Ties That Bind: The Bellum Sisters 3 (paranormal erotic romance) (10 page)

“What?”

“Let's just say we both share a common interest in wanting to fuck a demon.”

That heated look turned darker, hotter. She licked her lips and squirmed in her seat as arousal licked at her. The man could make her wet with only a look.

“One day you'll regret saying something like that to me,” he said, his deep voice turning hard, lower.

Her sex pulsed, heart pounded. When the look didn't fade, her heart kicked up its beat. Her breathing grew heavy and she wasn't going to let this moment pass. She had him almost where she wanted him.

She stood  with shoulders back, breasts thrust forward and his eyes fell to them then traveled down her jean-encased legs. Her hands flattened on the shiny wooden top of his desk and she lifted a knee onto it, ready to crawl across to get to him. She kept her movements slow and steady even as nerves shot around in her stomach like a wild bullet. The heat in his eyes grew until blatant arousal shined. Her nipples responded to the look, pulling tight and hard. The connection she'd felt between them, the one he denied so readily, roared between them at an undeniable frequency.

She lifted the other knee onto his desk so she sat on there in a half-sitting, half-crawling position.

His eyes traced over the spilled hair around her shoulders, teasing her breasts then landing on her mouth with a look that clearly screamed:
Stop now or I will kiss you.

Lily actually paused. Being on the opposite end of the attraction threw her off, but she did want him, so much that thoughts of him had plagued her for nearly a year. So she slid her arms across the desk and followed the motion with her knees until only a few feet separated them.

She waited to see what he'd do for what felt like forever. Her breasts were heavy, aching, her sex slick and needy for something she'd only ever dreamed about. She wanted to grab his hand and put it against her breast just to feel a measure of relief. Any kind of relief.

And then he slid his chair forward. He didn't move slowly, steadily like she had, but jerked his chair forward until the armrests slammed into the polished wood. Seeing him so much closer now, she saw the lines of tension at the corner of his eyes, the hard breaths he took through his nose.

His hands came up and all she could do was watch like a wide-eyed girl as he combed his fingers into her hair. He stopped there, his big palms cupping her cheeks as his eyes looked over her face as if memorizing it. Her breath hitched, lips parted.

He pulled in closer, his eyes falling to her lips, and then in a deep, accented voice said, “I love your hair.”

She gasped, breaths turning to pants at the one nice thing he'd ever said to her. She didn't have long to bask in his words because he his hands cupped her head and tilted it to the side. Her eyes closed, she could feel the heat from his body, his hands, and she waited for the touch that was to come.

It came, but wasn't what she'd expected. Her eyes flew open. Not a kiss, but teeth, sharper than her own, sunk in to her bottom lip and tugged. Something dark and wicked inside her answered, pulled deeper, hotter feelings from inside her. She moaned as he released it, through her hazy eyelids she saw his lips retreating. She wanted so much more, his tongue thrusting in her mouth, his lips taking hers like she'd dreamed of. With a greedy little sound, she pressed her lips to his hard.

A sharp knock sounded, followed a voice. “Sir, it's time.”

The kiss ended like that. Telal sat back in his seat, his eyes smoldering and thoughtful, almost as if he was seeing her for the first time. He stood, then leaned down to her again. The edge of his fingertips trailed down from her cheek to jaw in a touch that made her tremble.

He looked like he might say something but then his eyes narrowed and he went around the desk to Kearnyn.

Lily's mind slowly came back to reality. She awkwardly climbed off his desk but had to stand there and hold on to it for support because her body hadn't gained its strength back from that touch.

“Wait, are you leaving now? Let me go with you!”

He turned to give her one last, fleeting look, then clasped Kearnyn's shoulder and disappeared.

“Damn you,” she said, but without much heat.

Stepping like she walked on hot coals, she collapsed into his chair, her fingers rubbing where his teeth had been. Even though all she wanted to do was go back to his bed and relive those unique moments between them, she knew she had to get moving. Taking off the ridiculous heels, she raced down the hallway to the elevator. She got off it and threw open her door and started pulling on her sandals, grabbing her enchanted dagger out of her bag, then went downstairs and ordered a taxi to Rosa's. She'd be needing the witch's help now.

CHAPTER 15

Telal dissolved with Kearnyn and reappeared in upstate New York. The area of the rifts scattered across the world like broken cracks in the earth’s crust. Some lasted for only a few miles while others spanned a thousand miles or longer. The rift he’d use traveled from Rochester, New York up into the desolate snows of Northern Canada.

The humans couldn't see it, though many had labeled the areas where the rifts were as 'haunted' places; the parts of the woods or countryside where mother's warned their kids not to go. For the best, really. Two Atal Warriors stationed over this particular section of the rift gave them a nod and walked away to give them some distance. He'd already cleared this with Tyrian; hell, he was the reason he had to go down there in the first place.

Telal chose this location to port into because, if his calculations were correct, it'd take him into the field outside the castle. Any number of things could be changed now. He just hoped to get in and out of there alive.

“Nervous?” Kearnyn said.

Telal took note of the bunched nerves in his stomach but shook his head. “No, just ready to get this over with.”

“Sure you don't want me to come with you?”

Telal checked each of his weapons and tried not to think about that kiss. She'd kissed him, actually kissed him. And then he'd let his guard down and done something he shouldn't have. If he wasn't careful...no, no, he wouldn't even let himself think like that. He'd be even more careful from now on. Lily's taste lingered on his lips and he licked it to get a better taste. Fuck, he couldn't hide it. If she was anyone else, someone he hadn't met under the circumstances he had, then maybe...

“I'm sure. Stay here and wait for me to come back.”

“How long?”

Telal stared down at the rift that only unique people like him and Kearnyn could see. The rift was a long jagged black path about a half a mile wide. It had a charred look to it like volcanic rock. Once he laid a foot on that special ground, he could port himself into the rift using a power born inside him and his people.

“Four hours. Any longer than that and I probably won't be coming back.”

“Telal...”

He shrugged. “If I don't have her seen after. Her new moon will be coming up soon.” His jaw cocked hard until a slash of pain slammed up into his temple. If she acted like this now, how would she be during her new moon?

“Yes, Sir.”

Telal hopped down from the small cliff, kicking up black ash that to a human's eye would look like dirt. The smell of the rift sent memories rolling through him, memories of home that he brutally slammed the door on.

“Four hours,” Telal said.

And then he closed his eyes and transported himself to a different world. The black charcoal line of the rift disappeared from beneath his feet, replaced by soft lush grass. He opened his eyes slowly, almost afraid to see his homeland for the first time in a thousand years.

He let out a shuddering breath at what he saw.

Bright pink and white flowering trees, grass as high as his calves and greener than the ripest earth plant. A thick emotion filled his chest and a hot liquid pooled in his eyes. He swallowed hard and knelt down in the grass of greens and dark yellows and inhaled the unique sweet scent of earth, his open hand trailing across the pointed leaves. The sky hovered like a dark ominous cloud up above; thick like fog, the dark sky held a glow to it somewhere between an orange and pink that lit up the land and shadowed it at the same time. That glow was the sun of this world, the closest thing to pure light they had.

Telal stood and looked around at his old home. With a frown, he realized nearly everything looked the same. The trees were the same, though there were more of them now, and in the distance he saw the castle where he'd been raised. Behind him, down several sloping hills was just one of the villages where the commoners lived. That pain in his chest pulled tighter as if someone twisted his heart in their hands like a rag to wring all the blood from it.

He made his way through the field in long, heavy steps. One of the first things he noticed was the lack of commoners, or
prolitare
, wandering outside the castle like they used to. Hope sprung in him; maybe his brother had taken over the throne and changed the class policies of his people. Though as soon as the thought came, he nixed it. This place just didn't feel right. Not the same at all. Maybe it was because he saw it through the eyes of a man and not a child, but something didn't sit right.

Down the sloping pasture of the grassy field, two heads popped up, headed for him. With a silent curse, he quickly dropped to the ground at the sight of guards. Not just any guards, but these wore a suit of battle armor with curved swords, ones his people specialized in making, strapped to their backs forming an ex. The deep lilt of demonic floated over his ears with the sound of swishing grass beneath their feet as they climbed closer to him. Telal planned to sneak into the castle, not get busted before he even made it there.

Focusing on the soft leafy petals on the ground below him, he called upon his power to cloak himself. Not all demons had that kind of power, but he did, his family did. The voices came closer until he could make out words. He clenched his jaw as he listened in on a language he hadn't heard spoken in so long.

“
Do you feel that?”

“Hm, yeah, energy change over here.”

“We better check the fault line. If another demon escaped it'll be our heads.”

“I wish that weren't the truth...”

The guards made their way to where Telal had transported into, and he waited until they were far enough away before he stood, still cloaked in invisibility, and ran down the hill leading to the castle. Built from dark brown and grey stones, the castle stood tall with looming parapets resting at the left, right, and back side of the castle. There were several entrances into the castle, though they had specific purposes; doors for servants, for the commoners, and the big double door at the front for royalty.

Telal pressed himself against the chilly wall by the
prolitare’s
door. He waited to hear any voices, but none sounded, as quietly as possible he grabbed the door handle and turned it. A sharp metal screech echoed. Fuck. So much for not announcing his visit.

Not for the first time, he wondered if he was doing this right. He always planned everything to perfection. But simply coming home after betraying his people and waltzing in the front door didn't sound like a good idea to him. Right now, he planned to just get inside, check things out, and then, as discreetly as possible, announce himself to his family.

Turning sideways, he slid through the door and closed it behind him. He found himself in a hallway with a rounded stone roof only a few inches taller than he was, which made him want to hunch over anyway. Torches, one on either side of the hallway lit the long path, though not very well. More shadows than light flickered.

Telal kept his steps silent as he slid down the hall. Voices sounded at the far end, a conversation about getting more wine, and he fell into the shadows where the light from the torches didn't touch as two servants shuffled by wearing golden robes that trailed behind them; at least that hadn't changed.

He waited until the voices faded before he left the safety of the tunnel and made his way towards the throne room—the room where his family used to sit as they presided over the other royalty. And of course, that's where his father punished
prolitare
again and again. He'd heard his father had died, but that had been through rumors some hundred years ago. Though, he hoped it was true.

He passed under stone archways, down long and short hallways, turning left, then right until he neared the throne room. He wanted to become invisible, but using magic like that drained him. He needed to save all of his powers for what might happen.

Only one open archway remained to take him into the throne room. The room where the royalty dined, partied, and generally did 'blue blood' things. Feminine laughter, high and false mixed with the clinking of wine glasses, the metal tap of a fork on a plate, and the voices of the men. He actually rolled his eyes at the sounds; they threatened to take him back in time. The royal males commonly raised the pitch of their voices, which for the most part were naturally deep, in order to not sound like the
prolitare
. Telal didn't understand it when he was a kid, and he still didn't.

He crept closer to the opening and stopped, preparing himself for his entrance. He picked up on random pieces of conversation. From discussing the delicious food, to buying a new dress, and getting a new slave. His gut clenched. A slave?

Suddenly a booming voice rang out, echoing out from the room and down the hall.
“Krishnoe!”

At the command, immediate silence stuttered over the room, words stopping in mid-pronunciation and echoing off the walls like a bell.
Silence
, the deep voice had said. Telal recognized the voice, but it had changed, grown deeper with age, harder. It was not his father's voice.

“We have a visitor. Come forth and show yourself...brother.”

Resolution came over him. Back straight, Telal stepped into the throne room, ready to face his brother for the first time in a thousand years. At least a hundred eyes stared back at him, but only one pair was dark as a moonless night.

“Hello, brother.”