The Fallen King: The Bellum Sisters 4 (paranormal erotic romance) (11 page)

Only, he turned her head left
then right, his eyes not low-lidded as she expected hers were, but hard and
searching now. Something had changed in a flash. After that, he picked up each
of her arms and checked them too. When he reached for her shirt, she was so surprised
by the action she didn’t get to protest before he jerked it up.

She jerked to pull away and that
only made her sides flare sharply. Instant blazing pain seared up her side and
along her back as her muscles pulled. She winced and caught his hands to halt
them.

A finger traced along her side
softly. Still, it wasn’t soft enough and she hissed before latching onto his
wrist. His eyes flicked up to hers. She swore she spotted a hint of lingering
heat there, or maybe it what she wished she saw.

“You’ve sustained some serious
bruising.”

Abby looked down and gasped.
Serious bruising was no joke. Her entire left side was black and a dark ugly
blue. She twisted around and saw the bruising covered a decent portion of her
back too.

“How did I get this?”

“From the storm. The waves swept
you up into the rocks near the cove. It wasn’t gentle.”

“I don’t really remember that to
be honest.”

Alrik nodded, the action sending
locks of dark hair over his shoulder. “Not surprising, you hit it so hard you
went out like a light. I brought us here.”

Abby swung her head around. This
didn’t look like the little beach coast with forest directly behind it like
she’d grown accustomed to. “Where are we?”

He looked out behind him, a hard
look on his face. “South.”

The hairs on the back of her neck
stood up. The way he said it put her on edge. “Is that all? I get the feeling
there’s more to it than that.” Which probably didn’t bode well for her. Nothing
seemed to lately.

“I haven’t traveled this way in
many years. Used to be that a band of rogues formed a settlement south of
here.”

“Rogue demons. Is that what you
are?”

His body stiffened, muscles
hardening as he turned back to level a lethal glare on her. She might have been
nervous at the deadly look but it lost some of its power considering he’d never
hurt her. He needed her too badly.

“I was banished, but I’m still a
king. Not a rogue.”

“What makes the rogues so
different?” She didn’t mention it but his hand still lingered on her bruised
skin, the touch light. She liked him standing this close. He blocked out the
cold wind, and, honestly, he made her warm all over.

“They didn’t enjoy life at court
so they left. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Okay.” Something about the
warmth of his body, his soft touch on her skin had her eyes drifting back down
to his mouth.

“You shouldn’t look at me like
that, Abbigail.” An ache traced in his voice.

“Like what?” she asked, her voice
breathy. Her whole body started a slow burn deep and low inside her working its
way out. How did he make her feel so much with the barest of touches? His head
dipped in low. Her eyes darted to his firm, shapely lips and wondered what
they’d feel like against hers, what he would kiss like. Wild, hard, and a bit
crazy like him?

“Like you want something I can’t
give you.”

“Why not?” She blushed at her
knee-jerk response but held firm to it. She wanted to know, needed to know.
This was more than curiosity. Something else had taken hold of her and guided her
words and actions now from some need that he’d brought forth.

He leaned in closer. His hand
flattened against her cool skin in a possessive caress that sent her gaze low
and hooded. His lips closed in, then stopped a scant inch away. Heat bloomed in
her chest and between her legs. She panted against his lips. It took every bit
of strength inside her not to reach up and curl her fingers around his
shoulders

When he spoke she felt his warm
breath on her lips. “Because the last woman I kissed ended up dead.”

Abby jerked away from his touch.
Her shirt fell back into place. “What?” Just like that the heat was doused into
nothing.

He stepped away and shrugged, a
strange glint shining in his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. It’s none of your
business.”

Her heart beat wildly. “Oh, I
think this is all my business. I’m here with you all alone in this god-forsaken
place and you’re so closed mouth about everything I just want to rip my hair
out. You can’t leave me hanging with that. How did she die? What happened?”

Who was she? She didn’t voice
that question. It seemed too personal and a spark of anger flashed inside her
at the thought of this woman. Jealousy? No, no way.

She saw him transform between her
very eyes. He stood tall once again, unbreakable and strong. His gaze sheltered
his thoughts; his face had shifted into a blank, unreadable mask. “I left some
food in your shelter. Eat it then we’ll get to work.”

Abby paced an agitated circle.
“You seriously can’t think to keep me out of the loop on this. What’s with you
and talking about death and murder like it’s second nature to you?”

“Because it is.”

Abby stopped dead. Something in
his voice, in the harsh look of his eyes made her feel something she never
would have thought she would for Alrik. She pitied him. He looked tortured, if
only for a second before the look faded away to resolute anger. A strange
realization came over her. He didn’t like who he was. He didn’t like this
person the curse had created. This was a person who’d relish a bloody fight or
seek out anger instead of compromise. He hated himself.

“Alrik...”

“Eat, witch.” He strode away and
slipped his shirt back on. He didn’t stop walking.

“So we’re back to that now are
we,” Abby muttered.

One step forward, three steps
back. Whatever, she could use some time to collect her thoughts. One second
she’s devouring him with her eyes, the next she’s practically begging him to
kiss her, and then he’s giving her ominous warnings.

Abby found some cooked meat
sitting on a big plant leaf in the stone house. She ate it with relish and by
the time she came back out Alrik had returned looking tightly in control of
himself. She sighed and scrubbed her hands down her jeans.

“What’s on the agenda for today?”

“We’ll work the same spell again
and this time practice on just me. After you get me to move, we’re heading
south.”

Her eyebrow rose. “South where
the dangerous rogues are? Why are we going there?”

“I need supplies. I might be able
to get some there.” He walked some twenty paces away from her then stopped and
faced her. “My mother will also be south.”

Abby wracked her mind for times
and dates. Her mother must have heard about what had happened to her by now and
would be worried sick. She’d been gone, what, three days now? God, she wasn’t
even sure.

“Just how long will it take to
reach your mother?”

“I don’t know.”

Abby rolled her eyes, her
patience waning. “Well, try to guess, please.”

He was silent for several
moments, his gaze calculating. “It may take three weeks, maybe longer.”

She choked. “Three weeks or
more
.
I can’t be gone that long!”

His dark eyes narrowed. “If your
magic was at the level it needs to be at then we could head there now. As it
stands, you are not nearly strong enough to fight my mother. She’ll kill you in
an instant.”

“Isn’t that nice...”

“Do not take this lightly,
Abbigail. The queen has strong magical blood in her veins. She’s spent years
using it, harnessing it behind closed doors. I can only guess at how powerful
she’s really become.”

“I wasn’t being...oh, whatever.
Let’s just do this.”

Alrik nodded and crossed his
strong arms across his chest. What a shame he’d put his shirt back on, but it
was for the best. She couldn’t do with getting distracted by a pretty body.

Abby called upon her magic. It
filled her body making her skin warm and her eyes burn with glowing light. She
focused with her mind on Alrik. She envisioned throwing him far back. But she
didn’t let her magic couple with the vision. She worked up to that. This was
practice to get her focused.

“Do it already!” he bit out.

Abby clenched her jaw then raised
her hands to him letting the magic fly from her fingertips. Burning energy
soared from her like not needed lightning escaping from her fingertips, blasting
against Alrik knocking him clear off his feet and sending him flying back
through the air.

An ecstatic squeal escaped her as
he landed hard on the ground. He was slow to stand, so she took that time
jumping up and down and doing a fist pump.

“I did it! Ha! Take that, Alrik.
I wiped you clean off your butt.”

He wiped dirt off his pants then
came back to the spot he’d marked before. “Do it again.”

Her jaw dropped. “No way. There’s
no way I’ll be able to do that again.” She could already feel her body tiring
just from that one exertion.

“Do. It. Again.”

She started to yell or say
something biting but clamped her mouth shut. Bitterness filled her. “Can’t I
even get a ‘congratulations’ or a ‘good job’?”

He crossed his arms across his
chest in response.

Of course not. God she hated him.

Abby went through the whole
process again. This time she was determined to send the jerk even farther.

Yet, she couldn’t do it.

She kept trying as hours passed.
Sweat formed and fell down her cheeks, the warm beads reminding her how cold
her skin was. Light faded from the sky turning it dark and hazy. Alrik still
stood there without saying more than “do it again.”

After God-knows-how-long, she dropped
her arms and sank to the ground. Her entire body hurt including her head which
sported a massive, pulsating headache at her temples.

“That’s it I can’t take it
anymore.” Hours of work led to nothing. She’d moved him right off the bat and
that was it. No more progress, and if that was progress she couldn’t tell.

She saw the disappointment and
anger on his face that she was quitting but it didn’t faze her one bit. She was
done for the night, totally. If she continued with how she felt now she might accidently
curse him.

“Fine, I hope you’re ready for a
cold night of sleep.”

She groaned at the thought. Her
breaths didn’t form clouds but it was close. She shivered and walked gingerly
with her aches back into the stone house. The floor was too cold to sleep on so
she huddled back against the wall—not much better. Before she realized it,
exhaustion took her and she fell into a fitful sleep.

She never saw or felt Alrik come
into the room and pull her close, wrapping her in his heat. A
nd
she never saw him put her back where she’d been come morning.

Chapter Nine

Alrik woke at first break of
light.

Something soft, warm, and
feminine was curled in his arms. He stiffened; he’d almost forgotten. He’d been
so angry with her for giving up on him last night after making so much progress
that he’d wanted her to suffer the cold.

Yeah, well, he hadn’t managed to
keep that goal. When he came in to sleep she’d been tossing and turning, her
brow pinched, and arms wrapped tightly around her. Something had softened in him.
He told himself he was just protecting her for his own purposes, that if she
stayed cold remove she may not stay in peak health like he needed her to be,
but even he wasn’t sure if he believed that.

She was steadily breaking down
something inside of him. First, by flashing her bare skin at him at the lake. Then
taunting him yesterday with her heated eyes and pouty lips. It had nearly
undone him not to kiss her, and she’d wanted him to do it. To have a woman look
at him with desire…no one had done so since Arianna. He’d brought forth passion
in Arianna with his touches but Abbigail had looked at him with passion without
his touch. She did it of her own free will and that had thrown him. He’d wanted
to give in to her so he could show her what she was asking for, and mostly so
he could taste her and feel that passion for himself.

He didn’t know how much more he
could take before he caved. Already he felt his resistance waning. Every moment
around her, he had to remind himself that he needed her for a purpose that
could lead to her death. It wouldn’t do giving in to the carnal heat she
awakened inside him. This task was proving harder to deny than he could ever
have imagined.

She rested in his arms so
perfectly. Her backside pressed into the curve of his body with his arm tucked around
her slender waist. She’d snuggled against him in the night. Her delicately
scented hair taunted him and he couldn’t escape it. He’d had no choice but to
bury his head there and breathe in her unique scent all night long. She smelled
feminine and gentle, as a woman should. The scent stirred his cock.