Darkest Before Dawn (A Guardian's Diary Book 1)(15)

This was bad, so bad! I was sopping wet, and his nostrils flared as if he was fully aware that he’d succeeded in his mission. I was embarrassed because his eyes hungrily roved over the twin traitorous peaks of my hardened nipples. My breathing was ridiculously labored, and his wasn’t. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“That, sweet Emma, is how you tell the boys from men. Men know how to get a woman soaking wet without doing a single thing. Boys have to touch and caress with their hands…real men can make you come with words alone.” His eyes smiled knowingly. “Tell me, how many men have you allowed between those silken thighs?”

I blinked. None? I so wasn’t admitting that to him! In fact, I wasn’t opening my mouth because if I did, I was sure I’d moan, or worse.

“None?” he guessed.



I swallowed, and refused to speak.

“Gone mute again? I can change that,” he said as he pinned me between his arms and captured my mouth in a heated kiss. He pulled away as another moan stole from my lips. “Lust is heavy when tongues crave a taste of heaven. Tell me, Emma, does your tongue feel heavy? Does it lust for another taste of mine?” His eyes searched mine and he licked his lips seductively. “I take that as a yes, so I won’t make you wait,” he whispered before he claimed my lips and held my face pinned in his hands, helpless at his touch. His kiss was heady and intoxicating. His touch left me boneless, and I was surprised at just how much I wanted him to continue just like this.

His hands slid lower until one pulled against my shirt as it worked it over my breasts until the only thing between us was the skimpy lace of my bra. He lifted it, and his tawny head lowered until his lips kissed one nipple, and then the other. I moaned and arched my back like a little slut, ready to beg him for more. I needed him to make the dull ache that was centered between my legs stop. The burning heat in my lower stomach had a palpable heartbeat which seemed connected to my clit.

His teeth grazed my nipple and I cried out. He continued to tease me, his tongue slipping over the delicate flesh, and then from the other one came pain. His fingers rolled and pinched my nipple, painfully. I cried out, but then he switched, and his mouth was kissing the tender flesh better, and the sensation was off the hook. He pinched again, but this time his mouth landed on mine as he lifted my legs and wrapped them around his waist.

He was walking us somewhere. I held on, kissing him back until I felt as if I was suffocating, and I couldn’t have cared less if I died like this, with him. It wasn’t until my back hit a wall and I watched as he lowered himself to his knees as his hands began to work the buttons of my fatigues that I knew I was a goner.

Pounding started at the front door, and I ignored it, up until someone shouted ‘wolves’ from the other side. Jaeden and I both paused, and that’s when it hit me. With my dignity gone, and my mind nothing more than mush, reality came rushing back. My breasts were both exposed, and my nipples were swollen from his mouth and hands. His chest was naked, and I blinked, wondering when he’d removed his shirt.

My gun had been removed, and I hadn’t even felt it! It lay with my vest beside the door, and I had to wonder if his mouth was a dangerous weapon. It must have been a weapon of mass destruction against my brain, obviously.

“Get dressed,” he said as he unwound my legs and stood to retrieve his shirt. I slid to the floor, and stayed there for a minute.

He turned and looked down at me, his gaze hot enough to singe my flesh with his eyes. “This isn’t finished, Emma, not by a long shot.”

Oh. What. The. Hell. Emma! You slut, what the hell had you just allowed to happen? Hussyland was open for business, and my vagina was its entrance. And who had the key? Jaeden! I snapped out of it and pulled down my shirt before rushing over to my vest as I slid my mask back into place.

Wolves! There were crazy-ass, red-eyed wolves outside, and I was so busy considering my vagina’s eagerness to welcome Jaeden’s Mr. Happy that I’d lost it for a moment. I pulled back on the confidence and sass I hid behind and leveled him with a cold look through the eyes of the mask. “This is over; it doesn’t happen again,” I stated firmly.

“We’ll just see that about, now won’t we?” he said with an air of confidence that shook my own.





Chapter 8





His men waited just outside the door, armed with various guns and swords…because swords were in these days, I guess. I looked in the direction that they all faced and walked through the men. Were they seriously sniffing the air? I moved to where Jaeden stood, and sniffed to see if I could smell whatever it was they had.

Nothing.

I moved to my where my bike had been and almost growled out loud when I couldn’t see the markers I had left around it when I hid the bike. Those bitches! It was a full mile back to the shelter. Jaeden turned his head and looked at me carefully. “Keep the mask on, Emma,” he said as we all started forward as a group.

“Always do,” I whispered and then scrunched up my face as I heard how stupid it sounded. We walked through the woods for what felt like forever, even though I knew it had only taken us moments to reach the bloody scene.

I spotted my bike on its side, with blood splattered all around it. Jillian was sightless, her head turned at an awkward angle in death. Bonnie was nearby in the grass, her legs spread wide, as if her assailant had tried to do more than just rip her apart. Her shirt was ripped open and her pants were gone, as well as her underwear. I swallowed down the saliva which threatened to become more. My stomach rolled with what I was seeing.

They’d been ripped apart, literally. This hadn’t been a kill for food, but a brutal show of strength. Tears filled my eyes as I walked closer to where Jillian was staring into the sky, as if her killer had stood above her, taunting her. I followed her eyes, and then looked to the damp ground at huge paw prints that seemed to be everywhere around her body, but also, foot prints—bare human footprints.

I walked over to Bonnie, who had the same prints around her body. Bloody handprints covered her thighs as if they’d been held apart. Wolves didn’t work with humans…right? They’d been ripped apart, and yet Bonnie had been raped. The proof was there for everyone to see. The next question was, had she been dead before they’d raped her corpse or was she raped and then killed? Did the wolves show up after the humans had raped Bonnie and killed them both? And why was only Bonnie raped? My mind whirled with scenarios, none of them making any sense.

“What kind of sick bastard would do this?” I whispered, horrified as I turned to find Jaeden and his men staring at me. I knew that look, it was the one that said at any moment they expected me to shatter and break into a million pieces. I wouldn’t; instead I was disgusted. I was disgusted at what I was doing while this was happening. How long had I been in that house, being seduced by Jaeden?

I didn’t know shit about him, and for all I knew, I could be standing beside the killer. I doubted it, since they looked as disgusted as I felt about what had occurred here. I kneeled beside Bonnie and reached for her leg to close it, to give her some resemblance of dignity in death, but when I grabbed her leg, it detached from the body. Muscle gave way, and the sound would haunt me forever. Bone had been severed by something besides the wolves. It was a clean break, and as I looked to her arms, I realized they too had been set back in place.

“Emma,” Jaeden said gently as he held out his hand for mine. I glared up at him as I ignored his hand and reached for my handheld radio.

“Addy, call everyone in. Now. I want a full head count of every soul that belongs to the shelter. No one goes out, and no new person comes in. Lock it down,” I ordered.

“Everything okay out there, Ems?” Addy’s distant voice came back over the radio.

“Bonnie and Jillian are dead, and I need you to issue that order, now.”

“Will do, and Ems, be fucking careful. Bring them back if you can, please,” Addy said.

“They’re in pieces, Addy, actual pieces. I can’t bring them back like this, it would only cause panic. I need everyone inside and do a headcount. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”



“Bitch, are you safe?” she growled and I could hear her panic even over the radio and static.

“I’m with Jaeden and his men,” I admitted.

“Be safe, and if he doesn’t keep you safe, I’ll cut his balls off and feed them to him!”

I caught sight of Jaeden wincing but ignored it. “Call it, and lock it down.”

“Sending it now,” she said.

I knew the moment she did it, because Jillian’s radio went off.

“Get the fuck back here! Two down, call out!” Addy shouted to the radio. I listened as one after another sounded off. Jaeden’s eyes narrowed as he listened as men and women sounded off. Yeah, I had a large group. He’d had no idea of just how big that group was. After some fifty people sounded off, I responded.

“Get back to base, and be safe. We are no longer safe in the woods. Once inside, you are to stay there. Addy and Jimmy will do a head count. If at that time, we find others missing, I will find them.”

The radio seemed to explode with chatter, everyone asking questions at once. “Enough; you’ll be told when we are all back and safe. For now, all you need to know is we lost two and I won’t lose anymore. God be with you, and watch your six, over.”