Night Embrace by Sherrilyn Kenyon
go outside for more than a few minutes before the sun rose again and forced him back indoors. For nine hundred years, he'd been banished to that harsh, extreme terrain.
Now at long last, he had a reprieve.
Closing his eyes, Zarek inhaled the air, which was thick with life. He smelled the mixture of foods and river. Heard the sound of laughter and revelry. He really liked this city. No wonder Talon and Kyrian had claimed it.
He only wished that he could stay here for a little while longer. Stay where there were others of his kind. Where there were people who would talk to him. But he was used to wanting things he couldn't have.
The door on his right opened and a small boy stepped out. The runt was cute enough for an ankle-biter. He had short brown hair and was sobbing. The kid pulled up sharply at the sight of Zarek standing there. Zarek ignored him.
"Hey, mister?" the boy said, his voice trembling. "Can you help me? I'm lost."
Zarek took a deep breath and pushed himself away from the railing. He tucked his clawed hand into his pants pocket and turned around. "Believe me, kid. I know the feeling."
He offered the child his bare hand and was stunned at how small and trusting the boy was. He couldn't remember a time in his life he would have ever reached out to someone and trusted them not to hurt him. "So, who are we looking for? Your mom or your dad?"
"My mommy. She's really pretty and big."
Zarek nodded. "What's her name?"
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 291 of 460
"Mommy."
Now that was really helpful
not. "How old are you, kid?"
"I'm this many." He sniffed back his tears and held up four little fingers. "How old are you?"
"A lot more than four fingers."
The boy held up all ten. "This many?"
Zarek smiled in spite of himself. "C'mon," he said, opening the door. "I'm sure there's someone inside who can help you find your mommy."
The boy wiped his face with his sleeve as Zarek led him into the Brewery. They hadn't gone far when he heard a woman gasp. "What are you doing with my son?"
"Mommy!" The boy bolted toward the woman.
She grabbed the child up and the feral, suspicious look she cast Zarek let him know a hasty exit would be wise. Some nights it didn't pay to appear dark and sinister.
"Security!" she shrieked. Zarek cursed and ran back out the door. He leapt over the banister, to the stairs a story below, and quickly lost himself in the crowd. Or so he thought. As soon as he was halfway down Wilkinson, he saw Acheron waiting in the shadows.
This was just what he friggin' needed--Acheron to chew him out for locking Nick in the closet and leaving the house while he was under orders to stay put.
Zarek snarled. "Don't start on me, Ash."
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 292 of 460
Acheron cocked a brow at that. "Start on you for what?"
The hair on the back of his neck rose. Acheron was too relaxed and there was no tensing of his shoulders like Acheron always got when they came into contact with each other. They had declared their mutual dislike for each other over two thousand years ago. The man in front of him was acting as if Zarek were one of the Dark-Hunters Acheron was friendly with.
It sent a chill up his spine. Hatred and anger he could take, a friendly Acheron made him nervous. "Aren't you here to chew me out?" Zarek asked.
"Now, why would I do that?" He clapped him on the shoulder. Zarek hissed as he moved away from him. "Who the hell are you?"
"What's wrong, Zarek?"
There was no way this was Acheron. Zarek used his telekinesis to pull the sunglasses off the man's face. Instead of swirling mercury eyes, this man had blue ones. The stranger narrowed his human eyes on him. "That was unwise."
The next thing Zarek knew, he was hit with a god-bolt. Talon was strapped to his exercise bar, doing inverted sit-ups when Sunshine finally came awake. Hissing, she sat up in bed, slowly. Languidly. "It's so hot in here," she said, her voice low and throaty.
Talon relaxed his body as he watched her, letting himself hang upside down while his fingertips brushed the floor. "How are you feeling?"
She pulled her shirt off, over her head, and he instantly tensed at the sight of the black lace bra cupping her breasts.
"Hungry," she breathed, releasing the front catch on her bra. "And not for food."
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 293 of 460
He arched a brow at that, and at the way she trailed her hands over her breasts, down to her pants. Oh, this was cruel. She pulled her pants off slowly, sensually. "I need you, Talon."
"I think you need a cold shower."
She moved toward him like a stalking lioness. Mesmerized, Talon didn't move until she reached him and ran her hand down his thighs. She bent her head to nuzzle and lick the back of his knees.
Talon moaned at how good she felt. His body hardened and throbbed as he pulled himself up, intending to unhook his boots from the bar. But he never got the chance.
Sunshine waylaid his lips and kissed him passionately.
Sunshine couldn't think straight as she pulled back and stared into his midnight-black eyes. Her body was alive. On fire. All she could focus on was her throbbing need to have him inside her. A burning itch to have his hands on her body.
She'd never felt such potent lust. Such a hunger to taste and feel every tiny morsel of a man's body. Oh, how she wanted him. She took his hands and led them to her breasts.
"Make love to me, Talon. Please."
Talon hesitated. "I don't know if we should do this while you're under the infl--" He stopped mid-sentence as she pushed his shorts up to his knees.
Possessed with a powerful lust she'd never known, Sunshine gently nibbled his sensitive hipbone. He moaned deep in his throat, spurring her on while she raked her hand through his short curls, letting them wrap around her fingers until she cupped him in her hand.
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 294 of 460
Talon couldn't move as wave after wave of pleasure racked him. She ran her hand down his shaft, making him harden even more. "Hmm," she breathed. "What have we here?"
She took the tip of his shaft into her mouth, circling him with her tongue, drawing him deep into her moist heat. Reaching for her bare legs, he growled in pleasure and pulled her closer to him.
She sucked more of him into her mouth while her fingers stroked his sac, sending spikes of pleasure through his entire body. It was a damned good thing he was hanging here. As good as she felt, had he been standing he would no doubt have been on the floor right now.
Closing his eyes, Talon savored the feel of her tongue and mouth caressing him, licking him, sucking him, of her hand spurring his ecstasy on to a dangerous level. Talon encircled her waist with his arm and nibbled the tender spot of her hipbone. She moaned deep in her throat. The vibration of it reverberated through his entire body.
Sunshine shivered as Talon nudged her legs apart. She wrapped her arms around his waist, feasting on him while he stroked her tenderly with his fingers. She could feel his stomach muscles flex with his every move. The steeliness of them made her delirious, and when he took her into his mouth, she moaned aloud. Her head reeling, she continued to tease him with her tongue and lips while he worked magic on her body with his mouth. She'd never felt anything like this mutual giving. The mutual need to touch each other and give each other pleasure.
His tongue slid over her core, caressing her, stoking her to such a height that her knees felt weak. She ran her hands down his back, to his shoulders, pressing him closer to her. She rocked herself shamelessly against him, all the while licking and teasing him in return, tasting the saltiness of his body.
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 295 of 460
Her body quivered in bliss an instant before waves of pleasure tore through her. Crying out, s
She returned his smile. "You know, your face is very red."
He laughed as he pulled himself up and unhooked his feet from the bar. "And I have a headache from it, but I don't really care if my head explodes. You are more than worth it."
He started to pull his shorts up, but she stopped him. Trailing her hands and lips down his steely abs, to his legs, she removed the shoes and shorts. "I'm going to lick you from head to toe."
He arched a brow. She ran her fingers between his toes, sending chills all over him. "I am going to make you scream for mercy before I'm through with you."
Now there was a promise he wanted fulfilled. Talon closed his eyes and groaned as she licked his toes, one by one. Her tongue slid sensually between them, electrifying him and making his body even harder. Stiffer. Then, she moved up his body, her nails scraping against his flesh. "You are mine to toy with," she said in a bad Slavic-style accent.
Talon hissed as she nibbled her way back up his legs. Her tongue and teeth teased the flesh of his legs, his inner thighs. With a throaty laugh, she pulled back and smiled up at him. Talon watched her heatedly as she cupped her breasts in her hands and wrapped them around his shaft. He fisted his hands while she rubbed herself up and down him.
"You like that?" she asked in an evil tone.
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 296 of 460
"Yes," he said, his voice deep and ragged. "Then let's see what else I can find that you like."
Sunshine moved him to the futon and pushed him back into a reclining position, then she crawled slowly up his body, and straddled his hips. She gasped as he slid his fingers inside her. She was so wet for him, so hot. She needed his touch. He laid her back against the mattress, then knelt between her legs. Her heart pounding, she stared up at him.
"Put your feet on the wall behind me."
She did as he asked. He lifted her hips, then drove himself inside. Sunshine cried out as he filled her with pleasure. He was so thick and full, his strokes masterful, as he rocked himself between her legs. From this position, he was able to penetrate her completely while she was able to lift her hips more and meet him stroke for stroke, driving him in ever deeper and harder.
Talon growled at how good she felt. He placed his hands on her hips, moving faster. He braced himself over her with one arm on the mattress, and kissed her lips while he trailed his free hand down so that he could slide his fingers through the moist triangle of dark hair and stroke her cleft. Her entire body quivered as he used his fingers to stroke her in time to his thrusts. He drove himself deep into her and then paused, savoring the feel of her moist heat. Oh, how he needed this woman. Needed this connection to her.
This wasn't just physical between them. It was so much more. She moaned, then slowly started rocking herself against him. "That's it, baby," he whispered in her ear. "Ride me all you want to." And she did.
Closing his eyes, he ground his teeth to stave off his orgasm so that he could just feel her taking pleasure from him. He loved her like this. Wild and demanding. She was completely shameless in his arms.
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 297 of 460
How he had missed her and how damned grateful he was to have her again. He wanted to possess her. To chain her to him for the rest of eternity. If only he knew how.
Desperate with need, he sat back on his knees and took control again.
Sunshine growled with ecstasy as Talon slammed himself into her, even deeper than before. She met his strokes with a frenzied need. And when she came again, she moaned his name. She heard him laugh deep in her ear before he joined her.
She smiled as he pulled away from her and then lay down on the futon. Kissing him, she placed herself over him like a blanket. "Mmm," she breathed. "This is what I wanted to do to you the first night we met."
"What? Screw my brains out?"
She punched playfully at his stomach. "That too, but no, I wanted to be your blanket."
He ran his hands through her hair, cupping her head. "Baby, you can be my blanket any time you feel the urge."
She definitely felt the urge. Smiling wickedly, she rubbed herself against him, then gave him a deep, passionate kiss.
"You do know I'm not through with you?" she said, using his words. '
"No?"
She shook her head. "I'm just getting started."
By dawn, Talon was sweaty and exhausted. And he was sore in places he hadn't known a man could get sore. He wasn't sure if he ever wanted to have sex again Talon
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 298 of 460
laughed at the thought. Yeah, right. But he at least wanted a few hours of rest before they had another marathon.
He was still breathing heavily as Sunshine finally drifted off to sleep, lying by his side with her hand tangled in his hair and her leg draped over his bare thighs. Jeez, Ash hadn't been kidding about her appetite. She had contorted his body into positions he hadn't known he was capable of. Right now, he had no energy whatsoever. In fact, he never wanted to leave this bed again, and if she had rolled over one more time and grabbed him, he might even have whimpered.
Groaning at the thought, he reached over to his night-stand, grabbed his phone, and called Acheron to check in. He only hoped that this time the phone actually worked. It did. As always, Acheron answered on the first ring.
"Hey, is it the good Ash or the bad Ash?"
"Good, bad, I'm the one with the gun."
Talon snorted at the answer. It was a quote from the campy movie Army of Darkness that Acheron adored. "Only the real Ash would be weird enough to pull that quote."
"Gee, thanks, Celt. So what's up? Has Sunshine come awake yet?"
"Yes, she did."
"And you're still able to walk and move?"
"Let's not go there."
Ash gave a short half-laugh. "Yeah, okay. So what do you need?"
"I got a call from the imposter not long after I got back here with Sunshine."
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 299 of 460
Total silence answered him. He couldn't even hear static on the cell line. "Hey, T-Rex, you there?"
"I'm here. What did he say?"
"Mostly that he hates you. At first I thought it was you, but he said a couple of things I knew didn't sound right."
"Such as?"
"He said he--meaning you --had been addicted to this drug he fed Sunshine. Getting anything that personal out of you is like removing a tooth from a lion without a tranquilizer."
Again Acheron was totally silent. "Hey, bud, you still with me?" Talon asked. "Did he say anything else?"
"Yeah, he said you had a sister you let die. I called him a liar and we passed a few insults, then he hung up on me."
Talon heard Nick in the background calling for Ash while Zarek growled for Nick to let go of him. "Something wrong?"
"Nick just brought Zarek in. He's hurt. Let me let you go."
"Okay, but call back and let me know what's going on."
"Will do." The phone went dead. Now that was weird too. Frowning, Talon set his phone down and returned to Sunshine. Sunshine came awake screaming. Talon grabbed her as she thrashed about on the futon. "Shh," he breathed against her hair. "It's me, Talon.
You're safe."
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 300 of 460
She was trembling against him. "I thought I was still
" She tightened her arms around
him. "Oh God, Talon, I was so scared."
Anger pierced his heart. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. Did they hurt you?" She shook her head. "They just scared me. Especially the one they called Styxx."
"Styxx? Like the Greek
She nodded. "He had this crazy look to him. Spooky. His eyes were so full of hatred and he had a constant snarl. Camulus had to keep calming him down."
Talon ground his teeth. He fully intended to find both assholes and put a major hurt on them. "I'm sorry, baby. I promise you, they'll never get their hands on you again."
Sunshine tightened her arms around him. "I'm so glad you found me, but how did you know where I was?"
"Camulus called me."
The news stunned her. "Why?"
"I don't know. I think he just wants to play with my head. He's twisted that way." She sat there, feeling sick to her stomach. "What did they give me?"
"Some kind of drug. An aphrodisiac. Did they use it with you?"
"No," she said. "They forced me to drink it, then left me alone. It was really nasty stuff. I still feel so lightheaded and strange." She looked at him and smiled. "But I remember what I did with you."
Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 301 of 460
"Yeah, so do I."
She laughed and her body protested the movement. "Are you as sore as I am?"
"Let's just say I'm in no hurry to get out of bed."
Sunshine traced his tattoo as she took comfort in being safe with him. It was so good to just feel him by her side again. To hear the sound of his voice. She remembered the gunshots they had fired into him and how terrified she had been that he would somehow die from the wounds.
Now there was no sign at all that he had ever been shot. "I'm so glad they didn't kill you," she breathed.
"Believe me, I feel the same way about you."
She ran her hand over his nipple and then froze as she felt suddenly sick. "Sunshine?"
She left the bed and rushed for the bathroom. Talon followed after her and then held her while she unloaded the rest of the drug from her system. Sunshine didn't know how long she was in there. It seemed like she would never stop heaving. Talon stayed with her the entire time, holding her hair, washing her face with a cold, damp cloth.
"Are you okay?" he asked when she finally stopped.
"I don't know. I feel awful."
He kissed the top of her head. "I'll go get you a Coke and some crackers. It'll help you settle your stomach."
She thanked him, then went to the sink to brush her teeth while he went to get the Dark Hunter Series (04) - Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 302 of 460