A Curse in Darkness by Sherilee Gray

Chapter 26

Warrick

My dove staredup at me with tears in her eyes, and I struggled to fill my lungs with oxygen. Her heart?Me? A brutal, demanding animal who struggled to find fucking words around this female, and she called me her heart?

For the first time in my life, my lack of soul, my inability to give her what she deserved—to understand and return love—tormented me.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

I fell on her mouth like a beast starved, giving her what she asked for and taking what I needed in return, kissing her hard and deep. I didn’t understand what was happening inside me, what I was feeling, but it was a fucking good feeling, and I tried to show her with that kiss, because I sure as fuck didn’t know how to tell her in words.

From this moment on, she was never leaving my side. I’d spend every moment of my life making sure she knew she came first, in everything, always.

Her leg around my waist tightened, and my cock ached to get inside her.

“Please,” she said against my lips. “Take me.”

I’d fucked her hard on the forest floor, from behind, the way we always fucked, but this time I wanted to look at her when I moved inside her. I wanted to see in her eyes how I made her feel, and I wanted her to see the same in mine.

“Legs spread wide, dove,” I said.

She was small, but she could take me, nice and deep, I already knew that. I still needed to be careful, though. Hurting her in any way would destroy me.

She moaned and writhed beneath me, desperate for me to fill her, and I had to grit my teeth against the urge to slam deep inside her. Opening the bedside drawer, I grabbed some lube and shifted back. Her hands grabbed at me, her hips rolling. She reached for my dick, and I pulled away.

“Please,” she said.

She was fucking dripping, but I wasn’t risking it. “Don’t want to hurt you.” I quickly lubed up and tossed the tube aside, and when I came back down on top of her, she immediately wrapped herself around me like she couldn’t get me close enough.

My fucking head spun with how much I wanted her, how good it felt for her to want me too. Reaching between us, I led the head of my cock to her, and angling my hips, I pushed it inside her.

She tried to lift her hips to take more of me and I pinned her down. “Be still,” I said through clenched teeth. She had no idea what she was doing to me or how thin my control was when I was around her. “If I slam deep like I want to, I will hurt you. So for now, you take it how I give it to you,” I said, damn near spiraling, I was so close to the edge of my control.

Her pussy fluttered around me, and I hissed and pushed in another inch. My dove moaned and arched again, taking more, ignoring me completely.

“Fuck.”

Shaking like hell, I slid out a little, then back in, giving her more, and she fucking writhed. It was impossible to take it slower, and I pinned her down more firmly. “Look at me.”

She did, her lids lowered, lips puffy, cheeks pink.

“You want it all, dove?”

“Yes…give it to me,” she said, her heels digging into my back.

With a growl, I slid home, slow and even, giving her every hard inch. She groaned and clawed at my back, marking me. Fuck yeah. “That what you needed?”

“Yes,” she rasped. “I need it.”

That was all I could take, I fucking snapped and started moving, fucking my sweet, little dove, with hard, deep strokes. Taking her like she desperately wanted me to. Like I needed to.

The curve in my cock hit her like it was made to, sliding, rubbing her deep inside, and in minutes she was digging her nails deeper into my flesh and screaming, coming around my cock, gripping me so tight my vision blacked out. I wanted to make her come again. The sound of her pleasure was addictive to me.

She was still shaking when I lifted her up, still buried deep inside her, and sat back on my shins. Her arms slid around my neck, those supple thighs around my waist. I gripped her round ass and moved her on my dick. She took over, though, fucking me harder than I had her.

My female was taking me.

After I left Hell, I realized I never wanted to be owned ever again, but Willow owned every part of me. I’d give her more if I had it to give. She could have me, all of me.

“Warrick,” she said against my shoulder, then sunk her teeth into my flesh, screaming and shuddering as she came a second time.

Her teeth marking me, her pussy grasping me so fucking tight, over and over, there was no holding back. I swelled inside her, locking her body in place, and shot hard and deep, filling her with my seed. Gripping her hips, I held her down on me as she spasmed around my pulsing length, so she didn’t try to pull away and hurt herself.

I slid my thumb over her clit as I continued to come, and fuck me, she came a third time, ringing more pleasure out of both of us.

Finally, she slumped against me, holding on as I finished emptying myself inside her, coming longer and harder than I had before.

My cock still had her locked in place when I gently cupped her face and tilted her head back when I took her mouth and kissed her lips softly. The swelling of my cock slowly ebbed, so I could move again. I didn’t pull out, though, I wasn’t ready for that yet. If I had my way, I’d stay inside her all night.

When she lifted her head, she gave me a lazy smile. “Jesus, we’re good at that.”

I grinned, a different kind of pleasure filling my chest. “Yeah, we are.”

“We really should do it more often,” she said, eyes sparkling.

I chuckled, more warmth filling my chest. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” She laughed softly as I lay her down, still inside her, and held her to me. “But first you need to sleep, dove.” When I’d gotten past my own fucking confusing feelings, when she’d walked into the bar earlier, I’d sensed her pain. She was worried about her sister and the fox, and if I could ease that for a little while, that’s what I’d do.

I planned on doing it for as long as she’d let me.

“Warrick?”

“Yeah, dove?”

“What did you say before?” she whispered into the dark room. “In your language. You’ve said it to me before.”

I curled my arm around her more firmly. “Precious one. It means precious one.”

* * *

Willow

I was on my knees, and I looked up at my alpha in the steam-filled shower stall. His eyes were predatory, unwavering as I took him deeper into my mouth. One of his hands thrust into my hair as his lips peeled back, revealing all those straight white teeth. His other hand hit the tile wall as if he needed the support to hold himself up.

It was a sight to see, that hard mask Warrick always wore cracking for me. He was magnificent. Naked and wet, every sinewy, muscled inch straining, bulging with the effort of holding himself in check.

“Dove,” he snarled, and his hips rocked forward.

Warrick liked a little pain with his pleasure, so I squeezed and tugged on his balls, currently in my hand, and he groaned low, his tree-trunk thighs shaking.

I felt him start to thicken in my mouth, and he quickly pulled out before he could hurt me. I wrapped both hands around him in a tight grip and he thrust into my hold.

“Tits,” he gritted out. “On your tits.”

I stood, and he pumped his hips harder, cursing as he came on my breasts and stomach. When he was spent, he leaned forward, head bent, resting on my shoulder, breath sawing in and out of his mouth.

“You’re beautiful when you come,” I said.

His hand dropped to my chest, and he rubbed his seed over the mounds of my breasts, down over my stomach, then lower, between my thighs. “Don’t hold a candle to you,” he rasped. “My beautiful mate.”

I moaned as he worked my clit, quivering. Mate. It was the first time either of us had said the word out loud. I expected to freak out, but instead, warmth bloomed in my chest. This, here with him, felt so incredibly right. Gripping his shoulders, I tipped my head back, and he gave me what I silently asked for. He kissed me.

He kissed me like the alpha hellhound he was, like no one else ever had.

One of his thick fingers slid inside me and I moaned into his mouth. A gritty sound vibrated from him in return.

“Always so wet for me, dove.”

“Yes.”

“Because this”—he pushed in a second finger—“was made for me.”

He dragged his thumb over my clit, and I was close to the edge of sanity in moments.

“My perfect little witch, every part of you was made just for me.”

Yes.

He fucked me with his fingers, faster, deeper, and I gripped his biceps to hold myself up.

“One day soon, I’m going to take you away to my cabin and I’m going to keep you naked and fuck you every way it’s possible to fuck. Outside. In the dirt. Under the moon. By the lake, in the lake. I’m going to fuck you over the table after I’ve fed you, and in the shower after I’ve washed your hair. You want that, dove?”

I nodded, it was all I was capable of at that point. Then he dipped his head and sucked my nipple into his mouth and lightly bit down. I bucked against him and screamed, coming hard, clutching at him as if I never wanted him to leave me—and terrifyingly, that was the truth.

Because that’s exactly what would happen, only it would be me leaving him. Mortality was a bitch.

The thought of losing him now wasn’t something I could bear.

“Fuck,” he said when I collapsed against him. “My beautiful dove.”

He slid his fingers from me and lifted them, slipping them into his mouth, tasting me. Then, without a word, he grabbed a washcloth and worked it over me before he proceeded to wash my hair.

“Will you still want me…when I’m old?” I whispered, the words wrenched from me. I’d never felt more vulnerable in my life.

He stilled.

“You’re immortal, Warrick. I’m not. I won’t look like this forever. I’ll grow old, and frail, and weak.” I turned and looked up at him. “I’ll die. You’ll outlive me, like your brothers did their mates.”

His face contorted. “Will I still want you?” he rasped.

I nodded.

He took my face in his large hands. “You are the only female I will ever want, you have been since I first saw you. From now until the end of eternity, you will be my mate, whether you are in this world or the afterlife.” He brushed his thumbs over my cheeks. “You will always be perfect to me. You will always be my dove. Tell me you believe me? Because I never want to talk about you leaving me ever again, Willow. Never again.”

“But it will happen.”

He shook his head. “I can’t talk about that, can’t fucking think about it, Willow. Tell me you believe me? That you know I’ll always want you?”

“I believe you.” How could I doubt him?

He kissed me, his lips hard against mine, holding me to him for a long time.

Finally, we’d climbed out of the shower, and he was drying me when my phone rang.

I rushed into the bedroom, rummaging for it, and checked the screen. Ren. I hit the call button.

“Ren?” I knew it wasn’t him, or maybe the reason he kept calling was that a part of him was breaking through, trying desperately to reach out for me. Like Edric had sought out Warrick.

“Help me, Willow,” he said. “Oh god, please, help me.”

I gripped the phone tighter at the sound of his voice, tears filling my eyes. “Tell me where you are.” Had the spirit left him, had it moved to another host? “Ren?”

“Come get me, please…”

“Please, Ren, tell me where you are?”

“Help me! Help me!” he said again, only the voice had turned mocking, then he giggled.

“Why are you doing this? Let him go. Please, let him go!”

The sound of a horn blasted in the background, it was loud and long—and familiar.

There was more giggling, then he hung up.

I turned to Warrick. “I think I know where he is.”

Warrick snatched his jeans off the floor. “Let’s go.”

* * *

It was dark, fog thick and low as we hit the harbor. The smell of the ocean filled the air along with the smells of the city. There were two main areas down here: the thriving new harbor, where massive cargo ships berthed at the pier, and the old harbor, comprised of rundown warehouses and some original buildings that had been occupied by shipping companies back in the day. The new offices had been moved closer to one of the major trucking companies, and the original area had been left to rot.

Ren had been fascinated by the old buildings and their history. History had been his favorite subject at school, and he’d written a paper about this place and the families who started out here. I’d helped him with it. He’d gotten an A.

Maybe he was somehow getting through. Is that why he’d called? Had he been hoping I’d hear the foghorn? Maybe it had been Ren at the beginning of the call asking for help before the spirit took control again? Or had it just been a trap?

It was eerily quiet as we walked through the old shipping yard, where timber, drums, and pallets were left scattered around, and old shipping containers left to rust.

I glanced up at Warrick. “Anything?”

He tilted his head back, sniffing the air again, and started to shake his head, then froze.

“What is it?”

“Blood…death.”

Fuck.

“This way.” He jogged toward a warehouse, and a sick feeling gripped my stomach as I followed. He walked along the side of the building and lifted a hand for me to stop when we reached the back corner. He peered around the side. “The scent’s stronger here. Stay put.”

“No.”

The muscle in his jaw jumped. “It’s gonna be ugly.”

I knew that, but nothing, no one, would stop me from going to him. “Ren’s my family.”

Warrick’s gaze hardened, but he nodded, knowing better than to try to stop me, and we slipped around the side of the building.

The moon was full, shining down and revealing the carnage.

So much blood and death.

Ren had no control over his actions—the spirit and not him had done these things—but he’d been there, he’d witnessed it all. He would have watched his own hands cause this horror. The screams of his victims would forever be in his head.

My Ren would never be the same.

“We’ve got to bring him home,” I whispered.

“You’re not getting anywhere near him. It’s too fucking dangerous,” Warrick said.

I patted my satchel. “I have my salt. He can’t get past it.” I took a length of thin silver chain from my bag. “And this, it’s like the urns we use. Silver binds the spirit, and this has been melted and imbued with a few other things that will make it more effective. Else’s been working on it since the first spirit attacked. She said, if we can wrap it round him, the spirit will be trapped inside Ren. Then we can get him home and I can exorcise it.”

He took the chain from me, but he wasn’t happy about me being here.

“He’s close.” I didn’t know how I knew that, but I felt him, I was sure of it. “If you stay out of sight, he’ll come to me.”

Warrick’s brows lowered. “What are you planning?”

“If I’m right and Ren is somehow getting through, possibly influencing some of the spirit’s actions, maybe without it even knowing, I think he’ll come if he sees or hears me. This is the first chance we’ve had since he was taken. I don’t want to fuck it up, so let’s keep it simple. I’ll stand in the open and call him, distract him, then you rush him and take him down. I want my fox back, and I’m not leaving here without him.”

He hooked one of those massive mitts behind my neck and tilted my head back. “Stay in your fucking circle, you hear me? You risk yourself for any reason, I’ll be fucking pissed off. Nothing is more important than your life.”

I swallowed and stared into those fierce and gorgeous eyes of his. “You’re pretty important to me as well.”

He gave me a squeeze. “Glad to hear it, but I’m harder to kill.”

“True.”

“Just do as you’re fucking told for once and we won’t have a problem.”

“Roger that.”

He grinned, dropped a hard kiss on my lips, and disappeared into the shadows like a freaking ghost.

The quiet closed in, heavy, eerie. Warrick was somewhere watching, but suddenly I felt very much alone. Just me and the evil fuck who was living inside my best friend. I grabbed a bag of salt from my satchel.

“Renny? I know you’re there,” I called. “Why don’t you come and talk to me?” I sliced the bag with my blade and turned in a slow circle, surrounding myself with a thick line of salt and cemetery dirt. Shoving the empty bag in my pocket, I straightened. “I know you’re there. You want to come closer, don’t you?”

A scrape came from behind me, and I turned as something shifted in the shadows.

“I can see you,” I said.

There was a giggle, and he moved quickly, sticking to the shadows in front of the warehouse. There was no mistaking him for anyone but Ren, his height, his broad frame, but the way he walked, the way he held himself, that wasn’t my fox.

“Come find me,” he called in a strange voice, pitched higher.

“I’m not going to do that,” I said as I strained to see him in the darkness. “You have to come to me.”

Another creepy giggle. “No, that’s not how the game works. You come find me.”

“And what happens when I find you?”

Silence.

“What happens?”

Another scrape and I watched him edge farther along the building. “I cut you. I cut and cut until you can’t move anymore, and then I keep on cutting.”

My heart beat harder, faster. “I don’t want to be cut, so I think I’ll stay right here.”

“You have to come and find me!” he called, now with an edge of anger in his distorted voice, nothing like Ren’s, not anymore—a twisted version of it that sent shivers down my spine.

“Tell me your name and maybe I will.”

He moved again, slowly circling me, coming closer to the shrubs and iron fence where Warrick was hiding.

A pair of red eyes flashed behind Ren, and I knew he was getting ready to pounce. I had to keep Ren focused on me.

“Are you going to tell me your name? If you want me to play, you have to tell me.” Whoever had possessed Ren seemed younger, or at least childlike and utterly sadistic.

“Your Elswyth knows who I am,” he said. “She knows me very well.”

I froze. “You know my aunt Else?”

Another giggle. “We used to have fun, she and I. Her screams made me laugh and laugh. I’ll make her scream again.” Ren stepped out of the shadows, and his face twisted into something from a nightmare. “She’ll bleed for me,” he said with a roar. “Now come here, bitch, it’s your turn to scream.”

Warrick moved, readying to strike.

Ren stopped and started to turn around.

Shit.“How about you try to catch me,” I called.

Ren spun back toward me as I stepped out of the salt circle.

He instantly came for me, running at full speed in my direction. Warrick exploded from the shadows behind him, thighs bunching, arms pumping. Ren was almost at me when I took a step back, back into the safety of the salt as Warrick tackled him to the ground.

Ren screamed and fought as Warrick trussed him up in the silver chain. In a matter of seconds, he was bound tightly, and I fished zip-ties from my bag and handed them to Warrick, who secured his wrists and ankles, while Ren screamed threats.

I grabbed the scarf I had in my bag, and he snapped his teeth at me, trying to take a bite as I shoved it in his mouth, gagging him. No way was I listening to this asshole all the way to the house. “We need to get him home. Somehow he knows my aunt.” This whole situation was getting more messed up by the minute.

Ren stopped thrashing instantly, and he smiled around his gag, eyes lighting up with glee. He wanted me to take him to Else.

Who the hell was he? What had he done to my aunt? And why the fuck was he here now?