Chains of Frost: The Bellum Sisters 1 (8 page)

She hesitated at the door to her
room. Was this just her hormones talking? The man intimidated the crap out of
her and now she was thinking of willingly giving herself to him? Okay, he already
made it clear he wasn’t taking it. Seducing him, that’s what she was really
thinking. The more she thought about it the better the idea seemed. Was she
turning into one of those women who were attracted to dangerous, dark men?
Probably.

She opened her door and peered
out, then swung it open wide on a gasp. The warrior from last night was
standing across the hall, a battle-axe strapped to his back like it was
everyday wear. A sword bigger than her arm hung low on his hip and past his
knee. Seriously, how did he wear these weapons as if they were sunglasses and
not
a huge metal axe?

Maybe she wasn’t getting a hard-on
for dangerous men, because although this one was very attractive and strong, he
did nothing for her. Not even a lick of heat. It was a shame too, because he
grinned at her like he already saw her naked and riding him.

“Good morning, Ms. Bellum.” The
warrior Draven gave a clipped bow.

“Chloe,” she corrected
automatically.

“Where to this morning, Chloe? I
must say you’re looking fresh and lovely today. Would you like some breakfast?”
The compliment didn’t charm her, but the thought of food did. Until that new
moon, she still needed normal food like humans. What would it be like to have
to survive on just sex?

The thought scared the crap out
of her on a very deep level. She knew her outcome was grim. She had no real
Protector; Tyrian had already stated he wouldn’t ‘do that’ for her. The one she
had didn’t want her and she didn’t really want him, aside from on a physical
level. A very deep, sexy physical level.

But if she didn’t find a man, a
new Protector, then she’d end up sleeping with any and every man just to
survive. She’d heard rumors of women who eschewed the dependant living of the
succubi life and were forced into whoring themselves to survive. Jumping from
man to man just to stay alive. An icy chill swept through her at the thought.
She used to think the rumor was merely a nasty myth to keep daughters in line,
but now she wondered if perhaps there wasn’t some truth to the grim tale.

“This way then. We’ll get you
some breakfast. We don’t have a cook here nor any real food, but Commander
Tyrian did order in supplies to feed you. Just enough until your big day.” He
looked at her but his grin died. “Sorry, I’m not trying to sound like an ass.
This must be hard for you. You don’t know any of us and now you’re apart from
your only family. I know I’d be upset to say the least.”

Chloe couldn’t help the small
smile that formed. “Thank you, I appreciate that.” He seemed genuine enough and
she wondered if he had some experience with this sort of thing.

He pulled her to a stop. In a
soft voice he said, “Listen, I know about succubi and their new moon. I also
know Commander Tyrian.” He shook his head, dismayed. “If you need…assistance I
promise I’m a gentle and good lover. I don’t want you to feel too weird about
it. I’d help you if you need me. Just ask.”

Chloe couldn’t stop the blush
from coloring her cheeks. She didn’t know if it was from embarrassment or the
compliment that he gave her, but she didn’t have to think about it because a
door slammed down the hall and out strode her deadly captor. Her heart beat
with each step he took closer to her.

She saw his eyes, watched them
narrow on both of them, and darken with something close to menace. “Draven,
you’re due for training today. Don’t stop until I send for you.” Draven pulled
back into an erect stance that mimicked the commanders. He bowed and marched
away.

“But he was going to take me to
get food,” she said. Okay, it was a borderline whine, but she couldn’t help it.
She hated being hungry; that starving feeling was in her belly and coming in
full force. She tried to look at him, but it was hard to meet his eyes. They
were too smart, too strong. Eyes of an eagle. “He didn’t do anything wrong,” she
added for good measure. She had a feeling that the commander was upset with
Draven and naturally, she felt the need to protect him, such was her nature.
One dark eyebrow rose at her words.

“As a matter of fact, he did.
Yesterday, he allowed one of his hurt team members to carry you just for a
laugh. That is unacceptable and for that, he shall train twice as long. A
fledgling would know better than to do that.” His words moved to some hollow
place in the back of her mind leaving her to focus all her thoughts on his
scent, his body. Her heart skipped a beat. He smelled good.
Really
good.
Was the new moon making her hormones go crazy or was this all real?

Her tongue felt too heavy to
speak. “I’m sorry. You really shouldn’t punish him. He’s really nice.” It was a
sore argument and she knew it, and what was worse, he gave her a cold look that
said
and this is why you aren’t a warrior.
She was sure he was right
too.

“I will take you to get food and
then I will show you the parameters of the castle within which you are allowed
and the areas where you are not allowed.”

She made a mental note to go into
all the rooms from which she was banned first. His eyes narrowed a fraction on
hers. She smiled big and sweet. He couldn’t mind-read, could he? She’d heard
vampires could have powers, but a vampire mind reader sounded ridiculous to
her.

Time to test it out.
I came in
the shower while thinking about you fucking me.

Okay, so it wasn’t the best of
mental projections, but he didn’t even blink, so she was pretty sure she was
safe. Even the iceman would have some kind of reaction to that.

He held out a hand to indicate
the stairs. “Follow me.” She did. She also kept looking at the way the hard
strength of his back tapered to a tight, lean waist and wondered what it would
feel like to wrap herself around him like a pretzel.

He cut her a sharp look and she
blinked at him innocently.

“Are you a mind reader?”

He didn’t scowl at her, because
the man didn’t show any emotion on his face, but she sensed that he was
scowling at her. This man could easily win any poker contest he entered. And he
wouldn’t even need sunglasses.

“No.” He led her through a massive
room with high, vaulted stone ceilings and large archway windows, again with no
covering of any kind over them.
Seriously, put a screen up or something,
she wanted to say. She was actually surprised not to see any torches on the
walls. Electric sconces lit the castle walls where needed. Alongside old
paintings, pieces of cloth that looked like old blankets and swords hung in an
X pattern on the wall.

Chloe quickened her pace to keep
up with his long one. “How did you know my father?”

He didn’t answer as they entered
a small kitchen. Considering the size of every other room in the house, which
could easily house a giant, this room was like the kitchen in a studio
apartment.

“Of course, vampires don’t eat.”
A blush crept over her cheeks as Tyrian spun slowly on his heel to peer at her,
just the slightest tilt to his head said he was curious…or thought she was mad.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. She swore that every time he looked at her, she had to
remind herself how to breathe.

The sensation reminded her of
being back in high school. She’d had a crush on A.J. Hammer, a name barely
sexier than the real boy himself. He wore a black leather jacket, short cut
black hair, and dark eyes. He was nice, too. He sat in front of her in geometry
and about once a week he’d turn around and ask to borrow a pencil or paper, and
her lungs would freeze up as he looked at her and her heart would race so fast.

Twelve years later and she was
experiencing those same sensations all over again. Although this time she
wasn’t some shy girl, and he was one of the greatest leaders in the world.

“The food is in there. Make
something now and be quick about it. I do not have much free time.” Chloe
scoffed at his attitude but moved to the fridge he indicated. She found enough
items to make a decent sandwich. When she was done making it, she started
eating with flourish. She hadn’t even realized how hungry she was until now.
And now that she thought about it, she hadn’t eaten since that little airplane
meal on the flight to London. When she finished, he started to leave the room.
She hurried to keep up.

“So, how do you know my father,
again?” He moved his arms behind his back and gently held his wrists. The look
clearly stated that he was indeed a commander.

“I fought with your father in The
Great War.”

Chloe’s feet stopped moving, and
she could only gape at his back, stunned. The Great War was legendary among
supernaturals. It was
the
battle between supernaturals and demons.

One thousand years ago, the rift
that now separated the two worlds was open and demons rampaged among the earth,
wreaking havoc and destruction. Though now some argue that that wasn’t the
case. Only certain demons harmed anything, the
idummi
. Others were
honorable and family-oriented.

The infamous Atal Warriors was an
organization that was created just to combat these magical, strong demonic
beings. While not alive during The Great War, Chloe had heard enough stories
and even epic poems written about the event. The war lasted for eighty-five
years. When it was over, the Atal Warriors had prevailed and driven the demons
into the rift that lead to the nether-realm, a space beneath the earth from
whence the demons were born.

In the last several hundred years
there have been many beings, whether vampire, shapeshifter, or even succubus,
who have spoken out against the war. These people stated that the war was a
huge injustice, that the demons were not at fault, but we were; that the war
was all lead by one man for vengeance. And that man was Tobius en Kulev,
Tyrian’s father and the original commander of the Atal Warriors.

“Wait; my father was never in
that war.”

Tyrian stopped walking and turned
around to face her. “I do not lie, Ms. Bellum.”

Chloe shook her head to clear it.
“Just call me Chloe. Listen, my father and I were close. He never once
mentioned anything like this. You must be wrong.”

“Ms. Bellum, I did not just fight
in the war with your father, I fought beside him. He was one of our Generals. A
fine fighter.”

Chloe was shaking her head.
“Impossible. Papa always said that the war was wrong. That he believed what the
Atal did was wrong. That the
idummi
demons were the only problem, not
all of them.”

Tyrian’s brow furrowed, a small
show of emotion. “I am not surprised by that. People do change, especially when
one has lived as long as Francis did. I assure you that we fought alongside
each other. How else do you explain my debt to him?” He turned around and
started walking. Chloe stalked after him.

“Wait, what does that mean? Did
he save you or something? How is it that he never told me he was a
general
in the organization? That’s huge. Oh my God, I can’t believe he never told me.”
Something in her voice had him turning back to her. His hand rose as if to
touch her but dropped back in place.

“What would it have changed if he
had told you? Perhaps he did not want you to know about something so ugly. You
are his daughter, after all. And The Great War is not something one tells a
delicate daughter. Everyone has a dark side.”

Shock and dismay were quickly
replaced by anger. Delicate? She was too delicate to be told bad news? It
wasn’t even
that
bad really, just shocking. She stalked to him, bumping
into his chest, which pushed her back rather than him.

“Listen here, Commander. I am not
some delicate thing that has to be coddled. I don’t whimper, and I don’t whine.
No, I’m not some tough as nails warrior vampire like you, but that doesn’t make
me some simpering female who needs a man to protect her—”

“Obviously your father felt
differently seeing as you are here under my protection now.”

Her mouth fell open. A second
later, her palm shot out toward his face. He moved so fast she didn’t see it.
His hand caught hers easily. She was breathing fast, each gasp brushing her
sensitive breasts against his hard chest. Anger diffused quickly into something
darker, wetter. She licked her dry lips and his eyes fell to the movement.
Something dark and toe curling unraveled in his dark eyes.

She had no idea how many moments
passed, maybe even minutes, which they just stared at each other with her wrist
held in his hand up in the air. She knew her breaths had deepened to languid
pulls that slowly, achingly grazed her hard nipples up and down across his
chest. A blooming, wet heat pooled between her legs. Never had she wanted a man
to kiss her so badly in her life.

Suddenly he let go of her wrist
and stepped away from her. His steps were just as sure and slow as before. He
wasn’t even breathing hard. Now she wished she’d gotten in that slap.

Chloe followed him. He showed her
clearly, even making her repeat after him, the areas of the castle she was not
to wander into, and which ones she could. When it was done, she saw that he had
her marked off into the living area, the tiny kitchen, her bedroom, and a
couple of hallways. Considering how big this place was, he was being stingy.
She kept her mouth shut, though, and nodded at him as he looked expectantly at
her.