I waited until the shouting stopped and Darius walked into our bedroom before finally exhaling a sigh of relief. He came to my side and slid his fingers between mine.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized.
Sighing I say, “You really know how to pick them don’t you?”
“She’s not that bad,” he laughs, “She’s angry and she wanted to get underneath my skin. I’m sorry she touched you like that…she likes women too.”
“I gathered that,” I scoffed, “I’m not exactly surprised though. You’re the kind of guy who likes to get the most out of life, and being in love with a woman who likes other women, well…lets just say she’s the kind of girl every guy fantasizes about. Not a prudish human like me.”
He winces at the word he uses to describe me when he thinks I can’t hear him. “I used to think you were prudish, but being with you I realize there’s more to you then what people can see.”
“Is that a compliment?” I tease, “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a compliment from you.”
“Yeah well…don’t tell anyone,” he winks at me.
“She’s not going to stop coming after me you know.”
Darius exhales deeply and nods, “Yes, I know. I saw it in her eyes.”
“Is it because she wants to get back at you?”
“Partly, but mostly I think she wants you for herself,” he laughs, shaking his head, “And your comment about us yesterday during the conference leads her to believe it’s a possibility. I’d say you were more convincing than expected. Clever even. I don’t know if I could have done as good a job as you did.”
“Does this mean you’ll trust me more and let me speak for my people?”
Another long sigh and his eyes averted to the floor, “I wouldn’t say that. You wrote a lot of checks with your tongue that my father and I will have to cash and he’s not particularly happy about that,” he confides, “he wants me to put you on a short leash and if I can’t, he will get rid of you.”
“Is that where you went last night or is there a third Mrs. Draven I should be worried about?”
“Yes. I wanted to spare you from his wrath and I had to conduct a staff meeting to discuss how to proceed. Luckily for you, your little stunt actually did us some good. My father is still pissed, but our latest reports show we’ve been able to acquire the support of one of the largest groups of night-dweller’s we’ve never been able to reach. They’re full support has always lay with our enemies, but as of last night, their leader has contacted us to broker a meeting.”
“So I did good then?” I smile.
“Yes and no. Politics is a very fickle game Giselle. While gaining the support of the Frederick Faction gives us an…edge, we also need to make sure we don’t lose any of our long time supporters. It’s a game of both loyalty and strategy.”
“I understand that part. You forget who my father is,” I remind him, “For years I’ve watched him wheel and deal his way up the political ladder. I’m not an idiot when it comes to politics, nor is it new to me. Well…sort of…I’m not exactly versed in the night-dweller culture, but you can teach me those things.”
A spark in his eyes made me stop talking. I watched as they slid to my lips, my breasts now covered in a sweater, and then to the gap between my thighs. My center throbbed in response.
“I must be going soft,” he whispers mostly to himself, laughing and shaking his head. “I can’t seem to get enough of you.”
“Well if you’re going to help yourself I only have one request,”
“What’s that?”
“Be gentle this time.”
His answering smile was dark, cruel and full of wicked intent. “You have on too many clothes,” He whispered to me, his lips grazing the shell of my ear. The sensation alone has me clenching my thighs together.
I stand and remove my shirt, tossing it on the floor next to me. Darius stands and does the same, his eyes simmering with desire. His chest heaves up and down as he watches me remove my bra with unwavering focus. His hands can’t get to his zipper fast enough.
Placing my hand over his I stop him and pick up where he left off. The predatory look in his eyes and the growing tent in his pants let me know he approves. He stands before me completely naked and I couldn’t be more pleased. I know exactly what he can do with those hands, those lips…his manhood.
What we have is far from love, but at least the sex is outstanding. If anything is worth enduring Aria and the many complicated layers of Darius Draven, the sex is most definitely it.
Getting down on both knees, I let Darius know just how much the considerable length of his hardness is appreciated by closing my mouth around it, devouring every inch of him that I could fit into my mouth. A soft growl escapes his lips followed by profanity.
Threading his fingers through the hair at the back of my head he plunges himself inside my mouth repeatedly. Stroking his manhood with one hand, I allow myself to get lost in the feel of him on my tongue, the sound of his ragged breaths, and the taste of him until he shudders, jerks and goes still before me. He laughs, but I’m used to it now.
“My turn,” Darius’ smile turns dark.
As I inch back on the bed, Darius prowls over to me, parting my legs and settles himself between them. I couldn’t think beyond the onslaught his tongue now waged against the folds and depth of my center. He circled that spot with his tongue, twirling and taunting me.
Back arched and fingers gripping the sheets at my sides, I’m already set to explode. But just as my body is about to seek release he stops, climbs on top of me, and plunges his hardness inside me.
Moving his hips in a slow, calculating, circular motion, he taunts me with his length. Our eyes are locked in an endless gaze and neither of us dares to look away. The hunger in his eyes makes me feel loved, like he said I would.
Unsatisfied with the depths to which he now reached inside me, Darius rolls over onto his back, pulling me on top of him, and with an upward stroke he plunges deeper inside me. I damn near choke on the air I breathed into my lungs at that moment and a whimper escapes my lips. The deeper he plunges the more uncomfortable it feels. I try to escape the extra few inches he’s impaling me with but he grips me by the waist and forces me back down.
His hands slide around my hips, squeezing and kneading my rear until in answer, I become extremely wet. The hollow between my legs throbs and aches to be put out of its misery. Pleasure begins to build, amplified when Darius takes my taut nipples into his mouth. I feel like a volcano about to erupt, and when I do, he erupts too.
I collapse on top of Darius and he wraps his arms around me, his hardness still lingering inside me. “If we keep this up, I’ll be pregnant in a month,” I whisper to him. He answers with a chuckle.
“I’ve been taking preventative precaution,” he informs me.
“Oh?” I sit up to look into his eyes, “Do you not want children?”
“Not at this moment.”
I’m not sure how I feel about his confession. Part of me didn’t want kids at the moment either, but part of me ached to feel as if I was a part of a real family. I wanted a family where I’m not just a baby found or a human political tool.
“Hey,” Darius calls out to me. “I just want to spend more time with you.”
Sighing, I simply nod. I get it. “I guess part of me just wants a real family. I thought I had that with my family, but then I found out I was someone’s discarded trash. And when I married you I hoped I could have that, but then you married Aria. I just want someone who loves me and me only. Someone whose loyalty and world belongs to me,” I explain.
“In other words, someone who won’t sell you to the highest bidder or discount your feelings and marry someone else. Someone who won’t betray you,” Darius reads between the lines.
“Yes.”
It isn’t until he lifts me up off of him and stalks into the shower that I realize I’ve hurt him. Darius Draven…the man most people’s nightmares are made of, unless you’re a woman. I followed him into the shower and he wouldn’t even look at me. He doesn’t turn so he can watch me bathe or bathe me himself either.
“Are you mad at me?” I ask.
He hesitates before turning to me, and answers, “Giselle, when I married Aria, it wasn’t to betray you. I did what countless of my kind before me have done and yet, you’re the only woman whose ever felt betrayed by it,” his pained eyes bore into mine, “I would never intentionally hurt you.”
I believe him. He would drain me within an inch of my life because in his eyes, its not hurting me, but he’s never intentionally harmed me. Silence fills the spaces around us as we both come to an understanding as to what’s happening here. There’s a contrast between his traditions and my own. As a human, Darius taking another wife is a slap in the face. But as a night-dweller, taking another wife is practically his birthright.
Seeing the hurt expression on his face, I wimp out and give in, “I believe you,” I wrap my arms around his waist, “If anything, I think this points to just how much we both need to understand each other’s culture.”
Darius reels back, surprised by my response and smiles, “Where have you been all my life Mrs. Draven?”
“Blind…abandoned…but apparently on my way to you,” I laugh.
Darius laughs too. Finally, he picks up the soap and motions for me to turn around so he can wash my back. God I love him…and it hasn’t even been a month that we’ve been married yet.
“Would you like to explore the property and join me for a staff meeting?” Darius asks.
“I’d love to.”
We showered, dressed, and then for the first time since setting foot in this house, I’m allowed to go beyond our bedroom. No longer a prisoner.
As we walk the white halls of the residence, several of the room doors are open and I can see inside of them. Some of the rooms house the staff while others house members of our campaign. As we make our way into the dining room my face lights up, “Dad? Lucas? Eliza?” I practically run to them.
The first to greet me is Eliza and I scoop her up in my arms. Lucas hugs me, and then my father. Elizabeth just watches from a foot away. Not that I expect any sort of greeting from her.
“Have you all been here this entire time?” I asked.
“Yes, but Darius let us know that the two of you needed some time alone, as it is still your honeymoon.”
I resisted the urge to shoot Darius a sharp glance and squeezed Eliza as tight as I could, “God I’ve missed you all.”
“We missed you too Gizzy,” Eliza nestled herself in my arms.
“Hello Giselle,” a familiar voice catches my attention. I follow the voice and the last person I expect to see is standing there.
“Ethan?” I frown.
I notice Darius grow still beside me and realize I must play this cool unless I want Darius to shed his blood on the carpet. Ethan steps closer to me and a low growl resonates from where Darius stands. We both notice it at the same time and Ethan heeds Darius’ warning, nodding to acknowledge he understands. I hadn’t realized night-dwellers were so…territorial.
“How have you been?” Ethan asked nervously. Darius watches us both with an unearthly predatory stillness that even gives me pause.
“Why don’t you give the two old friends some privacy,” Jackson comes to my rescue and whisks Darius away.
“Holy shit,” Ethan sighs with relief, “Did you see the way he was looking at me? I almost pissed myself just now.”
“Darius can be a little possessive, but he means well.”
“He would’ve killed me if I’d taken another step.”
“Probably,” I tease. We both laugh.
“So how does it feel to be married to a night-dweller? A lot of hearts were broken the day the two of you married,” he whispers so only I could hear, “mine included.”
I blush. “You do know they have super human hearing and the tiniest of whispers can be heard hundreds of miles away don’t you?”
Ethan’s smile was replaced by fear and I laughed. “Do you think he heard me?” He asks.
“We’ll know if he comes bursting through that door.”
Ethan watched the door like his life depended on it, which only made me laugh even harder. “It’s not funny,” he chuckles, shaking his head.
“There are eyes and ears all around this property. Be careful what you say and do.”
“Duly noted,” he nods.
“Mind if I cut in?” Asher cuts in. He doesn’t even wait for a response before he shoves Ethan to the side. “Come with me.”
Before I can protest, my body acts against my will and I hook my arm through his. I glare at Asher for taking me away from my family, but it does nothing to deter him. Up until now, I forgot he was even a part of this campaign.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked once the control over my body is returned to me.
“You’ll see.”
Before we get there I realize where he’s taking me. He’s taking me to the guesthouse and there’s only one reason why he’d be doing this. I stop walking. “Don’t.”
Again my body is no longer my own. My feet betray me, moving across the wet green grass surrounding the guesthouse until we’re standing outside what I know is probably Aria’s bedroom window. He forces me to look inside, and against my will, I do. My heart shatters into a million pieces.
I knew what I would see once I looked through that window, but nothing could prepare me for the devastation I felt actually seeing it. I want to look away but I can’t. I must endure this torture for as long as Asher wills me to and tears are pouring from my eyes.
Not even an hour earlier Darius was in my bed and now…now he’s picked up with Aria where he and I left off as if it meant nothing to him. But the worse part was yet to come. I knew how he felt about Aria, but when he uttered the three little words I’ve been dying to hear I died a little inside. And as they came crashing down onto her bed, exhausted, I watched as he cradled her in his arms, the same way he’s cradled me time and again, kissing her.
“You can warm his bed, and you can bear his children…if he lets you, but you will never be her,” Asher whispers into my ear. He releases me and I can get away fast enough.
I don’t know where I’m going, but I feel like I can no longer breathe. Somehow I reach the waters edge and collapse to my knees. I’m hurt and I’m in shock, but mostly I’m angry.
“Why would you do that to me?” I ask as footsteps sound behind me.
“Because I need your help,” Asher replies.
“With what?”
“Help me bring the Draven’s down and I’ll free you from your marriage.”
“You can’t,” I shook my head, “No one can.”
“Is that what he told you?” Asher chortles, “Do you believe everything he tells you?”
Yes…God I’m so stupid…
“He only tells you what he wants you to know Giselle, but if you help me, I’ll tell you everything.”
“He’ll kill me if I help you,”
“I’ll kill you if you don’t.”
“Then get it over with, because I won’t do it. I won’t betray him.”
Leaves crackled in the distance and suddenly Asher’s lips are pressed against mine. He pins me against a tree and I can’t move. Not even as the figure I’d know from a thousand miles away crept up behind him.
My body betrays me yet again, pulling Asher closer, and kissing him like a starving animal. He’s doing this on purpose. He wants Darius to catch us.
“Giselle?” Darius calls out.
Asher yanks away from me, like I was the one forcing him to kiss me, and the look on Darius’ face guts me. Asher releases me and I quickly run to Darius to explain. “It’s not what it looks like. He made me do this,” I explain.
“I’ve never forced myself on a girl in my life,” Asher scoffs, “I found her out here crying and I wanted to make sure she was okay. She said she’d gone to the guesthouse and saw you and Aria together. Obviously she was upset so I was trying to make her feel better, but then she kissed me. Maybe it was revenge, maybe she was hoping for something…I don’t know, but what I do know is the two of you need to talk.”
Son-of-a-bitch! I lived the past five minutes and even I was starting to question my own actions. For once I’m at a loss for words. Is this really happening to me?
“He’s lying,” was all I managed to say, “He made me do this. He made me kiss him.”
“Why would he do that?” Darius questions me, “Asher has more than his fair share of women beating down his bedroom door, and he’s too shallow to settle for my sloppy seconds.”
“To get back at you…and to drive a wedge between us.”
“Why? I don’t love you. If he really wanted to get back at me, he’d go after Aria, not you.”
Those damning words shredded my heart into pieces. In short, everyone knows I mean nothing to him, so why would Asher even bother coming after me when he wouldn’t care. He doesn’t care about me. Not like he cares about Aria.
Shattered, I resigned to my fate. I’m to be blamed for this because in Darius’ eyes, I’m not important enough to him for someone to come after. I’m a liar. I’m a cheat. I’m…nothing.
“I should head back inside. Will the two of you be okay out here alone?” Asher asks.
“We’ll be fine,” Darius nods.
No we won’t…
I know that look. The moment Asher disappears from sight Darius’ hand is clenched around my throat, squeezing the air from my lungs. “Who sent you?” He asks, “Which one of my enemies put you up to this? Is your father a part of this too?”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. He thinks I’m trying to destroy him and I would never lift a finger to hurt him. “No one,” I managed to say between strangled breaths, “Darius I love you.”
He clenches my neck tighter and now I really can’t breathe. This is it. This is how I’m going to die. Strangled by the only man I’ve ever loved. Struggling against his grip, I can feel myself starting to slip, but then he lets me go. My relief is short-lived as his teeth sinks into my neck, draining me within an inch of my life. An old promise kept.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
