The Darkest Whisper

gotten a chance to study it the way she craved.

“You taste me, and I won’t be able to make love to you. I really want to make love to you. But the choice is yours.” He pressed his chest into her back, his face only an inch away from hers.

His shaft in her mouth or between her legs. Hard choice, literally. In the end, though, she opted for what she’d spent last night fantasizing about. She had to know what it was like to be his woman. Completely. Otherwise, she’d regret the lack for the rest of her life. However long or short that was. Being shot and realizing she did indeed want to help bring those Hunters down had taught her one thing: time wasn’t a guarantee, even for immortals.

“Next time, then.” She reached around, clamping down on a handful of his hair and jerking his mouth to hers. His tongue plunged deep again, and this time he was flavored with her.

He positioned himself at her entrance, but just before sliding home, he stiffened. Cursed. “I don’t have a condom.”

“Harpies are only fertile once a year, and this isn’t it.” Another reason Chris had been willing to hold her for so long. “Inside. Now.”

In the next instant, Sabin’s shaft was buried all the way to the hilt. The kiss halted as she gave another cry of pleasure. He stretched her, filled her up, touched every part of her, and it was even better than she’d dreamed.

He bit her earlobe. Still reaching around, she dug her nails into his shoulder, felt warm blood trickle as he hissed in a breath. Hmm, the sweet smell of it drifted to her and her mouth watered. “I want—I need—”

“Anything you want is yours.” On and on he pounded inside her, forward and back, fast, hard, his testicles slapping at her.

“Want…all. Everything.” With the feel of him, she became mindless, lost, no longer Gwen or the Harpy but an extension of Sabin. “Want your blood,” she added. Only his. The thought of anyone else’s left her hollow, unsatisfied.

Sabin withdrew from her completely.

A whimper escaped her. “Sabin—”

He was lying on the ground, fitting her over him, deep inside her, pumping, sliding, gliding a second later. One of her knees dug into a twig and got cut, but even that seemed to lull her into a state of utter sensation. Pleasure, pain, didn’t matter. Each fed off the other and dragged her further and further into a black sea of bliss.

“Drink,” he commanded, gripping her head and forcing her mouth to his neck.

Her teeth had already sharpened. Without hesitation, she bit him. He roared, loud and long, and she sucked the warm liquid deep into her throat, her tongue dancing over his skin. Like a drug, it spread through her, the warmth becoming a sizzle, blistering, scorching her veins. Soon she was trembling, writhing against him.

“More,” she said. She wanted everything he had, every drop. Had to have it. Would—kill him, she realized, forcing herself to jerk upright. His cock slid even deeper, and she shivered. “I almost drank too much.”

“No such thing.”

“You could have—”

“I won’t. Now give me more. Everything, like you said.”

Up and down she rode him, his fingertips clutching her so tightly they nearly broke skin. The fear of hurting him faded, leaving only a consuming sense of neediness.

“That’s the way. So good…so very good…” He was panting, grinding against her, his thumb stroking her clit. “Don’t want it…to end.”

Neither did she. Nothing had ever consumed her like this. Nothing had ever taken over her mind and body so fervently, to the point that nothing else mattered. Her sisters could find them, could be searching even now. Swift as they moved, they could be here already. Can’t stop. Need more.

Her head fell back, the ends of her hair brushing his chest. Reaching up, he cupped and kneaded her breasts, applying a little pressure to arch her backward. She complied, anchoring her hands on his thighs.

“Turn around,” he commanded roughly. “I want your blood.”

Perhaps she hesitated too long—what exactly did he want? Had she heard correctly? He palmed her knees, lifting, and spun her. His cock remained inside her. When she was facing the other direction, away from him, his fingers curled around her neck and drew her down. Her back to his chest. His teeth were in her neck a second later, and she was spasming, screaming at the bliss.

He didn’t suck her long, just enough to experience his own orgasm, hips hammering up and into her, one hand flat on her stomach to grind her against him. Nothing compared. Nothing was as wild, as necessary, as liberating. She and the Harpy soared through the heavens, lost in the pleasure of another climax.

An eternity passed before she collapsed, fully and completely spent, unable to breathe. Her chest was too constricted. Sabin’s inhalations were choppy, as well, his grip on her now weak.

The Harpy was quiet, had quite possibly passed out. Gwen didn’t roll off him, even though she wanted to pass out, as well. She’d been fighting sleep for so long, restful sleep untainted by pain and injury, but now it was creeping up on her, determined to consume her.

She lay exactly as she was, head cushioned by Sabin’s neck, his arms wrapped around her, his shaft still inside her. Stars winked in front of her eyes—or maybe it was the sun dancing between the clouds.

What they’d just done…the things they’d done…

“I didn’t rape you, did I?” she asked softly. Her cheeks burned. Without the cloud of lust, she admitted that she’d been jealous, attacked him, and had decided to have sex with him whether he wanted it or not.

He laughed. “Are you kidding me?”

“Well, I was kind of forceful.” Her eyelids were so heavy she blinked—closed, open, closed—and then they refused to open again, as though they were glued together. If her sisters found her asleep, they’d freak out. They’d be disappointed in her, and they’d have every right. Had she learned nothing from her capture?

“Actually, you were kind of perfect.”

Words to make her melt. Instead, she stiffened, still fighting with all her might to remain awake for just a little longer. Anytime she and Sabin relaxed together, no anger between them, Doubt usually pounced.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, suddenly concerned.

“I was waiting for Doubt to try and tear me down.” Were her words truly as slurred as they sounded to her? “You say something nice, and he’s knocking on my door to point out why you’re wrong.”

Sabin pressed a soft kiss into the side of her neck. “He’s afraid of your Harpy, I think. She comes out, and he goes into hiding.” Joy and awe had entered in his tone there at the end, as if he’d reached some sort of decision with those words. But what?

“Someone afraid of me.” She grinned slowly. “I like the sound of that.”

“Me, too.” He stroked between her breasts, his index finger grazing a nipple. “Do Harpies have any weaknesses I should know about?”

Yes, but to admit it was to court punishment. Her sisters would cut her off as her mother had; they would have to. It was a rule that couldn’t be broken. Lethargy fragmented her thoughts before she could reason things out. She yawned and settled more snugly against him, fading…still struggling…

“Gwen?”

A soft entreaty, but it pounded through her mind, and she grabbed on to it like a life preserver. “Yes?”

“I lost you there for a moment. You were telling me about a Harpy’s greatest weakness.”

Was she? “Why do you want to know?”

“I want to make sure you’re protected so no one can use it against you.”

Good idea. I can’t believe you’re actually considering this. But this was Sabin, the man who’d just kissed and touched her everywhere. The man who wanted her strong, invincible. And she didn’t like that she had such a weakness, either. It was how the Hunters had subdued her, though they had never realized exactly what they’d done. It was what flooded her with worry every time her sisters decided to hire out their services.

“You can tell me,” he said. “I won’t use it to hurt you. I swear it.”

Once he’d admitted to forsaking his honor if it meant winning a battle. Would he forsake this vow? She sighed, sinking further under the blackness. Stay awake. You have to stay awake. This came down to one decision: to trust him or not. He desperately wanted her to help destroy his enemy. No way