Page 9 of Devil’s Night (Vinduthi Captured Mates #7)

NICOLE

A nother flicker, another opening from the maze. I tightened my grip on the rusty doorknob, the metal biting into my palm. “Ready?”

Sargon’s low rumble came from behind me. “As I’ll ever be.”

We’d tried retracing our path, but it was as if the house had turned into one of those origami fortune-tellers that I played with back in grade school. Space folded around us, shuffling the rooms of the mansion, changing the floors.

And the deeper into the maze we went, the more the horrors around us seeped into my mind.

But there wasn’t any choice. The only way out was through.

I twisted the knob and pushed. The door creaked open, revealing a dimly lit hallway lined with dusty picture frames. A musty smell wafted out, tickling my nose.

We stepped inside, the floorboards groaning beneath our feet. Sargon moved with a predator’s fluid grace despite his size, while I tried not to trip over my own boots.

Streaks of mold crept across cracked plaster like grasping tendrils. An involuntary shudder ran through me. What other nightmares awaited us?

We reached the end of the hall. A curving staircase loomed before us, the steps worn and uneven. Sargon went first, testing each tread before motioning me to follow.

Halfway up, a faint noise made me freeze. “Did you hear that?”

Sargon stopped, his pointed ears twitching. After a moment, he shook his head. “Hear what?”

“I’m not sure. It sounded like scratching? Scrabbling?” I strained to catch the sound again, but the staircase was tomb-silent once more.

We continued our ascent, the steps groaning in protest. At the top, a narrow corridor branched off to our left and right.

Sargon inhaled deeply through his flared nostrils. “This way.” He turned right without hesitation.

Trailing after the hulking Vinduthi, shadows flickered in the corners of my vision. I blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the unnerving tricks of light and darkness.

A door at the far end stood slightly ajar, a thin slice of illumination spilling through the gap. My pulse quickened as we neared it. This had to be the way to the attic, right?

Sargon reached out with one long-fingered gray hand and slowly pushed the door open. I peered around his muscular frame into a child’s bedroom.

Faded wallpaper depicted friendly cartoon animals amid sprawling trees. A twin bed stood in one corner, the covers thrown back haphazardly. Battered wooden toys were scattered across the threadbare rug.

Something twisted in my gut. Another child’s room. This place reeked of profound sorrow, of innocence lost.

Sargon turned to me. “Let’s keep looking for a path to the attic.”

Swallowing hard, I nodded jerkily. Don’t think about the lonely teddy bear missing an eye. The thick layer of dust over everything. The smears on the wall

We split up, Sargon checking the closet while I scanned the bookshelves and toy chest. Other than a few storybooks, I found nothing useful.

Disappointment washed over me in a cold wave. We were so close! I slammed my palm against the shelf in frustration, rattling the toys.

Then the scrabbling noise came again - unmistakable this time. It emanated from the very walls around us.

Rats? Or something more?

My heart came to my throat as something moved in the shadows beneath the bed. Another form slithered into view, joints cracking like twigs underfoot. Hollow sockets burned with twin points of reddish light.

“Sargon!” I cried out in a strangled voice.

The Vinduthi whirled, his powerful body coiling with lethal grace. Twin blades materialized in his hands as if from nowhere.

The aberration lunged with startling speed, claws outstretched. Sargon met its charge head-on, shearing through desiccated bone and rotted sinew. But where one fell, more emerged from the gloom, their desiccated jaws gaping hungrily.

I flattened myself against the bookshelf, trembling, as Sargon waded into the seething mass of horrors. His lithe form was a blur of motion, his knives flashing in the half-light. Bone fragments clattered to the floor in gruesome heaps.

Yet for every nightmare he destroyed, three more appeared to take its place. They swarmed over the bed, the toy chest, closing in from all sides. Sargon lashed out with fists and feet, but they just kept coming in a remorseless tide.

One lunged straight at me, bony claws swiping for my face. I threw up my arms just in time, screaming. Rancid ichor splattered my shirt as the blades sheared through the thing’s torso.

Sargon fought with the cold, grim demeanor of one accustomed to death. But I could see the strain etching his features as he battled the onslaught. For the first time since we’d met, I glimpsed the shadow of fear in his eyes.

And in that moment, the horror of our situation crashed over me like a rogue wave. Trapped in this decaying hell-maze, with no way out. No way home. Panic bloomed in my chest, an icy knot of dread that left me breathless.

Another skeleton bore down on me. I tried to dodge, but my feet wouldn’t cooperate. It loomed over me, claws raised to strike

Then a gray blur appeared, protecting me. Sargon snarled, a bestial sound that reverberated in my bones, as he tore the creature apart with his bare hands. His broad back shielded me from the gnashing horror, his powerful muscles flexing beneath smooth gray skin.

In that instant, the fight went out of me. My knees buckled and I sank to the floor, my face buried in my hands as I shook with ragged sobs.

I was going to die here, lost and unmourned in the nightmare of some madman’s fevered delusions. All my hopes, my curiosity, my drive to understand the unknown… it would all end here, unrecorded, in this crumbling tomb.

Through my gasps for air, I became aware of movement nearby. Not the skittering horror of desiccated bones, but something more substantial.

Strong arms enfolded me, drawing me against a warm, solid torso. The scent of sweat and leather and something spicy enveloped me as Sargon gathered me to his chest.

He cradled me there, one big hand splayed protectively across my back while the other stroked my hair with an awkward tenderness. His touch anchored me, a tether to sanity amid the spiraling chaos.

The world around me faded to a dull murmur as I focused on the steady thrum of Sargon’s heartbeat, the reassuring rumble as he murmured wordless sounds of comfort.

Gradually, the shuddering sobs eased and my ragged breathing slowed. As the panic receded, a profound sense of safety and solace seeped through me from the solidity of his embrace.

For the first time since walking through the door to this house… no.

For the first time in my life, I felt cherished. Protected. Like I mattered to someone.

I became aware of the ticklish caress of his calloused fingertips tracing idle patterns against my scalp. The tension had melted from his powerful frame; he held me now with a gentleness that shook me to the core.

Pulling back slightly, I found myself mesmerized by the play of dim light over the lean planes of his face, throwing his sharp features into stark relief.

His expression remained impassive, yet behind that stoic mask, something had softened in his gaze.

In that moment, I glimpsed the man beneath the deadly hunter’s exterior - a protector, yes, but one moved by more than cold professionalism. Someone who would go to any lengths to shield what he cared for.

The realization sparked a warmth inside me that had nothing to do with the solidity of his arms around me. This gruff, enigmatic alien had seen my fear, witnessed the crumbling of my bravado, and he hadn’t flinched or retreated.

Instead, he’d drawn me near when I was at my most vulnerable, offering the shelter of his strength with a tenderness that made my throat tight.

Our gazes locked, charged and unwavering. His features were all hard angles and uncompromising lines yet I found myself tracing their stern beauty with a newfound sense of wonder. Of possibility.

“Sargon “ I murmured, the syllables falling from my lips with surprising intimacy.

One corner of his mouth curled upward in a fleeting half-smile that made my pulse stutter. A few stray locks of hair had fallen over his brow; without thinking, I brushed them aside.

My fingertips grazed the ridged surface of one small horn, and Sargon tensed abruptly, his eyelids fluttering. A sharp inhalation hissed from between his clenched teeth.

I started to pull back, but his hand caught my wrist in a gentle vise, holding me in place. His smoldering gaze had darkened to a burnished garnets.

Sargon’s chest rose and fell in a deep, measured cadence. When he finally spoke, his gravelly tones caressed the words with a rumbling purr. “You should not touch me so carelessly, little human.”

I shook my head slowly, holding his gaze. “I’m not being careless, Sargon.” My heart thrummed in my chest. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Emboldened by the raw vulnerability I’d glimpsed in his alien eyes, I leaned forward, closing the gap. My lips brushed against his in a tender, questing kiss. A spark of electricity jolted through me, a current that ignited a fire deep in my core.

Sargon’s response was immediate and overwhelming. With a low growl that resonated through his chest and into mine, he wrapped his powerful arms around me, pulling me flush against his hard, lean body, his lips firm yet yielding as he deepened the kiss.

I felt myself being lifted off the ground effortlessly, his hands splayed possessively across my back. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, and I clung to him, lost in the maelstrom of sensation he evoked.

As we kissed, Sargon turned and, with one muscular arm still firmly holding me, swept the bed clear with the other. Books and toys thudded softly against the threadbare rug, but neither of us cared enough to check the damage. The world around us had narrowed to the heat of our bodies, the taste of his lips, the intoxicating scent of his skin.

He broke away reluctantly, his eyes searching mine. “Tell me, ,” he rasped. “Tell me if you do not want this.”

I cupped the sharp line of his jaw with my hand, answering him with a smile that felt both foreign and utterly right. “I promise you, Sargon, this is exactly what I want.”

A shudder ran through his body at my words, and the feral set of his face only deepened. He laid me down gently on the bed, his gaze never leaving mine as he began to undress me with a reverence that made my heart ache with unexpected tenderness.

His hands were deft and sure as he peeled away my clothing, baring my skin. The rough pads of his fingers skimmed over my flesh, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. I felt exposed and vulnerable under his scrutiny, but there was no fear – only a desperate, all-consuming need for more.

Once I was naked before him, Sargon took a moment to simply look at me, his gaze roaming over me with an appreciation that made me blush from head to toe. Then, with a tenderness that surprised me, he began to kiss his way down my body, worshiping me with each caress of his lips.

Sargon’s lips trailed a scorching path down my stomach, each kiss a brand that seared my skin and stoked the fire within me until he settled between my thighs with the patience of a predator closing in on its prey.

“Sargon,” I breathed, my voice a plea and a benediction all at once.

He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes as if savoring a rare and exotic perfume. “Your scent, it’s intoxicating,” he murmured, the words vibrating against my sensitive flesh. “It’s like the first breath of air after being submerged in the depths for far too long.”

I squirmed beneath him, aching for his touch, but he held me firmly in place with a gentle yet unyielding hand on my hip. His control was absolute, and it both maddened and thrilled me.

“You’re torturing me,” I accused, the corners of my lips turning up in a smile even as my pulse hitched with anticipation.

Sargon’s low chuckle rumbled through me, a sound both wicked and warm. “Patience, little human. I intend to savor every inch of you.”

He explored the contours of my thighs, tracing the lines of muscle and sinew as if he were memorizing my body through touch alone. The pads of his fingertips felt deliciously rough against my skin, a stark contrast to the softness of his kisses.

“And your taste.” That purr sent heat pooling in my belly. “It’s sweeter than anything I’ve ever known. Like the most exquisite nectar, hidden away in the heart of the most dangerous flower.”

I moaned as he parted my folds with the reverence of one unwrapping a precious gift. The cool air of the room was a sharp contrast to the heat radiating from his breath, and I felt myself growing slick with need.

Sargon’s eyes flicked back up to meet mine, the desire in them mirroring my own. “May I?” he asked, the question a mere formality; we both knew the answer.

“Yes,” I begged, the word a desperate entreaty. “Please, Sargon.”

With a final, lingering look that promised worlds of pleasure, he lowered his head and tasted me fully.

His tongue was a marvel, a decadent combination of softness and skill that had me arching off the bed within moments. He explored me with a thoroughness that bordered on obsessive, each lick and suck and nibble sending me higher and higher until I was teetering on the edge of ecstasy.

I fisted my hands in his hair, the strands slipping through my fingers as I writhed beneath the exquisite onslaught. My breath came in sharp, ragged pants, every muscle in me coiling tight with the impending release.

“Sargon, I’m… I’m close,” I managed to pant out, as the sensations built within me, a tidal wave of ecstasy that threatened to overwhelm me. I could feel the pressure growing, a tight coil of pleasure winding ever tighter in my core. Sargon’s hands gripped my hips, holding me in place as he drove me relentlessly toward release.

And then, with a final, devastating swirl of his tongue, the coil snapped. I arched off the bed, a wordless cry torn from my throat as the orgasm washed over me in wave after wave of sheer, mind-blowing bliss.