Jonas (Darkness #7) Read online

  “That’s what they do, then? Treat you like a pet?” Jonas asked softly as the female crossed to her stand of tools and replaced her whip with badly shaking hands.

  “Pets at least want to be kept. Usually. I’m not a pet. I’m a slave. I’m used for my body or my blood. Humans can be released into the wild—as Nathanial says—but I’m an abomination. I’m half and half. Nathanial doesn’t want any of his kind announcing themselves to the humans before he has control over the Council. He wants to plan how the humans find out about your kind.”

  It finally became clear what was going on here. What the foreigners really wanted. “They want to see what the humans will do when confronted with another species. They want to see if they can dominate,” Jonas whispered. “What fools.”

  “And when the humans freak out—which they will—this compound will probably run right back home. You all will be hunted, and they’ll be nice and safe in hiding.”

  “They know where the Mansion is.” Adrenaline was coursing through Jonas’ body. “They know where the shifters are. Probably know where the other clans are around the country, too. If the humans are excited enough, and they are looking, they’ll eventually start noticing us. And then…”

  “And then they’ll realize you don’t get diseases. AIDS doesn’t affect you. They might think you have the cure to cancer. Most of you will be killed outright. And the rest will end up in labs. Yeah. Nathanial is thorough. He’s done his homework. I’m pretty sure he knows the outcome, but the powers-that-be wanted to see if the modern age would allow for more open-mindedness. But he’ll totally ruin what you guys have going.”

  “The Boss will cut his feet out from under him. He won’t get a chance to set this in motion.”

  The female sighed and leaned her head against the wall. “He’s an excellent magic worker, Nathanial. One of the best in the world. Your people will never find this place. They could be standing right on top of it and they wouldn’t see it. That’s why he was elected to head up this project. He’s not the oldest, but he’s the best. And the most ruthless.”

  Jonas stared at the female huddled near the wall. “Why are you telling me this? Why have you been so honest with me?”

  She shrugged and turned so her back was flat against the wall. She looked away from him. “You’ve been nice to me. You’re a prisoner, whom I’ve beat beyond the tolerance of all but a few, and still you’ve cared about my… issues.”

  “Issues.” Jonas snorted. “Such a human word. Sasha uses that all the time.” He sobered and sat back down. He felt the tug of the cuffs on his wrist. Felt the raw skin on his ankles. He needed to get out. He needed to warn his clan—to get Dominicous and Cato active. This Nathanial might be great, but Jonas bet he was nothing compared to Cato. And if so, he was nothing compared to Cato with the help of Sasha and her following of humans.

  “Why are you still here if you’re treated how you say you’re treated? And what’s your name? You never said.”

  The female glanced over at him. “Emmy. My name is Emmy. And I’ve escaped before. I’m actually pretty good at escaping. And hiding. But I have some sort of magic tag on me, I think. I’m always found. And they always bring me right back.”

  “Well, it’s a sad day when I’m the nicest person you know.” Jonas tugged at the chain again. There was no way he was pulling this out of the wall. He glanced back up at the female. “So what do you plan to do? Turn me on some more, not touch me, and then wait for them to kill me and pass you around? That your plan of action? Because if it is, that’s a piss-poor plan of action.”

  “I have at least a day to get more answers out of you. They need more information on the Council. You were there—you still have use. And if you have use, I have use. We have a little time.”

  Jonas shook his head and yanked at the chains again. Anger pinged through his body. He called the elements and tried to work a pure shot of fire. He directed the stream into the metal at his wrists. A moment later, he felt the bands heat. Next, his skin started to sizzle.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Emmy asked as she hurried toward him. He immediately felt cooling relief as Emmy reached over him and laid her hands on his cuffs. She leaned back so she could look down on his face. “I sure hope your mage is better than you at magic.”

  “Thanks,” Jonas said gruffly. “I’m not great with spells. Not those kind, anyway. Most of my magic is for fighting.”

  Silence descended as she stood over him, looking down. Her heat fell around his body. Her smell, floral and feminine, curled around his senses. He remembered her burning eyes and how she’d handled that whip aggressively. And he remembered how she gently washed the blood from his body. Hard and controlling one minutes, soft and caring the next.

  He let his head fall back so he could look up into her beautiful, haunted blue eyes. “It worked.”

  “What worked?” she whispered. Her sweet breath dusted his eyelashes.

  “Your methods. You’ve succeeded.”

  “No. I didn’t. The goal is to make the prisoner attached while remaining unaffected. I failed.”

  Her gaze drifted across his face and dipped down to his mouth. “I’ve never had a good experience with men. It’s always only been Nathanial. I’ve never been in control. I think it’s why I’m so good at this job—I get to stay in control. I’m always the master of the room.”

  “When things get too wild, and my aggression climbs too high, I often need someone with a firm hand to level me back out. To put me back in line. I need someone to take the control away so I don’t lose myself to violence.”

  A ghost of a smile graced her red, full lips. “Yin and Yang.”

  “Let me touch you, Emmy. Please. I’ll be gentle. I won’t touch you anywhere you say is forbidden. You can zap me with magic if you get nervous.”

  “No, I can’t. I can’t do much with my magic, actually.”

  Jonas could hardly think with the pounding in his cock. With the warmth of this beautiful, dainty female above him. With the desire to feel her soft skin on his body. “Why?” he asked in a whimsical voice.

  “I told you. I’m an abomination. My magic is human. They wouldn’t train me.”

  “I can free you of this life, Emmy. I can take you back with me, tracker or no. Sasha will be able to get you free of whatever magic holds you, and if she can’t do it in time, the Boss will eagerly await these dirty Europeans. If they come to us, we won’t have to bother going to them.”

  Her little hand drifted through the air. It landed softly on his shoulder. A shot of electrical current blasted through his body. He couldn’t help his moan.

  “You didn’t get hard for Darla,” she said quietly. “She was all over you—and she’s… her—and you didn’t get hard.”

  “She’s a bitch.”

  That hand lightly rubbed across his shoulder and up his neck. Her thumb lightly traced the stubble on his jaw. Delicious shivers racked his body. “She said you were selective.”

  “I don’t have time for idiots.”

  “You’re hard right now.”

  Jonas gulped. “Yes. Very. You’re driving me crazy. Which I get. Don’t get me wrong, but—“

  Emmy bent toward him. Her face came down slowly. He stayed perfectly still as she let her lips trail across his. His eyes drifted closed, savoring that sweet touch. Feeling the blissful current that vibrated through his lips and down through his body.

  “Do you always need to be hit?” she murmured against his mouth.

  “Apparently not.”

  He could feel her lips curl up into a smile before she bent forward and deepened the kiss. He opened his mouth to her, allowing her to slip her tongue inside and playfully explore. Letting her take the lead. She tasted like apples and sage. Her hands slipped down his shoulders and across his chest. Warmth radiated on his skin. Tingles spread across his flesh.

  “I will get you out of here, somehow,” she whispered as she backed up. “Tomorrow. I’ll get you out.”

 
“What about you?”

  “I’ll… figure it out.”

  “No.” His harsh voice filled the room. “We’ll get out together. Call the Boss. No, call Sasha. She’s damn pushy when she’s riled up. Call her, tell her where we are, and give her the situation. When they show up, we can make our way out.”

  “I don’t have a phone. I don’t have any connection with the outside world.”

  Jonas stared up at those sorrowful blue eyes. “How have you not gone crazy and killed everyone in your sight?”

  A melancholy smile graced her lips. “How? What’s a whip against magic? Like I said, they track me down and find me. Nathanial doesn’t like his property going missing.”

  “Nathanial is going to die before this is through. That I will guarantee you,” Jonas growled. “Not one of these buggers is escaping without answering for this.”

  “You’re sweet.”

  “Not really. Actually… not at all. I’m an asshole. But a determined asshole.”

  She laughed and slowly, hesitantly, lowered onto his lap. “I shouldn’t do this.”

  “Please do that,” Jonas begged.

  Her warm body covered him. Her arms snaked around his neck. “The first time I leaned close to you, I expected you to spit on me. Or bite me or something. Usually that’s the first line of defense when a man’s hands are tied.”

  “Hmm.” Jonas leaned forward and captured her lips. He groaned when she moved further up his lap. The warmth between her legs rested on his erection. Only a mostly sheer piece of fabric separated them.

  “You haven’t been like anyone I’ve ever met.”

  “Usually that’s a good thing.” He deepened the kiss. Needing more of her. Taking whatever she would give him. Knowing she had to do this at her own pace, and really liking that that pace was a fast one. She was part his race, after all.

  She half-stood above him while staying bent over so their lips continued to touch. She hiked her dress to her waist. “Here goes nothin’,” she murmured.

  She sat down slowly. Her hands on his shoulders were shaking. Her breath hitched and caught in her throat. Her eyebrows dipped. Fear crept into her eyes as she backed up to connect with his gaze.

  “Don’t do this if you don’t want to. Males will always beg and plead—it doesn’t mean you have to give in.”

  He’d coaxed that small smile again. Her body sat down ever so slowly. Her wetness touched his hot tip. Fire erupted through his body. “Oh fuck.”

  She kept going down. His manhood slipped past her folds and slowly, painfully slowly, entered her tight, hot sheath.

  “Oh—“ His eyes rolled back in his head. His heart hammered, pounding on his ribs. He couldn’t seem to get enough breath. His whole body was tight, desperate for more. For all of her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked through a tight throat. His whole body was flexed. All he wanted to do was thrust upward and then explode. He didn’t have long. The first time with this female and he’d turn out to be a one-pump chump.

  He hoped she didn’t tell anyone. Charles would never let him live that down.

  “Yes. Surprisingly… very okay,” she said softly as she started to move. Her hips rocked forward and back. Forward and back. The friction was pounding pleasure into his body. Nothing but pleasure. No residual pain. No stingy cuts or throbbing, aching areas. Just pure, sweet pleasure.

  I don’t remember feeling this good. Why does she feel this good?

  “I can’t—“ He braced himself with everything he had. Tried to hold back. Tried to hold on.

  “I can’t—“ He gritted his teeth. He clenched his butt.

  She rose up a little, and then sat back down. That one, hard pump was all it took.

  He exploded. An orgasm rocked his whole body. He shuddered under her, emptying himself. Small explosions of fire burst across his skin right before he turned to jelly. Every muscle in his body relaxed.

  “Okay, I can get ready again. This isn’t a problem. Give me a moment,” Jonas panted.

  He opened his eyes to the largest smile he’d yet seen. Her eyes glittered.

  “Don’t make fun of me—that’s not fair.” He sounded like a chick. Oh yeah—if Charles ever got wind of this, Jonas would be a laughing-stock. “You’ve been building me up. I’m better than this. Just give me a second.”

  “It’s flattering,” she laughed. She started moving again, slowly. Her hips went around in a circle one way, and then back the next. She leaned forward and captured his lips as she rocked forward.

  “That’s a nice way of saying it’s embarrassing for me,” Jonas grumbled. He could already feel his body responding, though. Her unsure movements, her experimental rising and falling, and her teasing kissing were enough to be hot and endearing at the same time. She was completely naïve when it came to sex. Completely raw and eager to experiment with this new control.

  He wouldn’t allow himself to dwell on why that was. Not until he was standing over this Nathanial male with a glowing orange sword in hand. Instead, he put his head back and fell into the sensations of her movements. Her gorgeous body rocking over him. Her bouncing, rising up until she was at his tip, and then slamming back down. Not only was he rock hard again, he was ready to release round two.

  “You’re making a mockery of me,” he panted, eyes squeezed shut again. “Let me touch you. Let me help you get there.”

  “No need,” she panted. She rose up and sat down again. And again. She struck up a rhythm. Each sit-down was harder and harder. The friction built as he plunged in and out of her. He couldn’t help lifting off the chair now, rising to meet her fall. Pushing into her with all the strength he could muster in his position.

  “Yes, Jonas,” she exalted. She tilted her head back with a smile. “Yes! More!”

  Their bodies slapped together. She bent back to him with a deep kiss as he moved inside of her. The pressure increased.

  “Oh Jonas,” she sighed. Her insides gripped him. So tight. So hot.

  He—had—to—

  He blasted into her for the second time. Thankfully, she shook over him a moment later. Her insides milked him, contracting even tighter around his shaft.

  “YES!” she yelled.

  Her body collapsed over him. Her arms draped across his shoulders and her face was nestled up against his neck.

  “You can take my blood, if you want,” he said softly. “I’ve never let a female do it before, but you can. If you want.”

  He felt her smile against his skin. “I’ve never taken blood before. Maybe next time. Baby steps.”

  “There has to be a next time, Emmy. We shouldn’t wait. We need to get out, now.”

  Her body straightened up. Seriousness took over her gaze. “If I let you free—even if I showed you the way out—I can’t do the invisible charm. And even if I could, they know how to undo it. You’d be dead before you took two steps toward freedom.”

  “We need the Boss and Sasha. You know this place, Emmy. Think.”

  He saw her vision cloud over. A worry-knot formed between her eyebrows. “I have one trick—one trick—I can do. My mom showed me before they moved her to another compound. My magic is weird—it’s not like hers—so when I tried the thing she showed me, it turned into something else. I only have one time, though. Nathanial will learn it and disable it after just using it once near him. I can get a phone that way, but… how fast can your friends get here?”

  “How close are we to the Mansion? To Pine Hills?”

  Tears swam in Emmy’s eyes as she slowly shook her head. “Probably fifty miles.”

  Relief washed through Jonas. “That’s fine. It’s been a few days. They’ll probably have some vague idea where this place is, by now. We just have to hope they’re close. And don’t worry about your human magic—they’ll be able to teach you. There are already a bunch of batty humans learning in the Mansion.”

  A tear overflowed. “It sounds like a dream.”

  “Well, we have to get out of here, first. And that won�
��t be too fun.” Which was an understatement. It sounded impossible.

  Chapter Five

  Emmy’s body was luxuriously relaxed as she wound her way to her room. She’d expected to have a panic attack or something. Or maybe just go numb with memories. But it hadn’t been anything like that. What started as kind of an impulse became the best experience of her life.

  But now came the hard part. Jonas was her salvation—she knew that as well as she knew her own name—but they were trapped in this festering pool of disease. Security was much more relaxed at home than in his compound. On enemy soil—as Nathanial thought of it—he wasn’t taking any chances. She knew this, because to make that map of hers, she had to test all the entrance and exit points. Even the “secret” entrance to this place had guards. She could slip out, but getting the prisoner out? It didn’t look good.

  She pushed open the door to her room with her map in mind as she caught the familiar presence. Nathanial sat at her desk as he had the other night. One ankle was crossed over a knee and his fingers were intertwined. Shivers wracked her body. This was his “faux patience” stance. It meant she was in trouble and would be punished.

  “Hi Nathanial.” She walked right up to him. She’d hoped to think about a plan, maybe wait that day after all. Not with that edge to his eye, though. She didn’t have a day.

  She didn’t have an hour.

  “Emmy. I am absolutely heartbroken. Darla tells me you interrupted her interrogation. Being the dear-heart she is, she tried not to fault you, but I couldn’t help but see the whip mark. You scored one of your betters while defying one of my direct orders. This grieves me.”

  “She wasn’t interrogating him. She was trying to screw and bite him.” Emmy felt the magic run through her body.

  “Now, now. You know I dislike when you are vulgar. Well. You will be glad to hear that your prickly charge is no longer needed. Darla has produced someone who used to work right beside Cato. He is quite well connected. Pity I didn’t hear of him before now. But you know how it is—so many want to join our cause, I don’t have time to speak to them all. Luckily, however, Darla had. She was quite the find.”