Reaper's Dark Kiss Read online

  “You know how those people are dying.” She spoke calmly, measuring her words as if she were ticking off points on a list. “You think you can stop the Fang Killer. You don’t know where to find him. You act like you and he are in the same club, maybe a club that does weird things, but this guy got a little too weird, and you got sent to rein him in.”

  With nearly nothing to go on, Sky had gotten too close for Julian to risk lying. He said nothing.

  “Who is he?” Sky asked.

  Vandar’s scent was all over the bodies. He was addicted to draining the same way a mortal could be addicted to heroin. All Julian needed to get the council to issue a death scroll was to witness Vandar doing it one time. That was the law. But something wasn’t right. The bodies didn’t fit. Vandar was too smart to dump drained mortals in plain sight in the Sun World. It was like advertising for a signed death scroll. Julian told Sky the truth. “I don’t know all of it.”

  Sky put her feet down and gazed out into the trees. Julian recognized the haunted look on her face. He’d seen it in the condemned when he’d found them hiding, trying to outlive their sentence. Whatever was eating Sky didn’t have anything to do with dead mortals in the park. It was personal.

  “What happened?” Julian asked quietly.

  “I saw something really weird,” Sky said. “And it’s making me feel a little crazy.”

  “And it scared you,” Julian said.

  “Yeah,” she said in a bare whisper.

  “Then let’s do something not scary,” Julian said, trying to think of what would keep Sky with him until dawn. “Where do you like to go?”

  “I like dinosaurs. I’ve been going to see the same fossils since I was a little girl.” Her voice became slow, considering. “They’re always there. They don’t go anywhere.”

  “I think I know someplace you’d like,” Julian said, getting up and offering Sky a hand. “Not every museum’s behind walls.”

  Chapter Five

  “How far do these go?” Sky asked.

  “All over the city,” Julian said. “Paris has catacombs. New York has old train tunnels.”

  After they left the park, Julian had led Sky to the far edge of the network Shadow Worlders used to travel the day. This part had been abandoned decades ago when mortals built too close for safety. Fugitive light seeped in through the roof’s stonework.

  “There it is again,” Sky said. “Cover story. These aren’t tunnels for the trains anymore. Someone added on.” She turned to Julian. “You don’t know who might have done that, do you?”

  “Someone with too much money and not enough friends to tell him not to?”

  He brushed his hand against hers, and she slipped her fingers through his. Julian took her through narrow winding byways until they came to the Old Circle. It used to be a meeting place, safely underground from the sun. The domed roof was a mosaic that told the story of how the Shadow World came to be. Stone benches rose in concentric circles around a small stage. Smoky moonlight drifted through pinprick holes where tiles had fallen away from the mosaic. Julian helped Sky up crumbling steps to the stage. They sat on the edge, side by side, legs hanging down.

  “Let me guess,” Sky said. “This is an old station nobody knows about except bodyguards with secret clients.”

  Julian leaned back on his elbows. “You guess pretty good.”

  “This is crazy,” Sky said, and suddenly all her fear was back. “An abandoned subway station in Manhattan in the middle of the night.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I barely know you.”

  “I’ll e-mail my diary.” Julian only got a hint of the smile he’d hoped for. He added, “But you have to promise you’ll keep it off the record.”

  Sky turned to him, deadly serious for a long moment, and Julian thought he’d gone too far. But all she said was, “It feels safe here with you.”

  He scented the fear behind her words. His beast growled. “You’ll always be safe with me,” he said before he could stop himself.

  Narrow shafts of silvery light fell from the roof. The sounds of traffic and trains rumbling past were a far-off murmur. Julian took a risk he shouldn’t have. Slowly, he reached out and trailed his fingers down Sky’s back.

  “Don’t,” she said with a little shiver. “I’m ticklish.”

  Julian wanted to know where else she was ticklish but knew this wasn’t the right time to ask. Instead he obeyed the ancient instinctive part of himself. He undid his zipper.

  Sky whirled around to face him. “What are you doing?”

  She blushed beautifully. Julian laughed and undid the zipper on the other sleeve of his coat. “Getting comfortable,” he said.

  Sky slapped at his hand and jabbed a finger at him. “You owe me a dozen questions for that.”

  Hands up in a peace offering, Julian said, “Don’t beat me up, and I’ll make it two dozen.”

  She scowled at him before she broke into a laugh. Somehow Julian’s beast had known Sky had to be startled out of her fear. He’d thought she would be angry, but she was more relaxed than she’d been all night. They talked about everything from their best picks for takeout in Chinatown to best place to avoid tourists. Every time Julian so much as hinted at talking about what happened in the diner before Sky’s phone call, she changed the subject.

  When a reaper couldn’t win, he waited. Julian let Sky lead the conversation, and they talked easily. He came to know Sky, came to know her rhythms, her laughter, her quiet moments of remembering. He was in a slow mating dance, drawing her deeper into his life with every passing moment. It was good until she shifted ground without warning.

  “Doesn’t your family mind you doing dangerous work?”

  “We’re all warriors,” Julian said, then realized he’d let too much of the truth slip.

  “I think you’d make a good warrior,” she said, looking at him. “You don’t seem like you’re afraid of anything.”

  As though she’d said something she hadn’t meant to, Sky suddenly turned away. A secret scent of desire came from her. At that moment, Julian would have given up his wings all over again just to hold her, feel her against him.

  “Are those wings?” Sky was pointing up. “I’ve never seen angels like that.”

  “It’s an old story,” Julian said, resisting the urge to run his fingers through her hair. “A kind of myth.”

  Looking up, Sky leaned back, tilting her head. It made her hair brush against Julian’s face. He inhaled her scent of rainwater and roses at dawn.

  “They look like they’re falling,” Sky said, tilting her head one way then the other. “Are those ivory hilts on the swords?”

  To Julian’s eyes, the light coming through the holes in the mosaic was changing. Dawn was coming. “I’d tell you, but you’re past your two dozen questions,” he said, sitting up.

  “And you didn’t answer anything about the Fang Killer.” She cleared her throat, swallowing back the fear he’d seen earlier. “Guess I forgot to ask.”

  “Guess you were too spooked by whatever happened before I got to the diner.” The flash of fear that came and went in Sky’s eyes made Julian’s beast snarl, but he didn’t press for an answer. “Come on.” He stood and held out a hand. “I didn’t mean to keep you out most of the night.” A shameful lie. “It’s getting to be past my bedtime.” The awful truth.

  Above ground, walking Sky home, Julian wished he could push sunrise back just one hour. She stopped at the steps to her building and turned to him. “I never thought I’d say this, but going through deserted tunnels in the middle of the night was”—she gave a shy smile—“fun.”

  “When can I see you again?” Julian asked.

  Sky adjusted her backpack, shifted her feet. “I don’t know. I have to get out Fang Killer articles over the next couple weeks.”

  Julian nearly barked an order at Sky before he caught himself. As casually as he could, he said, “You don’t have to go back to the park, do you?”

  “No,” Sky said with a slow laugh. �
��I have to write.”

  “Is it okay if I call?” Julian pretended not to see Sky scan the street as if she expected to see something. Or someone.

  “Anytime after midnight,” she said and gave him her number.

  “Want me to walk you upstairs?”

  “It’s getting late.” Sky went up a couple steps, which put her on eye level with Julian. “Not tonight.”

  Julian tried to think of a reason to keep Sky with him a few more moments. “Any place special you want me to take you next time?”

  Sky cocked her head to the side, her gaze not leaving Julian’s. “How do you know there’ll be a next time?”

  It had been decades since a woman challenged Julian the way Sky did. “Because I’ll keep showing up till you tell me to go away,” he said.

  Sky’s gaze fell to the sidewalk at Julian’s feet, and then her face went blank, a look he was coming to recognize as Sky hiding her thoughts. “You do that,” she said, backing up the steps. “I’ll be here.”

  Julian watched Sky go inside and disappear through a second door, then looked down at the sidewalk to see what she’d seen.

  All night he’d been careful. He’d answered around Sky’s questions. He hadn’t told her anything that could reveal who—what—he was. But here, on her front steps, he’d made the biggest mistake. The moon was just past full. The streetlight beside Sky’s building was out. In the swath of moonlight bathing him, Julian cast absolutely no shadow.

  Chapter Six

  In his dreams, Julian’s shadow ran with him in moonlight. The ancient city of white buildings, a long-forgotten corner of Rome’s empire, glistened in the moon’s silvery glow. Tonight, the only inhabitants were Julian and Sky.

  Summer drizzle fell. Fat clouds rushed across the moon. Sky was ahead of him, running. Shirtless, Julian chased her through a narrow alley, his bare feet silent on the cobblestone ground. His shadow was a jagged outline of muscle racing over white walls.

  Sky’s laughter trailed over her shoulder. The rain made her thin dress cling to her naked body. She’d hidden from him, then led him on a merry chase when he found her. Julian had played the game, let her run. But he’d never stopped thinking of what he would do—what he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from doing—when he caught her.

  Ahead, Sky stopped and turned to him. Her breasts, round and firm beneath the clinging yellow of her dress, taunted him more than her words. “You run pretty slow for a vampire.” Then she whirled and ran.

  Julian went after her, his cock pulsing with the animal urge to mate. He would have no mercy when he chased her down. He was beyond that. Her play had gone far enough. He decided the chase was over. He flew to a rooftop a few feet ahead of Sky and waited. Just as she turned the corner, he landed before her.

  Going too fast to stop, she skidded into his waiting arms. He roughly pressed his lips to hers, pulling her close. She moaned softly as he broke the kiss and scooped her into his arms.

  She laughed, kicked her feet. “Julian!”

  He flew straight up, landed on a balcony, and set her down. With no hesitation, Sky reached for the cord holding up his cotton trousers. He took her breasts in his hands, his thumbs teasing her hard nipples, drawing a long moan from her. Her hands trembled as she slid his pants down and trailed her fingers between his legs, cupping him low.

  Her light, uncertain touch made Julian groan far back in his throat. He kissed her, holding her nape, his other hand sliding up her thigh, over her ass, lifting her dress out of his way. He bunched the gauzy fabric in a fist and ripped the dress from her body.

  Not breaking their kiss, he leaned her against a low table, her back against a wall. With no warning, he found the sweetest part of her and slid his engorged cock into her slick, tight sex. She whimpered softly, shooting her hips against him.

  Julian wanted to stay like that forever, inside Sky’s pulsing heat. He eased back, then slid into her again. Sky moved with him, her arms around his neck, her head against his shoulder. He rocked hard against her, thrusting deep into her on every stroke. He grabbed her ass and held her tight so he could grind into her with each thrust.

  “Don’t stop,” Sky whispered. “Please, Julian. Don’t stop.”

  The naked desire behind her words spurred Julian on, inflamed the haeze lust driving him. He wanted to possess Sky, take her, mark her.

  Mine.

  Her nails raked his back. She wrapped her strong legs around him and arched against him. Lightning lashed the distant horizon as Julian cradled her body in his arms. He bent his head to kiss and lick her nipples. Sky, caught up in the lust just as much as Julian, was almost impatient with him. She gripped the back of his neck with both hands and thrust herself at him, taking him deeper into her soaking wetness.

  Barely moving his hips, Julian pumped into her with short, jagged strokes, his entire length moving in her. He watched her face contort with pleasure until Sky tossed her head back, arched against Julian, and moaned his name as she climaxed, her body shuddering. He groaned at the feel of her spasms around his throbbing cock.

  Still buried inside her, Julian picked her up and carried her inside the small dwelling to the bedroom. He looked to the taper candles all around the small room, and with a thought, he brought them to light. He laid Sky down on the bed’s white cotton sheets and lay over her, holding himself in her sleek wetness. He kissed the hollow at the base of her throat, his palms on either side of her head. She squirmed under him.

  His gaze on hers, he slid out of her and stood. Taking her ankles, he drew her to him, then lifted her legs so her feet rested on his shoulders. He slid his cock slowly up and down her hard nub, watching her writhe.

  Sky slapped the sheets. “Don’t you dare tease me!”

  But he did. Julian laughed quietly as she lifted her hips, needing more of his length inside her. He took a half step back. She raised her head, opened her mouth to utter perhaps another threat. But what Julian was feeling must have shown in his eyes. Tonight, he would dare much with the woman he wanted for his own. She slowly lowered her hips to the bed, saying nothing.

  “You’re mine,” Julian said, running his fingers gently along the insides of her thighs.

  Thunder rolled through the night as Julian slowly kissed Sky’s foot on his right shoulder, then kissed her ankle, her smooth, sleek calf, letting his heavy cock rest between her legs.

  “Tell me, Sky,” he murmured softly, turning his attention to her other leg, laying gentle kisses on her bare flesh.

  “Yes,” she said and braced her feet against Julian, lifting her hips, trying to push herself against him.

  Seeing more of her spread before him nearly made Julian drive hard into Sky and take her. Instead he reached between her legs and flicked his thumb against her nub. “Yes, what?”

  She gasped and jerked her hips up. “Yes—Julian—God. Yes. I’m yours.”

  In all his millennia as a warrior, Julian had never wanted surrender more than he wanted it at this moment. No. His cock throbbed, his heartbeat was quick and hard, his breaths came fast. He didn’t want Sky’s surrender. He needed it. He ached for it. And would he pay for this later? Maybe. In some other world, some other time. But now, all that mattered was making Sky his.

  He bent forward, letting his cock slide against her moist lips, but not into her. He licked her nipples, taking his time, circling his tongue around first one, then the other. He moved his hips slowly, teasing her nub with his cock. Under him, Sky writhed, her hair all around her flushed face. She tangled her fingers in Julian’s hair, pulling him near. He heard her rushing heart.

  The scent of her desire to mate, to be taken, maddened Julian. He held her nipples gently between his teeth and moved his tongue over their swollen tips. Sky whimpered, her fingers running through Julian’s hair as she moved against him.

  Take her, his beast demanded.

  He lifted his head, rested himself on his elbows, and kissed along her jawline to her ear, slowing himself down for Sky’s sake. Then he
found her mouth, and their tongues met tenderly. His beast didn’t want this, didn’t want to make love. His beast wanted to rut, to make Sky call out his name until she went hoarse.

  Animal lust roared through Julian, and his kiss became more demanding. He reached for Sky’s wrists and caught them, moving her arms until they were over her head. He broke their kiss and whispered in her ear, “For how long?”

  Sky made wordless sounds that spoke of the heat burning inside her. She was almost feverish with it as she pushed herself at Julian, bringing her legs up to wrap around his ass, opening herself to him. “How long what?” she said between short breaths.

  Julian ran his lips over her neck, then let his fangs descend and lightly graze the place where he would bite her, mark her. “How long will you be mine?”

  He drew his fangs in and kissed his way down between her breasts, over her flat belly, past her navel, and passed his tongue lightly around her nub. She bucked against him and cried out softly. In a voice between a whimper and a moan, she said, “Forever.” She gasped as Julian continued to lick and said again, “Forever.”

  Mine, Julian’s beast growled.

  Breathing hard, Julian rose up and drew Sky even closer to the edge of the bed. Instinctively—there was no thought in her graceful move—she raised her legs, rested her feet on his shoulders. “Make me yours,” she whispered, looking into his eyes.

  Julian drank in the sight. Her hair was strewn over the pillow. Her full breasts, tipped with hard nipples, rose and fell with her rapid breaths. He ran his gaze down her belly, and as he inhaled her scent, he rubbed his cockhead on her nub, a gentle massage. He followed the rise and fall of her hips. She was his love this night and for all nights to come. Tonight he would claim her as his. He would make her his mate, joined to him for all time.

  He cupped her perfectly molded ass and pressed into her body. Julian wanted her so badly, his hands shook as he slowly slid his hard length into her. Her welcoming wetness, slick and pulsing around him, made him groan. He pulled almost all the way out of her. Sky moaned. He felt her ass clench as she tried to take him back inside her.