Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 05] Read online

  “I was cruel to you, telling you to leave me alone, pushing you away, running from you when you have never done a single thing to ever harm me.” She turned back to him with pleading in her eyes. “I don’t deserve to have you back but I ask you now to please reconsider.”

  He was most definitely not dreaming. “Gabriella—” He was shocked when she took his hand in hers and babbled on.

  “I will do anything to gain your trust in me again, anything you ask, just please, please forgive me.”

  “Gabriella.” Raising her hands to his lips, he kissed her knuckles. “You have nothing to be forgiven for. I, on the other hand, should be on my knees. If I didn’t want to be with you any longer, would I be constantly appearing before you, asking you to take me back? Would I have fed you that first night? Would I have filled your room with the one thing in life that lights your eyes?”

  “You light my eyes, Cooper.” She touched his face again, her soft lips curving up in a sliver of a smile. “It is this exactly that makes me realize what a wonderful man you are. No other man would bring a garden of posies to a woman’s room just to please her. I love you.” She closed her mouth over his and he drank in her warmth.

  His hand found that comfortable spot on her waist and as she deepened the kiss, he drew her closer to him. No dream had ever been as pleasant as this, and he would know given the fact that for twenty years he had dreamt of his love in his arms, tasting the flavor that was only hers, feeling her soft silky lips caressing his.

  “Make me feel alive, Cooper,” she whispered against his mouth, and the sensation sent shivers cascading over his entire body.

  Without hesitation, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to her bed. Setting her down, he left her sitting on the edge while he grabbed several roses.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Giving you romance.” He drew the bed covers away, causing her to get up, then quickly scattered the rose petals over the sheets. He tossed the stems away and turned to her. His breath escaped him when he saw the huge smile on her face.

  “You are incredible.”

  “Tell me that after.” His lips curved up in a sly grin. Holding his hand out to her, she walked to him and he drew her to his chest. “Music.” He pulled away and she yanked him back.

  “I don’t need music, Cooper. All I need is you.”

  “But I want this to be perfect.”

  She cupped his face in her hands and smiled. “As long as I have you, I have perfection.”

  She’d always known just the right things to say to him to make his knees weak. “I love you with all my heart. I never meant to hurt you.”

  “I know—well, I know now. I love you just as much, Cooper. Now make love to me.”

  Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her and simply held her for several minutes.

  “Cooper?”

  “I’m just reassuring myself that you are indeed real and not a dream.”

  She tilted her head back. “Of course I’m real.”

  He shook it off. “Never mind me. Let me look at you.” He held her out at arms’ length and drank in the beauty that was his wife. “You are as lovely now as the day I first laid eyes on you. I truly am a lucky man.” Drawing her closer, he took her lips and began the slow dance to seduction.

  Her body fit against his so perfectly. The way her arms wound around his neck felt as if they’d been created to do so. Her lips fitted perfectly to his. She had been made for him, that we would stake his life on.

  One by one he slowly released the buttons on the trim, silky white shirt she wore. When the fabric parted, he slipped it from her shoulders and touched his lips to the bare skin.

  She moaned.

  Slowly, as he lowered the fabric, he kissed his way down her arm. When it slipped from her fingers, he lifted her hand and drew each one into his mouth in turn. Then he proceeded to do the same with the other arm and hand. He let the shirt drop to the floor and when he met her eyes, he saw they swam with desire.

  He kept his gaze on hers as he lowered the zipper at the side of her skirt. As it pooled to the floor, he took a step back to admire the beauty before him.

  “I have missed seeing you like this.” Clad in only a white bra and panties and her high heels, she was the epitome of gorgeous. And she was all his.

  “I wouldn’t mind seeing more myself.” Stepping up to him, she began the busy work of removing his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt. When she opened his shirt, she sighed and slid her nails along his chest.

  He moaned.

  Stripping his shirt away, she clucked her tongue at the faint bruising still coloring his skin. “I’ve never known you to be a foolish man. Promise me you will never fight again?”

  “I can promise you to try, but should I be attacked I will most definitely protect myself or what is mine.” He tilted her chin up with one finger. “I would fight to the death for you.”

  “My warrior.” She laughed and kissed his lips. Then she fell to her knees and kissed each and every bruise on his abdomen before standing to rest her lips on his once more. With her eyes on his, she undid the snap on his trousers, lowered the zipper, and let his pants fall to the floor. “Now, that’s much better.”

  Laughing, he pulled her into his arms and slowly lowered her to the bed. He kissed her face, taking time to enjoy the subtle curve of her chin before savoring her neck. He heard her quick intake of breath and it pained him that she worried that he might bite her.

  But he wouldn’t unless she asked.

  Gently, he pressed warm lips to tip of her collarbone before moving to her shoulder. He slipped the bra strap away and worked his lips down the swell of her breast. Trailing kisses across the swell and over her cleavage, he made his way to the other. When he lowered that strap, her back arched. Slipping his hand behind her, he unfastened the clasp that held her bra in place. Slowly, he slipped the bra away.

  She was full, ripe, and pink and waiting for him to sample her.

  So he did.

  A man should never tire of pleasuring a woman. Their satisfaction was euphoric, and gift enough for any man to feel fulfilled. Pleasuring his Gabriella fulfilled him completely. So he took his time lingering on first one breast, then the next, arousing her.

  He eased the simple cotton underwear down her hips while he suckled on the ripeness on her chest. She wiggled out of underwear. He enjoyed the length of her body, examining every section available. She was soft and warm and oh so giving. When she spread her legs for him, he knew it would take no more than a touch to send her over. So he took his time.

  He touched. He caressed. He teased.

  His mouth found hers and as her lips parted, her tongue slid between swollen lips. He touched the tip with his own and as she pulled hers back, he followed. While their lips caressed, their tongues danced, and all the while his fingers aroused her. She was putty in his hands, as she always had been, but the instant his tongue scraped over her incisors; she became electric.

  She pulled him tight against her, her nails digging into his back while her body wiggled against his. He felt the heat pouring off of her in waves and the scent she gave off aroused him to the point of no return. Then her fingers clawed at his briefs, until frustration grew to be too much and she tore them away.

  “Oh my,” she giggled.

  “Indeed.” With a smile on his lips, he stroked a hand along her cheek. “Does my darling want something?”

  “You.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Cooper, stop being coy.”

  He laughed when she yanked him on top of her body.

  “Take me!”

  “As you wish.” But he was not going to make it fast, though he sensed it was just what she wanted. He was not a man to rush, especially when something mattered. Gabriella definitely mattered.r />
  Taking her hands in his, he laced fingers and slowly lifted her hands above her head. All the while, his eyes never left hers. She parted her legs, the moisture tempting him to her opening. Still holding her eyes captive, he slowly slipped inside.

  She moaned.

  He sighed.

  This too would be taken slowly. Each stroke was given with precision, like a slow intake of breath. They moved together in perfect unison, their eyes never leaving each other’s. He felt her fingers tense and clasp onto him a little tighter. Her breathing became more intense with each stroke. He moved in, out, in, out until he felt her body begin to react.

  “I wish to have all of you, Gabriella, and I wish you to have all of me.” He kissed her mouth before asking. “Will you take my blood?” She didn’t hesitate as he’d expected and as he turned his neck, she clamped on. He jerked, the sudden penetration a shocking intrusion, then he felt the first pull of blood from his veins and his body came alive.

  Angling his head, he bit into the fleshy part just above her shoulder. She gasped and halted sucking for only a brief second before drawing on him with a greater force. He felt the muscles in her body contract around him, pulling him and, with each pull of his blood, she sucked him in. His body grew hot, like nothing he’d ever felt before and when she gushed around him, releasing his neck to cry out, his body spilled deep inside of her.

  He took her mouth in a warm kiss as they both finished.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  It had been too long since he’d held his wife in his arms. He would never tell her, but he had feared he never would. As the day’s fell into months and the months into years with still no hope in sight to finding a cure for her cancer, Cooper had doubted he ever would have her again. Now, as she lay content in his arms, it felt as though no time had passed.

  “Will it always be that intense?”

  He toyed with the nails at the ends of her fingers, sliding his thumb over each one, testing their strength. From everything he’d observed in Gabriella, she’d suffered no lasting effects from her twenty-year coma. That too had been something he’d worried about. “I have no idea. That was my first time.”

  She sat up and her hair fell over her shoulder like a silk wave. “You’ve never bitten one of your sexual conquests before?”

  He ran his fingers over it. “I’ve had no sexual conquest aside from you.”

  “Well, I know, not before me. But since I’ve been asleep?”

  His eyes met hers as he ran his finger along her jaw line. “None.”

  Her eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

  “Why do you find that hard to believe?”

  “I just assumed…I guess I should have known better.”

  He tipped her chin up as he spoke. “Yes, you should have. I hold my vows true to my heart and even if you had lain in slumber another twenty years or more I would not have taken another woman to my bed.”

  Her face lit up with a smile. “Oh, my darling Cooper. What a miserable twenty years it must have been for you.” With that smile still in place, she nipped his lips with her own.

  “I have you now. That is all that matters.”

  She came to rest on his shoulder, one hand delicately placed on his chest right over his heart. “What made you decide to wake me now and not sooner?”

  “I couldn’t live without you in my life any longer. When Chaos performed the ritual to darken the city I saw horror and death and pain all around me. Trinity died and was resurrected, but Basil suffered in that short time she was gone. I truly knew what his heart felt, as mine felt the same being away from you. Then Jonah’s wife and unborn child were killed and Jonah was turned into a vampire. Dante was nearly killed by Chaos’ men and I saw the lengths a brother would go to in order to save his kin. Throughout all the death and destruction one thing stood out tall and bright. Love.”

  He kissed her head, drawing her closer, needing to reassure himself she was indeed real and not a dream. “Basil and Trinity came back together and in their reunion created a child. Dante found his love. Jonah, despite the loss of his wife, found love. Finally, young Danny and Starla so much in love. It reminded me of what I once had, what I could still have.”

  He gazed down at her. “I could not bear being without you for much longer. I’d worked tirelessly to find a cure but with each year passing, found nothing. I knew that you hadn’t wanted me to ever turn you, but I saw no other way.”

  “I know,” she said, cupping his face in her palm.

  “With this darkness and the destruction I worried about two things. One, someone would find you and take you for themselves. Two, I would die and you would not be looked after and slowly your meds and life support would deplete and no one would be there to save you. I wanted neither for you. So I chose the cure. I never meant to do you harm.”

  “I know,” she reiterated a little firmer. “I came to realize that…or rather, Trinity helped me understand that. I asked you to cure me, trusted you to cure me, and that was exactly what you did. It was fear that had me begging you to promise never to turn me, but truly, this life isn’t so bad after all.” She pulled him closer and kissed him gently. “A lifetime with you seems pretty damn good right now.”

  He wanted more than that tiny sample of delight and took her lips and lingered in a long, patient kiss. If he knew they could live joined as they were forever, he might never have released her. “Indeed.”

  The knock on the door startled them both out of their loving embrace and when the door opened they both scrambled to make sure they were covered. As if they were teenagers catching an afternoon romp and mother had entered to find them.

  “Oh…um…sorry.” Turning her back, Trinity cleared her throat. “Sorry. Guess I should have waited for an answer.”

  “Was there something you needed from me?” Gabriella asked with a bit of a squeak in her voice.

  “Um…I was just going to tell you that we’ll be doing the ritual soon and wondered if you would want to watch. But I see you’re busy. Nice to see you again, Cooper,” she snickered.

  “And you, Trinity.”

  “I’ll just leave the two of you to…um…see you later.”

  They both burst into laughter after Trinity hustled from the room.

  ***

  Surrounded by her friends, Trinity tried not to show her nervousness. Her insides were doing flip flops like a skydiver without a parachute. She really worried she was going to toss her cookies all over the nicely vacuumed living room rug. Everything had to be perfect for the ritual, including ridding the carpet of any unknown fibers that might screw up the process.

  It all sounded bizarre to her, but what did she know about magic? Really?

  “Was Gabriella going to come down to watch?”

  Turning to Gypsy, Trinity shook her head. “Um…I don’t think so.” Thank God for small favors that the two had been covered when she’d entered the room. A naked Cooper she did not want to see. It would be the equivalent of seeing her father naked.

  “Maybe I should go up and convince her to come down.”

  “No!” Trinity blurted out, having everyone turn to her in surprise. “She was sleeping. Let her sleep.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She could feel the bile floating up to the surface.

  “Okay…that was weird.” With a shrug, Gypsy let it go.

  “Let’s go over this again, Trinity.”

  She turned to Starla, her impatience showing in the brusque tone in her voice. “We’ve gone over it so many times that I’ll be reciting it in my sleep for weeks. I’m ready.”

  “Still—”

  “Relax my breathing, when I do, I’m supposed to focus on counting each breath until I feel weightless. When I see the bright white light I’m supposed to go to it and no jokes again about that Jonah.” She pointed a finger at
him, silencing him. He sulked and she continued. “When I reach the Realm of Mystics I am to find Rajana who will most likely be waiting for me. I need to grab her arm, hold onto her tight while you pull us both back.” She knew exactly what to do and didn’t need to go over it again.

  “How will I know you’ve got her?”

  Trinity rolled her eyes and Basil stroked a hand along her back. “I give you a mental tap and recite the code word, Presto. I got it. Let’s just get to it already.”

  “Darling,” Basil took her hands in his, drawing her attention to him, “Starla is just being cautious.”

  “I know, I know. I’m sorry for being so jumpy,” she apologized to Starla.

  “I know you’re nervous and I can’t blame you. But you need to relax if this is going to work. You have to release the tension.”

  “I told you we should have had sex before starting this,” Basil said with a humorous tone in his voice.

  “Oh, like any of us needed to hear that,” Jonah quipped.

  “There’s still time,” Gypsy piped up. “I think the two of you should have sex first.”

  “You think everything revolves around sex,” Raven added with a roll of her eyes.

  “It’s a good stress reducer,” Gypsy informed her.

  “You just want to watch,” Dante added, pulling her onto his lap.

  “Oh…yuck.” Trinity shuddered.

  “You really need to work on that voyeuristic obsession of yours, my dear,” Dante stated with a smirk.

  “Enough,” Basil shouted, catching everyone’s attention. “There are other methods of relaxation. Please tell me you have never spied on us, Gypsy.”

  “No, but—” Dante clamped a hand over her mouth.

  “Thank you. As I was saying…” He walked to Trinity, sitting behind her on he sofa, and began to massage her neck and shoulders. “See.”

  “Sex is better,” Gypsy sulked.

  “I’m with her,” Danny added and received a scowl from Starla. “In thinking sex is better. With you, sweet cheeks, only you,” he reaffirmed.

  The sound on the stairs had all eyes drifting to the foyer as both Cooper and Gabriella entered. A hush filled the room.