Demon Day

by Penelope Fletcher

  He became completely still. Then with a savage snarl of triumph Breandan’s mouth crashed down on mine.

  My need for him escalated into frenzy and I wound my fingers in his hair, sighed in pleasure as the pressure shifted. It was no longer pressing down on me from every angle, but had surged inside to writhe under my skin. Now I had to appease the bond my joining with my mate.

  I unfurled, a wildflower opening to the sunlight. His sunlight. My thoughts broke apart, scattered like whispers on the wind before they zapped together and pushed me higher, sending me unbidden thoughts of how we would look, bodies entwined, and hands greedily sliding over bared skin. Through our bond we connected so the slide of flesh on flesh and gasp of breath across wet lips was intensified by feeding off each other’s reaction to each stroke, each mindless caress.

  His lean body shimmered under my hands, hard flesh pearlescent. He traced his strong hands over my curves as if I were delicate, then simply took hold of my wrists, pinned them to my side, and held me as I strained forward, offering everything.

  My thunderous heartbeat raced faster with every touch and caress. Each breathless moan had our connection growing and increasing in poignancy.

  The world was awash with translucent color. Splashes of red clashed with violent blue and glossy purple. Sensation became a sound, the soft sigh of his hand as it left my wrist and grasped my waist. His thoughts a physical torment that battered my senses.

  His eyes – usually silvery-blue and sparkly – were opaque, flat cobalt, and smoldering.

  I embraced the madness, did not dwell on how outrageous it was I could need him more than the air dragged into my lungs that was released in a shuddering breath as his teeth grazed over my neck.

  The darkness within me throbbed, threatened to blot out the light. I pushed it away from me, turned away from its welcoming coolness, and threw myself into the hedonistic flames of Breandan’s light.

  His mouth skimmed my chin and hungrily latched onto mine. He pressed me into the wall. At the dominant display, my nature flared and responded becoming submissive and malleable. My body went languid; muscles tense yet easily manipulated. His hand drifted down to brush my breast. I gasped and tugged on his hold. I equally wanted to cover myself and drag my clothes off.

  He let me go unconsciously offering me the choice. I laced my fingers around his neck.

  In the end, his fervent kiss undid me. I could feel his hunger as his tongue lashed mine yet his hands ravaged me with such care I felt safety like I had never known.

  Soon my trousers were pushed down my hips. I kicked one pant leg off, too absorbed to bother with the other and I fumbled with the laces at Breandan’s waist. His mouth found mine again. He hosted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. The friction between our bodies was maddening, torturous.

  My breathing deepened and his eyes glazed over. Yet, his movement slowed, almost like what was happening was dawning on him. I was too hungry for this to slow down. If it slowed, we would start to think. Thought was bad, very bad. In fact, if I could feel like this forever instead of ever having a single coherent though ever again that would be damn fine.

  I grabbed his head and pulled him back to me. Our teeth smashed together painfully and he grunted but readjusted himself and took control. He deepened the kiss and gripped my hips, tore away to lean back and look me in the eye. Ready? His voice was thick with desire in my mind. I responded with my body. I tightened my legs as my stomach clenched in fear and anticipation. Breandan kissed me. I cried out in pain and pleasure as he thrust forward. I jerked back, breaking the kiss and staring at him, eyes wide. It hurt. My hands fisted on his shoulders and I locked up. Damn. Tears pricked the corner of my eyes and I tried to breathe out but the air was caught in my throat. By gods, it hurt, but my love for him was enough to numb the pain, and not have me attacking him in a panic. I was tense, dragged down from my lust-induced pedestal by the shock of it – the welcomed invasion of my body. Breandan shifted and his tongue flicked out to slide across my bottom lip. Then he kissed me, gently pressing his lips to mine as if he wanted to absorb all pain and all suffering for me. This simple gesture had me relaxing enough for a flare of heat to rack my body and turn my rigid muscles to jelly for the flare of healing heat was swiftly followed by a ripple of pleasure.

  The pain was gone. He fit beautifully, and a sensation, hot and deep pushed me somewhere I had never dared to hope I would glimpse. Not before this fairy came into my life and changed everything.

  I felt our bond expand, flutter then contract, locking itself tightly in the core of me, chaining my soul to him for the rest of my life. It made me happy, content, and nothing could make the moment more perfect or wonderful.

  Breandan’s back rippled under my hands. Gasping, I jerked back. He groaned, and pressed his forehead to mine. His body quaked violently before surging forward as a loud ripping sound was almost drowned by the harsh cry he shouted into my shoulder.

  I watched in utter shock and amazement when wings, a luminous gray so pale they matched the whitish silver of his eyes, unfolded from Breandan’s back.

  They uncoiled, fluttered behind him. Thick and wide they were like mine, their many segments shimmering and light bluish veins webbed throughout. They were gossamer thin yet sucked up the moonlight, intensified it, and threw it back in a prism of brilliant light. Breandan glowed like the sun. When his pinions had extended to their full length he faltered, and we slid down the wall some as he panted.

  I clutched his face between my hands and peppered his face with kisses, tears in my eyes. My tail snaked around his thigh before coming into contact with his, and I laughed in joy, tugging on its end playfully.

  Breandan chuckled then pushed us back up the wall and bracketed me with his arms. He crushed his lips on mine, and I kissed him back as ferociously.

  The pleasure warming my lower stomach grew; got hotter. It was harder to breathe, harder to think straight. His kiss swept away any doubt this was meant to be. The way he said my name as he moved inside me left me aching for his love.

  Pained, delirious, and drunk on passion I scored my nails down his sides. He bit my shoulder hard enough to draw blood and I moaned. Pinned between a rock and a damn hard place my body was under an assault of sound, touch, and taste. Mmmm, taste. I licked his shoulder and dragged in a lungful of his scent; sunlight, soil, and a native wildness that spoke to me in a hushed whisper. Everything was foreign. I was thrilled with the excitement of it. Knowing what we did was breaking the rules, but that it was going to happen regardless.

  My fingertips tingled and my stomach clenched. He was in the zone, lost in me.

  The pleasure took a steep and sudden accent to the realm of the amazing. Eyes wide my fingers flexed then my grip on his shoulders tightened even as my muscles contracted.

  He paused and held himself taut, waiting. He took a series of short sharp breaths and his entire body quivered as he shifted. That small shift of his hips made everything urgent.

  “Do it,” I gasped. “I’m yours.” I leaned forward to bite his bottom lip.

  He thrust forward again then roared, pushing forward and sending my body shunting back. Grazing my cheek on the wall behind me, I shattered, and my shout was soundless.

  The pressure exploded from under my skin, leaving my body blissfully weightless and tingly.

  Though my eyes were wide, I saw nothing but a brilliant radiance. A colorful rainbow tinted with electric blue and purple, a violent explosion of glitter and sparkles, a rainbow cloud of power that sucked up the air to push it out in a mighty breath. I gasped. Coming back to myself, enough air in my lungs to carry the sound, I screamed, the crystalline sound infused with passion. Light. Heat. Colour. Sound. The crushing melody of snapping metal and crumbling stone was heard under the roar of his heart racing mine. Shaking, my entire body shook. Everything heaved and churned. The ground shook in a tumult, the building quaked, the wall behind me disappeared. A sudden jolt vibrated so forcefully my teeth chattered. Li
ght exploded in front of my eyes. I swear the earth moved and groaned beneath us and everything shuddered.

  The world fell apart around us and I did not care. I was warm in his arms – safe in his arms. We were together, our bodies at peace and entwined together.

  I buried my head into Breandan’s shoulder and rubbed my cheek against the curve as his wings closed around me.

  The light cut out and it was utterly dark.

  Chapter Seven

  At first neither of us moved, chests heaving. The relief in such a reunion was too extraordinary to bear.

  Face rapturous, Breandan clasped my neck and pulled my head forward to press his forehead to my own. My hands rested on his chest, balled up into fists at the dishonor. How easily I had been prepared to give this up in the cage.

  “Everything you are belongs to me,” he rasped, enveloping me in his arms to crush me to him. “You’re mine.”

  His wings flexed behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder, eyeing them thoughtfully. His tail twisted around then flicked side to side purposefully. “Oh,” he said and made an amused humming noise low in his throat.

  I briefly remembered how I had reacted when I got my wings and tail. I’d screamed, and it had taken a sharp slap to calm me down. My fairy simply said, ‘oh’.

  He set me down on my feet, keeping a tight grip on my waist. His gaze was soft, caressing, and had returned to luminous silver. I gazed up at him, breathless and dazed.

  Then my eyes wandered away from his face and I balked, my stomach plummeting.

  The human Temple would now forever only be a memory. Devastation. The wall behind me was gone. Sanctuary was gone. The courtyard was … gone … nothing but piles of rubble, some chunks no bigger than my fist.

  My mouth swung open as I peered through the settling dust to take in the ruin laid to waste around us. Is this what our love – our bond – had to offer the world, the complete annihilation of everything that dared to stand in its path?

  As the haze cleared my actions before our tryst returned to me. Suddenly, I cared again. With a sickening flash of clarity I saw myself, wild eyed, and crazed hurling my magic at Ana as she wavered on her knees, trying to protect people so they could flee from us.

  So, this was it? I was reduced to nothing more than a battering ram of need and until I got my fix from the bond. How the hell were we supposed to control something like this? What would have happened if Ana, Conall, or anyone had not managed to flee in time?

  Oh gods. Such a bond should not be possible, and wielded by one such as I.

  “We are to destroy everything,” I whispered.

  Breandan breathed in deeply and seemed almost concerned as he looked out on what remained of the Temple. “This is not discreet,” he muttered. “We will deal with the consequences, together.”

  His grip on my waist tightened and I winced. Lochlann would be … mad. Breandan made a sound of frustration and knelt down to untwist my trousers and help me back into them. I rested my hands on his shoulders to steady myself.

  I lifted my head, and the small smile teasing the corners of my mouth at the idea of us, together, dropped.

  Tomas stood on the edge of the courtyard staring at us. His hands were loose at his sides and had I not been able to see his face, frozen in an expression of wrath, I would have thought him relaxed. His eyes were black, brows drawn together, and lips pulled back to show his fangs. Blood ran down his chin and his clothes were ripped where he had been fighting. He had lost the gaunt, starved look, and his cheeks were plump rather than caved in. He had fed well and looked better for it.

  “He just arrived,” Breandan murmured as he tugged my trousers over my hips. He pulled me in and kissed my brow. “He saw nothing.”

  “But enough to cause him pain,” I replied quietly.

  Stepping around Breandan I took a step toward Tomas, but his look of anger turned to one of anguish and he shook his head. He briskly walked off until he turned and was hidden behind a collapsed outer building.

  He was still close, I could feel the darkness comforting him, but his message to me was clear, so I respected his wishes, and I did not run after him.

  I entwined my fingers with my fairy and leaned my head on his shoulder, enjoying the feel of him. I did not feel guilty about Tomas, or sorry, but sad it had come to this, and wretched that he had to see Breandan and me that way so soon after I had set him straight on the way I felt. I had told him exactly what Breandan meant to me and my consciousness was clean. I cared for Tomas deeply, but not enough to ever consider turning my back on Breandan. Not again. Never in this lifetime would I put him through that uncertainty again.

  From the rubble and smoke came more demons I knew and I exhaled so sharply my entire body slumped.

  Oh gods, thank you.

  It was the crouched figure ambling behind the shifter twins – who still looked fierce, even naked, and in human form – that caught my attention first. He had a black eye, a split lip, and a few bruises across his ribs, but was otherwise unharmed. He started over to me in that odd lurching amble, but stopped abruptly when he focused on Breandan standing beside me holding my hand.

  My fairy sighed. “Rae, must you befriend every stray demon you find?”

  I blinked up at him innocently.

  Giving me an exasperated look, Breandan extended his arm. Runt shied away, scooting around him to reach me. He touched his head to my shoulder, and I patted his dusty baldhead fondly. I was so proud of him – he had fought like a demon.

  Breandan swiveled on his heel nimbly and offered his arm again, managing to send me a disparaging look even as he softly said, “I won’t hurt you, but if you’re afraid of me this will not work. I’ll have you sent away.”

  I scowled. “He’s just–”

  He held up his palm to silence me. “This is up to you, goblin. Only the strong can stand with us.”

  Runt took Breandan in slowly then his back straightened and his chin lifted. My eyes got wide when Runt had reached his full height – my height – and jerked his head in an odd bow at Breandan. He blinked his huge orb-like eyes at me, spread his thick lips in an ugly smile before his body curved back in on itself, and he ambled off to go stand beside Amelia.

  Byron had come to stand behind his daughters and a placed a hand on their shoulders. Lines of strain that had been around his mouth had eased somewhat. The scar that slashed through his eye crinkled as he cracked a brief, but delighted smile to have his children safe.

  Alec and Maeve wandered back next. He had her safe in his arms, and jumped down off a high pile of bricks, landing heavily. She giggled, squeezed her eyes closed, and wrapped her arms round his neck to steady herself, legs kicking gently.

  They both looked okay from what I could tell. Alec had a dark red sticky spot on the corner of his temple, and some of his hair, left shoulder was drenched in blood. Otherwise, he looked okay. Maeve looked better than fine to me, only flushed and missing some amour plates.

  At least Alec had managed to find some trousers. Byron and the shifter twins were completely bare, and I had to focus hard on their faces to keep myself from blushing. No body else seemed bothered. Clearly, the demons did not have the same issue with nakedness as I did, but I supposed that was down to my human nurturing.

  The Omega’s eyes were wide as they took in Maeve’s green skin and fiery hair. Her lids slowly fluttered open and her red irises locked with his amber ones that shone admiringly.

  “Hell,” I muttered. “How are we going to explain this to Lochlann?”

  Breandan eyed me then his sister. He shrugged. “I do not understand.”

  I waved my hand to where Maeve and Alec stared at each other – completely absorbed in nothing and no one, but each other.

  Alec smiled and Maeve blushed prettily.

  “Maeve?” I called and could not keep the smile from my face. “What are you doing here?”

  She beamed at me and waved back, her small hand blurring she shook it so fast. “When Breandan and
Conall knew you had been taken they sent Alec to appeal Lochlann for followers to help rescue you. So here I am.”

  I was stunned. “Lochlann sent you?”

  She shrugged and looked away. “You are important, Rae.” She looked back at me, grinning evilly. “And you really needed rescuing.”

  Alec snorted and she elbowed him. “She’s tricking you all.” Maeve gave a breathy gasp. She scrambled in his arms and tried to put her hands over his mouth. “I didn’t make it further than the outskirts before she cornered me and made me tell why I was on Wyld land.” Alec shifted her about in his arms then tickled her sides. She squealed and kicked her legs, laughing. “I was coerced into telling all I knew. When she had what she needed from me she was off, and I struggled to keep up.” He pulled her into his chest, smiling, and she hugged him to her in return.

  Nimah narrowed her eyes at them and moved forward. Amelia caught her shoulder, and the younger twin froze, pouted.

  “I guessed as much,” Breandan said. “Lochlann would not have sent our sister.”

  “I am old enough to make my own choices,” Maeve said in her high chime abruptly serious. “It was better this way, Breandan. Lochlann is still upset with you both.” Her gaze flicked between us, rested on Breandan’s wings. “And now the bond is sealed he will feel betrayed.” Her small hand waved at the damage around us. “This is not discreet.”

  Alec coughed into her hair, but I saw the grin he tried to hide.

  I frowned. “We did try. I mean, Lochalnn has to accept this now, right? I can understand he hoped I would choose to stand by his side as his mate, that I would break the bond. But the simple fact is I didn’t want to.” I looked at Breandan. “My heart was lost the moment I saw Breandan. Nothing and no one can change that. It is done.”

  And I was happy, content. I had no doubts this was how it was meant to be.

  “Nothing I do will make him think well of me.” Breandan sounded so sad I took his hand, and our bond soothed him.

  The fairy-girl was not the slightest bit swayed by how forlorn he looked. “Gods be damned, brother, you must swallow your pride and apologize. Always are you stubborn. You are in the wrong this time, not him.”