The Fallen King: The Bellum Sisters 4 (paranormal erotic romance) (17 page)

He faced her, his eyes locking on
hers. “I am not a demon.”

One of her eyebrow’s rose. “Then
what are you?”

The corner of his mouth quirked
up but it wasn’t quite a smile; more a sad, mocking look. “I am a vampire.”

She swallowed hard. Her suspicions
had proven right. She didn’t feel particularly good about being right on this.
“Okay.”

“I haven’t drunk from a fresh
source...in so long.”

She heard the longing and the
agony in his voice. It pulled at her heartstrings. Maybe she was too nice for
her own good because it didn’t bode well for her to feel anything positive for
her captor. Shoot, she’d already royally screwed that up with Alrik. She felt
way more for him than a captive ever should about her captor.

“What do you normally drink?”

His smile turned bitter but his
gaze roamed over her face with hunger before settling on her neck. Even hidden
by her hair she felt his gaze scorch her. “Blood of animals. The men know what
I am. You give me this and I’ll let the fallen king participate in the
challenge.”

She tensed but her heart started racing.
“Give you what exactly?”

His voice almost gentled. He
tucked her hair behind her ear pushing it over her shoulder to reveal her neck.
A body part so common had never felt so vulnerable until now. His gaze found
her neck and she swore he could see her pulse pounding wildly. “Your vein this
once,” he said, his voice thick. “Give me this and I’ll abide your wish.”

Abby squirmed under his stare.
Let him drink from her in order to have Alrik participate in the challenge? It
could work to her advantage—if he won. If he didn’t—she’d be screwed, royally.

“Okay,” she agreed.

His mouth parted in surprise. A
look that could almost be described as gentle hunger came over him as he
stepped into her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her flush
against him. He cupped her cheek forcing her to meet his gaze. They were so
close, the moment so intimate she felt as though she was standing naked in his
arms. This moment felt more intimate than their kiss did. She felt bared down
to her bones.

“You won’t hurt me?”

He shook his head slowly and for
some reason she believed him. Maybe it was the sincerity in his eyes or just
her instincts but in this she trusted him.

Gulping, she nodded and tilted
her head to the side. “Then do it.”

His breathing turned heavy and
loud. His lips touched her throat and she jumped, her eyelids squeezing tight.
His tongue darted out to lick a warm wet path up her neck. She shivered, unable
to stifle it. The sensation was pleasant, might have been nice if coming from
someone else. Someone like Alrik.

His hands were gentle on her as
he wrapped himself around her as if trying to get as close as physically
possible. He cupped her jaw, tilting her head back. She felt so exposed and weak
in his grasp. His lips pressed a soft kiss to her neck. His warm breath sent a
shiver racing down her spine.

Panting, she waited for him to
make his move. But he seemed to be savoring the moment, taking his time. His
tongue passed over her and then two hard points pressed against her. She heard
him inhale her scent.

She stiffened just as he struck.
A fleeting moment of pain as her skin broke then a warmth built in her
beginning at the bite then radiating outwards to all points of her body. She
could feel the sucking sensation working at her neck and it was more erotic
than she could ever have guessed. But it was all wrong, coming from the wrong
man. She didn’t want to like anything he did to her.

Moisture flooded between her
thighs and her hands flew to his shoulders to hold on. Her lips parted and he
groaned a deep, vibrating sound that shivered over her skin. Time seemed to
speed up because he broke away too soon. Her hands still held him. She didn’t
want to let him go. Her eyes were slow to open but when she looked at him, she
saw barely restrained desire lurking in his eyes.

“If I don’t stop now, I’ll take
your body right here.”

She shivered, the idea now
actually sounding quite good. His bite had done all that? She was practically a
quivering puddle of need. Wet and needy, nipples hard and wanting to be
touched. She pressed fingertips to the wound and looked at them only to find no
blood. She gazed at him in question.

“My saliva heals the wound after
I feed.” His voice was much deeper, a sexy rumble.

Abby swallowed hard and nodded
fast. “Okay, it’s done. Let’s get out of here.” She had to because right now
what her body craved and what she wanted was two entirely different things.
Moreover, a nagging guilt filled her as if she’d done something wrong. Like
she’d cheated on Alrik... She shook her head to rid the negative thought. They’d
never done more than share a kiss, she reminded herself.

Aidan’s dark gaze bore into hers
as if he could read her thoughts. “I’ll win this and then we’ll finish this,”
he promised.

She almost believed him.
Almost
.

Because she knew Alrik would win
and she hadn’t wanted anything so badly in a long, long time. The sooner he
won, the sooner she could feel his mouth on hers. She wanted him, craved him, and
needed him to appease the hunger stirring deep inside her. She froze, realizing
her own thoughts. What in the world was wrong with her?

Aidan scowled. “You think of
another now. Who? The
king
,” he spat the word as if it tasted
disgusting.

Abby didn’t dare say anything.

Jaw clenched tight, Aidan grabbed
her hand and led her back into the hall. The men were even more restless now.

Aidan made her sit in a
throne-like chair at the front of the hall. “Stay here.” To the room he said,
“Bring the fallen king up here.”

The men didn’t move and all conversation
ceased. The blonde-haired demon who’d escorted her from her room this morning
stepped forward. Disbelief marred his handsome face. “What say you?”

“The woman says she’ll not accept
any of us under any condition unless he’s allowed to fight for a chance. So be
it.”

“This is ridiculous,” cut another
demon.

Aidan’s body stiffened in a
lethal way as if trying to keep from physically launching at the man. “We are
not rapists. We have her promise and she’ll abide by it. Besides,” now she
could hear the taunting laughter in his voice, “we finally have our chance to
beat the king once and for all. And fairly.”

Some of the demons started
nodding and smiling. Another came forward. “I agree. Let him fight us. He won’t
beat us. Too long has he sat upon a throne while we’ve battled. He won’t win
against us.”

Others started murmuring their
agreement and then the matter was settled.

Four guards split to go retrieve
Alrik. Abby fidgeted in her seat feeling strangely nervous at the thought of
seeing him again. A minute later Alrik came in. Each of the four guards struggled
to keep hold of him. He lurched and jerked against them and the guards barely
seemed to keep hold of him. She wanted to smile but kept her lips in check.

As soon as he entered the room,
his gaze found hers. Fury burned in his eyes. She flinched thinking he knew
what she’d done with Aidan then remembered it wasn’t aimed at her. Still, she
had to fight the urge not to rub at the spot where she’d been bitten.

Aidan strode back towards her. He
dared to rest his hand on her shoulder as if they were friends...or lovers.
“We’ve reached an agreement, fallen king Alrik. You will fight in the challenge
with us. Winner takes the human Abbigail.”

She could see the change come
over Alrik. His body suddenly relaxed and an eager glint came to his eyes. A
slow, cruel smile split his lips. “As you wish,” he said.

Abby shivered at the promise in
his voice, but apparently nobody else heard the threat or if they did they
weren’t bothered by it.

An hour later, Abbigail sat glued
to the edge of her seat, her hands squeezing tight to the seat, and her entire
body leaning forward at the action. She’d never seen anything like this. She’d
thought the challenge would be orderly, regulated. Perhaps one on one and the
winner proceeds to the neck round.

No, no, no. She was wrong, very wrong.

At the order “go” from Aidan, the
men set loose amongst each other. Magic bursts flared, flashed, and scorched as
punches, kicks and elbows were thrown. Blood splattered the floor making it
look like someone had taken a bucket of fake blood and thrown it on the floor
to make it look like a fake crime scene. Or even a real one. She’d seen a few
that were this bloody. But to see the crime, so to speak, take place
was...utterly riveting.

She didn’t know why but she
couldn’t take her eyes off the sight of tall, strong, healthy men beating the
crap out of each other. They fought as if their lives were on the line.
Ignoring the fact that their lives weren’t on the line and they were fighting
over her, Abby barely blinked. Time kept passing and those who were hurt and
didn’t get up were dragged out of the makeshift ‘arena’ by others who’d been
taken out.

Not only was it terrifying to see
such brutal violence—the men held nothing back—they pummeled each other with
all their mighty strength and called up deadly spells. Screams and grunts
echoed in the hall. This bizarre excitement must have been what it felt like to
sit in a gladiator arena. It was awful watching bones break and blood spurt but
it was thrilling at the same time. Her heart felt like it could beat right out
of her chest at any moment. After a while, she stopped wincing at every awful
sound and bloody spurt and grew used to it.

And, Alrik was winning.

She couldn’t stop the swell of
pride in her chest. Her man was winning!

Her gaze had barely left him the
entire fight. Most ganged up on him at first, but he’d taken down many. He was surprisingly
swift and lethal using a combination of spells, elbows, and knees to his
advantage. He used the hardest of his bones and was probably responsible for
most of the blood on the floor. The men eventually stopped targeting him as
they turned on each other, each desperate for the prize. She stifled a nasty
shiver at that thought.

Yet, on the opposite side of the
arena, slowly working his way in was Aidan. He moved so fast she barely saw
him. It was the vampirism that made him fast and agile. One man with short
black hair stood against him, legs parted, knees bent, his fists clenched and a
stoic expression on his face. They were at a face off.

Aidan swept behind him in a haze
so fast she barely saw it. Really all she made out was the black blur of his
long hair. He made it behind the demon and kicked out both the demon’s knees,
but as the demon collapsed to the ground, he spun around fast, and with a
scissor kick took Aidan down with him.

The fight turned brutal then, as
if it already wasn’t. The men grappled hand to hand. Necks straining as one
choked the other, knees and chests shifting each trying to gain the upper hand
and toss the other below him. They flipped and rolled. Aidan came out on top.
The demon squeezed tree-trunk sized legs around his waist and she sucked in a
breath as if her own oxygen was being squeezed from her. Aidan’s face turned
red, his nostrils flared.

Finally, he slid his hands up and
through the grip on his neck, grabbed the demon’s wrists and bent them
backwards. The demon below him howled at the cracking sound. Even Abby flinched
as his wrists flopped uselessly. Aidan stood, ready to move on to another foe
as the demon was dragged off by the other losers.

This was way too exciting. Just
what was wrong with her? She shouldn’t enjoy these grown, handsome, scary men
fighting for her, but she totally did. Sick as it was, this was the coolest
thing she’d ever witnessed in her life.

The fighting continued and no surprise
to her, but Alrik and Aidan were down to the last five. Three demons stood
between them but she knew where this was going. Judging by the demon’s quieting
around the arena as they watched, they knew it too. They halted their jeers and
cheers to watch the fight.

Alrik spoke deep and low, fast.
Black skeletal fingers grew out of the ground and climbed up the demon launching
at him. The demon screamed, his eyes widening with terror at the black, bony
arms. They were attached to nobody yet seemed to slow him down. He fought them,
grabbing them and throwing them to the ground but they kept coming. Alrik must
have known the man had just lost because he turned and engaged the next demon,
this time using pure strength with teeth-jarring kicks and crunching punches.

Abby’s gaze darted from one fight
to the other. Aidan fought against the other demon. The demon was good and held
his own against Aidan’s moves—he’d made it this far for a reason.

Alrik seemed to be slowing down,
his movements not as fast as they’d been when he started. Not that she could
blame him, after an hour of full-on war she’d be exhausted let alone still able
to fight.

The demon Alrik had fought fell
to the ground screaming as the black hands covered every inch of him. Finally,
he screamed, “I’m out!”