Tempting Darkness

My heart skipped a beat at his words, and Darius's lips went to their marks on my neck, making me moan when Kalen gripped my hair. He tugged my head back before his lips covered mine. I answered his kiss, turning in Darius's arms to wrap my arms around Kalen's neck, pulling him closer when I felt him grab me. Darius transferred me over to him. Kalen pushed me against the shower wall, and my blood sang in my veins at his roughness. My legs wrapped around his waist securely, and the others moved around, showering. I thought Darius would be angry that I wanted Kalen, yet they all seemed to accept it like they knew before I even did. Kalen's tongue moved between my lips, assaulting my mouth, and I gasped into his mouth. Any reservations I had were gone now that I was safely in Kalen's hands. I knew he wouldn't hurt me. I knew none of them would, but I felt more relaxed with Kalen. Kalen sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, his teeth tugging on it, and the bond flared, making me whimper. The noises leaving me as the bond thrived grew more robust and were embarrassing. However, they didn't mind or mention my sudden insatiable hunger for them and their magic.

The urge to take his power and recharge him was overwhelming, and my body tingled as I ran my fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair. Kalen shuddered before I felt the sparks zap my fingertips. My bond siphoned his magic and absorbed it before feeding it back to him stronger, the cycle relentless, and the more I did, the stronger the desire that coursed through me.

It was almost maddening, the urges rolling over me entirely out of my control as I moved my hips against him. His hard c**k pressed against my wet p***y. Any fear I might have had extinguished, and I felt the carnal instinct wash over me completely. My vision changed, and my entire body tingled as I blinked. Kalen gasped, pulling away from me. My reflection in his eyes made me gasp when I saw my eyes glowing and turning completely white, radiating back at me like a raging storm.

The buzz under my skin intensified, a feral, hungered noise leaving me as my lips crashed against his hungrily. Any control I had was now lost and forgotten as I gave in to the feeling. Kalen chuckled against my lips as I mauled him. "Not here, Kalen. Take her to the room. She isn't losing her virginity on a shower wall," Lycus told him. However, I couldn't care less where I lost anything right now.

All I could focus on was the feeling the bond was drowning me in, l**t coursing through me rapidly and burning me up like wildfire as I attacked him. Tasting the saltiness of his skin, anything I could get my mouth on. I could feel him moving, felt the cold draft rush over me as he stepped out of the shower with me in his arms, yet my skin was boiling hot, my skin itching with a foreign need.

Their hands touching and drying me made me moan. Kalen chuckled as my tongue assaulted his lips, chin, and neck. He didn't stop me or pull away, his magic bleeding in and out of me. So much power was being transferred that it was ridiculous, arousing and electrifying at the same time.

I understood why it was called shredding, like burning off energy rapidly, only to absorb more and burn it off by giving it back. Each time his power grew stronger, the more I pulled on it before giving it back to him.

I struggled with focus, recognition, desire, and instinct taking over, and my back hit the mattress. Kalen tried to untangle himself from me, but my fingers refused to let go of his shoulders, and I growled like an animal when he tried.

My legs wrapped around him, securely holding him in place against me. Yet his worry bled through the bond. However, my bond was uncaring, only hungry for him and his power. Hot hands gripped the sides of my face. My head was pulled back, and I was pushed flat against the mattress. I saw Darius's demonic eyes staring down at me, a seductive smile on his lips.

"Calm. Slow, Aleera. You will regret it in the morning." His words sounded reasonable, yet instinct refused to let go of me as I clutched Kalen closer. Darius's eyes glowed, burning brightly before I felt him turn his magic on me, forcing me to relax. My legs unraveled from around Kalen's waist, falling open on the bed, and my fingers let him go. Kalen sighed, but Darius's magic almost had me sedated, and the fog washing over me and clouding me lifted slightly, making me blink up at him.

Darius smirked. "That's it. Calm, Aleera," he murmured before leaning down and kissing me softly, his tongue gently brushing mine. His hands on the sides of my face slid down to my neck, his thumbs brushing along my jaw, warm, and making my skin tingle. "Maybe one of you should?" Kalen whispered, and Darius pulled his lips from mine to look at him. My breathing was harsh as the need for Kalen's power overwhelmed me. It was like the bond craved him, yet subconsciously, it went with whom I would have chosen first. It was an odd feeling.

Darius let me go, and the moment he did, I attacked Kalen, the bond overwhelming me. Kalen's nervousness hit me like a slap in the face when Darius grabbed me, pulling me back down, his magic moving through me again and sedating me. Yet still, my hips rocked against Kalen, my legs locked around his waist.

"Her bond wants you, Kalen," Tobias told him, but the fire coursing through me became painful the more he denied me, and I groaned as my arousal spilled out, coating my thighs.

But Kalen just stared down at me, and I whimpered. Kalen bit his lip, looking down at me. I wondered why he was denying me, the bond screaming out painfully for him, but he just stared down at me. The feeling through the bond was almost fear. "Maybe Tobias should," Kalen murmured. Tears pricked my eyes at Kalen's words. The bond recoiled in my chest, making me cry out. My back arched at his rejection as pain rippled through me when Lycus moved onto the bed beside me, his magic flooding into me as his hand moved across my stomach, the bond relaxing under his touch. I fell back against the bed, humiliated at the way my bond was reacting. Tears stung my eyes.

I couldn't even speak. Everything became based on instinct and the feeling of my bond tugging on theirs. It became clear why everyone always said you needed your mates when shredding. It was agony and uncontrollable; I was at the mercy of my bond, overcome by instincts I was not used to.

"Calm, he is scared, Aleera. He isn't rejecting you," Lycus murmured before leaning over and kissing me softly and sucking on my bottom lip.

He nibbled on it before pulling away and smiling back at me.

Darius's hands still cupping my face warmed me up more, his magic bleeding through me, trying to calm my frantic bond. I saw Tobias kiss Kalen's shoulder. Kalen turned his head to face him, to look at him, and Tobias kissed him. The sight made my bond flare stronger, saddened Kalen would give in to Tobias, but not me.

"I know you want him. He will give your bond what it wants. Kalen has never been with a woman. Just give him a second," Darius purred, leaning down and kissing me softly. His words startled me for a second, and when he pulled away, Kalen was staring down at me with a worried look on his face, and his cheeks flushed.

His embarrassment hit me, and my bond calmed, reacting to him. I wanted to comfort him and tell him it was okay; I was a virgin, for god's sake, and not many were at the age of twenty-four, especially not a damn keeper.

A purr escaped me, a noise I wasn't aware I could make, my bond rushing out like an aura and reassuring him. Kalen sighed, closing his eyes and tipping his head back. My body felt foreign doing things I had no control over. The urge to comfort my mate became overwhelming, and I felt the tension start to leave him.

"What are you worried about? Hurting her? I can assure you right now you won't, not while she is like this," Tobias chuckled, nodding toward me writhing on the bed.

Kalen looked down at me, and his face took on a darkened expression, his eyes flickering, and the room chilled slightly, reacting to his mood.

And for the first time, I got glimmers of his aura. I had never seen one, and I knew it was because I was filled with his magic. However, Kalen's was black as coal, and fractures like shattered glass crackled within it. Darkness, his aura, was tainted by the darkness that sometimes took over him, showing how close he lived to the edge of this world and death, a limbo between the light and darkness that swirled within him.

"Yes, but mostly about what she will see," Kalen said, and Lycus cupped Kalen's cheek with his hand. His thumb smoothed under his eye.