Текст книги "Bonds of Fire"
Автор книги: T. A. Grey
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Bonds of Fire
The Bellum Sisters -2
by
T. A. Grey
Acknowledgements
A special thank you to the readers for encouraging me to keep on writing! And faster!
And of course a special thank you to Regina at Mae I Design for creating the wonderful covers for this series!
Oh, and to my love, you know who you are, for telling me to do this.
Glossary
frimar – A vampire’s blood concubine, highly respected and honored among vampires.
host – A vampire who uses a frimar.
idummi – A bottom feeding demon from the deepest layer under the rift. They are aggressive, easily manipulated creatures with poisonous talons.
jaheera – Dark and dangerous demons that live at the lowest rung of the rift and are capable of incredible dark magic.
lilit – A demonic term for a succubus.
new moon – The time when a succubus grows into sexual maturity.
Protector – The male in charge of protecting and caring for a succubus.
revargen – A demonic pact formed between two demons.
rift – The division between earth and the nether-realm where demons reside. The rift is guarded by the Atal Warriors.
shahoulin – A breed of demon that lives at the top of the rift. They have magical powers and superior strength.
sica tawicue – Pronounced ‘sheecha duhwheechua” is common phrase among shapeshifters meaning “wicked wife.”
wakipajan – A shapeshifter’s term for a fighter or rebel.
Prologue
And to my second child,
my strong Willow,
I bequeath to you the summer home in Florida
and of course, my snow globes to add to your collection.
Most importantly, I command that on the day of your 29th birthday
in this year of 2011
you will be in the Protection of
Alpha Lyonis Keelan, Alpha of the Shapeshifters,
to be protected by,
to facilitate a relationship with,
and to mate and breed with.
This I so order on the 8th of May, 2010.
Signed, dated and ordered at the event of my death.
Sir Francis Jeremiah Bellum
May 8th, 2010
Chapter 1
Run.
Her feet couldn’t move fast enough.
Bring back the Alpha anytime over that thing in the forest. Him, she could handle. But whatever that was, she wasn’t so sure.
Her heart beat a mile a minute and the sweat wouldn’t stop coming. What was going on? That was not the demon that climbed out of the cemetery in London. This beast was unnatural in a different way. The demon after her sister Chloe was gray with glowing red eyes; this thing had black sc¬aly skin and a mane of thick dark fur around its head. She didn’t stay to take pictures of the thing though. She quickly ran back into the train station and jumped on the next available ride—to Leipzig.
When Chloe had called, she’d said that the demon after her was dead. So what was that thing and why was it yelling her name for the whole world to hear?
Willow impatiently waited for the train to take off. Her foot beat against the carpet, fingers drummed on her thigh. First the stupid Alpha chasing her, and now this. How was she supposed to deal?
Willow took her first deep breath as the train started moving. She didn’t relax into her seat though until the train safely left the station without a monster smashing into it. Was it still out there? What if it came for her?
“Dammit, I don’t know,” she growled under her breath. What had she and her sisters done? Willow needed answers.
She sighed and argued that she wasn’t scared. Even though her sweaty palms told her a different story. She dropped her head against the small window and stared out at the snowy sky as they ascended back to earth. From now on, and for the rest of her life, whether she lived to be a hundred or two thousand, she required sex daily.
A yawn escaped her. Her eyelids threatened to close and stay that way. She had to think though, no time to sleep. She had to plan. Her new moon has passed. She had to figure out some way to survive from now on, because according to Papa, this didn’t have to be real sex. God, Willow still remembered that conversation. Humans thought they had it bad hearing about the birds and the bees. Willow and her sisters had to sit through “the different ways you can have sex to survive for the rest of your life.” Most uncomfortable situation, ever.
Willow swiped away a tear. She hated crying, just another form of weakness in her mind. Not that she cared much when her sisters did it. It just wasn’t for her. She’d rather throw something. Preferably, at whoever made her cry. But she couldn’t throw anything at her dad.
She knew she wasn’t supposed to mourn him outright, it wasn’t the succubus way. He’d lived a long and honorable life, but that didn’t change the fact that she missed him. Missed playing chess and drinking beer with him late into the night by the fireplace. Missed talking competitive smack with him until they were both laughing. But she was angry with him too. Out of all the things he could leave for his daughters, he did the one thing none of them ever expected.
How she wished Lyonis were right when he teased her that she had a boyfriend back in America. Everything would be so much easier if that were the case. He actually wanted her.
“Stupid male ego,” she muttered.
That’s all it was. She knew it and a part of her wanted to scream at the thought. She was a challenge to him, and his stupid dominant nature couldn’t stand it. He must fight her until he wins. Well, she won’t have it. She’d done the whole relationship with a dominant shapeshifter. No thanks. Hell no.
Willow plastered her face against the small window and squinted into the night of blurred trees and houses. She had to keep moving. She might not have Chloe’s gut feelings or Lily’s interpretive dreams, but she knew that demon in the trees was bad news.
She would rather the Alpha find her, because that demon actually scared her. For the first time since she split from her sisters, Willow wished she wasn’t alone. At this point, she was going to be living on trains for the rest of her life.
She hadn’t planned on going across Germany. She’d wanted to go to Russia and get far away from that demon. God, what if it killed people because of her? It’s not as if no one would notice a giant lumbering monster taller than the trees in the forest. People notice that kind of stuff.
She had to get to her sisters. They’d help her figure out what to do. Had to figure out what the hell was going on. Soon, she thought, her eyelids fluttering shut. With the lolling motion of the train, Willow let her eyes shut and dreamt of an Alpha shapeshifter.
Chapter 2
Lyonis landed on the ground, his body instantly morphing into his human form. Leaning down, he snatched up the piece of clothing behind the trash can.
He grinned as he inhaled the scent.
“What are you planning, my Willow?” This was the third piece of clothing she’d left for him. It wasn’t to lure him to her that he knew. If she thought she could outwit him and send him off track, she was mistaken. Greatly so. He was going to find her again and next time she wouldn’t escape easily. She’d won last time only because she surprised the hell out of him—with a knee to the face.
Lyonis hesitantly threw the clothing away as he followed her scent behind the train station. Her scent lingered, exhilarating his senses with her fresh, womanly scent. He’d always pictured his mate to be a curvy, submissive woman. Soft, gentle, and beautiful. What he’d actually gotten was quite different. Willow was anything but submissive. Or gentle for that matter.
He couldn’t stop from laughing as he thought about it. He found he didn’t mind her strong nature; in fact, his beast relished her strength. It wanted to test her, see how strong she was, make her submit to him. His cock hardened at the idea. She would be his.
Lyonis paused as his gaze fell to the forest in the distance. His hackles raised, and a menacing growl left his lips. Instantly he transformed into a hawk and soared high over the trees. His exceptional vision took in the scene below as clearly as if he was standing there.
The forest was dense save for one area that he circled. The trees in the area were burnt to ash leaving the ground covered in black soot and ash. The trees surrounding the area were bent at awkward angles, some leaning precariously about to fall down. Others looked like they’d been completely snapped in half. This wasn’t some random storm or a bunch of kids.
He soared lower, hovering above the dark area, wings flapping. The scent hit him, knocking the wind out of him.
Demon.
The rift wasn’t anywhere near here. How did a demon get out here, and better yet, what kind of demon did that? This place reeked of dark magic.
Lyonis flew back to the station and transformed behind it. He gave the trees one last look before he left. He needed to contact Tyrian en Kulev. Needed to notify the vampire leader that a demon was loose. Then, he’d track down his woman and take her home.
Excitement flared inside him. He couldn’t wait. She will bow to him and serve him with all that spirit and energy inside her. She will make a fine queen for his people, and a perfect mate for him.
* * *
Draven entered the lavish study and dropped to a knee before his commander.
“Commander, Tyrian.”
“Oh please, you don’t need to bow to this man. As if he needs a bigger ego,” Chloe said with a grin. Draven couldn’t help but grin back at her even as a part of him went cold at the sight of her. He hadn’t minded her at first, but she’d set in motion a whirl of events that changed his life. And not for the better.
“You sent for me?” Draven said. His commander was a changed man since he mated with the succubus, Chloe Bellum. The cold gravity of his eyes hadn’t completely left, but there was warmth to them now that Draven had never seen before. Considering he’d known the commander since the Great War, that was saying something.
“Yes, I just received a call from Alpha Lyonis Keelan. He says he spotted something strange in the German country side.”
Draven frowned. “Demons? We would know if there’s been a breach in the rift.”
Nodding, Tyrian agreed. “That’s what I said. He also said he examined the area and the stench of demon covered the place. Said it didn’t look like anything he’d seen before. Said the place was burned, and he felt the presence dark magic.”
Chloe hugged her arms around her stomach. “You don’t think it’s another like the one that came after me do you? I mean, we killed it. There’s no way it’s coming back.”
“Honestly, we have no way of knowing what that demon did while it was awake, and we don’t know what else that spell you and your sisters did,” Tyrian said.
“Wait, if Alpha Lyonis found it then does that mean it’s near Willow? Is it after her?” Tyrian hugged his mate close and ran a soothing hand down her back. Draven looked away at the sight.
“I’ll arrange another meeting with Telal. We’ll need his input on this. Draven, be ready. You, Rayn, and Henry are going to go check this out. Report back to me your findings,” said Tyrian.
Chloe pulled away from him. “What about my sister? She’s all alone. Can you bring her here for me?”
Draven nearly snorted at the sugar sweet way she said it, but then Tyrian leaned down and kissed her. It was soft and gentle. Draven coughed loudly until they pulled away. Tyrian leveled a hard glare on him.
“Draven will see to your sister.” It took a moment for that to sink in.
“What?” Draven shook his head as if to clear it. “I’m not a babysitter.”
“After you report back from the rift, I want you to find Willow.”
Draven gritted his teeth side to side. “She doesn’t need a babysitter. She’s a grown woman. Besides, that Alpha is near her. We all know he’s tracking her down. He can protect her as he’s supposed to.” Suddenly, Chloe was stalking towards him. Draven almost fumbled back a step before he remembered that she was a wee thing who barely came up to his chest. He stood and held his ground.
In a whisper, which was unnecessary because could hear a pin drop at the Super Bowl, she said, “I know you’re angry at me for what I did but please do this. Just watch her, make sure she’s okay. It would mean a lot to me.”
Draven looked away from her pleading eyes. Of course he’d do it. It’s not as if he had any other choice. Judging by the look in Tyrian’s eye, he’d already ordered it. Draven sighed.
“Fine, I’ll do it but I won’t be happy about it.” Chloe squealed and jumped into his arms. Draven awkwardly petted her back before Tyrian pulled her away.
“Thank you so much. You don’t have to bring her here if she doesn’t want that. I just want to know she’s all right.”
“Check out the rift first. Then find Willow.”
Draven rolled his eyes. “Aye, aye, Captain.” He bowed then spun from the room. As the door closed behind him, he stopped and leaned against it.
Everything was messed up. Ever since that succubus showed up the castle’s been in turmoil. For the second time in his life, he had a frimar. His gut clenched unhappily at the thought even as he made his way to her.
Chapter 3
Willow knew he was close. God dammit. He couldn’t be on to her so soon. How did he track her so easily? She was supposed to be leaving a trail away from her not to her dammit.
He couldn’t be here now when she was so...needy. This new succubus lifestyle was not suiting her well.
The sex they’d had before, no, she couldn’t call it sex. He’d taken her, used her. She just happened to get a mind-numbing orgasm out of it. Oh, who was she kidding? She’d loved it. Had never, ever felt anything even close to that when she pleasured herself at night. Let alone the had sex she’d had before.
She’d showered afterwards, quick to get his scent off her. She wasn’t sure but she figured he could track his scent on her. For a while she’d lost him, was certain of it. Now as she neared the small German hotel she was going to stay the night in, she sensed he was near.
The problem with trying to find a shapeshifter was that he could be in the form of a bird or a...guinea pig, and she’d never notice him. It was dark and she was somewhere on the outskirts of Leipzig, Germany on the east side.
She eyed the trees outside of town but didn’t see anything strange. Now it wasn’t only a shapeshifter she was on the lookout for, but a demon who knew her name.
She’d found the small bed-and-breakfast style hotel thanks to a local she asked at the train station. A hot shower and a clean, comfortable bed never sounded so good before. She would give up for favorite snow globes, her most precious ones left to her by her father, if only she could have a peaceful night. Alone. Without worrying about demons or the Alpha.
The new moon was over and the slice of silver in the sky taunted her, laughed at her. It pointed bony fingers at her and all she could do was remember how he’d felt touching her. What had he done to her? She was starved. Hadn’t been “fed” since he took her. And that was days ago.
She was already feeling the effects of it. First she thought she was just tired but even after getting sleep, she realized she was fatigued. Her body was shutting down slowly but surely.
Succubi generally didn’t experience sex before they reached the age of sexual maturity at twenty-nine because it was a known fact that they couldn’t orgasm before then. Her boyfriend David hadn’t cared one way or the other if she orgasmed.
She wasn’t bitter or angry about it. It was a long time ago. Okay, that was a lie. She hated him with a violent passion. But she was equally angry with herself.
To know that the only other man who’d felt that intimate part of her body was a damned dominating Alpha shapeshifter, the epitome of the kind of men she loathed made her want to slam her head into a brick wall. She’d gone for a man just like her ex. Stupid, stupid.
A pebble rustled behind her. Willow spun around in a heartbeat. He was there. Every tall, muscled inch of him. His hand grabbed her throat, not in a threat but in a dominating gesture that probably made lesser women swoon. Good thing she wasn’t one of them. She wasn’t some submissive bitch from his pack. His hand was warm and gentle, stroking the skin beneath his fingertips.
“Let go of me, asshole.” His hair was just thick enough for her to grip in her hands, not that she ever would do that. It was a sandy blond color, somewhere between a light brown and dark blond.
“How did you catch me so soon?”
His silence gave her a moment to really notice him. He looked angry and disheveled as if he’d been in a rush. His clothes were the same ones he’d worn when she last saw him. His shirt was wrinkled, and several buttons were missing. He looked like a hot mess.
She couldn’t help it; she threw back her head and laughed at him. Before she could blink, his mouth came down on hers. She struggled, turned her face away, breathing hard, but not before the lingering heat of his lips seared into her mind. Her body responded, remembering his touch from before.
He pulled her in close and she shivered at the hot press of his lips against her throat. His fingers caressed her skin, then wrapped around to curl around the nape of her neck. She was overwhelmed with his scent, couldn’t help but inhale the rich, animal scent of him.
His tongue licked a rough path from her shoulder to the back of her neck as if he was tasting her. Yet she wasn’t revolted in the least. Quite the opposite. The fire that had been raging inside her since she met him, since she left him, now had gasoline thrown on top of it—by the gallon.
“I see your nose has healed,” she said, her voice thick with arousal. She’d kneed him in the face the last time she saw him. After he’d taken her with startling passion behind a store. She was sad to acknowledge that a part of her was relieved that his face had healed.
His free hand wrapped band around her back, pulling her against him. She was plastered against him like a second skin. He reached down and cupped her bottom in a tight squeeze. She clamped her mouth shut to keep from moaning. He released his grip then did it again, massaging her possessively.
Did he know that when he did that liquid fire spread through her sex, readied her for penetration? Bastard probably did. The thought was slow to come though, languid as her mind so easily became swept up in him—in Alpha Lyonis Keelan.
“I heal quickly. Do you remember what I told you I’d do when I caught you?” he said, making her breath catch as she remembered. “Well I’ve caught you, Willow. Run now. Run fast. Because when I catch you, I’m going to take you hard, deep, and fast. Nowhere you go can stop me. And I know you’re going to love it. I know you want it.”
Suddenly Willow was standing free, on shaking knees that threatened to topple her to the ground. She stared stunned at Lyonis as he watched her with a heated glare. He moved and she jumped like a skittish mouse. A slow, sexy grin curled over his lickable mouth and then he started unbuttoning his shirt.
Heart racing, Willow turned and ran. It was too dark. They were alone. She needed to find people, a public place, anything. She wouldn’t let him touch her again, dammit. She raced into town, her heart deflating as she realized all the shops and stores were closed. She tried to remember where the hotel was but couldn’t. Besides that was the last thing she need. Him and her near a bed together.
Weren’t there anything 24-hour gas stations or something? She fled down one street after the next, blindly searching for a café or crowd of people. Nothing. No one. But then she heard something. The faint throbbing pulse of music. Willow sprinted towards the sound, tearing through the streets at a dangerous speed.
There was no time to look behind and search for him. She couldn’t let him find her, couldn’t let him win. She came up on the next street and smiled at the sight of a disco—a German dance club. The pulsing red sign in a cursive font read: CLUB EURO.
A heavy techno beat came from inside the club. Teenagers to college-aged clubbers hung in line flashing IDs to get in. Willow raced for it. If she got in there, he’d have no chance.
Willow stayed within the well-lit street and reached the back of the line with almost disappointing relief. Her heart raced with the delicious lick of excitement.
She was breathing hard but otherwise, she’d done it. The line moved quickly, and she took a moment to search the street up and down, high and low for any sign of animal or man.
He knew her scent and on top of that, his scent was embedded deep in her body. He could have pulled out, could have done things so differently, but what did she expect really. He was an Alpha. He had no qualms about taking her body, using her.
More people were let into the club, leaving Willow only two people back. She caught a flash of movement out the corner of her eye and whirled around. Nothing. She glared into the night and stuck out her middle finger just in case he was there.
Maybe he really hadn’t caught up to her yet. The bastard. She flashed her ID and paid a five-dollar fee to get into the club. It wasn’t exactly the bed and breakfast she wanted to be relaxing at but it would do for now.
The club smelled of alcohol and was dark except for the flashing bright strobe lights swirling and blinking from the ceiling. Bodies jumped and danced on the crowded dance floor, and Willow squeezed through them with the one purpose in mind: getting away from the front door.
She saw a white light on the other side of the room and made her way towards it. As she got closer, she saw it was the women’s restroom. Perfect. She’d hide in there. Her hope soon deflated as she saw the line for it. She went to the end of it, ready to wait.
It was probably one of those small restrooms, and she doubted these women would let her camp out in there until the club closed. At least it would buy her some time until she figured out what she was going to do.
The thought had no sooner left her mind, when she was grabbed from behind and dragged along the wall into a darkened alcove. She knew his scent; the feel of his hard body against her back.
His voice came at her ear. “Got you. I’m ready to take my prize now, Willow.” Willow scrambled to get away from him, but his arms were strong around her. He couldn’t take her here! There were at least a hundred people in this club. The line for the ladies’ room was a mere ten feet away.
She opened her mouth to scream but his rough voice came back at her ear, “I don’t want to hear anything from your pretty lips except moans, sighs, and the sound of my name. Or I’ll make you regret it.”
Something hot and not unpleasant warmed her blood, tightened her skin. He cupped her breasts over her t-shirt, rolling her nipples between his fingers. When that wasn’t enough his hands impatiently moved over her stomach, hips, thighs, and between her legs. He was rough this time, excited by the chase. A part of her badly wanted to let him win and claim her, but she couldn’t do it.
Instead she threw back an elbow. It landed in his side with a satisfying thump. He snatched her hands up, pressing her wrists together, and then a white cord was wrapped around them.
“What the—”
She tried to comprehend where he’d gotten it from and how easily he tied her up, but he was moving fast. Just like he said he would. He lifted her hands to the wall and wrapped the cord over a hook on the wall. She realized that this wasn’t an alcove but an old coatroom because there were hooks all around the wall.
He pulled her arms up just enough so that she teetered back and forth on her toes. With a grunt, she tried to get the cord to loosen, break, or come off the hook, but it was too high and she was too short.
“Son of bitch!”
Suddenly his hands reached under her shirt, quickly lifting her athletic bra so her breasts spilled free. Willow gasped, her eyes going wide and wild as the crowd danced by. Her core clenched with need, throbbing in time to his possessive touch.
“Remember what I told you. What I want to hear from your lips, my Willow.”
Even his voice was deeper, more excited than before. His hands jerked her yoga pants at her hips and pushed them down to her ankles. It was all happening too quickly; she tried furiously to make her mind come up with something to do but all she drew was a blank as his hands tore her panties off her body.
“You don’t need to wear panties around me, Willow. Ever again.”
“Fuck you,” she growled. She was nearly naked now. If any of those dancers turned around and leaned a bit to the side, then they’d seen her tied up, breasts, sex, and ass bare. At least the club was dark.
She didn’t hear anything else as the bum bum bum of the techno beat drilled into her skull like a jackhammer, but then his hot hands were at her ass, tilting her hips forward with unrelenting pressure. She had to give in. It was her starving body talking that made her do it. Yet she was wet already. Open and ready for him.
He kicked her legs wide, and she felt warm air blow across her wet lips. Not here! Oh my God. This can’t be happening. But she knew this was real, that this wasn’t some bad, delicious dream, because his cock slid deep and inside of her in a single push. She had no time to adjust this time, to take in the feel of him.
He started working himself in and out, in and out, his hips slapping against her ass cheeks with an erotic sound.
Her eyes closed, and her head fell back as one of his hands reached up to hold a bouncing breast. She felt herself trying to open her legs further to feeling him pounding against her everywhere, tingling her core. It felt...amazing. So lusciously good, she never wanted it to stop.
Lyonis pinched and tugged on her hard nipple while his other hand kept her arched back to him. It was demeaning. With her hands tied above her head, she was completely submissive to him.
And it was going to make her come.
As if he knew what she wanted, he widened her stance another couple inches. Then he hit the perfect spot inside her. Ragged breaths sawed out of her throat as she struggled to breathe through the impending explosion about to detonate in her body. He reached forward, his fingers pressing over her soaking wet folds, picking up her wet cream, then he thrummed her clit as his cock slid in and out of her.
Willow moaned as hot liquid exploded inside her, blinding her. Her body seized up then trembled violently. She heard him grunting, breathing as choppy as she was, and then she felt him coming, shooting hot torrents inside her as his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, holding her to him. He thrust into her after he spent, letting her body draw every drop from him.
“You’re mine, Willow,” he breathed heavily.
Willow’s eyes shot open at the ominous warning in his words.
