The Fallen King: The Bellum Sisters 4 (paranormal erotic romance) (15 page)

His eyes once again fell to the
unconscious woman. She was beautiful, captivating. Then again, he hadn’t laid
eyes on a woman in a very long time so maybe his sense of what was attractive
or not was tainted. Maybe she actually looked more like a hag. His eyes
wouldn’t let him believe it. She looked young, fresh, had a mane of shiny brown
hair, and a body perfect for loving.

“That’s a good question, Conrad,
and one I don’t have the answer to right now.”

Conrad nodded and his gaze, just
like the rest of the men’s, fell to the woman. Aidan had ordered her to be laid
upon some bedding near the fireplace until she woke. Her demon companion didn’t
have it so nicely. A smile tugged at Aidan’s lips.

“How fares the king?” Aidan
asked.

Conrad grinned with pleasure.
“He’s below in the dungeon bellowing his brains out to be freed. I don’t think
he much takes to captivity.”

Aidan ground his jaw. “Now he has
a taste of what he’d bestowed upon us.”

“And it feels good,” Conrad said.

Aidan laughed, his chest feeling
lighter. “Yes, yes it does.”

Conrad fell silent for a moment, and
then hesitantly said, “You don’t plan to let her go, do you?”

He could almost hear the twinge
of hope in his fellow soldier’s voice. “No, certainly not.” He and his men had
been without a woman for a very, very long time. He wouldn’t let his fortune
idly walk away now. The question then was what to do with her. There was only
one of her and twenty-one of them. The men might share for a while but it
wouldn’t take long for possessiveness to flare. That, Aidan could do without.
The last thing he needed amongst his men was rivalry over a single female. It’d
be inevitable if he didn’t plan this carefully. “I’m thinking a challenge.”

Conrad’s grin faltered then
transformed into a wide smile. “Excellent idea.”

Aidan nodded. “There will still
be some problems. Whomever doesn’t win will feel it surely. This will create
tension among us.” Especially since Aidan planned to keep her for himself. He
wanted to be the first to feel the naked skin of a woman pressed against him,
the first to slide hard between her welcoming thighs. His cock hardened at the
thought.

Conrad nodded grimly. “True
enough. Mayhap if she’s shared at some point, it could give all the men a
chance to relieve themselves.”

In thought, the idea worked out
wonderfully. However, in Aidan’s past a woman didn’t exactly like to be shared
without her approval. The thought of force did not sit well with Aidan. He knew
all about being forced to do things he didn’t like, and he wouldn’t do that to
a lovely woman.

“We don’t want to lose her favor,
Conrad. We do that and she won’t accept any of us. No, we have to find a way
around that.” He knew by looking at her that the thought of taking on more than
one man at a time wouldn’t appeal to her. She had an innocent sexual allure to
her. He wondered if she even realized it.

Conrad sighed and took a seat
beside Aidan. “I hadn’t thought of that. What will we do then?”

Aidan thought on it for a long
while. His gaze moved from the flames licking at the wood to the prone woman
lying in front of the fireplace. “I think we’ll go ahead with the challenge.
Whoever wins will keep her but in a few weeks’ time we’ll hold another
challenge with the previous winner not participating. This will eventually
allow everyone a chance to win her.”

“What if she refuses to accommodate
the winner?”

Anger flared in Aidan. “Then
we’ll make her.” He wouldn’t physically force her, but there were other ways.
An idea struck him—maybe even pleasurable ways. A seduction. The pressure in
his groin grew nearly unbearable.

A commotion started around the
great hall’s fire jerking Aidan out of his sultry thoughts. He went to his men.
They wore expressions ranging from excited to wary. He didn’t blame them.
Having a woman here could prove a change for either the better or the worse.

One of his men, Drekk, caught him
coming towards and nodded to the woman. “She’s waking, sir.”

A flash of excitement flickered
in Aidan. He couldn’t help it; he was just as excited as the rest of them.
“Make room,” he ordered. His men parted around the woman and Aidan came through
to see her eyelashes fluttering open.

Greed filled him just looking
upon her. What he would do to keep her for himself...

The woman sat straight up, her
gaze darting around the men hovering around her. She started breathing fast in
fear, pushing a pair of gorgeous breasts up tight against the snug, strange
shirt she wore.

He stopped in front of her and
her gaze flew to his. He watched recognition hit her eyes. Good, she remembered
him from before.

“Who are you?”

She spoke strangely and he and
his men looked at her in confusion. This wouldn’t do.

Aidan turned to his men. “Get
Gabrick here now.”

No sooner than he made the order
did Gabrick push his way through the crowd. The older demon had the greatest
magical abilities among all of them. It was largely due in part to his
abilities that they were able to keep their small castle invisible to the
prying eyes of the world. They used to be out in the open, but in the past year
idummi
attacks had become more frequent. So, they’d pooled their magic
and spells together to cast a protective spell over the castle. If all of them
left for too long the spell would eventually fade and reveal their home.

“Can you make it so we can
understand her and her us, Gabrick?”

The man nodded slowly, his eyes
devouring the woman. A spark of possessiveness straightened Aidan’s spine, but
he ignored it. It wouldn’t do getting revved up in front of his men over the
woman, even though he planned to keep her for himself.

“It sounds like a strange version
of the English human’s spoke long ago. Let me see if this works.”

Gabrick opened his palms and
spoke a chant in Demonish. The spell weaved words of understanding, learning,
and listening around his brain. Warmth surrounded Aidan and his men and then
like a switch being thrown, the woman’s words rang clear.

“What the hell is going on here?
Who are you? Where’s Alrik?”

All the men paused at the woman’s
words. She had a soft, pretty voice. A woman’s voice. He could have groaned at
the sound. Something that hadn’t gifted his ears in so long.

Aidan took a step closer and once
again captured the woman’s gaze. “You speak to the king by his first name? Just
what are you to him?”

The woman froze, her eyes
narrowing in suspicion. “Tell me who you are first.”

“Leave us,” Aidan ordered in Demonish.
His men did so, but slowly. After they had some space, Aidan knelt down by the
woman. “I am Aidan and these are my men. We are outcasts from the
shahoulin
kingdom.”

“Are you their king?”

“We have no king here.” The very
thought made Aidan’s gut clench. Yes, he led his men but he was no king. His
word wasn’t law here and they all wanted it that way. The rulers had ruined
their lives. They chose a more democratic approach with Aidan acting as a
tentative leader. At any time, they could overthrow him if they chose and he’d
easily step aside.

“What do you want with me?”

Aidan looked away as an image of
her body naked and what it would look like flashed in his mind. “That’s a
harder question to answer. Why don’t we start simpler? Why are you with the
king?”

She smirked, the corner of her
full mouth curving up. The sight transformed her face into something
captivating. “He isn’t the king anymore.”

Aidan nearly gave a double take.
“What say you?”

She shrugged. “He’s no longer the
king. He said we were coming this way to find some rogue demons, I take it
that’s you. He said we needed some supplies.”

Aidan stood and stared off into
the fire. The king wasn’t the king anymore and he thought to find
help
from those he’d marked as outcasts after wrongfully imprisoning them?

“He’s mad,” Aidan muttered.

“True enough.”

Aidan felt a smile cover his
lips. Not only was she beautiful but humorous and wise as well. She’d make a
fine companion for him and his men.

“Your name, woman.”

She bit her lip as if unsure
whether to tell or not. Eventually she sighed in defeat. “Abbigail.”

He rolled the name around in his
mouth. He liked the rounded sound of it, feminine. It fit her. “Abbigail, it is
a pleasure to meet you. I am Aidan.” Aidan and Abbigail. The sounds rang well
together.

He held his hand out to her and
she hesitantly gave it to him. Her hand was soft compared to his own and much
smaller. He hadn’t held a woman’s hand in so long he’d forgotten what it felt
like, the slight weight and the soft texture. He ran his thumb over it and
pressed a kiss to her fingers. Her eyes flashed with surprise while something
dark and hungry stirred inside him. He’d wanted to wait until he announced the
challenge, but now he knew he couldn’t wait. He needed her for himself, needed
to see her flashing blue eyes at him, smiling up at him as he thrust between
her soft thighs.

Turning his back to her, he faced
his men. In Demonish he spoke. “We will have a challenge for her.”

The men tensed. Hesitance,
eagerness, and hope flashed among their faces.

“The winner will keep her but
will not force her into any deeds she doesn’t wish to do. After three weeks, we
will have another challenge. The previous winner will not be allowed to
participate so that everyone will eventually have a chance to win. Every three
weeks we will hold the challenge again.”

Aidan studied his men finding
half of them approving, almost eager, and the others angrier at his command.

“What’s a challenge?” came a soft
voice from behind him.

Aidan froze. He turned back to
her but words clogged his throat. He didn’t know what to say. He tried to recall
his previous interactions with women and the only thing he could think was that
she wouldn’t welcome this.

“What’s going on here?” she asked
again, her voice getting hard.

Aidan ground his jaw. To hell
with it. She was here and she’d have to deal with the consequences. “We are
keeping you. The winner of the challenge will win you, Abbigail.”

She gasped and started backing
up, her gaze darting amongst the men as if they might jump at her at any
moment. “No, you can’t do that.”

“Yes, I can. I’m sorry but we
have been too long without a woman. We will not let this chance slip by us.”

“But, but I’ll tell you anything
you need to know.”

He didn’t say it aloud, but he
thought it.
You’ll tell us everything you know anyway, Abbigail
. “And
what do you know, Abbigail?”

She hesitated and he could see
her mind working as she thought about it. She crossed her arms across her
chest. She had no idea, but half the men in the room groaned as the action
pushed her breasts more fully into view.

“Take me to see Alrik first.”

Aidan stalked to her. She didn’t
back down but she looked behind her as if she wanted to. He didn’t stop until
they nearly touched. “Why would you want to see him?” Anger and jealousy burned
inside him.

“I-I need to talk to him,” she
stuttered.

“About what, Abbigail?”

She started breathing faster. It
was torture seeing those breasts rise and fall. If he but leaned down he could
pull a breast into his mouth. His mouth watered at the idea. So entranced was
he that he missed part of what she said.

“...see if he’s okay.”

Aidan stared her in the eyes as
he contemplated it. Then he nodded. “Come with me.”

His men stared at him as if he
had lost his mind as he led Abbigail away. He only gave them a swift shake of
his head. He had his ulterior motives.

*
* *

Abby followed the big warrior
with silvery skin and dark hair. He looked similar to the demons yet somehow
different. He reminded her of a vampire. Tall, elegant in nature, but with a
warlike ferocity hidden underneath a layer of control, such characteristics
were typical amongst vampires. He didn’t have the bulk to his body as the
others had and was slightly taller, though he was just as gorgeous to look at.
Maybe even better. However, that didn’t make him trustworthy. She had Alrik as
proof of that.

Aidan led her down a stone stairwell.
It rounded in a tight circle. The air became heavier and torches held by
sconces on the wall lit the way down a long hallway at the end of the stairs.
It was cold down here and one look at the metal bars lining either side of the
hall and she knew it was a dungeon. Yet as she scanned the cages, she saw they
were all empty. It was too early to tell if this bode well for her or not.
Maybe they wouldn’t imprison her. They could do far worse to her than lock her
in a cage, she reminded herself.