The Guild was silent as we approached, and yet it seemed calm. On the outside, we couldn’t hear any screaming, no noise at all. We’d only been able to sift or materialize outside since Erie had placed some very powerful wards inside. I looked around; noting the fires that seemed to burn as far as the eye could see had yet to be extinguished. The sky behind it was foreboding, lit from the blazes and curling smoke that basked the night in an orange haze. I sent my magic slamming into the Guild, pushing past the wards as I sought out Kendra and the others and then relaxed as I found them still inside.
“Something was trying to get inside,” Ryder growled thickly, his mouth a multitude of sharp teeth as his beast surveyed the bloody corpses that had piled outside the wards. Creatures had tried to gain entrance and died from their actions.
I followed them up the stairs and glanced inside where the witches were scattered in the main room, sweat pooling and beading upon their brows. They’d fought off whatever those creatures were outside, and won.
My gaze moved to Kendra who held her swollen stomach as she stared back at me. Her hair clung to her face; sweat dampened it and her clothes as she took a step closer to where I’d entered, and then hesitated. Slowly, I made my way to where she stood, and once I was at a safe distance from her, I paused, taking in her form for any sign of injury as she did the same to mine.
“You’re okay?” I asked softly, my hands fisted at my side as I forced them to remain there instead of pulling her into an embrace as I itched to do so. I wanted to hug her and promise her that she’d be okay, but I knew I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t able to touch her without the chance of killing her with the multitude of weapons I now held. Wings that unfurled without warning, claws that shredded flesh, and magic that could kill without meaning to, and she had enough issues without my problems adding to it.
“I’m good,” she said as her own hands dropped to her sides, staring at me with turbulence in her matching gaze.
“That’s good.”
“How is it, out there?” she asked.
“Bad, really bad,” I replied honestly, hiding the sheer terror I felt at what lay outside of the sanctuary she was hidden in. I felt wards being placed, ancient ones that pulled on my magic without warning. I turned, eyeing the walls that screamed as ward-after-ward were placed into them. “You’re safe, though, inside. Stay inside this Guild, do you hear me?” I demanded, and when she nodded, I nodded even though the churning in my stomach told me that even inside, she wouldn’t be safe.
“I know what will happen when I give her life,” she mumbled and I fought to keep my eyes from widening, or my face from giving away the horror I felt at her words. “I know my time is coming, but you’ll protect her. You’ll protect her from the monster that sired her.”
“With my life,” I agreed as I extended my hand towards her and then dropped it as the claws shot from my fingertips. I backed away from her as if she was a fire, burning me. “I need to go,” I informed as I spun around on my heel, rushing away.
“Lena,” she called to me, and I ignored her as if her pleas fell on deaf ears.
I stalked towards Lucian, knowing my time for learning was growing shorter as her pregnancy neared the end. I had to be able to help her through it, and if she expected me to protect a child, I had to contain the monster I’d become and quickly.
Ignoring Joshua’s concern look and frown as he followed my path back to where Kendra stood, I shook my head knowing he’d go to her. He was able to comfort, whereas I wasn’t. I ignored my mother’s judging gaze as I stopped short of plowing into Lucian who simply pulled me closer. He felt my worry, and I didn’t care how or why he could, only that he was my security in the storm of my world and the dangers I created by being here, being close to my bloodline.
“Get me out of here,” I uttered hoarsely as he lowered his gaze to lock with mine. His fingers curled around mine, and yet we didn’t move. He waited, watching as Erie continually added wards until she sagged in exhaustion. Once she’d finished, he and Ryder stepped forward, testing them until the wards screeched loudly, forcing those who had remained in the room to clap their hands over their ears or chance losing their hearing.
Bile swirled through my stomach as my mouth grew wet as I forced it to remain down. It was intense, the magic of them combined filled the room like a living thing, pushing through us as we swayed on our feet and yet the wards didn’t buckle or give an inch.
“They’ll hold for the night,” Ryder stated, turning to stare at his wife, who nodded her agreement. “The others will settle the humans into the catacombs, and those who need sleep should seek it now. Dawn will come faster than we would like it to.”
At his words, people started moving, and yet the majority lingered in the Guild’s main room. I watched them as Vlad stepped closer to Ryder, pulling him into a hug that turned into heavy grunts as they exhaled the relief of finding him unharmed. Ristan and his mate stood to the side, speaking to the angels who had joined us. Adam sat with Alden, speaking in hushed tones to Erie who agreed or disagreed with what someone said.
A cup was pushed into my hand, and I looked up into sapphire eyes which watched me as I lifted the strong liquor to my lips and threw the entire drink back in one large gulp before holding it out for more.
“You think you can do it again?” Zahruk asked, ignoring Lucian’s warning growl.
“Do what?” I asked, making certain I knew where his mind was.
“Get Lucifer to the door so that we can trap him, and get what info we need out of him one way or another,” he snapped, tipping the bottle back as he drank deeply straight from the source. I tipped a second glass back and let him fill it to the rim again.
The heat from the alcohol surged to life inside my belly, warming my flesh that had felt frozen with the shit that had gone down tonight. I handed him back the glass and nodded. I could get him back here, but he’d know it was a trap.
“I can get him back, but he’d know it’s a trap. No, we’d have to make him think he was coming here by his own choice. He’s the fucking devil, not an idiot. Besides, once we got him here, we couldn’t hold him. We’d need something that can trap him here…a devil’s trap?” I asked, turning to peer up at Lucian, who smirked.
“That would hold him, but not long enough to interrogate him. You’d need something more powerful, which I’m sure our new friends could help us with,” he stated as he started us towards the angels who were staring at Kendra. It sent a chill down my spine as we approached their seats.
“You forgot to tell us something?” Raphael snapped as he stood, uncurling from the seat to stand nose to nose with Lucian. “You think she may have something to do with the fact that end of the world is nearing?”
“Her child is half-angel, isn’t it?” he countered.
“She’s pregnant with the fucking antichrist,” he hissed low, not wanting anyone else to hear his words. The hair on my neck rose as a shiver raced down my spine.
“Is that a problem?” I asked, sucking my bottom lip with my teeth as the words left my tongue. Of course, it was a problem. It was Lucifer’s child, and as far as we knew, not many Nephilims graced the earth because mating with an angel and being fully human was unheard of. Olivia was proof that it happened, but then her mother had died in childbirth.
“We will address this at another time when the world isn’t burning outside the doors. But I’d say it’s a problem, a very big problem.”
I stared down the archangels who seemed to stare right through me as they began to peel their angry gazes from the unborn child my sister carried. I watched them as they focused on Lucian and then stepped back as if they feared him.
“You want something to trap Lucifer?” Raphael asked, staring at him as if he’d overheard us across the room. “We cannot help you with it, but there’s a warehouse on Mission which just happens to have supplie
s we once used long ago to trap another archangel. I can’t tell you what it is, or how to use it. We cannot interfere with that aspect. But if you were to say, trap him, we could hold him with what is inside the warehouse, if it even still stands.”
“So you’re saying that we have to sort through an entire warehouse to figure out what it is that will trap the devil because you can’t say it out loud?” I snorted as I stared at them. “Can’t we just use Pictionary to figure it out and then go get it?” I offered.
“Pictionary?” Hades snorted behind me, forcing my head to rubberneck in his direction. “If you’re playing with archangels, I’m filming it for YouTube,” he chuckled as he sat back in the armchair, folding his ankles together as he stretched out. “I’m guessing you assholes played right into Lucifer’s trap and touched the hole that led into Hell?” he asked crossly.
“You knew it was a trap?” Lucian snapped angrily, his eyes lighting with those unnatural blue flames that seemed to explode when he was angry or really turned on. It wasn’t the time or place, but those flames seemed to have a direct line to my core, which seemed to pool with molten heat that wasn’t missed as all the men close to me turned and looked at me irritably.
“Really, woman,” Hades chuckled as his eyes heated and seemed to look right through the leathers I wore. “You smell…good. Really good,” he noted before he turned back to Lucian. “Turn off the lights, before she goes into heat. You forget, her emotions are now tied to yours in more ways than one. As much as I’d enjoy watching you with her, this isn’t the time or place. Raincheck,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “Of course I knew, but I was busy securing other items to be used to close them when you went and fell in it. I mean, you should have known he’d lay traps for his feathery brethren to fall into.”
“A fucking heads-up would have been nice,” Lucian replied sharply, his eyes turned to hold mine before his nostrils flared with my scent wafting to him. I knew he sensed it because I did. My body was lit up from within like a fucking glowworm. “Lena?” he asked.
“I need to speak to you…alone,” I admitted. “In private.”
Chapter 30
Once we entered the room, I spun to him, grabbing his shirt to rip it open as I struggled to force the emotions to sink beneath the ebb and flow of lust that threatened to drown me. My lips drifted to his, and a moan stole from them as a throaty growl escaped from deep in his chest. He claimed my mouth as if it was the salvation we needed, fucking destroying me with the gentleness I didn’t want or need. His kiss was the kind that made you feel drunk, dazed as he lay claimed to me on an entirely different level of seduction.
One moment I was kissing him as if he was the air I needed to breathe, and the next he pushed me away and smirked down at me with a fire banked in his midnight gaze. He shook his head as if he was dispelling the lustful haze my lips had created.
“Strip,” he demanded, his tone even and clear as I swallowed the urge to slap the composure off his face. “You’re not getting off easy this time, and you’re not allowed to surrender or demand shit. You want my dick? Earn it.”
I paused, glaring at him as he fed my words back to me. “Excuse me?”
“You want my cock, you’ll do as I say and as I instruct. If you’re good, and you listen, you can come when I give you permission to. Not before or after, or you will be punished. Do you understand?” he asked as he watched me shimmy out of the leather to expose the black lace panties and bra Syn had crafted from glamour for me to wear. Something I really wish I had the ability to do.
“I understand,” I agreed, knowing from the heat that flooded his eyes as I removed the bra that it wouldn’t take him long to demand I ride his cock. I flung the bra aside, swishing my hips as I moved to the bed, crawling across the silk sheets until I was fully on the bed. I turned around only to be slammed down as his body hit mine, sending a shock of pain rushing through my body.
His hands moved to my throat, applying enough pressure that I gasped as his nose slid over my cheek. “Naughty girl,” he laughed huskily. He released my throat, capturing my hands before I could touch him. He gripped them painfully as he pushed them above my head, using a length of silk to bind them. I lifted my head, staring at the thin wisp of fabric that now held them trapped above my head.
Lucian’s mouth lowered to my exposed neck, trailing his tongue over the spot where my pulse raced and throbbed as he slowly sucked the flesh between his teeth, biting it gently. Heat pooled between my thighs, marking the proof of how turned on I was as he slowly let his fingers dance down my flesh to draw little circles around my nipples.
He pinched the hardened flesh, and I yelped as pain mixed with pleasure as he continued to slowly trail his down the heated path his fingers danced. Right as his hot breath fanned my peaked nipple tip, he sat back on his haunches, slowly taking in the sight of my naked breasts and thin, black lace panties that were drenched with my arousal.
“You want me inside you, don’t you?” he asked, his hands lifting to remove the tie he still wore, because it didn’t matter how fucked we were, or how balls-deep into apocalyptic-land bullshit we were in, he still wore it. I nodded, and he shook his head, releasing the grip he held on his tie to slap the inside of my thigh. “Say it, I want to hear you admit it. I don’t want to see your fucking head moving. Tell me how much you want this dick, Lena.”
“I want it,” I admitted through heated cheeks that flooded with color as he made me admit it out loud. “I want you.”
“Good, remember that,” he chuckled as he moved from the bed and stood, stripping his body bare before he neatly folded the suit up and stalked from the room. I heard the water running and tilted my head, staring where the light was now glowing from the bathroom. Candles leapt to life in the bedroom, bathing me in a seductive light. “Is that pussy still wet?” he asked, calling from the other room.
“It misses you,” I replied playfully as I listened to the water splashing against the porcelain tub. “Are you showering?”
“I am, don’t you wish you were in here with me? Maybe up against the wall with me buried in that pretty pussy of yours?” he called back, and my body heated as I glared at the flame of the candle as it danced on the dresser. “House rules, Lena. I tell you what to do; you say, ‘Yes, sir.’”
“And what else does this little game of yours include?” I asked, watching his shadow as he moved from the bathroom into the bedroom, naked minus the towel that clung to his hips.
“You being helpless, at my fucking mercy,” he purred thickly as his eyes raked over my body as he entered the room further, not in a hurry to fix the ache between my legs.
My gaze followed him as he moved to the large chest in the room, withdrawing several items from it before he slowly walked towards the bed, setting them beside me. He knelt over and placed his mouth against my nipple, nipping the soft flesh until it hardened against the grazing of his teeth as a growl resonated from deep in his chest to hiss over my skin. He knelt on the bed, removing the towel to expose his cock, which was already hard and ready to be used.
I wanted to climb him like a child at a theme park clamoring for the rides as they stood in line. I rocked my hips, letting him know I was ready for it, for him, but his only reply was to smirk, a wolfish grin that sent a shiver up my spine as I lay there, tied to the bed.
“Too easy,” he uttered before he reached behind him, pulling out a length of dark cloth which he used to wrap around one ankle before securing it to the post of the bed, only to do the same with the other as I watched him. Next, he tied a smaller length of the sheer fabric around my head, blinding me to what he’d do next. “What do you feel?” he asked as his fingers traced a line from my cheek to my covered flesh.
“Helpless,” I replied huskily, wondering why it turned me on so much to be at his mercy. Shouldn’t I want to be in somewhat control of this situation? “Lucian…”
/>
“You want to learn how to control those powers; you have to first know what having no control is like, and then how to push the needs away. You’re about to learn what it is like to be denied your most basic needs, wants, and desires.”
His fingers pushed beneath the panties I still wore, running through the wet folds. He pushed his thumb in a circular pattern as he worked my sex until I was meeting him with increased vigor, my body reacting on a primal level with the need to find what he so freely offered, and yet the moment the orgasm danced through my system with the first hint of building, he pulled away.
I felt the bed moving, felt his massive frame settling between my legs moments before his lips traced the inside of my thigh down one leg, stopping just above the knee before he followed it with his fingers, only to change sides and mirror the action.
“If you’re planning to drive me insane, I think it’s working,” I uttered thickly and then yelped as his hand slapped against my pussy. My back arched into that slap, craving it as my mind became a red haze of need.
His throaty laughter was the only indication that he’d heard the whispered words. He pushed my legs apart, and then the sound of my panties being shredded filled the room. Heat fanned my naked flesh, his tongue snaked out, and I cried out as pleasure tore through me. His fingers bit into my flesh as his tongue traced a pattern through my sleek flesh; dancing over it as it flicked the one spot I needed him most.
And just like that, he was gone. I felt the bed move and then tensed as something pressed against my ass. My entire body felt like a guitar string that had been pulled too taut, in danger of snapping.
“Lift your ass,” he ordered, and I swallowed hard, but I did as he instructed. “You look so pretty tied to my bed, so utterly helpless and wanton,” he crooned as he pushed something soft against my ass, and then I cried out as I felt the plug filling me. My body trembled against the intrusion, and yet this time there wasn’t pain but only a fullness that danced with pleasure.
Becoming his Monster (Playing with Monsters Book 3) Page 23
