Bonds of Fire: The Bellum Sisters 2 (paranormal erotic romance) (2 page)

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.