Rhye pulled back to study her with azure blue-green eyes. "Which do you want to be, little one? Tell me."Oh hell!She licked her lips as his hand moved toward the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. "I think I'm a h-hostage, a willing hostage of some kind. One you intend to hand over to my coven in exchange for your mate?" She asked."Nothing has been decided yet.""Are you sure?" Hell if she didn't moan when he passionately kissed her "I wish to tell you more, little one, but my lips are sealed, I can't do anything about it yet. I can't decide our fate. Enemies are everywhere. I don't know whom to trust."What on earth does he mean by those words?Then a sudden magical push on her brain made her forget about his words and she just sighed with relief. She frowned. "Well, that's reassuring.""Would you prefer that I lie to you, witch?""No!" In the end, Lily didn't know how she would have reacted to the blunt query but it didn't matter.Lowering his head, Rhye caught her lips again in
The land south and west of the mountains flattened from high ridges to rolling meadows and heavily wooded acres. Squatting down to study the narrow mud route, Rhye could hear the rustle of squirrels and rabbits, as well as wild wolves. Precisely the vicious game that would persuade a bunch of thirsty feral werewolves or the demons. Too bad there wasn’t an indication of a demon in the air. Not a whiff, not a trace, not even a stray hair.There was a rustle beside him, and the fragrance of vanilla taunted his senses.The Witch Livia.His jaw clenched as his body bitterly acknowledged her nearness.For Christ's sake, he thought his days of trouble were behind him. He’d murdered his adversaries and receded to the barricaded protection of his mansion ten years ago. His life was deemed to be one of harmony and peace.There was nothing quite in the way his body scorched for the woman who couldn’t agree on if she wanted to rip off his clothes or jab a stake in his heart. Or in the reasoning,
She sucked in a deep breath. "Is Elfy still in there?" "Impossible to say," he growled. "Let’s go." Rhye bit back his natural revolt. "This way." Without speaking, they arrived in the big lumber yard, their strides hardly swirling a leaf as they strode in silence. To some extent, Rhye could hear the rustle of night creatures and the babble of a shallow river, but there was no sense of mortal or demon in the shadows. Following the intoxicating aroma of blood, Rhye turned to the left. There was nothing but trees for several feet, then without warning, they ended, uncovering a large route that had been etched through the very heart of the forests.
"Livia, the fire is magical. You’ll heal from the burns," Alpha Rhye rasped, his body quivering with the need to rush her to safety. He shifted into his giant wolf form and howled so loudly that the cabin seemed to tremble. "No! I'm not leaving you. What if... yes, only to be killed by the freaking demons? No Rhye, I’m not a wuss, I'm not leaving you to become toast." "Damn it, woman!" He shouted! "Now get the hell out of here." The smoke thickened, the heat already bringing beads of sweat to Lily’s face, but the woman stubbornly refused to flee. "Forget it, alpha. It’s not happening." Grumbling outdated feralses and more than a few belittling comments on the brains of witches in general, and one in particular, Rhye’s wolf wrapped his furry arms around his personal thorn in his side, and with one mighty surge smashed through the back side of the cabin. Even buffered by Rhye’s huge body, Lily’s breath was pulled from her lungs as they crashed through the side of the small shack a
Mila was lying. Lily had never been so certain of anything in her life. "Oh well, where the hell were you when I actually needed your help?" She mocked, still circling the dangerous she-wolf.Suddenly, she was close enough to sense Rhye’s power, though it was faint. Sheer relief crashed through her. He was still alive. She didn’t know why, but it felt as if a truck had abruptly been lifted from her chest. Unaware of Lily’s distraction, the woman smiled, and her bodyguard smoothed a hand over the rippling muscles of his chest. His smile was edged with a wicked smile. Ew! disgusting! She thought."I’m here now. Ready and prepared to help with whatever you might need, Livia."Gross.Lily didn’t feel any of the tingling excitement that she felt when Rhye regarded her with that heated awareness. All she felt was repulsion and a painful hunger to just kick the man where the sun doesn't shine and be done with it.Struggling to hide her less than flattering response, Lily was distracted as
"Bloody hell!" With tiny wings flapping and tail twitching, Stephen hurried to Lily’s side. "What did you do to her, you stupid dog?"Moving to the back of the cavern, Alpha Rhye retrieved Stephen's long blanket to carefully drape over Lily’s too-still form. Then, kneeling on the dirt floor, he grasped one of her slender hands."Mila has witch magic with her. She was hit by her spell before I was able to kill her and her bodyguard." He stabbed his companion with a fierce glare. "Now! Remove it.""How…" Stephen swallowed his question as he was nearly tumbled backwards by a blast of Rhye’s icy power. Instead, he closed his eyes and touched a gnarled finger to Lily’s forehead. "It's powerful demon magic, it's not witch magic. Attacking spell.""I didn’t ask for this book bullshit," Rhye snarled. "Get rid of the spell.""Seriously?" Stephen snapped open his eyes. "I have to know what magic was used to reverse it.""Fine, the attacker uses demon magic. Now get on with it." Rhye pointed a
Shocked as much by the pain that savaged her heart as by the sight of his gruesome scars, Lily slowly lifted her eyes, clashing with the ice-blue-green gaze.As always, his mood was difficult to read, but Lily wasn’t foolish. Rhye would have sensed it the moment she awoke. Which meant he could easily have covered himself before she stumbled across him.Werewolves weren’t modest, but they abhorred any weakness. The scars would be a source of embarrassment for such a creature.So why had he revealed them to her? And has she never seen that before? They made love so many times, but she never saw them. And why now?Struggling to clear her knotted thoughts, Lily compelled a breath past her tight throat, her gaze shifting to the rippling water."Aren’t you supposed to hang some sort of sign if you intend to s-shower in the little um-stream?"There was a rustle, and covertly glancing out of the corner of her eye, Lily eyed Rhye tugging on a pair of faded jeans, pulling up the zipper but lea
"The Dark Lord must have been crazy." Lily muttered. Rhye shuddered. It didn’t matter how many years passed, he would never forget the demon who had held him captive for years. Francisco had been a descendant of ancient human royalty before being transformed into a demon, and he had kept all of his family's magnificent beauty. The dark almond-shaped eyes, the smooth burnished skin, the sleek black hair that had cascaded down his slim back like a satin curtain. He was a handsome man, yet as toxic as an asp. Many years ago, he might have kidnapped Rhye out of revenge for his people's obsessive urge to inflict suffering, but Francisco had kept him out of twisted anger. He hadn't been his only sacrifice in his personal hell. Rhye added, "The demon lord was pure as evil. He made sure I suffered enough before a godly curse was cast on him that made him powerless, but I knew he would be back soon. He had claimed that my parents led my people into war and slaughtered a dozen of his men, inc
Shock at what she’d done had barely begun to flicker through her mind when she felt something heavy and oppressive build within her. A sudden, sharp pain in her chest had her crying out as something foreign inside her pulled tight, stretching like a rubber band. Oh, god, it hurts. It felt like every atom of her being was being simultaneously crushed and pulled to its breaking point. The foreign sensation grew stronger and heavier until it felt like she was being ripped apart. The agony was unreal. She tried to scream her pain, but her chest was caving in, and she couldn’t breathe. It was gathering her power. She could feel it, like a thorned vine, latching onto the tendrils; she could feel it squeezing them, choking them. With a violent, agonising wrench, it yanked her power back into her, the cold, burning pain of it tearing a ragged shriek from her throat. Like a hand swatting a fly, the whiplash of it folded her body in half and sent her hurtling toward the floor. Strong arms
Thighs clenching at the feel of it, so erotically foreign, yet so right, she writhed between kisses and moaned. In response, Rhye coils his tail around her leg, guiding her to widen her stance. He slipped a thigh between her legs at the same moment he cupped her breasts, as he sucked her earlobe into his mouth. Moaning in delight... "Oh, God..." Livia growled.The multitude of sensations had her crying out into Rhye’s mouth. Pressing her breasts into his hands, she ground down against his thigh, needing the pressure where she was so wet and swollen for him.Like an extra set of arms, she felt him wrap his majestic tail around her, enclosing her in a cocoon of warmth, safety, and need. Even with her eyes closed, she knew he didn’t surround her completely. She didn’t have to wonder why. The knowledge that he’d left a gap so she could breathe and her inner demon could watch unimpeded had a new rush of wetness slicking her core. It was like she had been transported to a different dimensio
That was enough to snap her out of the trance.Unsure if she was more freaked out about being hypnotized by a fucking tail, or charmed that it seemed to like her, she pet it in return, carefully stroking a fingertip lightly over the spade tip.If it were possible, her eyes would have widened even more at the shiver working through Rhye.Did he like that?Oh, how she wanted to play and find out.Soon, it retreated, and Livia marvelled at all three men as she really, truly realised that they weren’t humans. They were predators and, unlike humans, had the features necessary to both lure in prey and kill it. Joseph’s eyes, Rhye’s tail—they were all mesmerising."Like cuttlefish," she muttered under her breath.Rhye zeroed in on her and cocked his head. "What’s that?""Oh, nothing." Peering up at Rhye, she prompted, "You wanted to ask something earlier?"The alpha gave her a look that said he knew she was intentionally redirecting the conversation but that he was going with it. "How did it
The words escaped without thought, but she didn’t have the mental capacity to regret them, even when the room was suddenly full of low, masculine laughter."Does that mean you think I’m pretty, too?" Leon rumbled, his eyes, now a vivid purple, sparkling—literally sparkling—as though they were dotted with a thousand tiny stars.His voice had already been deep, but now it was even more so. The gravelly, bass sound vibrated through her like distant thunder but was also creepy at the same time, but Livia didn't show how scared she was of the two-headed wolf. There was something about Leon's wolf that made her shiver with fear. He was something else. There was darkness in him, and she could see it. Livia paused, seeing a vision of Leon killing Joseph in the subway, while Rhye was unconscious on his side. Livia gasped; anger settled over her, and rage throbbed in her like a heartbeat. Leon creeped into Joseph... He would kill him. Livia could feel it... She didn't have a choice but to use h
Livia frowned. She picked up on that apparently being a bad thing easily enough, but why he thought she would care was beyond her. When she voiced as much, he just blinked at her like she’d stunned him speechless; at first, she was sure.Peering between the two of them, she took in the tense set of their shoulders and the tightness in their expressions that lingered, despite her assurance that she didn’t care about their lack of purity.Deciding to fix the problem she’d inadvertently caused, Livia smiled softly at them. "I don’t care if you’re pure or as mixed as milk and coffee, but I’ve obviously stepped on a sore point, so I rescind my invitation." Hoping to lighten the mood, she ended with a haughty sniff and an imperious wave of her hand.Joseph’s eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. "Well! Now that you don’t want to see, I want to show you. What is this witchery?"Leon made a low sound and nodded, mimicking Joseph’s suspicious expression, though his grey eyes were dancing with amu
Speechless, Livia gaped at the beautiful monster before her. Drawn like a moth to a flame, she took a step closer, wanting, needing to see him, to touch him. She managed a single step before Rhye cursed, eyes wide and dark brows furrowed, as he stared down at himself."How the fuck did you do that?" he demanded, pinning her with a stunned look.God, but his eyes were unreal. Vibrant, ocean deep blue with a sunburst of bright green around the pupils. They were the eyes of a predator. Eyes of a pureblood alpha. She wanted to get lost in them, wanted to stare into them until she’d mapped every facet."I have no idea," she admitted with a slow shake of her head. At the disbelieving expression he gave her, she tried to think past the shock of seeing him and explained, "The heat of your power was starting to get painful, and then, all of a sudden, it felt like mine got pissed off and threw yours back at you.""You shouldn’t be capable of that," Rhye muttered, but it was said almost absently
The memory of the creepy, child-looking demon and the sensation of it sucking the power out of her, remembering how weak she’d felt afterward, sent a shiver down her spine and hardened her resolve. All her martial arts and self-defense training had been useless against the thrall it had used on her. She’d spent too long and worked too hard to not be a victim to give up on this now. Rhye smirked at her for the second time that day, setting a new record. His eyes shone with approval at the resolve in hers. “I can force your power out of you. If you’ll allow me to try,” he tacked on at the end. Livia appreciated the effort he was making to be more polite, now he knew she wasn’t a spy sent to surveil them. She just wasn’t sure how to react to this new Rhye. He’d gone from cold and dangerous to interested and almost nice. Almost. It was a jarring change. Seductive, dangerously enticing, and intriguing as hell, but still jarring. Livia glanced at them, gauging their reactions to his of
Cocking her head, Livia frowned at him. "I don’t understand." Her eyes went wide as it hit her. "Oh my god, I get it. So, if they make vampires popular in movies and books, demons will become stronger because more humans are glorifying them. Same for witches and werewolves and everything else, yes?""Exactly.""Holy shit. I wonder how much I affected them in my Twilight phase as a kid."Joseph growled, "Those fucking movies! The "vampire" and "werewolf" demons were out of control. The "underworld demons" were pissed. They’d been top dogs for most of what"—he glanced at Leon—"like the last thousand years?""Mm, thereabouts, yes.""Wait. Did I hear you say ‘top dogs’?" she asked, ignoring the twilight thing in favor of something more important."Yes, but now anymore," Leon nodded.“Spiteful little fuckers, really. And always hungry!” Joseph pointed to a few thin white scars crisscrossing the back of his hand, scars she’d somehow never noticed before. “They like people meat, and they are
"As Joseph said, it’s not exclusively a torture chamber, and it’s not used as such all that often. Only when we’re left with no other recourse," Rhye soothed with a small smile.Her gentle giant, the man who touched her with such tenderness and care, was talking about torturing people with about the same amount of contrition as confessing he didn’t always take the time to recycle.That wasn’t actually what shocked her, though. She knew they were on the dark grey side of the morality scale.When she continued to frown at him, he lifted a hand and cupped her cheek, looking suddenly unsure. "Does that bother you, Livia? Would it help to know we don’t hurt the innocent?"Rhye was very still at her back, she noticed. He hadn’t pulled away from her physically, but she could sense him closing off, could almost feel him pulling the cold, unfeeling mask back into place.Joseph, who’d strolled farther into the room, snorted. "Of course she knows that!" He stopped walking when she didn’t immedia