by Leilani Love
The pleasure is so intense it causes his own orgasm to hit and his teeth sink into her shoulder. When he taste something metallic on his tongue, he realizes he broke the skin. He worries when he feels her buck against him. Violca’s teeth are still locked onto him, and he hears her muffled scream, her core spasming harder around him.
When he finally comes down, he feels her body lightly shuddering around him and her tongue licking where she bit. Chase pulls back seeing his teeth marks in her skin and a little blood. He dips his head and licks along the mark and feels her shudder in pleasure. Rolling to his side, he pulls her with him. Chase’s hand slides up and down her back, holding her near him, sighing happily when she cuddles closer to him.
After a few moments of them catching their breaths, Violca looks up at him, a light, satisfied smile playing on her lips. She glances at his neck where he can still feel tingling from where she bit. She looks almost sheepish and he grins down at her. “You know I would have never pegged you for a biter.”
Chase’s grin turns into a big smile as he watches her. If there was more light he is sure he would see her blushing. “I…” she stammers.
Brushing the hair back from her face, he smiles. “I liked it.” Bending down, he kisses her gently then playfully nibbles at her bottom lip. He feels her sigh against him and he looks down at her. “I didn’t hurt you when…” his voice trails off when she shakes her head no and kisses his palm that is still cupping her cheek.
Violca lays her head down on his chest and kisses him right above his heart. Closing his eyes, his hand gently caresses up and down her back until he feels her body relax and her breathing even out. Once she is asleep he lets himself drift off.
Chapter 41
Violca wakes up to the sound of a loud crash and the feel of the bed shaking so much, she almost falls off. She hears Sari and Angyalka crying as her room fills with smoke. Chase jumps up, grabbing his pants and throwing his shirt at her. Taking her hand, he pulls her behind him as they head out of the room.
Violca sees her sisters and Brandon coming out of the rooms, everyone coughing and covering their mouths. The smoke is coming from the living room. Turning to look, she gasps, seeing a hole where the door used to be.
“Everyone okay?” Chase asks as they join in the middle of the hall next to the living room.
Everyone mumbles something in the affirmative and Sari and Angyalka both throw themselves against Violca’s legs. The back door slides open and Scott comes in, his eyes instantly going to Kati before looking at everyone else. “Where’s Eryk?”
Scott shakes his head. “He went out on patrol after you guys got back and hasn’t come back yet.”
Through the hole in the wall come several shadows. Chase and Brandon both stiffen. Turning, Chase takes Violca’s hands in his. “Whatever happens stay inside, keep your sister close.” He brushes his lips against hers, quickly whispering, “Go lock yourselves in the back room and stay there. No matter what you see or hear, please trust me.”
Chase turns, looking at Scott. “You get the back, I got the ones in the front.” He points to Brandon. “Get your gun, make sure no one gets inside that room.” Violca ushers the girls into the room, turning to look at Chase, fear for him rising. He turns, his face looking solemn. “Lock yourselves in the room, stay away from the windows.”
Violca closes the door, telling Angyalka and Sari to sit on the chair away from the window. With the moonlight coming in she realizes that Brandon has the blinds open and quickly closes them. Stopping, she sees Chase standing outside and several men coming out from the woods.
Violca can only make out their shapes but they are all tall and thick. It looks like Chase is about to be surrounded by a group of linebackers. Her eyes go round as she watches a black shimmery cloud surround Chase and a moment later, she sees what looks to be a black dragon and hears a loud roar. Moonlight shimmers off the black dragon as it stands on all fours, panting heavily, small puffs of smoke in front of his face. The dragon turns, looking at her and their eyes meet. Violca can actually see the dragon’s golden eyes staring at her, and she quickly closes the blind, backing up to the bed.
“What was that?” Eva asks, looking at her intently.
Violca opens her mouth to say something before closing it again. She doesn’t know if she even believes what she saw, no way is she saying she saw a dragon. Eva walks toward the window.
“Stay away from the window, we don’t need anyone to see that we are in here.”
Eva frowns and goes back to standing by Sari. Angyalka has curled up on Kati’s lap and Violca hears Kati making soothing noises. They jump when they hear a thud against the wall. She wants to check to see if the dragon is still outside, she wants to see if Brandon is okay. Violca knows she has to protect her sisters but wishes she could be more help.
Chase’s muscles stretch, and he lets out a loud roar at the end of his change. Aware that eyes are on him, he turns and sees Violca in the window. When she closes the blinds quickly, he feels his dragon’s hurt and wonders if she will be able to accept this side of him.
Changing was painful when they first learned how, but Chase is old enough that he barely felt it this time. He knows Violca could not see much. The few that had seen them change never could describe more than a shimmer or a cloud around them.
Focusing back on the men coming out of the woods, he growls and scratches the ground, ready to attack. From the scent, he can smell that some of them are human. They were marked by a demon, the smell of the sulfur lingering on them. The other ones are demon halflings. Demons that were born from human females that had been tortured and raped. They are not as strong as demons but stronger than humans. Some of them even have special abilities they received from the women that were picked.
Six of them circle him. Chase resists the urge to blow fire, knowing that if he does there is a chance he could set the entire forest on fire. Four of them attack at once. Swinging out his arm he swipes at one, causing him to hit the side of the house near the girls’ room.
Chase hisses and bites the one near his right arm when he feels a blade slicing into his skin. He sees two of them trying to circle behind him, heading to the house and he uses his long tail to swat them away, knocking them over. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees several more men coming out of the woods and toward the house. Grabbing two of the humans, he swings them up and over the woods. He feels several more knives trying to slice him and he uses his paw to hold one of them down.
Standing in the backyard Scott’s eyes narrow, he hears Chase roar and smiles. He is worried about his brother, but focuses on the shadows he sees coming closer. The smell of sulfur is strong and he narrows his eyes. Fucking demons. Figured they would join against Viktor and help his brother Dmitri.
Three men come out of the trees, into the clearing. As if on silent command, they all rush at him and he smiles, running at them. This is his element, fighting, protecting others, he was not built for sitting by and watching. He close lines the first guy, knocking him on the ground before dodging the punch of the second. Scott comes up with an uppercut, hitting the guy on the jaw.
The third attacks him only to be knocked to the ground when Eryk comes out of the woods. Scott growls, “Good to see you, little brother,” before swinging again at the guy in front of him.
“Sorry, was a little tied up, brother, hope you didn’t have too much fun without me,” Eryk says, and Scott fights the urge not to grin.
Chapter 42
Violca can hear Brandon fighting outside her door and Chase fighting in the front. Each time they hear a thud from any direction, the girls jump. “Do you think they are going to be okay?” Kati asks, looking at the door, biting her lower lip.
Violca smiles reassuringly at Kati, “Of course, you know how strong Brandon is, and I bet Chase and Scott are just as strong.”
Kati nods, biting her lower lip. The room begins to shake and the girls cuddle together in the corner, away from the door and the window. It feels
like someone is shaking the room until the boards break in half and the wall is flung at the dragon that is surrounded by men.
Violca stand in front of Eva and Kati, who are guarding the younger two, who whimper. Violca hears Eva whisper, “Is that a dragon?”
Violca’s eyes are drawn to the group of men heading toward her room. All of them look to stand over six feet, the one in the center seems to be leading. His pale white hair reflects the moonlight as he approaches, his eyes almost seem to be glowing and are red in color. When he is close, she notices how his smile is predatory. When he speaks, his voice is deep, rich, alluring. “Come with me, my dears. Let me take you from these shifters and save you.”
Angyalka whimpers, her voice barely heard over the fighting. “He’s not a nice man.”
Despite the fact that Violca can barely hear her sister, the guy tsks at her comment. “I promise, I am a very nice man.”
The roar from the dragon causes Violca to look up and in its direction. She can see smoke coming from its mouth. The dragon comes at them. The man makes a motion with his hand, and more people come out of the woods to attack the dragon.
“Come with me before someone gets hurt.” His voice sounds impatient as his eyes narrow.
The door flies open and Brandon stands in the doorway. He looks at the missing wall, his eyes going round in surprise. Aiming his gun, he shoots at the guy trying to come in. The silver haired man puts his hand up, and they can actually see the bullet freeze in air before it drops.
Violca is frozen, until she feels Brandon grab her arm. “Violca, come.”
Turning, she grabs Angyalka but before they can get anywhere, two of them grab Sari and Angyalka from them. Before Brandon can help, two guys appear in the doorway, distracting him.
Fear rising, Violca tries to fight them. Her arms go up to push the guy in front of her, and she feels a blast, almost like electricity, shooting from her fingers into the one trying to take Angyalka, shooting him out of the room.
Angyalka runs to Eva and Violca reaches out, feeling a pulsing, almost power, come from the crook of her neck. That same power leaves her fingertips and shoots at the second guy. When he flies backwards, she quickly grabs Sari, pulling her behind her, backing them toward the door.
Not sure what happened, she keeps her hands in front of her. Violca can still feel a light pulsing of power in the crook of her neck. Locking up, she sees the man with the white hair watching intently. When he smiles, she swears his teeth all look like they are shaved into points. “Until later, my earth witch.”
The words are barely past his lips when he is suddenly gone. Not just him but all his men have disappeared. Even the ones who were fighting Brandon in the doorway are gone. Violca turns to look outside and sees the dragon standing just outside her room.
Slowly walking toward him, she sees his chest heaving and small puffs of smoke when he breathes. The dragon itself is probably just slightly smaller than her house. Violca can feel him watching her, the eyes so familiar to Chase’s, but different. The moonlight glitters off his obsidian black body and she hesitantly steps closer.
Brandon tries to grab her arm to stop her from stepping out of the hole in the wall. “Violca?”
She hears the question in his voice and she shakes him off, continuing to walk to the dragon.
Violca swears she can hear her mother’s voice in her head encouraging her. When she stands just in front of the dragon, Chase, he lowers his head. She walks around him, noticing the wings on his back and wonders if he can fly, how his scales are so black they reflect the moonlight. When she comes back around to the front of him, she reaches out and touches his arm. Violca thinks it would be rough, but instead it’s smooth, and the muscles under her hand, contract.
Looking up, she sees him watching her. “Chase?” His name comes out like a question and his head comes down nudging her. Closing her eyes, she rubs her cheek on the dragon’s nose. Hearing someone clearing his throat, she looks up to see Scott and Eryk coming around the house.
“Eryk, we were worried about you.”
Eryk blushes, running his hand along the back of his neck. “Sorry, they lured me away before I realized what was happening.”
Brandon clears his throat, his eyes narrowing, his voice sounding rough when he finally speaks. “We need to get away from here and you need to explain what the fuck is going on.”
Scott nods. “You’re right. Let’s hurry up and get everyone’s stuff together and get out of here before they decide to come back.”
Brandon looks at the girls. “Grab what you need, we can replace your clothes.”
Violca grabs her mother’s book from the nightstand, her purse and her phone before following Sari and Angyalka to their rooms. Collecting a few books that their mother had written in, she helps them put the stuffed animals they brought into their backpacks. Noticing the look on their faces, Violca stops, going to her knees to look at them. “Hey, it is going to be okay, I promise.”
Angyalka sniffles, using her arm to wipe her nose while Sari nods, biting her lip. “Are they going to come back?”
Violca brushes her hair back. “I don’t know, sweetie, but just in case we are going to go somewhere else, okay?” Both girls nod and she smiles at them. “Okay, have we gotten all your stuffed animals? Do you need anything else?”
Both girls look around, grabbing one or two more items, putting them in their backpacks as they head into the living room where they find everyone waiting on them. The tension between them is so strong in the air, Violca actually has a hard time taking a breath.
Chase and Brandon eye each other with mistrust before Chase finally speaks up, “It’s a long drive home. I think we should head that direction and find a hotel about an hour or two from here. Get some sleep and then talk in the morning after everyone’s had a good rest.”
Brandon nods. Looking away, he grabs his bag and Angyalka. “Follow us, I think I know of a good place.”
Chapter 43
Violca watches out the window. When she hears the sound of gentle snoring, she turns to see the younger two have fallen asleep. She looks over at Brandon who is still gripping the steering wheel tightly. “How much farther?” she whispers, hoping Eva and Kati, who are sitting in the back, don’t hear her.
Brandon glances at her then runs his hand through his hair. “About an hour.” She nods, sitting back in her seat. When Brandon finally looks over at her, his voice is a hushed angry whisper, “What were you thinking walking up to that…that…”
Violca winces before saying, “Dragon.”
“Dragons don’t exist,” Brandon says between gritted teeth, shaking his head before whispering, “Neither do guys who disappear into thin air.”
Violca closes her eyes and whispers, “Neither do witches.”
Brandon reaches out and squeezes her hand. She tries to smile at him as she takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. If she told anyone what happened tonight, they would put her in a straight jacket and throw away the key. She would not believe anyone, she barely believes it and she was there.
Brandon drives for another hour before pulling off at a hotel that has a view of the highway and takes cash. Telling her to stay in the car, he gets out and talks to Chase. When they disappear into the office, she hears Kati from the back whispering, “V, who were those guys?”
Violca turns in her chair, seeing Kati and Eva both watching her. “I don’t know.” She answers truthfully. “But we will find out.”
Brandon comes back, opening the door and getting in. “We got the two rooms at the end.” Starting the van, he drives around to the closest spot to their room and looks back at the sleeping girls in the middle. “Our rooms are adjoining, figured we could sleep in one and the girls in the other.” He points toward the SUV. “They are in the room next to us.”
Nodding, she gets out, and opening the side door to the van, she reaches in and picks up Sari. “Eva, can you carry Angyalka for me?”
Laying her sister down o
n the bed farthest from the window, Violca removes Sari’s shoes. Once Eva lies down, adjusts Angyalka in the bed, and Violca covers the two, the adjoining door opens. “Eva and Kati, I hope you don’t mind but I thought you two could sleep in here with your sisters and share the other bed. Your sister and I will sleep in this room, the door will stay open just in case.”
Eva and Kati both nod and he smiles at them. “I know it will be hard, but let’s get some sleep.”
Violca follows Brandon into the other room, sighing when she sits on a bed. “Try to get some sleep,” Brandon says, lying on top of his blankets. Kicking off her shoes before lying down, Violca closes her eyes. Violca does not think she will be able to fall asleep, but soon her eyes grow heavy as sleep takes her.
Scott paces in the room. His cat wanted out as soon as Kati was in danger. His skin is itchy with his desire to change. Even though he has not claimed Kati as his own, his desire to protect her is just as strong as if he has. Scott realizes that even though his human half might not have fully accepted her as his, his animal half has no such reservations.
“How long do you think until they try again?” Eryk asks, drawing everyone’s attention.
Chase shrugs. “Not long, I messaged Viktor on the way here, he says to take the girls to the house. They have reports on where Dmitri is hiding, and Viktor went with some of his guards to see if they can capture him.”
Scott watches Chase glance at the window. “I am going to go for a run and check the surrounding area.”
Not waiting for an answer, Scott heads outside. At this exit there is only the hotel, a mom and pop restaurant and a gas station. There is also a service road that runs between highways and connects small towns. Scott walks around the hotel. Heading off so he is out of sight, he strips and stacks his clothes neatly where he can find them later and quickly shifts into his panther. Turning his head, he can smell Kati in her room and his cat lets out a low whine. Staying in the long grass, he runs along the highway for several miles on alert for anything out of the ordinary.
