Night Fall on Dark Mountain (5 page)

Pia rolled her eyes and glared. “And he never wanted Darcy harmed. Don’t let your grief cloud your judgment.”

When the collar loosened, Max grabbed it and flung it to the ground, and then rose swiftly to his feet. “I’ll go to them. I’ll tell them what I know.
My clan
isn’t involved. But they may be persuaded to use their ties with other groups to find the wolves responsible for tonight’s attack.”

“And what then?” Joe asked, his mouth twisted in a sneer. “Will they be punished for what they did? They were only warring with the enemy.”

“They killed a pregnant
human
woman,” Max gritted out.

“Leave before morning,” Navarro said, still combing through Sidney’s hair as her eyes blinked dreamily. “Joe will accompany you. Dylan stays here.”

“No! With the chip on his shoulder,” Max said, jerking his chin toward Joe, “he’ll be dead the moment we step into
were
territory.”

Pia clasped Max’s hand. “I’ll go, too.”

“No, Pia,” Navarro murmured. “You remain in the compound—incentive for Max’s return.”

“You think you need a hostage?” Pia asked, her brows lowering.

Max squeezed her hand. “I agree with Navarro. I want you safe.”

Pia snorted and tried to tug away her hand. “Stop the macho horse shit.” She turned to Navarro. “You’re sending the two of them off alone? They’ll kill each other.”

“They will cooperate,” Navarro said in the same level tone.

“I won’t leave Lily,” Joe said, glaring daggers at Max. “They may come back for her.”

“You will leave her,” Navarro said, his voice growing clipped. “I’ll personally watch over her. Her children are precious to us.”

Lily’s lips pouted, her expression growing mutinous. “Our children aren’t anyone’s business but our own.”

“You bred with a vampire,” Navarro said, his unblinking gaze swinging to Joe’s wife, “an act unheard of for centuries. You have invited scrutiny.”

“This is nuts. We’re just people,” Lily said, struggling to rise from the sofa. “Okay, so you’re dead people. But we didn’t know we were starting the next Armageddon.”

Navarro’s mouth held the ghost of a smile. “Joe, your wife will get along famously with Sidney—when she fully wakes.”

Sidney’s lips curved into an answering smile, but her eyes dipped closed.

Joe sighed. “I’ll do what I have to. If it makes us safer, and if I can find the wolf that killed Darcy, I’ll be satisfied.” He rounded on Max and tossed the silver chain at his feet. “But I’m sticking to you like a flea on a dog’s ass.”

Navarro shook his head. “Don’t kill each other until this mission is done. You have use of my jet. Pack and say your farewells.”

*

Max followed Pia,
crowding her from behind into the room, not allowing her a moment to regroup before he was on her, pressing his aching cock against her sweet ass.

He rucked up her skirt, reaching beneath for the sliver of silk shielding her pussy. “Baby, I can’t wait. I have to be inside you now.”

“Hurry,” Pia sobbed.

He tore away her underwear and pushed her face down, bent over the mattress. “Open up, baby.” Smoothing his hand over her naked backside, over the soft globes of her ass and between, he kneed apart her thighs. “I need you higher.”

Pia moaned and knelt on the edge of the mattress, widening her legs, letting him see everything he craved to cram himself deep inside. She sobbed and her head sank to the bed. “Hurry please, Max.”

He unzipped his jeans, and from one breath to the next, slid inside her melting warmth. “Goddamn, Pia,” he said, his voice harsh. He stood over her, one arm braced on the mattress, as he pressed inside, shoving past muscles already constricting and pulsing with arousal, massaging his shaft until he was ready to blow. He cursed. “Gotta slow down.”

“Do, and I swear you’ll be sorry.” Her voice was thin and high.

He grunted, unable to tell her everything he felt. “Been hearing a lot of that lately,” he grumbled, glad to be alive, and thanking God he had one more night with this woman. He withdrew partway and slid back inside, setting the rhythm of their upward climb, sharp and fast.

“That’s better. Oooh, just like that!” Now, her voice was urgent, crooning.

His thighs slapped her bottom and upper thighs, harder, louder, and he bent over her, surging in powerful glides that rocked her body. He reached beneath her and palmed a breast, wanting to connect with her every way he could, cock, body, soul. Hell, if he could climb inside her he wouldn’t be close enough. He never wanted to leave.

He squeezed her breast, grunting again when she squealed and slammed backward, her cunt clamping hard around his cock.

He couldn’t hold back a second longer.

“Now, Max, I’m coming now!”

He growled and pounded into her, his strokes so powerful she toppled from her knees. He followed her, hammering faster, climbing onto the mattress, dragging her up by the waist to hold her where he needed her.

Pia’s hands fisted in the coverlet, and she writhed, her face pressed into the mattress, her breaths coming in short gusts with each stroke.

When the moment came, his orgasm swept over him like a dark wave, blinding him and sucking the air from his lungs. Come gushed, emptying his balls, flooding her channel with the salty spray of his release. He bit her shoulder to anchor himself until the storm passed.

For long moments afterward, he continued to rock against her, loath to see their joining end.
So little time left.

“Max,” Pia whispered.

He murmured and kissed the indentations he’d left on her shoulder.

“Max, you’ll come back for me, won’t you?”

He stilled, his arm tightening around her waist. Knowing the vampires’ penchant for bugging rooms, he kept his response cryptic. “I can’t make any promises. I’m not sure what I’m heading into.”

Her breath caught. “I love you.”

Max slid out of her body and rolled her toward him, settling her close to his side. “If I’m left a choice, I’ll come back for you, Pia.” He pushed back a lock of hair sticking to her moist cheek and cupped her face, memorizing its heart shape and the golden brown of her eyes. Then he glided lower over her soft, slender curves, amazed as always that she could take all of him. And not just his body.

He remembered too how defiant and passionate she’d been when he’d fucked her with a wooden stake. She’d trembled and moaned, trusting even before she knew him well not to harm her. “You believe me, don’t you? That I didn’t have anything to do with what happened here tonight.”

Pia’s eyes welled with tears. “You know I do. I know better than anyone what’s in your heart. You couldn’t have wanted anything to happen to Darcy or her baby.”

His jaw clenched. “I know I don’t say it much, but I love you, baby.” He leaned down and kissed her tenderly.

If there was a god, he had one helluva warped sense of humor. He’d given Max the only woman he would ever love—and made her a vamp. Lifting his head, he stared into her moist eyes. “Again?”

*

Max cranked up
the radio in the rental car.

“Oh, for fuck sake!” Joe said from the back seat, where he lay with a blanket covering all exposed skin. “Will you turn it down? I’m trying to get some sleep back here.”

“What’d you say?” Max shouted, a grin stretching his mouth. He’d had as little rest as Joe, but had the advantage—his body wasn’t ruled by the daylight.

The back of his seat bounced.

“It’s almost dusk,” Max called over his shoulder, smirking. “Quit your fucking bellyaching. You should have fought Navarro’s order a little bit harder if you didn’t wanna come.”

“Didn’t know I was coming to Mayberry-fucking-RFD,” Joe said, sounding grumpier by the minute. “It might help if you’d turn on the freakin’ AC, too.”

As soon as they’d left the Asheville airport, Max had rolled down the window. The scents from the North Carolina forest had been irresistible after years of salty sea air.

Soft, dappled light sifted between the oak and chestnut tree canopy above. Thick forest, still green despite the onset of fall, smelled of resin and greenery and the smaller insentient wildlife. Cooler here than South Florida, the air still held more than a hint of the warm humidity that sweltered all summer long.

Another powerful jolt from behind tightened the seatbelt across Max’s chest.

“AC dammit, Max!” Joe shouted.

“Thought you bloodsuckers preferred the heat.”

“We do. But the backseat’s a goddamn oven.”

Max’s seat jounced again, and he relented, rolling up the window and turning on the air. “Keep your shirt on. We’re almost there.”

The mile marker whisked by, and Max straightened in his seat. He’d pushed aside his growing anxiety, but the moment of truth was fast approaching. He wasn’t at all sure he’d receive any friendlier a reception from the folks of his hometown than the vamp in the back seat.

In fact, he might be biting a silver bullet within the hour.

“Where do you think Quentin took her?” Joe’s voice was more subdued this time, the words sounding gruff and forced.

Max knew exactly who he meant, but didn’t really want to talk about it. Each time he remembered the description Pia had given him of Darcy’s grievous wounds, he cringed inside, and his heart ached. He wished he hadn’t let his prejudice get in the way of their long friendship.

So she’d fucked a vamp—so had he.

In the end, there just hadn’t been time to mend fences. He’d been harsh and judgmental. He’d hurt her, and he’d wear the guilt like a sodden coat for the rest of his life.

That the same rationale ought to apply to his relationship with Joe occurred to him, but Max wasn’t ready to forgive Joe for embracing his inner demon just yet.

Not when Max had resisted his darker side for so many years himself to exist among vamps undetected. He’d learned a thing or two about his human side.

The darkness was a soul-eater.

His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Where do vamps take their dead lovers? Maybe he’ll do us a favor and dig her a deep grave and crawl inside with her.”

“Dammit, Max!” Joe said, his voice hoarse. “Don’t you care? This is Darcy we’re talking about. He should have let us give her a decent burial.”

“You pissed because you didn’t get to kiss her goodbye?” He knew it was a low blow, but he couldn’t resist sinking the stake deep.

“You goddamn were-dog! Navarro should have let me put you down when we had you collared.”

Max’s smile was grim. “His mistake.”

He passed the city limit sign for Dark Mountain and slowed down, taking a right at the first intersection. He’d been gone a long time, but some things never changed.

The white bell tower of the courthouse rose high enough to peek between the tall trees. The red-brick courthouse and jail abutted each other—a short walk from the judge’s gavel to a cell.

The law was the center of power in Dark Mountain. And his wolf clan held every elected office. The job of sheriff fell to the ranking alpha male. No election for that position—rather the decision was decided by a blood fight. The last male standing earned the tin badge.

While Max might have liked a less conspicuous arrival, he didn’t have time to ease into town. Better to head straight to The Man himself…

He pulled into the handicap slot closest to the doors and put the sedan into park. “Sun’s not too intense now. Lose the blanket—no use giving yourself away before you even get to the door.”

“And you don’t think the sizzle will do that?”

Max unbuckled his seat belt and glanced into the rearview mirror. “Don’t be a pussy.”

Joe pulled the blanket from his head, his expression sour. “Just make sure the doors aren’t locked.”

“You trust me not to hold ’em closed once you’re out of the car—after you zapped me with a fucking Taser?” Max asked, lifting one eyebrow.

Joe’s glance narrowed. “Can it, Weir. We have a mission. Or have you forgotten Pia waiting back at the compound for you?”

“I’m not forgetting a damn thing.” He turned and opened his car door. “Let’s do this.”

Max climbed out of the car and strode to the double-doors, thrusting them open, not sparing a glance behind him to see whether Joe followed him into the foyer.