Meta:Between the Books: Volume Twentyone

Volume Twentyone - A Neteru Apex
Character(s)	Carlos and Damali
Date	March 2006
After	The Damned
During	A Neteru Apex
Before	Inside the Mind of a Vampire: Volume Six
Location	Malibu California, Carlos's Place...
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Breathless. Gravity gone; chakra color spirals made her eyelids flutter. Vertigo. Hands sliding against sweat-drenched skin. Burning. Her name a sweet refrain embedded in Spanglish... sometimes Dananu, but she didn't care. Wanton. Baby, let me love you, don't dare count the ways. Yes! Beyond speech; her words now just primal exhalations. Crazed. Indigo essence leaking from his skin carrying a scent that caused pure madness. Delirium. Emotional collision, laughing, crying, hollering all at the same time. Fractured. Broken shards of a thousand points of light, watching her own molecules dance like dust motes in a beam of dawn. Vapor. Legs and arms entwined break her fall with a hot thud. Density. The procreation imperative making her Sankofa shriek, cells vibrating to the sound of his voice. Ecstasy.

"I need you inside me just one more time... I don't know what's wrong with me. I can't get enough of you." Damali's voice came out on a rushed, shallow pant as she peered down at Carlos still gulping air. Try as she might, she couldn't will her body to unsheathe his, no matter how long they'd been making love. A male Neteru apex was no joke. Nothing in her knowledgebase had prepared her for anything like this.

He just offered her a lopsided grin before he took her mouth again. His skin was covered with a silvery sheen that made her have to constantly touch it. The core of her ached as she moved against him moaning, her breasts swollen, nipples stinging, needing him to be everywhere at once and he'd already obliged till she'd nearly passed out. Her locks were a tangled mop. Perspiration ran down the bridge of her nose and mingled with the spent tears coursing down her face to drop onto his chest. Unable to break his molten gaze, she watched Carlos slowly rub her sweat into his stone-hard pecs, and then gasped as he made her feel it.

This man was so damned sexy that calling 9-1-1 for an ambulance was not out of the question. Her arms trembled under her weight as she pressed her palms into his shoulders and tried to hold herself up to stare into his magnificent silver eyes. The way his gaze drank her in made her pelvic muscles clench around him. They both winced; acute pleasure from that subtle feminine contraction made them begin moving again.

Watching Carlos's eyelids slide shut from the sensation, his thick, black lashes eclipsing the metallic glow of his gorgeous irises caused her breath to hitch. She wanted to weld herself forever to his bronze-copper skin. He'd thrown his head back and arched, a phenomenal set of fangs glistening in the daylight-his sudden up-thrust stealing her breath. But his voice thundering through her... Just say it again, her name broken in two... Oh, 'Mali. A decibel below baritone or bass, a subsonic vibration that she felt in her marrow like a DNA code. Yeah, baby, take it-it's definitely all yours.

She wanted to weep she loved this man so much. Plus the things he did to her body were beyond comprehension. He was all up inside her mind, all up inside her being. His skilled touch set off pleasure-echo spasms after it passed over enflamed skin. Unable to stand it another moment, her lungs wailed for him by name.

He had her at the point of no return, that dangerous place of female meltdown where the body blindly begs for seed, consequences be damned. But he wisely shook his head no, even in his condition-which only made her love him more. One of them had to be temporarily rational; she couldn't be counted on. Maybe they could take turns, whateva. All she knew was that right now she trusted him when she didn't trust herself. That's when she knew she was over the edge. Reason had flown out the window. His tattoo blazed silver. She closed her eyes and nodded. "Thank you."

Carlos's palms had become a rough, hot sweep along her thighs to capture her hips and gently knead her backside. Mercy. He hadn't even answered her. Obviously his will-power was failing, too. Instinct told her that if she begged him again he would definitely lose the silver for her and sire. Her vision blurred as she briefly opened her eyes and watched the way the muscles in his shoulders, chest, and abdomen worked in exquisite harmony beneath his silver soaked skin. Her wail as he pushed himself deeper into her only made the cabled sinew work in unison harder with the steel-cut muscles in his legs and hips and magnificent ass. Each pull against her now was a hard bicep curl, practically sitting him up with every thrust. Yeah... papi, like that....

Through half shut eyes she could begin to see his energy slowly starting to combust into shimmering heat waves just over the surface of his skin. Driving him, she covered the tattoo on his neck with a deep, wet kiss, and then bit down. His response was immediate; he flipped her onto her back so fast that he'd practically knocked the wind out of her. But her spine didn't hit the mattress; it splashed against a shallow pool instead.

Lotus blossoms scattered at the invasion. A blue-white current arced off his skin then danced across the crystal water's surface. He felt so good that she couldn't keep her eyes open much less speak. This had to be Heaven.

"I was burning up," he groaned deep against her throat, thrusting more slowly. "So were you."

All she could do was nod and hold onto his shoulders, the slickness between their bellies and thighs causing near seizure. She didn't care where they were or how they got there. The only thing that mattered at the moment was that he kept doing what he was doing-but faster, por favor.

Current from his skin had ignited the water and singed it with a pleasure charge that she felt womb deep. Every sensory gift she owned fused with it, fused with him. His wet caresses, his demanding kiss, his hard body sliding against hers, his delirium-producing apex scent, and the deep thunder of his voice... then he took her mind, third-eye to third-eye, fast moving her through the Valley of the Kings as he loved her completely.

Egypt, ancient Kemet, she didn't care where Neteru kings were born. The one she needed was in her arms, moving against her like he was empire-building. Blossoms stuck to her skin, her Nubian locks flinging water as her mouth hungrily sought his. Arms about his neck, her legs a firm clamp around his waist, head dropped back, the sensation of free-falling into bliss made her weep, it felt so good.

"Yeah, 'Mali. I'll build you a world, baby... just tell me where to put it down hard."

There was no way to even stutter out a response when her man got like this... talking sexy trash between staccato pants, pure rhetoric that he could back up with authority. Her nails dug into his shoulders as an answer... Put it down right here, right now, baby-stop playing with me!

And yet she also knew he was so close to the edge of control that at any moment his fang strike was eminent, then a whole new spiral of pleasure would consume them. When his grip tightened, anticipation swept through her. She spilled rapid kisses against his face to urge him on. His shudder, his sharp inhale, and the way his jaw collided with hers made her redouble her efforts. Knock my head back. Oh, God... Now...

The bite happened so fast that he pleasure-dredged her mind to the near breaking point. Endorphin rushes overlaid each other creating a collage of fist-pounding ecstasy. Every time they'd made love together in the past became an instant Vanishing Point within their minds and then rippled through their auras until they both cried out and sobbed.

Layer upon layer of sensation wracked their bodies. His heart was going into arrhythmia. Carlos pulled out of the bite and clutched Damali against his chest, pleasure spasms overwhelming him. He had to stop; this was insane. His windpipe was probably blistered from the wails she'd drawn from him. But as long as her body pulsed around his, the torrid sensations kept coming. No matter where his hands landed on her buttery smooth skin, the touch would set off his sensory alignment again... then his nose would betray him to draw in her fantastic female scent. He could literally taste her from the air and her kisses, and then his third-eye just broke down and took him all the way there.

Sydney, LA, the old lair in St. Lucia... Jesus, he loved this woman. His body continued to dry-heave, spent of seed, but still released. Powerful contractions stabbed his sac and shot pleasure up his shaft, his spine, through his limbs, jerking every muscle within him until his eyelids fluttered. Damali's acapella voice jettisoned his mind and his body back to their first time at Father Pat's safe house and that's when he knew he had to beg her to relent.

"Ohmigod, Damali, make it stop-I'm gonna have a heart attack."

"I can't," she stuttered, her voice dissolving into a pleasure wail. "It's not me; it's you, the apex."

He set his jaw hard with his eyes closed, his hands in her hair as he tried to still his mind while he pressed his burning cheek against hers. "Por Dios, it feels so good," he whispered tensely, now rocking her in his arms. "I can't stop remembering each time... baby, help me break the connection. Don't feed it."

She held his face gasping, but her thoughts quickly locked in on Tibet. Crushed lotus blossoms clung to them as they fell backwards and rolled down the grassy, mountainside knoll still joined.

"Oh, no, baby, not here," he gasped. "I'll lose my mind."

"I know," she whispered thickly, arching under his hold. "But I can't get it out of my head!"

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he was out, or how or when they got back to his crib in Malibu. All he was certain of was that his body hurt like a prize-fighter's... but in a very satisfying sort of way.

Carlos slowly propped himself up on one shaky arm, then dropped to an elbow just so he could watch Damali sleep beside him. His limbs were still trembling from what she'd done to him, but she was an angel when peacefully resting. Her flushed, cinnamon skin shimmered with what seemed like its own inner light. He just loved how her long lashes dusted her pretty cheeks in a way that made it necessary for him to lean down and gently kiss her eyelids.

What would he do if he ever lost her? A shiver of dread ran through Carlos as he reached out and stroked Damali's long, velvety locks. When her mind fractured and gave way to the Tantric pleasure pull in Tibet, something dark and resident in her psyche had threatened to also break through. He knew what it was the moment he'd sensed it. But he'd forced it back with everything in him, using rock solid ecstasy as his shield.

Guilt lacerated him, even though what he never wanted Damali to remember wasn't truly his fault. Still... He was just glad that during an apex his mind was slightly stronger than hers, just as hers would be stronger than his during a ripening. But this info could never get out.

No. Damali was supposed to be the mother of his children, not Juanita. Carlos briefly closed his eyes and said a quick prayer. What if the dark side had messed him up like that? Every day he saw Jose he would hug that brother for sensing something was wrong and showing up when he did. Whew... Carlos let out a long, quiet breath. It coulda been real stoopid. He just hoped the drama would end where it had, at the end of a Neteru blade with his worse half burning in Hell.

Gazing down at Damali, Carlos placed a tender kiss against her forehead as she slept. "I love you, baby. No matter what." He nestled back into the jumble of sheets and slung his forearm over his eyes. Damn... it could have gotten ridiculous. Thank God Almighty that Damali only thought the images his evil twin showed her were a demon's attempt to throw off her game in battle. If his woman ever suspected that something foul had really gone down with Juanita, under her roof, at that... sheeit... there'd be no talking to D.

It wouldn't matter that he'd been temporarily possessed. She'd probably be mad enough to slap the Devil's face and tell him to kiss her ass, too, for something like that. Uh-uh. D didn't play that shit, and neither did he... he just hoped she'd understand when the time was right to explain, if it ever came up. Please, God, don't let it ever come up.

Nervous energy wound through Carlos as he allowed his palm to slide over the curve of Damali's naked hip, his gaze seeking quiet absolution from her breasts then across the entire surface of her flawless skin. She was a true queen, as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside... his treasure, mi tresora. If she ever left him... especially over some bullshit...

Yeah, he'd front like it didn't matter and try to be cool-but that shit would cut his heart out, for real. Why he was so fixed on the morose after a mind-bending lovemaking session, he wasn't sure. Maybe that was just it, after all the times they'd been together and all the loving they'd done, he couldn't fathom being without her or having anything come between them. Not for something like what happened in Arizona. That was an accident.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though the awesome session they'd just had simply drove the point home for serious. Carlos allowed the pad of his thumb to caress Damali's eyebrow as a lump formed in his throat. This was his boo. If some other brother stepped into his shoes because Damali was mad and trying to make him jealous, it would be on until the end of time-or until one of the brothers battling for her affection killed the other or died. How Shabazz dealt with the situation was still a mystery to him... one of the eight wonders of the world, as far as he was concerned.

When Damali suddenly opened her eyes, it was all Carlos could do not to react. But his body tensed and he knew she'd felt it. Too late to play it off, there was only one option left-deflect.

"Don't worry," she said in a lazy, sated voice. "I'm not starting no mess anytime soon." She laughed softly and kissed him when he only swallowed hard. "That bad, huh?"

He just nodded and then quickly pulled her against him, petting her hair. "You know how much I love you?" He kept his face buried in her damp hair, angry at himself, and disgusted that his voice broke.

"I love you, too," she whispered, hugging him and landing soft, pelting kisses along his collarbone. "There's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than here in your arms... even though I feel like my body is a bowl of Jell-O right now."

He nodded and hugged her tighter. "Baby, I've done a lot of crazy shit... I'm just glad you know it's always been about me and you, though."

"Till the end of time," she murmured, kissing his shoulder hard. Her hands splayed against his back and she turned her face up to greet his and smiled. "Man.... this male Neteru apex even comes with heavy emotional weight and mood swings, too." Clearly trying to make him laugh, she cocked an eyebrow and offered him a sassy pout. "I want you to remember this the next time you've got something smart-assed to say about so-called PMS running rampant in the new compound."

He didn't immediately smile. He couldn't. The fact that she was oblivious to what was really on his mind and what had actually gone down put tears in his eyes. This was black box to the bone.

"I ain't gonna never say nuthin' about nuthin'," he hedged in a tense, quiet voice and then kissed her softly.

"Wow... I'm sorry," she whispered, pulling back and cupping his cheek when she tasted unshed tears in his kiss. "Beyond the physical, this apex really is wearing you out, isn't it, baby?"

Carlos nodded, closed his eyes, and rested his forehead against Damali's. "You have no idea, boo."

References

	Edits to this page before January 1, 2021 use CC-BY-SA-licensed content from the Fandom Vampire Huntress Legend Series Wiki.