Bonds of Fire: The Bellum Sisters 2 (paranormal erotic romance) (14 page)

“I want a search team sent out into town. Look over the whole state and get it done now! Find her.” Jackie and Thane nodded as if the task he’d set upon them wasn’t going to be difficult.

Lyonis folded the small cloth into a small square and gently tucked it into his pocket. He didn’t meet her eyes as he walked past her with heavy steps. Willow hesitated to go after him. Hell, she had no experience in this. What the hell was she supposed to do? She couldn’t comfort him.

Jackie came up to her. “Go to him.”

“I can’t.” Nothing she could say or do could bring back Stephanie or make this any better.

Jackie grasped her shoulder in a firm hand. “He needs you. Just go to him.”

Willow nodded as the harsh look on his face ran through her mind. Before she knew it she took one step after him then another, until soon she ran hard through the forest. Her heart hammered in a fast, scared rhythm. He would have to tell the parents what he’d found. She’d only met the girl once and Willow felt like her heart was on the edge of breaking. What would he be feeling? What about the family?

Willow burst through the trees and came to a staggering stop. Lyonis stood a short distance away, his eyes watching the dark, cloudy sky. He had the appearance of someone who was lost, but as Willow peered closer, she realized...it was anger. Deep, raging anger. Willow swallowed hard and slowly came up to him as if the smallest movement might set off that coiled anger inside him.

He didn’t yell at her; didn’t step away, so she slowly reached out and laid her hand on his chest. He looked down with a startled expression. Willow didn’t know what came over her, some undeniable need that she couldn’t ignore, and she wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself close.

He was stiff like a brick wall, hard and unmoving. She pressed her ear to his chest and could hear the fast rhythm of his heart. She stayed that way and simply held him.

It was several minutes before he reached and held her back.

* * *

Dammit. Draven couldn’t wait any longer while the couple comforted each other. He dissolved near them and coughed loudly. Willow and Lyonis broke away with a start.

“What do you want?” said Lyonis. Anger was in the Alpha’s eyes. Draven recognized that look; it was one he’d worn many times. It clearly stated: piss me off so we can fight. He might be happy to oblige the Alpha on any other occasion, if there wasn’t a more pressing matter.

“I found something you might want to know about.”

Willow pulled away from the Alpha and stepped several paces away. Draven almost laughed at her. He’d already seen the way she’d held him, there was no denying it now.

“What is it?” she said.

“Out where you found that piece of the girl’s clothing—I smelled demon.”

Lyonis took an aggressive step forward, his hands curling into fists. Willow gasped at the quick surge of anger and nearly stepped forward to halt him.

“Bullshit. I would have scented it.” Draven shrugged elegantly.

“Well I did smell it. It had a familiar tinge to it. One that I smelled while I was in Germany.”

It took a minute for his meaning to become clear to Willow. “You mean the one that’s—”

Lyonis took another step forward, his eyes starting to glow dark amber. “You lie. My guards or I would have scented it. It was probably just a human who took her.”

Draven slowly shook his head. “Listen, I know you don’t like this but it’s true. The demon has her.”

Lyonis tensed to pounce and Willow acted without thinking. She jumped forward and grabbed Lyonis’ arm. His reaction was instantaneous. He swung out his arm and knocked her back.

Willow cried out as the hit landed against her stomach and flung her back into the air. The air whooshed harshly from her belly like a whip. She wheezed as she struggled to suck in air over the pain. Her body tightened up, ready to slam against the ground, but then Draven was there. He grabbed her before she landed and picked her up. He sent Lyonis a disgusted glare.

“What is wrong with you, man?” Willow wheezed in breaths at the tight, constricted pain in her abdomen. Lyonis stared, shaking, his mouth hanging open.

“Tawicue. Willow—” His hands traced over her face then curled them around her body. He gave Draven a hard look she was glad she wasn’t on the other end of. “Let her go.”

Draven nodded but before he released his grip on her, he pinned Lyonis with an answering look. “You ever do that again, accidental or not, and I’ll take her out of here faster than you can blink.”

Lyonis growled a fierce, territorial warning then took her into his arms. Willow didn’t know where Draven went then because Lyonis took up all her attention. He talked quickly, quietly to her in a pained voice. He apologized repeatedly as he carried her all the way back to his home.

By then Willow’s stomach didn’t hurt and she was struggling to get out of his arms. Her face was bright red as they walked past a town of on-lookers. Fuck, she thought.

At his house, he was still apologizing. Willow finally squirreled her way out of his arms and dropped to her feet.

“Shut the fuck up!”

They both tensed. Okay, she should have handled that a little more delicately.

“I never should have…I can’t believe I…” He scrubbed his hands over his face. Breathing hard, he slammed his back against the wall. Willow gaped at him, mouth hanging open, eyes wide. It was one thing to see him sad, another to see him angry, but this? This was self-loathing.

Slowly he slithered down the wall, kicking his legs out in front of him until he was a slumped mass against the door.

“I hit you,” he whispered harshly, as if he was speaking to himself. “I hit my mate.” He sounded so broken that Willow’s heart cracked inside.

She wasn’t thinking anymore. She dropped to her knees before him, wrapped her arms around him, and pulled his head to her chest.

“It hurt for only a moment. It really was an accident. I shouldn’t have surprised you like that. I saw that you were angry. I’m fine, Lyonis. I must be if I can still yell at you.” His arms came around her, nearly squeezing the breath from her.

“No, it isn’t fine. A man never lays a hand on his mate in any form of anger.” Willow rolled her eyes. Okay, obviously this holding thing wasn’t going to work, so she grabbed his face in her hands and turned his head up to meet her eyes.

“Listen to me. I’m saying it only this once or I really am out of here. That was truly an accident. I am not hurt; it just knocked the breath out of me and surprised me. If you really ever hit me, I would fight back, and then I’d be gone faster than you could imagine.”

Slowly, he nodded. That look of self-disgust was still in his eyes but at least he got off the floor.

“Do you need to feed tonight?” Willow’s gut tightened with excitement, but she saw the tired, haggard look on his face and knew neither of them was ready for that tonight.

“No, no. I’m fine. Why don’t we go to bed?” His eyes jumped to hers with surprise. Hell, she’d surprised herself, but he needed her right now. So if that meant sleeping next to him with his ridiculously heavy arm/leg around her, then so be it.

Was she losing her mind? Probably.

Chapter 15

Willow pulled on her shoes with a big yawn. Damn if the Alpha didn’t like to wake up at the crack of dawn. Hadn’t he ever heard of sleeping in?

“So, where are you taking me?”

Lyonis grimaced as he turned to her. “Actually I’m afraid we’ll have to wait on my plans. I need to run the perimeter and check in on the scouts, see if they found anything.” Willow’s stomach sunk. Right, it was easy to forget that a young girl was missing when her mind still hadn’t started working yet.

“What am I supposed to do? God, you know, I really don’t need to be here for any of this. I don’t need to be here at all.” Lyonis laughed softly at her and knelt in front of her at the bed. His hands grabbed her just above the knee and it took everything in her not to spread her legs open in some kind of offering. His large hands easily swallowed up her thighs as if they were twigs and not round with muscle.

His voice turned serious. “I’m sorry about this; this wasn’t how I envisioned this process going.” Willow smirked at him.

“And just how did you envision it, Oh Great Alpha?” His hands curved inward, grasping her inner thighs over her pajama pants. Willow’s gut tightened reflexively, her new succubus side roaring awake. She hadn’t fed in two days. Two very long days.

“I made promises to you in Germany. Promises I planned to keep.” The sound of his voice made her shiver. “I think I’ll still make good on them, but these new...developments in the pack make things difficult.”

“You can say that again,” she muttered. Again, his laughter trickled over her, and again it felt good to hear the sound. His thumbs rubbed a circular path into her thighs, coaxing a need from deep within her.

“Before I go to work, I suppose you need a reminder of what I’d promised. Of what I still plan to do, my Willow.”

“No, no, that’s all right,” she said quickly. She threw up her hands to push him away but he came over her anyways, pushing her back into the mattress. The weight of him sunk her into the comforter; the heat of him melted her.

His lips trailed over her neck in a light, teasing touch. Willow slammed her eyes shut as her breath caught at the warm silky touch. She felt his warm breath on her a moment before his teeth bit into the cord of her muscle. Reflexively, or on purpose, she didn’t know but she grabbed onto his back and held on for dear life.

The moment he released her, he spoke in low, dark words. “I’m going to master you, Willow. I’m going to take your body in every way I want, whenever I want. I’m going to have you on your knees before me sucking my cock before you lift your beautiful ass for me.”

Willow felt dazed at his words, cocooned in the heat and scent of him. One hand moved under her to cup her ass, and then he was pressing his fingers between her cheeks. The touch was so hot it scalded her.

She gasped. “What are you doing?”

The touch felt good but scandalous. A part of her wanted to push him away while the other, hungrier part, wanted to arch against him.

 “Damn I don’t want to go. I want to stay in bed with you all day. Be a good woman today and go talk with the pack. They’re curious about you.”

“I bet,” she grumbled. He laughed at her then kissed her quick on the mouth. He said one last goodbye then left. If she wasn’t careful this would start to feel like some kind of fucked up relationship.

Willow flung herself back on the bed, ran a hand between her legs, and cursed.

“That son of a bitch gets me revved up on purpose.” Wait, was that what he was doing? Wooing her via her hormones? It wasn’t like she had a choice either. If she wanted to live she needed to feed someway. Growling, Willow scrubbed her hands over tired eyes and got out of bed.

God dammit, if she was going to stay here and do this then she was going to do it her way, not his. He wasn’t going to dominate her. If it were the last thing she did, she wouldn’t submit to him.

Willow grabbed a jacket out of her backpack and left the cabin. Cool air had settled over the town during the night and the dark, cloudy sky hinted that snow would be upon them soon. She’d need to go shopping if she was going to stay here much longer. Her meager backpack items wouldn’t last her a month in this winter. Just to think, if he hadn’t caught her she could be in her new Florida summer home left to her by Papa. Those times almost seemed like ages ago now. Oh God, what was she thinking? She was losing her mind even contemplating this stuff.

Willow kicked a rocked off the road and stomped down towards the pack’s houses. She hesitated for a moment outside of Bitchy Amy’s place. Talk about a woman who couldn’t let go. If a man didn’t want you, then why didn’t she move on already? Aside from her shitty attitude, Willow didn’t see anything wrong with her.

Deciding to check out the town, she skipped the houses and walked the couple of miles into Lyonis’ homemade town. The smell of sweet pastries and fresh made bread teased her senses as she passed next to a bakery. The woman behind the register caught her glance through the glass and waved happily at her. Willow hesitantly stuck up her arm and waved back. The woman almost bounced with joy.

“Weird people,” she muttered and continued on. A clothing store caught her attention next. It was about half the size of the department store she usually used back home, but she needed clothes.

She grunted with approval as she stepped inside the store. She found the winter coat aisle and immediately started grabbing items in her size. She didn’t care much what they looked like—anything simple made her happy. As she stepped in line to pay the cashier smiled wildly at her with a mischievous look in her eye.

“Hello there, I’m Stacy. Everyone calls me Stacy P. because there’s another Stacy too, and we’re only a year apart and we get mixed up a lot. So you’re Willow, huh? Quite the beauty too, and strong. You know I’m not surprised Lyonis was fated with someone like yourself. I always say a strong man needs and even stronger woman to keep him in line, you know what I mean?” She snorted and giggled, never once stopping from ringing up items...or taking a breath.