Chains of Frost: The Bellum Sisters 1 (15 page)

“No, of course not. The warrior
and I are only friends, not even that really. I just talk to him on occasion.”

“Oh my, I know that look. That’s
lust, Lucinda. Have you tried going after him?” The woman’s eyes grew wide.

“Never! No, I couldn’t possibly.
Ever. It would be completely inappropriate.”

“Why?” Chloe asked.

“Because I am a
frimar.
”

Chloe’s heart dropped through the
floor at her words.
Frimar
meant only one thing. Blood concubine. A
vampire’s blood servant.

Her voice shook. “Whose?”

The woman’s eyes lowered in a
look of sympathy. “Commander Tyrian’s.”

Anger, pain, and fury spun
through her like a storm. “I understand,” she croaked.

And she did. Of course, a
powerful vampire like him had a
frimar.
Many did, though most of them
were the warriors’ mates. Had he taken her blood when he ran from the room last
night? Had he been taking her blood since she got here? She had no idea how
much a vampire needed or how often. Bitter, infuriating anger morphed inside of
her.

Now she knew what Willow felt
like when she threw things against the wall just to see them break. She forced
back the hollow pain that spread through her chest like dead weight and smiled emptily
at Tyrian’s
frimar.
His
frimar!

“I am really sorry,” Lucinda
said.

Chloe nodded at her, but from the
corner of her eye, something else caught her vision. Tyrian en Kulev stood at
the top of the staircase watching her. He hadn’t been there long, she hoped.
She wanted to say something flippant. She wanted to smile, wave, and bounce
back to her room, but she could barely breathe past the tightness in her chest.

Lucinda said something quietly
and ducked past Tyrian to go down the stairs. She so didn’t want to do this
right now. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him with how she felt.

“I told you not to come here.” It
was the coldest she’d ever heard his voice. This time she actually shivered and
wrapped her arms around her chest.

“Yeah, well you’re an asshole.”
Whatever, she was out of here. She marched up to him, but his big body blocked
the alcove.

“Move out of the way.”

“Why are you angry?” She could
think of at least five really good reasons. Did he deserve to know? No.

“I really don’t want to talk you,
oh Grand Commander. Let me pass.” His jaw tightened and she spun around,
flinging open the nearest door. It was bright and feminine.

A bitter laugh escaped from her.
“Let me guess, this is Lucinda’s room.” She didn’t close the door, but stalked
across the hall and flung open the door. Her heart skipped a beat. “Let me
guess, yours?” she said, looking back at him with anger and pain in her eyes.
Naturally, they’d keep their rooms so close together. So he could have a little
snack whenever he wanted.

She marched in, taking in the
simple surroundings. A bed, drawers, and a bathroom. That was it. Not a picture
on the wall, a computer, or even a book.

“If you’re trying to keep
yourself in the dark, you’re doing a good job, Tyrian.”

Silence greeted her until she
finally spun around. She wanted to cry. She chalked the highly emotional
response to the new moon and the fact that her hormones were not quite normal.
He stayed in the doorway, blocking out what little light had been entering the
room from the hall.

“You’re angry because of Lucinda,
my
frimar.
”

She whipped her arms open and let
her jaw drop as if to say
DUH.
“Uh, yeah!” He came into the room a step.

“Many warriors have one. It’s
very common among us.” The icy control he had over his words practically formed
frost around his lips. He’s not really my man. I know, logic agreed. But this
is something he really should have told me. Preferably, before he had sex with
her—twice.

Anger had her stalking to him,
coming chest to chest with him. “Some vampires also
fuck
their
frimars
while taking blood from them. Is that something you do, Tyrian?”

He stiffened, muscles coiling
hard. “That is none of your business.” She saw red. Her hand pulled into a fist
and she clocked him in the mouth. His head didn’t even move an inch but she
hopped back, wincing and cradling her throbbing knuckles. Hot, stinging pain
pulsated like a heartbeat from her hand.

“God dammit.” She had to get out
of here. She was on the verge of cracking, and no one should be around when
that happened. She tried to leave but he blocked the doorway. “Let me go.”

He grabbed her wrist and she let
him only because she didn’t want to yank it away and hurt herself worse. He
inspected her hand with seemingly little interest.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

Chloe pulled her hand back and
cradled it over her heart, hurt to hurt. She was close to tears, close to
embarrassing the hell out of herself. In front of the most dangerous man in the
world. He wasn’t the leader of the free world; he was the leader of the
protectors of humanity. Talk about embarrassment on the highest scale.

Chloe gasped in surprise when
suddenly he was pressed against her. A strong arm banded around her waist, a
hand cupped her face, pulling her chin up so he could sweep down and kiss her. She
was so stunned by the action that she just stood there.

He kissed her hungrily, lips
meshing, tongue tasting her lips, inside her mouth. But then hunger fed into
the anger and she kissed him back, thrusting her tongue in his mouth. The kiss
turned hard and fierce.

He licked her lips, sweeping
against her with delicious, hungry licks. Her hands found his shoulders and dug
into the hard muscles. His big hand cupped the back of her head and held her as
he tasted her. And that’s what he was doing. Learning her mouth, tongue, lips
just as she learned his.

He pulled back all too soon, his
breathing uneven and deeply satisfying to her hurt ego. “I do not have sex with
Lucinda. She has been my
frimar
and nothing else.” The words eased some
of the pain but not all of it. Though she was shocked to her core that he’d
confessed that much.

“I don’t want you taking her
blood.”

He pulled back sharply, muscles
tightening again, and then he swept past her and stalked to the window to look
out it. She was starting to see a pattern here, and it pissed her off.

“Impossible. She is my
frimar.
Whom else can I take from? Do not say yourself, Chloe.” His voice was frosty
cold with control.

“You’ll take from me. Consider it
compensation for my situation with the new moon. I do not want you using her
while I’m here.”
While you’re using me,
she added silently. Lucinda
appeared nice and all, but the thought of him doing something so…intimate with
her made her want to stab someone—a lot.

“No. You will go back to your
room and never come to this part of the castle again. Do you understand me?”

Chloe flared with anger. Good
thing he didn’t have books or he’d be ducking flying ones about now.

“You can take your orders and
shove them out that window you seem so fond of. You know what, Tyrian? Here’s
my concession. Either you stop taking from her while you’re with me or I’m
leaving.”

He cut her a hard look that was
completely unreadable. “I am your Protector. You won’t go anywhere unless I
order it. I give the orders around here, not you.” Hurt bloomed and exploded
inside her chest. She took a wobbly step backward. You don’t love him. So why
does this hurt so much? Is this what good sex did to a person? She needed her
sisters. She needed advice.

She raised her chin one last
time. “Then I’ll be finding someone else to help me through the new moon.”

“Good.”

If she was expecting him to fly
into a rage and protest the idea then she was very, very wrong. Nodding, her
vision blurring, she turned and ran.

* * *

Chloe didn’t run to her room. She
flew blindly through the castle to a back door in the kitchen. The morning sun
was just rising, painting the snowy landscape in orange and pink.

She hadn’t realized just how big
Castle Death was until now. A massive stone wall ran around the perimeter of
the castle and was at least twenty feet tall. It was also a good quarter of a
mile away and would take her several minutes to run there. And she was so ready
to get out of here.

She took off running. Anywhere
that was away from the castle and away from the man that confused the hell out
of her. She heard voices and looked up at the castle parapets.

“Damn,” she muttered under her
breath.

Atal Warriors lined the parapet
above, some watching her with clear eyes. Bows were strapped to their backs and
swords hung at their hips.

She didn’t have much time before
they tattled. She glared at them before turning around and sprinting to that
wall.

She realized her one fatal flaw
as she neared the wall. It was at least twenty feet tall. Mother fuck. She had
no magic powers to help her climb that wall. Glancing left and right, she
spotted the main gate, a massive metal structure of coiling metal and spikes.
Also, it was surrounded by warriors wearing heavy axes and swords across their
backs.

She looked back at the castle
with growing disdain. She’d rather face them then return there. The guards saw
her coming long before her short legs got her there.

“Hi, guys,” she said brightly.
She tossed them her sweetest coy smile that she hoped melted hearts. One of the
warriors stepped forward, his brow furrowing.

“What are you doing out here?
You’re not supposed to be here. It’s dangerous.”

“Pfft, what’s so dangerous out
here? A little snow and cold. I live for the cold, really.” Honestly though,
she was happy she chose to wear the turtleneck this morning. That’s not to say
she couldn’t use some earmuffs, gloves, and a heavy winter coat right about
now. Her breaths were coming out like puffs of cotton ball clouds.

“Why don’t I escort you back to
the castle, Ms. Bellum.” It wasn’t a question. Chloe slapped his hand as he
tried to grab her arm.

“Don’t you touch me. Do you know
that your commander is my Protector? I am his now. No man touches me but him.”

The guard paused, unease flitting
over his face. Good, Chloe thought. Suffer. Another guard came up to them. This
one had short blond hair and bright blue eyes.

“She’s right. I can smell his
scent on her. Don’t touch her. Ms. Bellum, please allow me to escort you back
to the castle. It is too cold and dangerous to be out here.” He bowed his head
to her.

She lifted her chin and said,
“Your commander has given me permission to leave at my will. I promise to be
back. I just need a break from this place. I’m sure you understand.” She smiled
again and the guards looked back and forth at each other. When they leaned
close and started whispering in some language she didn’t recognize, she crossed
her arms and glared.

One guard nodded and in her mind,
she started chanting
vic-tor-y
. The blond guard stepped forward and
looked apologetically at her.

“Ms. Bellum, I’ll have to send
word to Commander Tyrian to verify this before I can allow it.” Chloe glared at
him and crossed her arms in disgust. The gate wasn’t
that
tall; maybe
she could climb it. Though those metal spikes on the outside of it looked
incredibly sharp and big. What were they for anyway? Impaling giants or T-Rexes?

“I’ll just radio this in.” Yeah,
whatever.

Chloe walked to the gate and
gripped the cold metal in her hands. Never in her life had she felt so enclosed
in such an open space. She ignored the voices calling on their radio to her
enemy, Tyrian. He was so not her fake boyfriend anymore. But why’d he kiss her?
He always seemed so afraid to kiss her, but then he did back there, and it’d
stolen her breath away.

Damn and she still didn’t know
about his wife or child. It shouldn’t bother her, but it did…too much. As she
gazed out at the vast scenery of glaringly bright snow-drenched mountains,
Chloe, for the first time since being kidnapped, truly missed her family. And
her job, which she was certain was gone now. Not that Carl wouldn’t give her
the bartending job back with a few sweet smiles sent his way. Was she
manipulative in that way? Just a little. Really, Carl was such a softie.

This whole thing had been like
one short joy ride for her. She was learning new things about herself, her
body, and about a man that captivated her. Now she was ready to cut the ride
short and go home from the carnival.

A strange sound caught her ears,
interrupting her thoughts. Chloe squinted out into the empty, snowy wasteland
of hills and mountains. Not a town or city in sight. They were clearly in the
middle of snowy nowhere. The glare of the sun off the snow threatened to burn
her retinas.

“Do you guys get trains out
here?”