Page 46 of Craving Darkness

Without another word, I turned away from the assembled group of people and took Kallista’s hand. Together, we walked toward the front door. Before we’d even reached the foyer, screams, both masculine and feminine, echoed around us. I gently squeezed my mate’s hand as her steps faltered. Again, she had pride warming my chest as she determinedly strode toward the door without looking back.

The two victims of my wrath would be dead before we drove away from a sudden and mysterious illness. Her parents, on the other hand, would suffer much, much longer.

The SUV was waiting near the front door for us as we walked down the front steps and into the sunshine, leaving the horrors from the house behind. Crispin opened the back hatch of the vehicle and let out a shrill whistle. The sound of racing feet came from around the side of the house, and he held the door open wide as the German Shepherd didn’t hesitate to leap into the back. After we all climbed inside and buckled our seatbelts, Kallista turned to me as she scratched the thick fur at the neck of the dog.

“What do we do now?” She looked a little lost and a lot hopeful. I noticed she hadn’t bothered looking back as we drove down the long drive and out onto the street.

“That’s entirely up to you,” I told her as I put my arm around her and held her close to my side. “We can go anywhere you like. I have places just about everywhere.”

She wrinkled her cute nose. “Are they all like the warehouse loft? I mean, it wasn’t a bad place, but it had no… warmth.” She looked up at me. “It was pretty plain,” she said with a small smile.

“You can decorate any of my homes however you like. I have a feeling we will be staying in one place more often than I used to.”

“If I may make a suggestion,” Crispin called from the front seat, turning to look at me over the headrest. “There is someone who I think you should meet.”

I studied his face, but he kept his expression neutral, not giving away any indication of who or why. I glanced down at Kallista, who gave a shrug. “I don’t have anything on my agenda. Do you?”

There was plenty that I wanted to do, but none of it would be appropriate in front of our audience. After my mate was physically healed from her trauma this morning, I would be making her mine again in every way possible. The need to reestablish our bond was a growing compulsion I wouldn’t be able to ignore for long.

“Okay,” I told Crispin after reassuring myself that Kallista looked comfortable with his suggestion. “When would you like to go?”

He glanced at my mate, then back to me. “Why don’t we give it a day? We’ll get a hotel near the airstrip, and you can relax. I’m sure by tonight you’ll be feeling much better,” he said to Kallista. “Tomorrow will be early enough to go.” Though I did like his suggestion to wait, considering what I planned to do with my woman once she could move without pain, his vagueness in regard to our destination was making me suspicious.

We pulled up to a nice hotel where Crispin got out and walked inside to the front desk. It only took him a few minutes before he returned holding two sets of room keycards.

“There is a restaurant inside that is currently serving lunch, with room service available 24 hours. I’m going straight to bed. I can withstand the sun for extended periods, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to sleep. I think we could both use some rest.” He snapped his fingers and the dog came to sit at his side while looking up at him adoringly.

I took the keycard gratefully. “I owe you.”

“Stop saying that. You don’t owe me shit. I am happy that I get to know you again, and I’m glad to help you with your mate. Ivy will want to get to know her as well, so plan to visit the island regularly.”

“I think that would be nice,” Kallista answered, giving him a smile as she leaned against my side.

As soon as we made it into our room, I set the two bags down on the floor and stripped her of the ugly pantsuit. “I’d burn these, but we would get kicked out of the hotel,” I muttered as I dropped the clothing in the wastebasket.”

I ushered her to the bed and pulled the covers back. “In you go.”

“What about you?” she asked with a wide yawn.

“I haven’t slept since you disappeared. I’m going to be right by your side.”

She yawned again and gingerly laid down. I hadn’t bothered to put new clothing on her so I could see every delectable inch of her body. My gaze stopped on the bruise along her ribs. It was already changing colors, yellow forming around the edges as her accelerated healing took over. Crispin was right; she should be back to normal by the time we wake up later. And then, I would show her exactly how much I missed my mate.

Chapter 31

Kallista

Warm hands smoothed over my body, touching me everywhere and making my back arch at the delicious feelings they invoked. I reached down to grab the back of Valen’s head as his tongue swiped over first one hard nipple and then the other. Before I could catch my breath, he was returning to the first one and sucking it deep into his mouth. Zings of electricity shot through my body as the sensations quickly overwhelmed me.

Valen began kissing down my stomach, briefly hovering over my ribs. I glanced down to see the bruise was entirely gone and realized that I didn’t feel any pain. “I’m okay,” I whispered as I ran my fingers through his hair.

“I never want to see you hurt again,” he replied gruffly.

He continued on his journey down my body. “What are you doing, Valen?” I moaned as he took a long swipe up my center with his tongue.

“Reminding you.”

I gasped as he plunged a finger inside me, then shivered at the sensation of him rubbing along my g-spot. I was already on the verge of an explosive orgasm. One good lick of my clit would probably send me over the edge. “Remind me of what?” I asked breathlessly once I was able to get my tongue to work again.

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