Power rushed his veins, and Hel Bhyr raised his arms. ‘Our sun dawns bright for we have found salvation. We have found a new species to breed.’
Whispers rustled through the cave.
‘Now we anoint our flesh. We will say our prayers.’ He bent at the waist to roar. ‘Then we will go to Earth.’
Horde surged onto their feet.
‘We will take what we want.’
Fists banging chests, hollering, they paced in restless aggression.
‘We will bathe in the blood of those who oppose us.’
Axes and blades unsheathed by the thousands, the clamour ringing through the frosted cavern.
‘We will fuck humanity full of seed until they choke on it.’ He threw his arms wide, and an arc of energy flashed between his palms. ‘Humanity will bear us sons.’
Horde bellowed his name.
With a final punch to the sky, the quickened Horde chanting his name, he turned to take the steps by twos to his chamber at the sunken mountain’s apex.
Always the First slept in the sacred grotto. It was the place his ancestors had woken. Their bones were hewn from its rock, their flesh carved from its ice, and their souls blown into their lungs by Creation. She had forsaken them. Surprise eluded him. Males of Vøtkyr had long turned from Her and embraced Destruction.
If She would no longer bless them with life from the rotted pits that were the wombs of the Aztekan female, they would look elsewhere for breeders.
Horde now looked to Earth.
Hel Bhyr scraped his nails into a bowl of indigo pigment. He wrote into his flesh the glyphs and runes that depicted the slaughter to come.
Now
‘We look upon what we own.’ He gripped my thigh, a length of flesh as thick as his arm. He dragged me down the pelts. ‘There is no escape from us.’
‘You saved me.’
A hand fisted in my hair and stirred the smell of coconuts, pulling my head back to expose vulnerable throat.
Axe blade kissed my pulse.
‘We take you now.’ Thunder and susurration, bright and stabbing. Calving glaciers echoed his voice. ‘Willing or not. Scream if you must.’
I shuddered and stared at the Asura crouched above. ‘You saved me.’
It was the nature of girls in my culture to be sheltered, but under the dutiful smiles and lavishly beaded shalwar kameez, I was a woman who understood the threat he posed.
He took me from Baba-ji. He stole me from my home.
Still, I reached to touch him.
My henna stained fingertips smeared gritty paint. The drumming boom of an alien heart beat against my palm.
It meant something.
It had to.
Stretched pale, a firm mouth curved. ‘Ah, you tremble, human.’ Ridged and hairless, his rugged brow descended. ‘Good.’ Spiced breath melded with my hot pants as he spoke in the hairsbreadth between us. Words buzzed against my lips. ‘Horde will not understand what we do nor will they forgive. You have bewitched us.’
Hel Bhyr leered as his mouth bruised mine.
Seared and branded.
Soul marked.
My back arched as I sank into his cold kiss.
Eyes of frozen pearl glowed. ‘I have decided to keep you.’
Afterword
Thank you for reading. Sìne was a character I enjoyed writing, her sense of humour drier compared to the previous heroine of this series. I was raised in a single parent household, so I have the highest respect for those who accomplish such. Both ladies and their families will be making an appearance in book three, which is called Hel Bhyr. The best way to be notified of my new releases is to sign up to my newsletter. This is sent only once a new book is available to purchase.
Smolder by Penelope Fletcher
Wounded, a dragon drops from the sky to crash in front of Marina in an explosion of fire. She does the only reasonable thing a woman can do–she saves his life. Marina knows any moment may be her last, yet she cannot deny the connection between her and the alluring creature. When fierce dragon lords appear and lead a dangerous assassin to their hiding place, the truth about her dragon is unveiled. The consequences of falling for a creature gifts Marina wonders never before seen in this world.
ThunderClaw: Science Fiction Romance (Alien Warrior Book 2) Page 54
