The Company of Darkness (5 page)

“Anything?”  Her brows came up with interest as she mulled it over, sidling up next to him to look over the menu.  “Then… can I get Kung Pao chicken and some General Tsao, and white rice, I don’t like the fried rice.  Oh, and potstickers, can we get some of those?  Or barbecue pork with those bitty sesame seeds?  Do they deliver soup?  I could really go for hot and sour soup.”  Cady stopped talking as she realized he wasn’t writing any of it down, just staring at her.  “What?”

“Do you have a hollow leg I don’t know about?  You really want all that food?”

“You said I could get anything I wanted,” she answered in a small voice, wondering if she’d taken it too far.

“Whatever my girl wants, my girl gets,” he said with a shake of the head, reaching for the phone.  “We still have that cake too, I put it in the freezer for you.”

“And I plan on eating it,” Cady grinned, opening cupboards as she looked for a glass.  There was beer and juice in the fridge beside his disgusting tea, but she decided to go with cold water, straight from the tap.  Barely pausing to breathe, she downed the first glass while he called the order in, starting in on the second one at a slower pace.  Oddly enough the water helped with the wooziness, but she still felt overheated, and she pressed the cool glass to her cheek, rolling it across her jaw and then repeating the movement against her neck after another drink. 

All of a sudden she became aware of how quiet it was.  Done ordering, Ethan stood at the end of the counter, completely absorbed in watching her roll the cool glass across her heated flesh.  The way his gaze ran down her body, she almost felt it as a caress, especially when it lingered on her curves.  A different kind of hunger shone on his face as he approached, moving slowly.  Cady lifted the glass to take another sip of water only to have it plucked out of her fingers and set aside on the counter.  Ethan followed in close pursuit, not giving her time to breathe as his mouth slanted over hers, robbing her of any cooling effect the water might have provided. 

His mouth was hot and demanding, and the lightheadedness returned with a vengeance, forcing Cady to cling to his arms to stay upright.  While she held on, still reeling from the heady kiss, his hands were busy, pulling her blouse free and unzipping her skirt, which fell with a whisper to pool around her feet.  They slid under the silky material, splaying across her back and she moaned against his lips – if she was too warm, Ethan was on fire.   His touch scorched, leaving trails of warmth in its wake as he backed her up to the counter. 

The cold granite on bare skin startled her and Cady gasped, “Aunt Jemima…” lurching away from the counter.  Ethan backed up a foot, his hands coming away from her, not understanding what gave her that reaction at first.  They stared at each other, him still fully dressed, her minus a skirt.  His gaze lingered on her mouth again and her teeth caught at her bottom lip in anticipation, but he didn’t kiss her. 

Instead his gaze returned to hold hers, his hands unerringly finding her buttons and releasing them one by one until they were all undone.  Her skin puckered as he held the blouse open, only then letting his eyes dip to look his fill.  Cady sucked in a breath, the air between them heated as though his skin already touched hers. 

At some unspoken signal, they crashed against each other, kissing, licking, biting, grasping.  The blouse was flung to the floor and his strong hands gripped her hips, lifting her effortlessly to set her on the counter.  This time she squealed as her backside connected with the cool stone, knees coming up as she tried to minimize the contact. 

“Ethan, that’s cold!” she gasped. 

“Let me help you with that,” he rumbled, sliding between her legs, rough fingers skimming over her thighs. 

The cold forgotten at the press of his blazing hands, Cady wiggled closer to him, wrapping her legs around his waist, but she couldn’t pull him any closer.  He maintained a cushion of space between them, and she soon found out why as his questing hands brushed over the lacy edges of her panties, sending a rush of warmth through her. 

Ethan captured her mouth for another slow drugging kiss as he went to work.  His fingers teased at first with feathery touches but grew bolder, slipping beneath the scrap of lace to stroke her tender flesh, already slick and waiting for him.  

Her hips bucked, desperate to get closer to him, but Ethan was in complete control, stoking her hotter and hotter until she gave herself over to his mastery.  The tension built in urgent waves, but he kept stopping and starting again, until her muscles quaked, desperate for release. 

“You’re killing me,” her voice broke against his mouth when his fingers danced away again.

“I’m just getting you warmed up.”

At the sound of cool amusement, Cady pulled back to look into his eyes.  “You’re getting me back for the window thing, aren’t you?”

“Maybe a little,” he allowed with a half smile.  “Do you know how long I’ve wanted you?” 

It was easier to think without him touching her, and Cady gave him a sultry smile.  “Show me.”

Ethan picked her up from the counter and stood back, pulling her with him.  She slid down the length of his body, feeling the hard proof of his desire pressed against her belly when she landed on her feet.  Without a word, he walked backwards, drawing her with him and she managed to tug off his shirt a split second before his mouth reclaimed hers. 

Reaching between them, she unbuckled his pants, and he kicked them off, the crinkle of a condom wrapper in his hand sending a jolt of excitement through her.  They were really going to do this.  Ethan hopped to get a shoe off without breaking contact with her mouth, but before they got past the living room, Cady decided to take a turn at being in control.  She pushed him back onto the couch before he regained his balance.  Ethan’s flash of frustration quickly faded when she straddled him, his hands wrapping around her waist to stroke her back as she settled above him.

“I thought I was showing you,” he said, his eyes drawn to her barely covered breasts. 

“So show me.  Show me how much you want me.”  She rose up to offer him a better view of them, but he surprised her by grabbing hold of her panties and tearing the flimsy material free.  Before she was even done sucking in a breath of surprise he reached for her bra and she pulled back. 

“Wait, I love this bra,” she objected, and he swallowed her pout with a kiss, his rumble of soft laughter reverberating through her as he unhooked it nimbly and slid it from her shoulders.  Cady caught hold of it and flung it to safety, snuggling close to press skin to skin.  “I don’t care who comes to the door now, we’re not stopping this time,” she challenged. 

“No argument from me there.  The Chinese food delivery guy might complain though.”

She’d forgotten all about the food and in that moment she couldn’t care less if the guy came and left without them.  “Then we’d better not waste any more time.”

His hips bucked up beneath her in response, sliding down his boxer briefs and deftly rolling on a condom.  She was glad he was thinking of safety, because it was the last thing on her mind.  And then there was little between them but heat and desire.  Cady rose up, watching his face intently as she positioned herself over him.  The look in his eyes made her insides tighten in anticipation and she felt his groan of satisfaction as she slid down over him inch by glorious inch. 

She sat there for a long moment, tempering the hunger between them with a gentle kiss.  Ethan returned it just as lovingly, his lips soft and tender, but his hands told another story.  Strong hands grabbed her hips, rocking her against him.  They continued the soft, delicate kisses while their bodies ground together.  Had she thought herself in control?  Utterly a slave to they rhythm he set, Cady enjoyed the delicate friction between them, a sheen of sweat rippling across her skin as they burned together.

Her head tipped back in surrender when he released one hip to stroke the spot that made her quiver and buck for more.   Cady felt tiny flames of exquisite delight lick over her flesh as he drove into her again and again.  And then it happened.  The keen burst of almost torturous pleasure fractured across her senses and she trembled and shook above him, her cries echoing in the sparse loft apartment. 

Ethan surged deeper, hips thrusting as he gave himself permission to let go.  Wrapping his arms tightly around her, his deep moans were muffled against her breasts as he drew sharply against her flesh, marking her as his.  Cady sucked in a ragged breath as he nuzzled and licked first one dusky peak and then the other, his movements becoming slow and lazy.  Her limbs tingled pleasantly and her core still throbbed with each tiny movement between them. 

“I guess we broke the couch in,” she said finally, collapsing against him as he fell back against the couch, his heart beating fast. 

“And the kitchen counter,” he pointed out, his head lolling to one side to look in that direction. 

“Imagine how great it’ll be when we finally make it to the bed,” she chuckled and he looked up to meet her eyes.

“It doesn’t matter where we are as long as we’re together.” 

Cady pressed a kiss to his neck.  “I take it back, there’s definitely nothing wrong with your social skills.”  Whatever awkwardness he displayed in certain situations, he definitely had the after sex patter down. 

“There are some things you don’t forget.”  Ethan turned to catch her lips in a tender kiss that soon turned carnal, and she felt him twitch to life beneath her. 

“Again?  Already?” A single brow rose.

“Just give me twenty seconds to go find another condom and we’ll test the bed out.”

And she’d thought she was the one who couldn’t get enough of him. 

A knock at the door dissolved the sexual tension, his body already shifting to gently set her aside, coiled and ready for danger, until she remembered who they were expecting. 

“It’s the Chinese food,” she said, grabbing for his t-shirt and slipping it over her head.  “Why don’t you take care of that, and I’ll go get it?”  Ethan swore under his breath, something about being distracted and he scrambled up off the couch as she scooped up her purse.  She made it almost all the way to the door before he stopped her, wearing his boxer briefs and nothing else.     

“Hold up, you’re not answering the door like that.”

“Why not?  I’m wearing more than you are.”

The knock sounded again, and Ethan moved her to the side where she’d be out of view when he opened the door.  “Because nobody gets to see you like that but me,” he said with a smug grin, trading the giant bag of fragrant food for a few folded bills, apparently enough of a tip that the delivery guy forgot to be crabby about being left to wait in the hall for so long. 

Cady disappeared into his bedroom to steal a pair of boxers since he’d destroyed her panties and he pulled on another t-shirt since she’d stolen his.  He’d bought every single thing she asked for, and they settled on the floor in front of the couch, the coffee table covered in an orgy of savory delights.  Ethan brought forks and napkins and cold beer to the table, which she immediately took a deep drink of, but left the fork aside in favor of the wooden chopsticks that came with the meal. 

Ethan watched her expertly handle everything from the tiniest diced water chestnut to the potstickers.  She paused, golden dumpling halfway to her mouth when she realized he wasn’t eating.  “What?”

“How’d you get to be so good at chopsticks?” he asked with a wave of his fork.

“They’re free.”

“Come again?”

“When you’re poor and something is free you take it, whether you need it or not.  So we started collecting all of these chopsticks, and one week when I ran out of dish soap and didn’t have any money.  I had to either eat with chopsticks or my fingers until payday, so I taught myself how to use them.”

“I would’ve used my fingers.”

“Not with these babies.”  She waggled her nails at him, painted a soft rose for a work suitable color. 

He dug into his food and they were quiet for a few minutes, eating in companionable silence.  “You know, I meant to say something before I got distracted, but you’re pretty good at this,” he nodded to the spelled windows.  “Most rookies can’t master the language so easily.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, soothing the burn of hot chili oil with cool beer.  “I used to be smart, not that you’d know it from how my life turned out.”

“I don’t think you turned out so bad,” he said with a playful elbow.

“I guess.  It’s better now that I have a real job, but this isn’t how I saw myself five years ago.”

“How did you see yourself?”

Cady let out a long breath, propping her arm on the couch.  “At nineteen I thought I’d still be in college.  Maybe with a part time job in a funky clothes store or a yogurt shop.  You know, something normal that didn’t require letting guys drool all over me in hot pants.”

“You don’t have to do that anymore.”

“Thanks to you,” she smiled, nudging him with her foot.

“What did you want to study?”

“Everything.  If it was up to me I’d keep going until they kicked me out.”  Maybe it was just because her school days made her feel nostalgic for the past, but she loved learning.  Loved the way it felt to ace a test after barely reading the source material once.  Loved being able to pull a random fact out of her head, even if it was only to kick Ian’s ass at bar trivia.  Loved arguing back at the teachers when they completely half-assed a lesson and thought the students were too stupid to notice.   If only they paid people to go to school, she’d be set for life.  

“Some people do that.”

“What?” she asked, her mind still on the pipedream of getting paid to learn.

“Go all the way with school, pile degrees on top of degrees.”

“Yeah, people with money,” she snorted.

“You could still go, it’s not like you’re done at nineteen.  You have your whole life ahead of you.”

He looked so sweet, trying to be supportive, she rubbed his shoulder in thanks.  “Right, I know.  I’ll get there someday.”

Despite her effort to placate him, it felt like Ethan saw right through her false hope.  “If it helps, I never went to college and look how great I turned out,” he said with a lopsided grin and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“What did you do after high school?  How did you end up being recruited as a demon hunter anyway?  Tell me it was part of pledging some secret fraternity!” she teased with glee.

“No, I couldn’t afford college either, so I went into the army.”

“Ah, I can see that about you,” she nodded.  Oddly enough joining the military had never been a real option for her.  She had enough trouble listening to Ian, she couldn’t imagine a life where everybody above her had the right to tell her what to do without her being able to tell them to fuck off.  “And they stuck you into a secret special ops group that fought demons?”

“No, nothing like that,” he laughed.  “I was a regular grunt, a nobody.  I shipped off to war overseas and put in my time like everybody else in my platoon.  Only one day I fucked up, I wasn’t fast enough to get my ass out of the way.  I got shot up pretty bad, pinned down where they couldn’t easily get me out.” 

“Oh God, that must’ve been awful!”

“It’s not up there as one of my top ten memories, no,” he allowed, taking a deep pull on his beer.  “The pain wasn’t so bad.  I couldn’t feel anything in my legs, my arm burned like a sonofabitch at first, but then I started going cold all over.  I thought that was it, my number was up.  I was going to die in that shithole.”

Cady laid her hand on his arm, offering quiet support as he talked, not knowing what to say for once.  Telling him to look on the bright side seemed like a stupid idea. 

“Anyways, after that it’s a bit foggy.  I woke up in the hospital, couldn’t use my legs and my arm was all fucked up. I thought that’s what my life would be like.  I’d end up going home and turning into one of those guys with a cardboard sign begging for spare change.”

“But they patched you up, didn’t they?  Is the Company part of the military then?”

“No, not exactly.  As far as I can tell, the Company is a separate organization who happens to have some good contacts in the military.  For whatever reason, they chose me, decided I was a good investment.  It’s funny, I barely remember the conversation that changed my life.  I remember being asked if I wanted to walk again, to be stronger than ever.  To make a difference.  What could I say but yes?  They wheeled me into a room of healers and I walked out of there on my own two legs.  After that, I would’ve done anything they said.”

“And what did they say?  What did they ask you to do?” Her imagination ran wild, peppering her thoughts with all manner of crazy things.  It was hard to believe the military would let the Company step in and take their man without having a finger in the pie. 

“To make a new start.  They fixed me up with an honorable discharge and I became a Company man.  The first stop when I got off the plane was to get my first glyph.  They didn’t tell me it was a demon back then, I only knew it had something to do with magic and I was strong as hell.  By the time they told me I didn’t care, I was too glad I wasn’t facing life from a wheelchair.”

So nothing as sinister as changing his identity and faking his death or anything.  Still, it was fascinating as hell, and her food lay utterly forgotten on the coffee table.  “What sort of stuff did they have you do?  You didn’t chase after demons, did you?”

“No, that wasn’t until later.  Most of the guys in the Company take care of other business, at least at first.  Anything from boring surveillance, to taking out dangerous criminals.”

“Take out as in kill?”  Her brows rose.

“If needed.  After proving myself they brought me into the more supernatural aspects of the Company and set me to hunting lesser beings like ghouls or vampires.”

“Vampires, are you serious?”  He had to be screwing with her.  For some reason Cady found it easy to believe in the existence of demons, but not bloodsuckers.  It felt too surreal. 

“They exist,” he insisted, one hand falling over his heart in a pledge.  “And let me tell you, they’re plenty tough to take out even if they’re considered half breeds at best.  Mostly they police themselves though, so the Company doesn’t get involved in their stuff too much.”