Chains of Frost: The Bellum Sisters 1 (17 page)

Deciding to test the waters a
little, she reached out her hand for Tyrian’s, twining their fingers together.
His arm jerked, but he didn’t pull back. She took that as a good sign and
smiled.

Chapter Fourteen

“Why am I not surprised Tyrian
left you in charge? Shall I bow, King Henry?” Draven’s laughter was almost
contagious.

Henry shook his head. Now was not
the time for laughter. Commander Tyrian left him in charge while he got Chloe
out of danger. The battle was dying outside. The demons had already killed two
of his men, but the Atal Warriors were stronger, faster, better trained. Only
one demon kept Henry’s attention. The big gray bastard in the back, standing
like some general behind his army.

When most of the
idummi
demons fell into bloody heaps on the snow, the demon roared like some beast,
then slipped back into the cavernous hole it’d crawled from. Dirt and snow
piled over the hole, covering it like a hill. What the hell was that thing?
Every arrow and bullet shot at it was deflected with some kind of magical wall
around the creature. Most demons didn’t have that kind of power.

“Report,” Henry ordered. Rayn
stepped forward, breathing hard from the fight he’d just had.

“Six left. The big gray one just
disappeared. I have no idea how he does that, by the way. We’re securing the
gate.”

“Good; burn the dead when it’s
done.” Rayn nodded and sped off into the fray. Henry loved this. The smell of
blood and sweat, the sounds of clanking metal and the grunts of pain. They were
things he was all too familiar with. They all were.

He strode into the castle. He
needed to send a report to the commander about the gray demon disappearing. If
it could track Chloe, then it’d probably be on its way to her now. That they
hadn’t been able to kill it was unacceptable.

Henry grimaced as he recalled the
massive punch that thing had. If he hadn’t moved when he did, that demon would
have killed him. What a way to die, being torn in half by a monster. He was
damned lucky and he knew it. Vampires, demons, everyone had weaknesses. No one
was immune to death.

He should have been watching
where he was going and not lost in his thoughts because he ran straight into
the one person he didn’t want to see. Nanu came around the opposite corner just
as he did and smacked into him.

“Ow,” she said shaking out her
wrist that had pushed into him.

“Sorry,” he said, rubbing the
spot on his chest where she’d touched him. She looked beautiful today. Well,
when didn’t she? But today she had her hair pulled back like she’d done it in a
hurry and her lab coat was open, revealing the dress slacks and silk button
down blouse she wore. Aquamarine earrings, a reminder of her heritage adorned
the dark skin of her ears and neck.

The jewelry almost made the
expensive clothes she wore look ridiculous, but somehow she managed to pull it
off. Or maybe it was just because he’d like her even in a baggy sweatshirt made
of plastic.

Henry quickly moved before he
stayed there any longer. He started around her. She called after him, but he
ignored it and made for his bedroom. He’d contact the commander after he
showered and cleared his mind. Right now, he was too frazzled. He closed the
bedroom door behind him and pulled his shirt over his head.

The door opened, which had him
turning hard to it.

“Get out,” he said.

Nanu closed the door, shaking her
head as she approached him. He could either stay still or back away. He backed
up. She shook her head and rubbed her hands over her face.

“You drive me crazy, Henry.”

You and me both.
“Get out,” he said instead.

“No, not until you tell me,
specifically, the other reason.” This time he was genuinely confused.

“What reason?” He watched her jaw
tighten and slide side to side.

“The other night in the gym. I
asked you what your reasons were for not being with you. You said because
you’re a warrior, which I think is completely ridiculous, Henry. I know what
you do and I support it. I have no qualms with it. I find it brave,” she said
softly. Henry looked away. If he didn’t, he might do something stupid like
blush.

“You said I am the other reason.
Tell me what that means.”

He wadded his shirt into a tight
ball and threw it hard into the bin. “Leave me alone, Nanu. I don’t want to
talk about this.” He walked into the bathroom, leaving her alone. When she
followed him into the much smaller space, he didn’t know if he wanted to yell
or hit something.

“Tell me honestly and then I’ll
leave you to your precious moping.” He rounded on her, anger and shock marring
his face.

“Moping? I do not mope, Nanu.”
Her eyes glittered in a rush. Her chest was rising and falling fast and her
eyes trailed over his mouth. Shit, he jerked himself away from her. The woman
was a trap, constantly drawing him in. He stepped as far away from her as he
could in the bathroom.

“You do, too, mope. I want you,
Henry. Don’t you see that? I don’t know how to make it any clearer.”

Henry ran a hand over his face,
pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, I know that, Nanu, but there seems to
be one thing you haven’t realized about me.”
I love you.
“I’m not
someone who will just take your body and walk away the next day.” Several
emotions flitted across her face.

He’d thought about it. Hell, he
could practically write a novel on all the reasons he wanted her but couldn’t
have her, on why he couldn’t just take her body and not keep her. He was sure
if he did that, it would break him apart and he’d never be able to fix himself.

“Don’t you see, that’s one of the
reasons I admire you.” She took a step, then another until her body touched his.

“Don’t press me when we both know
you’d never accept me like I want.”

“Yes, I would,” she said sounding
desperate. His hands curled around her arms and shook her.

“No, you wouldn’t, and neither
would your brother.”

She opened her mouth, stunned,
but he saw the truth in her eyes and knew he was right. Where she came from,
the males in the family, in this case, her brother, dictated whom she mated
with, whom she married. And Heru would never let a half-vampire, half-demon
touch his sister. He was basically the bottom of the food chain to him.

“Now you know. Now get out of my
room, Nanu.”

That damn look of determination
crossed over her face. In the next second, her mouth was plastered against his,
soft and needy. Her tongue licked across the seam of his lips then pushed
inside. A groan escaped him.

She pressed closer, and he jerked
away from her, stalking to the bedroom door. He opened it and nodded to the
hall.

“Get out.”

Nanu stalked to him with the same
determined look in her eyes. Henry steeled himself. Had to or she’d run all
over him.

“Why can’t you just let us be
together? I don’t get you.” Anger bit at her words.

Henry clenched his jaw left and
right. “That’s why, Nanu, because you don’t get it. You don’t see what I really
want. Now get out before I call your brother.”

She stiffened, her mouth
flattening into a hard line, then stormed out. Henry closed the door behind her
with a sigh, resting his sweaty forehead on the door. How he wished things were
simpler, easier. But he and Nanu couldn’t be together.

Chapter Fifteen

The heavy patter of feet beat
after her. Willow’s heart raced loudly in her ears, blocking out everything but
her quick breathing and the sound of leaves rustling behind her.

Alphas Lyonis Keelan was quick in
human form, but as a wolf, she barely stood a chance. Inwardly she grinned.
That one chance was all she needed. Sprinting over fallen trees, Willow ran
with a different kind of fear pushing her. Not the fear of death, but the fear
of what might happen if she were caught.

I will not let him have me.
It took several seconds for her
mind to register that the thundering of paws had stilled.

She didn’t stop. Willow broke
through the tree line and came to the side of a road. Panting, she turned,
searching the forest. Shit, shit, shit. No fur, no man, nothing. A car whizzed
by and then she started running again, across the road and into a field filled
waist high with rows of wheat.

“Shit.”

Coming to a stop halfway through
the field, Willow spun in a circle looking for anyone, anything. She was winded
and, dammit, she knew she was in better shape than that. It must be the new
moon. She needed sex. It’s what fed the succubus, kept her strong and healthy.

“Not with him, ever.”

A soft noise brought her to a
standstill. She held her breath, made her racing heart slow so she could hear.

As the hard weight of an animal
came crashing into her back, she had only one thought—no animal could ever be
that quiet. The heavy mass of fur above her contorted, twisted, with only a
whisper of sound—a purr, and then he was on top of her, breathing steady and
sure as he thrust his hips against her bottom and spread her legs with his
knees.

“You please me,” he said, the
syllables guttural and harsh as if his voice hadn’t completely changed back
yet.

“Flattery will get you nowhere,
Alpha.” She cocked her arm and sent her elbow flying back. Sweet relief coursed
through her as bone connected with jaw. The purring turned to a sharp, snapping
growl and she had the feeling he was trying to reprimand her. “I’m not an
animal,” she bit out.

He moved so fast, she had no way
to prepare herself. He lifted her chest off the wheat-flattened ground and
wrapped one arm around her, trapping both of her arms at her side.

“That’s much better. Behave and
I’ll make you feel good.” Exhaustion, lust, shit,
something
came over
her and made her completely stupid. Willow rested her forehead on the ground
and let her body feel as the Alpha petted her. Indignation quickly flared
inside her, but for once, her body tamped it down as if to say: this one time;
this one concession. You need this.

His arm held her tightly poised
body as his free hand roamed over her arm, her shoulder, then down her back.
Again and again that’s all he touched. The touch was deceptively soothing,
cunningly disarming. Baring her teeth, she bucked her hips hard against him.

He winced and bit the back of her
neck. Something not unpleasureable flooded through her. A gush of hot cream
flooded her channel and doused her already wet panties. She heard him inhale
with a satisfied sound.

“I knew you’d like my touch. Your
scent is lush and rich. I like it.” He arched his hips into the crevice of her
cheeks to prove his point. “I’m glad to know you’re ready for me, my Willow.”
His free hand found the bare skin of her lower back, flattening his palm there.
She was burning up but his touch was feverishly hot against her. His touch was
sweet, reassuring. Willow hated it.

She fought hard now, twisting and
squirming until finally she was turned around face-to-face with the Alpha. They
were both breathing hard. His eyes tracked over her face, down her flushed neck
and chest.

“If you wanted to look at me, you
had only to ask, Willow.” She gave him a sarcastic smile. What he didn’t
realize as he plotted his already-going-to-fail seduction was that she now had
another weapon at her disposal—her teeth.

He didn’t have much leverage on
her now, so he used his body to weigh her down. And it was like having a truck
sit on top of her. A hot, sexy truck. He tried to spread her legs open again,
but she fought it until her thigh muscles burned in protest. She bared her
teeth at him when he finally won. He quickly took the opportunity to press his
straining erection against her wet, soft core.

She moaned at the delicious
pressure, there was no stopping it. He made a satisfied, gruff sound then
pulled up her shirt in jerky movements. Either her reactions were slowing or he
was moving faster, because he quickly had her athletic bra pushed up and a
nipple in his mouth.

The sucking sensations were too
much and not enough. Willow grabbed his hair and pulled back hard. He lifted
from her with a growl, quickly grabbing her hands in one of his and planting
them above her head.

“No! I don’t want you. Do you
hear me, Lyonis?
No!
” He stilled above her, his eyes finding hers. His
hips pumped once, letting her feel the hard-ridged length of his cock, the bump
of his head through her damp shorts.

“What your body and scent tell me
disagrees with your words, Willow. I promise only to take care of you. That’s
why I’m here. I am your Protector. You can’t survive the new moon without me.
We both know that.”

She shook her head wildly. “No,
I’ll find someone else. Not you.” He laughed at her. Actually laughed!