, loving the feel of their lips moving together. Kane’s tongue forced his way into her mouth, dominating in a way no man had ever dared. She felt exposed and vulnerable when he kissed her. She rubbed her hips against the throbbing bulge between her legs. He moaned as her pussy touched the outline of his cock through his pants.

K
ane broke his mouth away. “I didn’t mean to take this so far with you. I’m sorry to push you.”

She wanted to be pushed by him.

Energy shot through her body and down to her pussy. She cried out as an orgasm stole her breath away. Wetness pulsated over her pussy. Kane held her tight as she bucked against his hard cock. His hands tightened into her ass as she came down from the wild ride.
What the hell just happened?

Amber could feel her vision clearing. The deep black that kept her from seeing Kane clearly, lightened to gray. He eased her down to her shaky feet.

“You should go. My driver will take you home.”

A flutter of sexual desire shot between her legs, twined with the pulsating urge to obey his command. Obedience was not a vow she lived by
, but her body was now willing to do anything. She wanted to stay. She wanted to know what he looked like.

“I want to see you.”

“Not yet. It’s not time.”

Amber shook as he willed her away. She had no choice. She pivoted and strode from the room.

****Kane needed a drink.

He went behind the bar as Amber left. His hungry eyes lingered on her tight ass as she left the room.
She was unique. Special. Kane felt a surge of male appreciation at knowing that an Elemental came to him without hesitation, with no fear. The kiss had been unexpected and so unlike him. That gave him pause. He shouldn’t have tasted her, but he had. Now, he had to live with all the frustrating consequences.