Burned by Darkness Read online

  “Why are you here?” he demanded.

  “The imp is coming with me,” the demon said, his gaze locking on Odel, who was crab-walking across his grubby floor.

  Was the idiot attempting to escape?

  “Non.” Levet placed his hands on his hips, puffing out his narrow chest. “I located him first. Finder’s keepers. He is coming with me.”

  The dark-haired male regarded him as if he wondered if Levet was entirely sane, then he waved a slender hand toward the waiting troll.

  “Take them both.”

  Levet let loose a squeal as the behemoth of a troll reached out to grab him by the wings.

  Oh…drat.

  ###

  Tayla struggled to catch her breath as Baine slowly rolled to the side, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around her. In the back of her mind was a niggling voice of warning that threatened to destroy this moment. But even as she tensed, Baine captured her lips in a kiss that blazed through her, searing away her brief attempt at sanity.

  Oh yeah, and making her toes curl in wonderment.

  Snuggled against him, she tried to think of what to say. She didn’t know any pillow talk. And ‘thank you for the best sex of my life’ seemed a little weird under the circumstances.

  So instead she asked the question that’d nagged at her since Baine had brought her to the cottage.

  “You didn’t tell me why we had to leave your lair,” she murmured.

  She felt him tense, his lips absently brushing over her damp forehead.

  “My father,” he said, his voice edged with a sudden anger.

  Tayla grimaced. Her brief time in the company of the older dragon had left her with the impression of an aggressive brute who ruled with an iron fist.

  Thank the heavens that Baine had purchased her from the terrifying beast.

  “What about him?”

  “He’s…” He hesitated, as if debating the proper word. “Unpredictable.”

  Tayla gave a sharp laugh. She had Odel. It was tough to top him as being the most unpredictable father in the world.

  “I know the feeling.”

  Baine’s lips skimmed down the length of her nose before pressing lightly against her mouth.

  “Yes, I suppose you do.”

  She pulled back to study his beautiful face. “The two of you don’t get along?”

  He shrugged. “Dragons rarely form family bonds. We’re solitary creatures by nature, although Synge is always happy to claim me as his son when he wants something from me.”

  She ignored the strange pang that clutched at her heart at his blunt claim that he was a loner.

  “Does he want something now?”

  A dangerous heat filled the air. “You.”

  “Me?” She frowned. Was that a joke? No. Baine might tease, but he never joked. “Why?”

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” There was no mistaking his grim determination despite the fact he was nuzzling a line of kisses along her jaw. “Until then, we’ll stay here.”

  “We?” Surprise and something far more perilous jolted through Tayla at the thought of the two of them spending days, perhaps weeks, alone in the tiny cottage. Somehow she’d assumed he would return to his lair. “You’re going to stay here?”

  He gave the lobe of her ear a punishing nip. “Where else would I be?”

  “I thought—”

  “Don’t think,” he interrupted, capturing her mouth in a kiss that was a deliberate attempt to inflame her senses.

  It worked like a charm.

  “Baine,” she breathed, her heart slamming against her ribs.

  “I knew it would be like this,” he breathed.

  She shivered. “Like what?” she demanded, even as she knew the answer.

  Powerful, explosive, overwhelming.

  “Perfection,” he said, his eyes glowing. “We were clearly destined to be together.”

  She blocked out his words.

  He was right. There was no need to think. Not yet.

  In this moment all she wanted to do was feel. And feel. And feel…

  Tayla stroked the smooth muscles of his chest, fascinated by the satin heat of his skin. At the same time, she slid her foot up his calf, the movement pressing her closer to the growing thickness of his cock.

  Excitement bubbled through her at his ready response. The knowledge that she could stir his primitive desires was as intoxicating as nectar.

  “My enchanting imp,” Baine growled, crushing her lips with slow, drugging kisses that had her arching in pleasure.

  He tasted of dragon-fire. And sex. And power.

  A heady combination.

  His hands skimmed down her body with an intimate exploration that made her tremble. He caressed the slope of her shoulders, and down the backs of her arms. He molded her breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples to aching peaks. And all the while he continued to dazzle her with his deep, mind-numbing kisses.

  Desire crashed through her, as well as a perilous sensation that she was swift to bury in the back of her mind.

  Effortlessly sensing her impatience, Baine rolled her onto her back and covered her with his heavy body, his mouth seeking the sensitive tip of her breast.

  He murmured his approval as she scraped her nails down his back, and grasped his hips.

  With exquisite skill, he tormented her nipple, his cock rubbing against her clit until she was arching beneath him in a silent plea. He turned his focus to her other breast, his hand sliding beneath her to cup her butt.

  “I can’t wait,” he rasped. “Are you ready?”

  Ready? Good lord, she was about to combust.

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  “Tell me you need me,” he commanded. “I want to hear the words.”

  “I need you.”

  As if her words snapped the leash of his control, Baine gave a low growl and with one hard thrust was buried deep inside her.

  Tayla gasped. He was large enough to stretch her to the very limit, but it was an exquisite burn. With a throaty moan she wrapped her legs around his hips and dug her heels into his lower back.

  “More,” he muttered, burying his face in the curve of her neck.

  She trembled as she felt the rough rasp of his tongue against her pulse, an erotic heat dancing over her skin as his body was sheathed in dragon-fire.

  Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

  She dug her nails into his hips, holding on tight as his rhythm quickened. It was so good. Too good.

  The combined sensations of heat and his ruthless thrusts were swiftly tossing her into a vortex of bliss. Knowing it was a waste of effort to try and prolong the pleasure, Tayla lifted her hips off the mattress, meeting him thrust for thrust.

  She moaned as a burst of dragon-fire surrounded them, binding them together and catapulting them into a mutual orgasm that drenched them both in pleasure.

  Lost in a sated haze, she floated in a sense of unreality while Baine nuzzled a path of kisses toward the hollow beneath her ear. At the same time, his hands skimmed up the curve of her waist to cup her swollen breasts.

  Baine groaned in satisfaction as her nipples readily puckered in anticipation.

  “Mine.”

  The breath was snatched from her lungs as the awareness of Baine flowed through her with a shocking intimacy. It was like…

  She sucked in a shaky breath.

  Oh, shit.

  ###

  Despite the obvious warning signs, it was several hours later before Tayla truly accepted that she was in trouble.

  Not just ‘crap, my soufflé deflated’ kind of trouble. Or ‘I forgot to pay the electric bill’ trouble.

  This was ‘oh my god, my entire life has changed’ trouble.

  She should have known it the second that she’d felt Baine thrust deep into her body. There’d been pleasure. So much pleasure she’d nearly blacked out. But she’d told herself it was the gratification of being in the hands of a talented lover.

  Even when she’d felt the unmistak
able sensation of their souls merging she’d tried to pretend she didn’t realize what was happening.

  But now she could no longer deny the blatant truth.

  There was a part of her that was convinced this male was her…mate.

  As in a forever, and ever, and ever mate.

  Thankfully, her stomach growled in protest at the long hours they’d spent without nourishment, and Baine crawled from the bed to collect the last of the bread and honey, as well as the container of nectar, allowing her to consider the dire consequences.

  And they were dire.

  The fey weren’t like many demons. Most of them could choose to be with one partner or a dozen. But when an imp was with a species who mated, like vampires or Weres, it could trigger the latent instinct to be claimed.

  Panic fluttered in the pit of her stomach.

  What was wrong with her?

  Not only had she’d fully participated in her own seduction, but now she was becoming emotionally entangled with the male who’d bartered for her like a piece of property.

  Gulping the nectar at a reckless rate, Tayla tried to ignore the dragon who was lying beside her, an indolent smile on his painfully beautiful face.

  Yeah, like she could ignore the thunderous heat that pulsed through the air. Or the fact that they were both stark naked.

  Still, she needed to try and put some sort of barrier between them. Otherwise he might guess that he’d stirred feelings that should never have been stirred.

  How pathetic would that be?

  Especially after he’d made a point of telling her that dragons didn’t want families, or happily-ever-afters.

  Realizing she was becoming maudlin, Tayla turned to set her empty glass on the bedside table.

  Watching her with an odd expression of satisfaction, as if pleased that she’d managed to clean her plate, Baine whisked away the tray while holding up the small container of nectar.

  “One more shot?” he asked.

  “No.” She shook her head. Any more and she’d be singing sailor ditties and wearing a lampshade on her head. “It’s very potent.”

  He chuckled. “It must be. It’s turned your nose red.”

  She lifted a hand to touch her nose that had gone numb. “It is not.”

  Baine leaned forward to kiss the tip. “It is still quite charming,” he assured her, his words a throaty purr. “Along with your lips.” He brushed his mouth over her tingling lips before moving to trace the shell of her ear. “And ears and—”

  Erotic pulses of pleasure blazed through her with each destructive caress. Instinctively, she tilted her head to the side, silently inviting him to trail his mouth down the curve of her neck.

  It was only when she felt her blood heating in anticipation of his touch that she realized what she was doing. Yeesh. She was supposed to be building barriers, not melting beneath the exploring lips.

  Forcing herself to lean away from his intoxicating expertise, she tugged the sheet up to her neck.

  “What time is it?” she demanded.

  Baine arched a brow, easily reading her discomfort. “Time has no meaning in this place.”

  That was true enough. A few hours might have passed since they entered the cottage, or a month.

  “Maybe not, but we can’t stay here forever.”

  The amber eyes studied her with an unnerving intensity. “Why not?”

  “Because…”

  “Yes?”

  She struggled to think of an excuse that might give her an hour or so of breathing room.

  “I need to check on my house,” she finally managed to mutter.

  “It’s not going anywhere.”

  “Maybe not, but I have repairs that need to be made and the entire place needs to be cleaned,” she babbled.

  He looked less than impressed by her hasty excuse. “The gargoyle can take care of it.”

  “It’s not Levet’s responsibility,” she insisted. “It’s mine.”

  There was a long, uncomfortable silence before he reached out to gently tuck a stray curl behind her ear.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shivered. What would he do if she told him?

  Oh hey, Baine, I know I’m just a temporary concubine who is here to work off thousands of dollars for my father, but I think you ignited my mating instincts…

  He would either laugh or use her weakness to his advantage.

  Neither was acceptable.

  She grimly held on to her excuse. “My house was destroyed by trolls.”

  “This has nothing to do with your house.”

  “Are you a mind reader?”

  “Tayla.” He framed her face in his hands, studying her with a rising impatience. “Talk to me.”

  She hunched her shoulders, wishing his exotic scent wasn’t saturating the air. It was bad enough that he was gorgeous and naked, with hypnotizing tattoos. Did he also have to smell yummy?

  “There’s nothing to say.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Just a few minutes ago you were—”

  She hastily pressed her hand to his mouth. She knew what she was doing a few minutes ago.

  And it involved her lips being wrapped around his very hard cock…

  “Don’t,” she rasped.

  “And now you’re anxious to get away from me,” he continued, the air prickling with a heat more angry than sexy. “Why?”

  She licked her lips, glancing over his shoulder at the window. Anything to avoid that burning amber gaze.

  “I might be forced to be your concubine, but that doesn’t mean I can pretend my real life doesn’t exist,” she insisted.

  She didn’t consider the words tumbling out of her mouth. Not until she felt Baine stiffen.

  “Forced?” he said, his voice a low growl.

  Tayla grimaced. Rats. She’d wanted to put some distance between them, but she hadn’t intended to imply that she’d been some sort of unwilling victim.

  With an effort, she met his fierce glare. “You know what I mean.”

  “As a matter of fact, I don’t. It sounded as if you were saying that I forced you into my arms.” His face was dangerously devoid of emotion. “Am I mistaken?”

  “I just meant…” She licked her lips, her gaze once again moving to the window. “I have a life that I can’t put on hold forever.”

  His hands tightened on her face. “Tayla, look at me.”

  It was a command, not a request, and Tayla found herself obeying before she could stop herself.

  “What?”

  He bent his head until they were only an inch apart, a small tendril of smoke curling from his nose.

  “Are you in this bed because you wanted me or because you felt compelled to be here?”

  “Baine—”

  “Answer the question,” he snarled. “Why are you in my bed?”

  They both knew why. She couldn’t resist him.

  Heck, she didn’t want to resist him. At least her body didn’t.

  But the words refused to leave her lips. Instead she gave a shake of her head.

  “Do you have to take everything?”

  He scowled at her harsh accusation. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Isn’t it enough that I’ve agreed to pay my father’s debt?”

  “No, it isn’t.” The amber eyes darkened. Not with anger. But with something that made her heart clench with regret.

  Her lips parted to take back the awful words, but before she could speak he was off the bed and yanking on his loose pants.

  “Fine.” The indulgent lover was gone. Replaced by a cold-eyed predator who snapped his fingers with impatience. “Get dressed.”

  Acutely aware that she’d just destroyed something fragile, and perhaps even precious, Tayla scrambled off the bed, keeping the sheet wrapped around her shivering body.

  “Where are we going?” she demanded.

  The perfect male features were hard, the tattoos swirling over his body at a frenetic pace.

  “If you want to be tre
ated like another pretty bauble in my hoard, then your wish is my command.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Baine couldn’t remember when he’d been so furious.

  Not when his father had tossed him out of the family lair before he’d barely passed puberty. Not when the goblin tried to sell him a treasure chest full of fool’s gold. Not even when a mob of overly-zealous humans snuck into his cave and tried to stab him with a pitchfork.

  And it was fury that flowed through his veins like acid, he grimly assured himself. It had nothing to do with disappointment, or thwarted desire, or an aching heart.

  That would be…madness.

  Holding onto Tayla’s arm, he opened a portal directly to the deepest¸ most secret part of his lair. Then, tugging her forward, he slammed shut the opening behind them.

  Once he sensed she was steady on her feet, he released his grip and took a sharp step backward, folding his arms over his chest.

  He told himself it was to be even more intimidating. As if a big, bad dragon needed extra effort to bully a tiny slip of an imp. But that was better than admitting it was the only way to keep himself from reaching out to brush back the golden curls that framed her pale face. Or to touch the plum cashmere sweater to see if it was as soft as it looked.

  Inside him his beast lashed its tail and breathed fire. It didn’t understand why he wasn’t back in bed with this female in his arms.

  The beast didn’t care that she was stubbornly refusing to admit she melted beneath his touch because she desired him. Desperately. The dragon only knew that nothing had ever felt so good as the sensation of having his cock plunged deep into the silken warmth of her body.

  Baine, however, was deeply offended at being accused of forcing a female.

  Hadn’t he paid a damned fortune for her? And hadn’t he spent twenty-five years trying to track her down? And hadn’t he taken her to her own slice of paradise so she would be happy to spend her time with him? Hell, he’d traded away a favor from a fey royal so she could have the finest nectar.

  And for what?

  If her pride demanded she be treated like a prisoner, then fine.

  He’d treat her like prisoner.

  He pretended he didn’t notice her vulnerable expression as she glanced around the massive space that was stuffed to the ceiling with piles of gold and jewels and unusual pieces of art that had captured his attention over the years. His precious books were in a temperature-controlled library that was hidden behind layers of illusion at the far end of the room.