DarkInnocence (11 page)

I lifted on my tiptoes so we could touch our foreheads
together. I looked around at the blood and the dust.

“Can we go home now?” I asked.

“Absolutely.”

I got up and struggled to pull Dante to his feet. He leaned
his weight against me and almost sent me to the sprawling to the floor. At some
point, I’d lost my shoes. Together, we managed to make our way to the door even
if it did take several minutes longer than it should have.

“My pants, on the floor,” he pointed to a mass of black
fabric near the pole he’d been chained to. “Check the pocket. I had my cell on
me.”

I looked at the shredded remnants of cloth that must have
ripped apart when he’d shifted. I left him leaning against the wall and
searched through the debris. I found his pocket, pulled out a smooth, sleek
phone and gripped it to my chest as if it were the most precious thing in the
world.

The door to the warehouse creaked open and I froze. Dante
crossed the distance between us and shoved me behind him. One finger at a time
he readjusted his grip on the ax and then lifted it as if he were readying to
swing.

Ella’s dark head came into view. She swept the room, took in
the ash and the blood before looking to Dante.

“Hannah better be with you and she better be safe,” she demanded.

“She’s safe, no thanks to you,” Dante grumbled. “We could
have used your help, say, twenty minutes ago. What took you guys so long?”

I bolted out from behind Dante and ran into Ella’s arms. She
caught me and held me close. Over her shoulder, I saw Micah and Eli tuck their
guns into shoulder holsters. Eli, looking dangerous, lost and unhappy, hung
back. Micah rushed over to Dante and easily took his weight.

“How’d you find us?” I asked and pulled back to look down at
my sister.

“Eli spotted Dante’s truck on the side of the road, saw the
damage and called Micah. He called Castro, who in turn put out a GPS trace on
Dante’s cell. We got a location and here we are.” She blew out a breath and
looked me over from head to toe. “Holy crap, you’re covered in blood and you’re
still standing.”

Ella leaned forward, sniffed me. “Vampire.” She picked up my
arm and eyed the ugly red marks where I’d been strung up. Something cold and
dark filled her bright-blue eyes. “Who do I need to kill?”

“Already taken care of. His name was Cash Vladimir.” I
shuddered. “He was under the impression that if he turned me, I’d become a
queen. He didn’t seem to like Julian very much.”

“No one likes Julian very much.”

The boys came over to join us and I gave Eli a watery smile
from across the room. Two awkward seconds went by before he closed the distance
between us and pulled me into his arms. I rested my cheek against his chest and
inhaled. I met Dante’s eyes and smiled at the tender affection in his eyes.

I pulled away from Eli, sniffling. He wiped away my tears
and stepped back, a subtle gesture of acceptance. Dante took his place and slid
an arm around my waist.

“Holy crap,” Ella said and eyed my lover up, down, up and
then down again. “You’re naked.”

He shrugged. “Ripped my clothes when I shifted.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Micah said and pulled Ella against
him. They slid their arms around each other and as a complete unit, walked out
the door they’d just come through. Eli followed and behind them, Dante and I
took up the rear.

“I didn’t tell you the best part,” I said. “Well, it’s the
grossest part, but still…”

“Tell me,” Dante said, pressed his lips against my head and
didn’t seem in any hurry to remove them.

“I totally snapped Cash’s neck in the back seat of the car.
I didn’t kill him, but still…I did kill one of the other ones, his name was
James.”

The entire group froze and as one, turned to stare at me. I
grinned at the shocked expressions on their faces.

“The VAs weren’t working.”

“That’s badass,” Micah said.

“No shit?” Eli asked.

I nodded, felt quite proud of myself. I might have
nightmares about it for months, but it was a better alternative then replaying being
raped.

“Who knew you had it in you,” Ella said.

Dante grinned down at me. “I knew and I think it’s kinda
sexy.”

Eli chuckled. One-half of his mouth quirked up in the first
smile I’d seen from him in weeks. “You guys are all crazy.”

Ella ran her hand affectionately over his buzzed head.
“Takes one to know one.”

“That’s real mature, babe,” Micah laughed.

Despite the horrors of the night and lingering press of cold
lips I still felt crawling all over my skin, I felt free somehow. I’d overcome
something tonight. Proved to myself that I wasn’t a coward. That I could defend
myself. I’d fought back and won. Kind of. I turned, caught Dante’s grin and
gave him one of my own.

A warm, wet trail of moisture tickled the inside of my
thigh, slowly drawing me from a deep sleep. Another rasp, another bolt of
decadent sensation, each action amplified by the fact I wasn’t quite awake. I
hovered on the brink, an abyss where the only thing that mattered was the
wicked pleasure tightening my body.

“Time to wake up,” a deep voice murmured, pulled me from
sleep.

“Umm…not yet.” I wasn’t ready to give up my erotic dream, a
fantasy where Dante pressed two fingers inside my pussy and drew a moan of
bliss. In the dream, I was tied to his bed, helpless to stop him from ravishing
my body. Oh, and he may or may not have been wearing a cape.

The slow thrust and retreat between my legs drew another
gasp. Heat gathered in my lower stomach and the first stirrings of a climax
washed over me. My hips writhed, a silent plea for more. My sex clenched. So
close. I needed more.

In. Out. In. Out. The patient pace captured my breath. God,
how I ached. Restless, still on the cusp of sleep, I shifted my legs in an
attempt to alleviate the pulsating arousal. Something hot and pleasurable
fanned across my intimate parts, a breath of air, and then, another trail of
wet fire circled my throbbing clit.

My moan of ecstasy echoed in my fogged mind. Had any dream
ever felt this real? I spread my legs wider, wanting more of whatever my dream
lover was doing to me. I angled my pelvis, searching for more of the wet heat.
A languorous orgasm built from the depths of my core, pleasure coaxed by a
patient man who knew my body.

My eyes snapped open, sleep vanishing.

Between my spread legs, Dante looked up the line of my body,
his gaze glistening with both amusement and desire. “I was wondering how long
it would take before you woke up.”

I uncurled the fingers I’d buried in his hair. “You’re
supposed to be resting so your leg will heal. It’s only been a week since the
attack.” I detested the breathless notes in my voice.

He smirked. “Leg’s fine, it’s the one between my thighs that
hurts.” He gripped the outsides of my thighs and bent, slowly drew his tongue
between the wet folds of my sex.

I slammed my eyes closed and fisted the sheets. Seeing him
pleasure me was almost more of a turn-on than the sensations he created.

“Dante,” I gasped, meant his name to be chastising, but he
chose that moment to slam three fingers into my core, pull them out and pump
back inside. Hard. Quick. Exactly what I needed. My climax surged forward,
retreated and then came a little closer, almost near enough to grasp.

“So close,” he whispered. Another lick, another fast
penetration.

My pussy spasmed and I threw my head back on the cresting
waves of approaching pleasure.

“Best way to wake up, ever,” I moaned.

Slow, rolling laughter vibrated against my clit. Dante took
the small pearl into his mouth and sucked. My lips parted, closed and then
parted again, each time an inarticulate sound leaving me.

With one more quick lick, he withdrew the fingers he’d
buried inside me and stood. Already shirtless, the muscles in his arms and
stomach flexed when he pulled at the tie on his flannel pajama bottoms. He
kicked the cotton to the floor and fisted his proud erection. His penis was
thick and long, the slit in the center of the head already leaking with
excitement. The steel barbell shone in the light from the bedside lamp.

The veins along his shaft bulged, made me want to lean
forward and lick.

Drawing my lip between my teeth, my gaze never left the up-down
stroke of his hand over steely flesh. He pressed a knee to the bed, climbed
forward as if to mount me.

“Take out the piercing.”

“Hannah.”

I looked away from his cock and into his eyes. “I want all
of you, we’ve waited long enough.”

“You sure about this, babe? We don’t have to.”

My throbbing clit disagreed. “Oh, we have to. I need you
inside me, need your weight and your heat.” I drew my finger down the center of
my chest, made a slow circle along my belly button. “Make love to me.”

“We do this, you’re mine. You understand that?”

In answer, I sat up and grabbed his cock. He hissed as I
slowly unthreaded the metal ball on the stud and removed the jewelry. When he
held out his hand for the metal, I dropped it in his palm and looked up at him
with my lip between my teeth. Were we really, finally, going to do this?

In the nightstand, he exchanged the barbell for a gold foil
packet. Rolling the latex over his erection, he crawled up my body, pressed me
to the bed and cupped my cheek in one hand. His weight settled over me, hard
and heavy, and a sudden case of nerves jacked up my heartbeat.

This wouldn’t be like any of the other times I’d had sex.
This was Dante. My lion. My protector. My boyfriend. My best friend.

He bent his head to mine, licked my lower lip before
sweeping inside. I never had time to dwell on any building anxiety. In the next
instant, he pressed the tip of his cock at my entrance and thrust in to the
hilt.

I cried out and clutched his shoulders, tried to decide if
the way he stretched my body was delicious or painful. His cock felt impossibly
large inside me.

“Beautiful,” he groaned.

Gaze never leaving mine, he pulled his erection almost all
the way out and then quickly surged forward. I sucked in a sharp breath of air
at the pleasure ripping through me.

He lowered his body onto mine fully so we touched from groin
to chest. Dipping his head, he kissed me long and deep. My stomach tightened.
The muscles deep inside clenched around his erection, drawing a ragged moan
from his throat. Never in my life had sexual intimacy been like this. Tender,
hot, sweaty, breathless and wild.

“So…fucking…good,” he groaned and brought a hand under my
ass to hold me closer against him.

I anchored my legs around his waist and held him tight.
Wrapped in his embrace, nothing in the world mattered except him and me. The
retreat of his cock was unhurried, the rolling thrust forward measured. I knew
the slow tempo was his way of letting me get used to the size of him stretching
me to capacity.

He nibbled on my collarbone, pressed a kiss against my
shoulder. Each thrust came quicker, a little harder. Each plunge sent bolts of
sensation to the deepest parts of me. Lifting his torso off mine, he lowered
his head and licked an erect nipple. The sensation spiraled. Every rasp of his
tongue tightened my stomach and I clenched tighter around his cock. Teeth
scraped the tender bud and the pricks of pain so did it for me. From
hyperventilation, dark spots danced in front of my eyes.

“I think I might pass out,” I gasped, arching my hips to
meet the powerful driving force of his thrusts.

He chuckled, lifted his head from my breast. “Darlin’, we’re
just getting started.”

Dante slammed forward. My body rocked and pleasure spun my
nerve endings into a tight knot. My eyes fluttered shut and he did the quick,
hard rocking of his hips again. He worked my body with fast, deep stabs, the
gentleness of before a distant memory.

He gripped my face. “Look at me.”

When I did, a dark, dangerous possession filled his eyes. I
glimpsed the hazy outline of the lion pacing inside him. A low-level hum of
energy crackled the air. “Mine.”

At my silence, he threaded his hand through my hair and
fisted the tangled strands. He pulled my head until my chin tipped up in the
direction of the ceiling. Pain bloomed. The same pinpricks of pain sharpened
the rapture of him inside my body. He tightened his fist and my already erratic
breathing faltered.

“Yours,” I finally managed to say.

A satisfied smile curved his lips, and it matched the
possessive gleam in his gaze. The man and lion now one. “Bet your sweet ass you
are.”

Proving his words, he pounded into me at a speed not quite
human. Our flesh, slick with sweat, slapped together. He let go of my hair only
to draw my legs up until the backs of my thighs pressed against the coiling
muscles of his stomach and chest. Cupping my ass in one hand, he pressed in
deeper than I’d thought possible, as if this was the only time I’d been fucked
like I was meant to be. The pleasure honed, zeroing in and then sending out the
first tremors of orgasm.

He thrust again, and again. When something brushed against
my clit, I realized he held the base of his cock, his hand measuring each
thrust. Was he holding back? I glanced away from our joined bodies to look at
him. Tension held his shoulders stiff. The same tension clenched his jaw and
sealed his eyes shut.

I wanted more, wanted all of him.

“Don’t you dare hold back,” I said, the fierce growl in my
voice surprising us both.

His lids snapped open. Tawny eyes stared down at me.

“You have no idea what you’re asking for.” He let go of his
cock, plunged just a little deeper.

My breath caught at the immediate pierce of pleasurable
pain. He pushed the thick length of his erection all the way in again, slow and
deep. I opened for him. Internal contractions milked his cock, pulling him in
and seating him so deep he became part of me.

“Oh fuck,” he cursed. “Are you absolutely sure about this? I
don’t want to hurt you.”

“Fuck me, Dante.”

He growled, lifted his lip enough that I could see the sharp
point of his feline canines. “One day I’m gonna marry you.”

No longer restrained, tension left his body and smoothed the
lines on his chiseled face. Immediately I sensed the calming of his beast. He’d
been holding back. This time, when he pounded inside, the heavy weight of his
balls slapped my ass. The tip of his cock hit the mouth of my cervix, pressed
deeper.

An unexpected climax stole my breath and blackened my
vision. My body heated, tensed, and muscles spasmed. Wave after wave of
pleasure rocketed through my entire being. Dante’s hands tightened on my
thighs. He let loose with a feral growl, the sound sending shivers across my
arms.

He pushed forward, quickening his thrusts, the glide of his
cock in and out seamless. The headboard slammed against the wall. Shuddering,
his body tensed and he pulled out. Dante flipped me onto my stomach. Hands on
my hips, he lifted me onto my knees and stuck my ass into the air.

“You have the prettiest pussy I’ve ever seen.” He traced the
folds of my exposed sex with his finger. “Pink and wet.” He pressed a digit
inside, drew it out. “And, Christ, you’re tight. You have no idea how good you
smell.”

I turned my head over my shoulder, lost myself at the hungry
look in his gaze. His eyes were dark, full of possession and knowledge. He knew
exactly what I needed.

My heart beat faster, anxiety gripping me. Would he leave me
one day like my mom, my dad? Already an addict, I couldn’t stomach the thought
of another man’s weight on top of me, shoving into me. Dante had ruined me.

He draped his body over my back, the soft hair on his thighs
and stomach tickling my skin and blanking my mind. Where we touched, a thin
layer of sweat surfaced. He gathered my hair, moving the strands off my neck.
Teeth scraped the newly exposed skin and had my back arching, my ass rubbing
against his arousal.

He drew his mouth across my flesh. The heat and weight of
his body gradually lessened with the trailing of his tongue down the center of
my spine. My back bowed, a needy bending as if I were a cat in heat. He slid
his hand up my back. Cupping my shoulder, he brought my pussy flush with the
hard ridge of his cock. He didn’t enter me, not yet. Hand pressed against the
back of my neck, he pushed my head down, demanding submission.

The tip of his erection teased back and forth across my
entrance, gathering lubrication. Hard, quick and without warning, he thrust
into the depths of me. I screamed. He held me still and pumped without
restraint.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Our skin slapped together. Every thrust sent me spiraling
closer to the edge.

“Too hard?” he grunted against my ear.

I shivered. “No.”

“Good.” Sitting back, changing the angle of penetration, he
gripped my hips and pulled my body onto his shaft.

Stars danced, the pleasure numbing my toes, but still it
wasn’t enough.

“More,” I cried out, tried to speed his pace by rocking
against him.

He would have none of it. Holding me still, his teeth found
the back of my neck, clamped down. I cried out, the surge of pain intoxicating.
His growl rolled over my skin, drawing goose bumps. Pinpricks of sharp,
skin-piercing pain gathered at my nape where canines broke flesh. I lifted my
head and a warm trail of liquid rolled down the indent of my spine to heighten
my arousal.

His tongue scraped my skin, cleaning me. “One day I’m going
to come deep inside you,” he whispered against my ear, making me tremble.

Dante reached around me, found my sensitive nipple and
plucked. My body’s response was immediate. I cried out, my sob of relief no
longer trapped. The orgasm slammed into me and left me broken. When I would
have collapsed to the bed, Dante held me safe, anchored me and pounded into me
faster.

He dominated my body, taking what he wanted and leaving me
to reap the benefit of one rolling orgasm after another. His cock grew larger,
the head expanding to notch inside.

The hard ridge of his enlarged erection pressed against a
spot untouched, rubbed and triggered an orgasm with the force of a tsunami.
Swollen and not able to pull out, Dante kept on making love to me. The tips of
his fingers lengthened into claws where he held my hips.

The pleasure was too much, my breath too uneven. Darkness
danced in my eyes. His shallow thrusts forced me into one long orgasm. Dante
pulled my torso up until my back pressed against his chest and my head rested
on his shoulder. His mouth found my neck, bit down. He bucked into my body with
quick, short strokes as he found his own release.