Darkling Read Online Free Page B

get you a doctor?”
    “No. I’m better now, see?”
    He brushed his knuckles over her cheekbone and then nodded.
“Cool. Good.” The wrinkle on his forehead disappeared, replaced by smile lines
around his eyes. “You snore.”
    Confusion danced through her mind. “Snore?”
    “Uh, yes.” He did a series of grunts, snorts and wheezes
that set her face aflame.
    She touched the droplets of moisture on her forehead,
wondering if she was able to glow in this body. It felt like it.
    “Sounds like a dragon,” she said.
    He laughed. “You’re interested in dragons? Let me show you
something.” In one fluid motion, he gained his feet. She watched his muscles
bunch and roll as he strode out of the room. A minute later, he returned
carrying a wooden box.
    She sat up straighter as he set it gently on the low table.
What could he have?
    He flicked the small brass catch and opened the hinged lid.
She glimpsed a flash of gray. Her heart tripped, flipped and sped out of
control.
    In a flurry, she dropped to her knees before the table and
peered into the box. Small discs—the same shape as starscales.
    “Are they dragon scales?”
    His smile broadened. “No, they’re fossils. See this one?” He
placed one in her hands. “Right here is an imprint an animal made thousands of
years ago.”
    She stared at the claw marks. Tears of disappointment burned
behind her eyes, and suddenly they were falling, dropping fast. Rivulets ran
over the disc in her hand, cutting tracks in the dust.
    “Hey, hey, hey. What is it?” He gently removed the fossil
from her hand and set it aside to take her into his arms.
    “It’s just so beautiful. It reminds me of the object I’m
looking for.”
    She heard his throat click as he swallowed. “I’ll help you
find it, Vega. You only have to tell me what I’m looking for.”
    Turning her face into the soft cotton of his shirt, she drew
a deep, gulping breath of his clean scent. An overwhelming urge to touch him
scorched low in her belly. She understood little about this body, but knew that
fire needed to be sated.
    Before she could lose her nerve, she lifted her face, leaned
in and pressed her mouth over his. A surge of passion flooded her limbs, making
them heavy yet pulsing at once. She wriggled closer, needing more as his scents
swirled through her brain.
    A low groan sounded from his chest, igniting her further.
The sweet pressure between her thighs grew. Instinctively, she angled her head
to gain better access to his mouth.
    And was shocked when he parted her lips with the point of
his tongue. She gasped and he took full advantage, sweeping the recesses of her
mouth until her mind whirled.
    She looped her arms around his neck and clung to him,
mimicking the flipping and stroking movements of his velvety tongue until his
muscles vibrated beneath her hands. Against her belly, his cock stiffened. A
spike of need captured her. She wanted to see it, touch it. From her vantage
point in the night sky, male parts looked hard as stone. But Niles’ didn’t feel
that way.
    She ran her palm over the flat of his chest, reveling in
each dip and swell of muscle. Her body responded by releasing a flood of cream
between her thighs. She shifted restlessly to ease it and raised another groan
from him.
    He plunged his tongue into her mouth again and again,
drinking from her almost forcefully. The delightful bruise of his lips set her
aflame and she forgot about her need for water or the fact that the sun was
trickling through the draperies. The fire inside her would soon consume her if
he didn’t touch her.
    She caught his hands and lifted them to her aching breasts.
    He stilled his kiss, his lips motionless against hers. He
opened his eyes and they stared at each other close up. A shiver ran down her
spine. She’d never felt as right as she did in his arms.
    The knot in her belly tightened as he lightly rubbed his
palms over her sensitive nipples.
    “Baby, you’re so beautiful. So soft.” He glided