Dementor (Rolling Thunder MC Birmingham Book 1)

by Candace Blevins

  Dementor

  She walked twenty yards from me, turned, and suddenly she was a dragon. I saw the shift, but it was fast.

  “Climb up my front left leg. I can’t wait to take you for a ride.” Her dragon voice was so much deeper than her human one, yet still feminine. Melodic.

  She had, indeed, been practicing since I’d last seen her fly. She took off smooth as silk. The power and energy of the huge dragon wings beating the air around us into submission set my heart racing, but it was exhilaration, not fear.

  The castle we eventually flew to was the Dragon King’s castle, but I understood Aaron didn’t spend much time there anymore. They were typically at the Swan Castle, since Sophia had so many more duties. She was queen to thousands while Aaron was king to less than two hundred dragons, though the number was rapidly rising.

  Ember found her own jeans, shirt, underwear, and shoes in the backpack. Aaron must’ve gotten them to Queen Mab.

  Aaron’s permanent staff welcomed us with wonderful hospitality. They fed us a meal fit for a king before taking us via a fancy horse and carriage to a waterfall. We were again invited to stay at the castle so we could have time to enjoy each other without interruption, but Ember was ready to go home.

  I had no idea where we were when we exited through another waterfall. We were in the woods, late at night. I reached for my phone to get our location, but Ember said, “This way. I’m pretty sure I recognize the waterfall. Don’t shine a light. I can see. Let your eyes adjust.”

  I let her lead me down a path, and then up a steep trail, and a mile later we came to a clearing with a house and what I was certain was a Drake SUV parked in front of it.

  “We aren’t far from the Little River Canyon,” she said. “My guess is the keys to the vehicle are in the cabin, and Aaron left it here for us to get home. I need to look at the mailbox before we go in.”

  She barely glanced at the outside of the mailbox. I couldn’t believe Aaron would use the address as the keycode to get in the door. I watched, and she input a six digit number that had nothing to do with the five digit address.

  “Why did you need to look at the address?”

  “Can’t tell you. Sorry.”

  “Something on the mailbox told you how to get in.”

  “Seems logical.”

  Right, but she wasn’t confirming. Clearly, there was a code.

  “Okay, I get it. I want you to remember that I didn’t keep asking about it once I realized it’s something to do with your work.”

  We went inside, she turned lights on and found a note from Aaron telling us to stay as long as we needed, and to use the SUV to get home.

  She put it down and met my gaze. “I’m so sorry. I am mortified that I hurt you. Are you okay? Any lingering issues?”

  “It took a few days to completely settle and balance out, but I’m fine now.”

  “There’s no way I can possibly apologize. It was unforgivable.”

  Looking down at her for this conversation didn’t feel right. I pulled a kitchen chair out at an angle and sat in it. “If Aaron hadn’t stepped in. If it’d just been the two of us without help, you might be right. If I had no assurance you wouldn’t lose your temper again, I’d have probably insisted on some time away from each other. It turns out, Aaron made that happen. I understand you were suddenly given a lot of power, and you weren’t raised to learn how to wield it. You only get that understanding from me one time though. I’ll forgive you a second time, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to trust you if it happens again. Do you understand?”

  “Yeah. It means we’ll probably be over.”

  “I love you. I don’t want that to happen.”

  “I love you, too. I’m in control now. Aaron was right to send me to be a dragon for a few days after I’d learned my lesson. The dragon and I are in complete agreement now. It won’t be me shutting her up in the future — she isn’t as likely to fly off the handle because she learned the lesson as I did. Eventually, Sophia tells me I’ll always be the dragon. Well, except when I’m a swan. I guess the point is that the dragon will take over more and more when I’m in human form, but now she’s had these lessons in humility and control. It won’t happen again.”

  She straddled my legs and sat on them, facing me. “I haven’t had an orgasm in weeks, but I’ve had to give one to countless people. Any chance I can talk you into some playtime before we head back to civilization?”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Ember

  The first night with Dementor was just sex. Rough sex, but no power exchange. A few nights later, he took me to the spa’s dungeon for a marathon session, and I’ve never been so happy to submit in my life. Submitting because you’re a slave and have no choice is completely different than submitting to the man you love.

  One of the last things I had to learn before I could go back to work involved physical combat with humans. For this, I spent a few days in Chattanooga, sparring with some of Drake Security’s human operatives who know about shapeshifters.

  A few days after the marathon night with Dementor, the MC threw a huge party. It was a bigger welcome than I was expecting, but I didn’t think that made sense. Mad Dog and Bobcat knew there’d been a problem. They had to know I’d hurt Dementor, though I doubted either knew any details. They would’ve figured out I’d been sent away to learn a lesson, so I didn’t understand the welcome.

  When night came and most of the guests had gone, leaving only the MC, prospects, and close friends of the club, D jumped up on the stage and turned the microphone on. The new clubhouse was much nicer than I expected it to be — they even had bands come in and play live music for some of their parties.

  “Ember and I’ve been together nearly a year. I mean, not the whole year, but who’s counting? We’ve had a few bumps here and there, and a couple of challenges, but now we’re stronger together than ever. I had this made three months ago.” He turned to me and motioned for me to come up. I leapt up and landed beside him and heard a few gasps. Fuck. There were humans here. It wasn’t an impossible leap, just impressive, but I needed to be more careful.

  “You are my woman. My love.” D kissed my forehead. “I could go on, but let’s just say you’re mine. I want everyone to know, but mostly, I want to make you official. My brothers accepted you a long time ago, but wearing this means you accept us, too.”

  He opened the box and I saw black leather nestled in tissue paper. I moved the paper and my heart went into my throat. I hadn’t understood the “Property of” vests, at first. I’d only seen Velvet’s, after all. However, when we’d visited Chattanooga and Atlanta, or when other chapters visited us, I saw lots of ol’ladies wearing them. Angelica in Chattanooga had done the best job of explaining it. “It doesn’t just mean I belong to Bash, it means he belongs to me. Also, since the club has to vote that a brother can give his ol’lady the patch, it means you’ve been accepted by the club.”

  Someone else had explained the center patch for a property vest is different than the center patch for the members, but it’s still an RTMC logo. It means we’re officially part of the family. Sweetbutts don’t get that.

  So, when I saw this vest with PROPERTY OF DEMENTOR embroidered around one of the RTMC logos, my eyes filled with tears. I reached for it, but he pulled it back a little.

  “You have to ask me to put it on you. It’s important.”

  I lifted my chin and met his gaze. “Please, will you put it on me?”

  The entire room clapped and cheered when he put it on, and then Velvet was dragging me to the bar for shots.

  The rest of the night is a blur, but I will never forget the feeling of belonging I felt that night. Love. Acceptance. Family.

  I get it with Sophia, too, but this was my chosen family. It was different.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Dementor

  Ember had been back to work a few weeks when she had to go out of town to protect a client. She was supposed to be gone four days, but she came ba
ck on the third night without telling me.

  Meanwhile, we had a huge promo going at Blaze. The dancers put together some new numbers, and they convinced the bouncers to get on stage for one of them. It meant we stood still while they moved around us like we were the pole. We were legal because dancers can interact with each other in certain ways on stage that would be illegal for dancer and customer — but we were probably skating the edge of legality with some of it.

  But it was entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less. We were performing for a wild, happy, ready-to-hand-over-their-money audience.

  Unfortunately, Ember decided to surprise me, but she was the one who got the surprise when she entered the club to see three dancers in g-strings pawing and gyrating all over me in jeans and boots but no shirt.

  The number was nearly over when I caught her scent, angry as a soaped-up wet cat. My first thought was that we were about to test how much control she had over her temper.

  She didn’t come to me when the number was over, though. I found her in the dressing room, calmly asking Soul when we’d started working on the number.

  Soul told her everyone had come in on Tuesday to put it together, which was true. This was Thursday. When I walked in, she turned and said, “You didn’t have a chance to talk to me about it.”

  “I didn’t.”

  She blew out a breath. “Okay then.”

  I felt my brows inch up my forehead. “That’s it?”

  “Yeah. I want to be pissed, but you didn’t do anything wrong. If you ever hide something like this from me then there’ll be hell to pay, but you didn’t.”

  I’d known we were going to be okay when I asked my brothers for the final vote to give her a prop vest. And yet, this conversation was the assurance I’d needed.

  Dragon, swan, and bear. Man and woman. We were soul mates and that was it. I didn’t want to have sex with anyone but her. She gave me everything I needed. Ember was going to be my woman for centuries, at least. And no, the Faerie Queens hadn’t made me long-lived yet, but Sophia had hinted to the same thing Aaron had, so I was certain it was merely a matter of time.

  I touched my earpiece. “Hey, Cat. I need to take my woman next door and give her some happy time. How long can I take?”

  Stay up to date on Candace’s new releases by signing up for her newsletter.

  Aaron and Sophia's story can be found in The Dragon King.

  Kirsten’s story, which is the epic saga leading up to the battle between good and evil starts with Only Human.

  Mac’s story can be found in Acceptable Risk.

  Angelica and Bash’s story can be found in the Bash Trilogy.

  If you’d like to read more about Faerie, you might enjoy the four books in A Darkish Faerie Tale. Keep reading for an excerpt from the first book, Slave.

  Bibliography

  If you enjoyed Dementor, you may also like the other books set in the same universe, though in different series.

  Chattanooga Supernaturals series, paranormal romance:

  The Dragon King (Aaron Drake’s story, and the first time we meet Duke and Brain)

  Riding the Storm (Kendra and Eric’s story)

  Acceptable Risk (Bethany, Ranger, Mac, and Jonathan’s story)

  Careful What You Ask For

  Hallowed Destiny – Forged by Darkness

  Uncaged (Ghost’s mother’s story)

  Cocky Queen

  Unhallowed Murder

  Unexpected Gifts

  Only Human series, urban fantasy

  Only Human

  An Unhuman Journey

  Of Humans and Monsters

  Defining Human

  Edge of Humanity

  Infinitely Human

  Unhuman Acts

  Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club Series

  Duke

  Brain

  Bash Volume I

  Bash Volume II

  Bash Volume III

  Horse

  Gonzo (where we first meet Britches/Briana)

  Nix

  Ghost

  Bud

  Razor

  Bubbles

  McGyver

  The Birmingham RTMC

  Dementor

  Bobcat (April 16, 2020)

  Frost (Summer 2020)

  Squatch (2020)

  The Dark Underbelly of The Chattanooga Supernaturals

  Pride (A short story featuring The Lion King)

  Indentured Freedom: Owned by the Vampire (Gavin)

  Leashed (Abbott)

  An Elegant Weapon (Bran)

  A Dark(ish) Faerie Tale

  Slave

  Lady

  Consort

  Queen

  The Safeword series, intense BDSM contemporary romance

  Safeword Rainbow

  Safeword: Davenport

  Safewords: Davenport and Chiffon

  Safeword: Quinacridone

  Safeword: Matte (Sam and Ethan Levi’s story, we first meet Frisco and Cassie)

  Safeword: Matte – In Training

  No Safeword: Matte – The Honeymoon

  No Safeword: Matte – Happily Ever After

  Safeword: Arabesque (Frisco, Cassie, Abbot, and Cam’s story)

  Safeword: Mayday (TBA)

  Check out other books by Candace Blevins at candaceblevins.com.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from, Slave.

  Slave Excerpt

  Because you’re never too old for Faerie Tales...

  Halflings born in the human realm can stay if they can pass for human, but a baby with bright red and yellow hair, pointed ears, glowing green eyes, and swirled purple and green nails had to be relocated. With no family in Faerie to claim her, the newborn was auctioned off as a slave.

  In Faerie, slaves are property with no rights. The baby is now an adult, and has been given in tribute to The Winter Queen.

  Queen Mab has worked hard to make everyone in Faerie fear her, but her new pleasure slave enjoys the kiss of her whip. Can the Dark Queen have a tender side? The Dragon King once loved her, after all, so there must be more to her than the evil, ruthless queen we’ve seen so far.

  Climb aboard and experience the best and worst the Winter Queen can dish out.

  Slave is book one in the Dark(ish) Faerie Tale quadrilogy.

  Chapter One

  Queen Mab

  For every season, there are positives and negatives. Today is the summer solstice, and I’m miserable in the heat. Plus, my sister is Queen of Faerie during the summer.

  From here on out, the days will grow shorter, and the time of my reign draws nearer. Come the fall equinox, I’ll be the ruling Queen once more, and my days will be filled with the duties of running the queendom.

  However, for the time being, I had the luxury of spending all the time I wanted in my dungeons, and I was fully taking advantage of the long days — there are so many people to torture and play with in the bowels of my castle.

  I’d acquired the former Eagle King as a result of a horse trade a while back, and was still having great fun with him, but I’d been informed we had a new pleasure slave — paid to me in tribute by a wealthy businessman — and she’d been put into a holding room so I could personally handle her intake process.

  Prisoners are fun to punish, but the rare pleasure slave who’s been trained to enjoy torture is a special treat. I’d seen the paperwork on this girl, and based on her previous owners and trainers, I had hopes she might prove a nice diversion.

  I was informed she seemed a nervous wreck, so I went to the holding room instead of having her brought to the throne room. I brought another slave with me, one who’d record the new slave’s answers and any notes I wanted put into the girl’s file.

  Contrary to what most probably think of the Wicked Winter Queen, I don’t make a habit of abusing my slaves just because I can. I’d whipped this particular stenographer slave once when she was rude to a business associate, and I’d assigned her to dishwashing duty in the kitchens for a month when she zoned off
while on the job, but the girl’s been with me nearly fifteen years and those are the only two times she’s been punished.

  My first view of the new little pleasure slave sent tingles through my magic. She was a little slip of a thing and strikingly beautiful. Someone had put her into my preferred inspection pose — feet a little wider than shoulder width, perfect posture, eyes straight ahead, fingers laced at the back of her head. She still held it beautifully, and her arms didn’t appear to be shaking.

  Some slaves hold their position when I enter, but most prostrate themselves. Neither choice earns reprimand or punishment at this stage, but I was intrigued she’d chosen to follow orders over protocol.

  Whether she’d been naked when she arrived or had been stripped to nothing by my guards, I didn’t know. I wasn’t certain of her most recent owner’s slave protocols for travel, but the Master he purchased her from wouldn’t have permitted clothing at any time, nor would her original owner, where she was raised and trained.

  I walked in a circle around her, observing. She didn’t break posture. Didn’t move a millimeter, other than to breathe. Her nails were swirled purple and green, her red hair had streaks of gold, and her eyes practically glowed green. I circled her a few more times and noted her toenails matched her fingernails. I’d need to double-check to be sure the familial searches had been done.

  My new slave had enough muscle I knew she’d be able to handle what I doled out, but was soft enough she’d still be fun to play with. I couldn’t wait to see her flawless white ass with streaks of red from a strap, and then dotted with smaller streaks from a flogger. However, she was too thin for my tastes, and I made a mental note to check later to see if this was her natural size, or whether her food intake had been severely restricted.