Page 9

Darkness swallowed me, so complete it felt like a physical presence against my skin.

I could not see my hand in front of my face, could not make out the walls of the passage we descended through.

Only Morrow's cold fingers wrapped around mine provided any orientation in the void.

We moved downward for what felt like an eternity, the air growing cooler and damper with each step.

The chill seeped through my jeans, making me grateful I had taken the time to dress properly before following him into these depths.

The silence pressed against my eardrums, broken only by the soft scrape of my shoes against stone, and the rustling of my jacket. Morrow moved without sound, his strange grace undisturbed by the pitch blackness.

"How much further?" I finally whispered, my voice sounding unnaturally loud in the confined space.

"Not far," Morrow said, his voice coming from just ahead of me.

"Few living eyes have seen what I'm about to show you."

The passage widened suddenly, the close walls falling away.

Though I still could not see, I sensed a vast space opening around us.

The air moved differently here, circulating in subtle currents. I tried to pinpoint what I was smelling.

"Wait," Morrow said, releasing my hand.

I stood perfectly still.

I did not hear anything, but a moment later, a soft glow bloomed in the darkness.

Morrow knelt beside a lantern, its flickering light slowly revealing the chamber around me. My breath caught.

We stood in a cavern larger than the cottage, its ceiling lost in shadows.

Every inch of wall space was carved into shelves, all of them full.

Centuries of collected artifacts. Far more than what would have been buried at funerals. Pottery that looked Native American, Victorian jewelry boxes, Civil War pistols, shelf after shelf of books. So many things I could not begin to catalog them all. And each item appeared meticulously arranged just so.

"How long have you been collecting?" I asked, moving toward a shelf holding a wide assortment of jewelry.

Diamonds, gold, silver, turquoise.

Some tarnished and some glittering as brightly as the day it was made.

"Since before there was a cemetery," Morrow replied, watching me from beside the lantern.

"Since before there was a town."

In the dim light, his skeletal body seemed softer.

The sharp edges less defined.

"This way," he said, lifting the lantern and moving deeper into the cavern.

I followed him through an arched passage into another chamber, smaller than the first.

It was similar to the bedroom I found before but more lived-in.

A large nest of blankets and clothing covered a large, flat stone. The base was about half the size and carved with symbols I could not read. A large stack of leather-bound books sat on the floor on the left side.

"This is your home," I realized.

Morrow set the lantern down, its light casting his elongated shadow across the wall. "Yes."

What about the other place?

A less preferred resting place, he said.

"The others who came before me," I said.

"Did you bring them here too?"

"No," Morrow said, his gaze fixed on me.

"Only you."

"Why?" I asked.

I had to know.

I could feel myself opening up in a way I had never done before. I needed to know if I was alone in this.

Morrow was silent for a long moment, those black eyes studying me with unnerving intensity.

"Because you didn't run," he said finally.

"Because you see what I am and stay anyway." His lipless mouth curved in that unsettling approximation of a smile. "Because you offer all of yourself without conditions."

He moved closer, so close I could feel the unnatural chill radiating off of him.

His elongated hand rose to my face, black nails tracing the line of my jaw.

"Dawn has come," he said softly.

"I am at my weakest now.

If you wished to destroy me, this would be the moment."

He brought me to his sanctuary, showed me his resting place, admitted his vulnerability.

All acts that likely went against every predatory instinct he possessed.

I gave him a wobbly smile.

"I don't want to destroy you," I whispered.

"What do you want, Carmen Ruiz?"

Dozens of answers drifted in and out of my mind.

I wanted beauty and sadness and death and love.

I wanted everything I had experienced since we met. I wanted it all. I wanted

"You," I said finally and closed the distance between us.

The first touch of my lips against his was strange.

His mouth was a thin line covering daggers, his lips cool, rough, and hard.

For a heartbeat, he remained perfectly still. Then his arms came around me, hauling me against the angles of his body.

His sharp teeth nipped at my lips, swallowing my shocked gasps.

And then his tongue was there.

It snaked around my mouth, shoving my tongue aside to slither down my throat. Suddenly deprived of air, I choked and my eyes flashed open. All I could see was the bottomless black abyss of his stare.

I clung to him harder.

He purred and his tongue pulled back to swipe over my panting mouth.

I felt us moving, but I could not think of anything but his biting kisses trailing down my throat. My back hit the nest hard enough to knock the wind out of me. Morrow immediately began ripping at my clothes, as if desperate to get to skin.

I helped as much as I could with my hands shaking and all the warmth in my body pooling between my thighs.

Together we got my jacket unzipped and my shirt pushed up out of the way.

My bra was a lost cause. He ripped it in half with a snarl and hunched over me to suck my nipple into his mouth.

I arched, the shock of pleasure ripping a moan out of me.

I ran my hands over the back of his skull and down his neck, pulling him closer.

Begging for more. He sucked until my nipple was sensitive and aching before he switched to the other side. I squeezed my hands between our bodies to fumble with my belt.

My pussy was clenching in time with the hard pulls of his mouth.

It had only been an hour, but I wanted his mouth on me again.

I wanted him to suck my throbbing clit until I screamed. I must have mumbled something to that effect because he let my nipple go with a last hard pull.

You will give me everything, he growled.

I jerked my head in a nod.

Fuck me, I begged.

Please, fuck me.

He bared his teeth.

With pleasure.

He ran his cool hands down my sides to curl his long fingers over the waistband of my pants and panties.

He pulled both down at the same time.

They tangled around my knees, but he did not seem to care.

Turn over, he rasped.

When I did not move fast enough, he gripped my hips and flipped me onto my front.

I gasped, grabbing handfuls of his blankets.

His fingers ran over my ass before he lifted me onto my knees. I felt the cool air on my pussy and his fingers were spreading me open for his tongue.

Unable to move, unable to even spread my legs, I could only whine into the blankets as he licked the length of my slit over and over.

Wiggling between my folds and flicking teasingly over my clit.

Everything was so slick and hot and tight. I gasped his name.

Carmen Ruiz, he said darkly.

My Carmen.

Please, Morrow! I pleaded.

He laughed his rasping inhuman laugh.

I will give you everything you need, My Carmen.

Everything.

His tongue licked up to my ass and prodded.

I choked on a gasp as he slowly eased me open.

My ass clenched around the invader. I shuddered, unsure if I wanted more or less of the strange pleasurable fullness. Before I could decide either way, two of his impossibly long fingers plunged into my soaked pussy and curled.

I moaned, both holes clenching at the shock of pleasure.

He massaged the front wall of my pussy as his tongue pushed deeper, spreading my ass wider.

My thighs shook, so slick my trapped clothes were getting soaked. I struggled to spread my legs wider, but I could do nothing but kneel in the nest as my pussy hungrily sucked on his fingers.

The pleasure built, slow but inescapable.

I was not ready.

I panted, clawing at the blankets as the waver rose high and higher.

Morrow! I moaned frantically.

His tongue wiggled out of my ass as the pleasure finally peaked.

That s it, My Carmen, he growled in my ear.

Give me everything.

My pussy clamped down on his stroking fingers and slickness gushed out of me.

I felt it drenched my thighs and everything beneath me.

Morrow snarled. His fingers slipped out of me and something larger and hard immediately took their place.

I choked on a scream as his cock began to push inside my spasming pussy.

He was big, bigger than I realized, and not shaped like a man.

Only an inch past the tapered head, his cock widened into a bulbous knot.

W-wait! I moaned.

It popped inside me and I cried out.

He slowly pushed deeper, the bulge massaging my inner walls where he had already used his fingers.

I felt pressure against my entrance again.

"Morrow!" I whined.

"W-what--?"

"Everything," he purred.

With my thighs pressed together and he crouched over me, there was no escape.

The thought should have been terrifying.

I moaned as my pussy spread wide to accept a second and then a third bulbous knot of flesh.

By the time I felt Morrow's hips pressed against my wet folds I was shaking.

I had never been so full.

My pussy ached enough to bring tears to my eyes, but I clenched around him hungrily. Demanding more.

Morrow brushed his lips over the back of my neck. Good.

I shuddered.

He shifted his hips and I choked out a moan.

I think you can tolerate more now, he mused.

I screamed as he pulled back and those three knots popped out of me one by one.

I went limp, giving in completely.

I could only moan when he shoved forward again. The filthy squelching of my pussy was loud in the small space. The second thrust was easier than the first.

The third made me scream his name.

His hand slipped beneath me, long fingers circling my neck to jerk me back into each thrust.

Do you know what I thought when I first saw you, Morrow purred in my ear.

I whined.

He continued as if I had answered.

I would burn for a human like her.

I sobbed out his name.

Please, I begged.

And slaughter anyone who touched you.

My orgasm ripped out of me.

I screamed as my vision whited out, my entire body snapping tight.

My pussy clamped down on his cock so hard he was forced to wait. His fingers twitched around my throat before sliding down my body to gently caress one of my breasts. His claw skimmed a nipple and I cried out.

Beautiful, he said, seemingly to himself.

He lifted me enough to shift my clothes down to my ankles and tossed them aside.

My legs were free, but I was too overwhelmed to do anything with them.

Morrow grabbed my thighs, shifting them further apart so he could push deeper. My entire body jerked.

Look, he rasped, gently turning my head to the side.

I squinted through tears to see an antique mirror sitting in the corner.

It captured us perfectly.

I sight of his pale, inhuman body crouching over me made me inhale shakily. Whatever Morrow saw in my expression made him rasp a laugh.

His grip tightened on me and he effortlessly sat back, perching me across his thighs.

His cock twitched as I writhed in place, shifting my hips to feel those thick knots moving inside me.

I watched us in the mirror.

I had not realized how much larger he was.

I was not a short woman, but his body was long and lean. I looked like a doll perched in his lap, helplessly chasing my pleasure. Our eyes met in the mirror. He raised his hand to stroke my cheek, down over my heaving breasts, to where we were joined.

Yes! I gasped, as he stroked over my clit.

I rocked harder, those knots shifting just right.

I arched, wrapping my arm around his neck for leverage as I bounced harder.

His hand matched my speed, rubbing my clit faster and faster. I was being loud, but there was nothing I could do. I needed more, but I was too breathless to ask for it. I sobbed helplessly.

Morrow s arm tightened on my waist and he began to jerk his hips violently, his hand a blur on my clit.

My orgasm slammed into me and I screamed.

I came hard, my pussy gushing around Morrow s cock.

Too much, I whined.

I tried to writhe away, but his grip was unbreakable.

He kept going, plunging in and out of my aching pussy and rubbing my clit until the over-sensitivity tipped into another orgasm.

Tears ran down my cheeks, but I dug my nails into his arm when he tried to move his hand.

Another peak, so hard it hurt. My body went limp in his grip and he dropped me forward into the nest.

His cock plunged in and out of me, but my pussy was so wet and open there was no resistance.

I did not want to resist.

I moaned weakly into the blankets as he finally buried himself as deep as he could reach and coolness spilled inside me.

Exhaustion pulled me toward sleep.

After the grave robbers and multiple orgasms, I had nothing left.

I could still feel his cock jerking, but I could barely keep my eyes open. He rolled us to the side, staying buried inside me. It was a comforting fullness.

As my eyes grew heavy, I felt Morrow pull a soft covering over me, his movements protective and possessive in equal measure.

"Rest," he murmured against my ear as I faded.

"My Carmen."

I drifted into dreams filled with memories.

Fragments of lives Morrow had consumed, centuries of existence.

Somewhere within that tapestry of borrowed experience, I sensed a current of something I had never expected to find in a creature like him.

Adoration.