A Demon's Dark Embrace: An Elite Guards Novel (17 page)

Fuck it; he wanted her and even if he shouldn’t be doing this, he couldn’t help it. He glamoured a bed and carried her to it, her hands pulling at his hair as she deepened the kiss. He moaned, her hungry mouth containing and devouring the sound.

His knees hit the bed and he crawled across the mattress without setting her down. He used her weight as he shifted his body beneath hers so she could straddle him, before he finally broke the kiss. Their breathing was labored and heavy; her nipples were hard, and begged to be bitten and teased. His head rested on the pillows as he brought both hands up to where she sat straddled on him. His cock pulsed between her legs, yet he hadn’t forced himself inside of her. His hands cupped the heavy weight of her breasts before his thumbs trailed softly over her taut nipples.

She moaned and arched into his touch, her pussy already wet from just their shared contact and kiss. He leaned up, claiming one nipple with his mouth before he flicked his tongue over it. He smiled against it as she groaned loudly and rocked her hips against his throbbing cock. She pushed him down and he smiled up at her, right up until she leaned over to lick his nipple ring and pulled on it with her teeth.

He swore that piece of jewelry shared a nerve with his cock, because it sent fire swirling through his belly, which made his cock hard enough that he could have come right then. He moaned as she carefully explored him, her shyness only adding to how fucking hot this was.

She snuck her tongue out and licked his nipple before her hand found the other and tested it, matching her actions to his response. Once his stomach tightened, and the hiss escaped his lips, she smiled. It wasn’t a huge smile, but an innocent one that said she was enjoying being in control, and he knew the feeling.

She lifted her head, taking in the surrounding area, and for the first time noticed that she was on a bed, outside, exposed.

“Nobody knows about this place,” he assured her, and her sapphire eyes looked down at him. He rocked his hips, reminding her of what they’d been doing before she’d discovered she was about to rock his cock in full view of nature.

She lowered her mouth and kissed him on the lips, and then deepened it as she pushed her tongue past his. He didn’t assist her; instead, he waited for her to take control again. He was in no hurry, and that was a good thing, considering how slow her seduction was.

She pulled back, and Ristan caught movement out of the corner of his eye. A hooded figure stood in the distance, watching them. Ristan glamoured clothing on himself and pushed Olivia aside. He stood and moved quickly toward the hooded figure, but before he could get close to it, the creature vanished.

“What the fuck?” he growled, and spared a glance back to make sure Olivia was safe.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Olivia continued to search through the giant room; this one was definitely masculine and, like the last room she had been imprisoned in, it bore marks showing that it belonged to Ristan. Nothing indicated that it was a guest room of any kind. The room was done in varying hues of charcoal gray, with light blue drapes that framed the single window of the room, which ran from the floor to the ceiling, as well as each end of the wall. She’d already checked the window and found it securely locked. She took note of the deep emerald greenery mixed with snow and pine trees that told her she was either back in the Pacific Northwest, or somewhere in Faery that must have similar scenery.

She’d been pushed into the room without explanation or any clothing, other than a skimpy pair of panties, and left alone for what felt like hours. He’d treated her clumsy seduction as if she’d put ants in his pants and her feelings were a bit hurt as she replayed the scene over and over in her mind. She had no damn business getting busy with him in the first place. Maybe it was best he’d stopped her before she became more attached to him.

She began her search of the room tentatively, enjoying the freedom of not being chained to the wall, even though being locked inside a beautiful room wasn’t much better. He at least remembered she was partly Human and had left a table laden with a delicious variety of foods that she’d unfortunately been too unsettled to eat.

Olivia knew she needed to find a way to get away from him; even if he was telling the truth about the children, she wasn’t safe. At least, her heart and girly parts weren’t, if she stayed around him for much longer—and that was on her and her traitorous bits and pieces.

All of the evidence of what he’d disclosed earlier pointed to him telling her the truth. Then again, all the evidence said Cyrus had been telling the truth as well, and look where that had gotten her. Ristan had brought her back here and left her so quickly that she’d assumed something was wrong, and without him being here to explain himself, her imagination took flight.

Her search of the room had yielded an eclectic assortment of books on the wide shelves, some of which had diagrams that she wasn’t sure were really physically possible, and a
Never Mind the Bollocks
Sex Pistols shirt under the bed that still carried his earthy scent. The black pine dresser in the room was void of any clothing or any other personal items, so she drew the shirt over her head to provide some sort of modesty. She continued the search for information— or a way out—for some time, continually knocking on flooring and the walls to check for hollow spots that might lead to a hidden passageway. The Guild was riddled with them, why not here? She could get lucky, find an escape route, and be gone before he even noticed she was missing.

After several hours of exhausting every possibility she could think of to escape, she eyed the bed warily and crawled into it, as she considered her wanton and uncharacteristic behavior with him earlier and the blatant rejection he’d given her. After all of the cautionary tales she’d read as she’d compiled archive after archive about the Fae, she would have thought that she wouldn’t have been drawn to a creature like him, not as much as she was anyway. She should be able to resist his charm and raw, sexual appeal. He hadn’t even pumped up his Fae powers; this was something she was aware of on a visceral level after that one awful experience in the dungeon. He could have easily taken away any choice from her at any time he wanted. He may have manipulated their encounters, but, for the most part, he allowed her to make the choice, which went against what the Guild taught.

She’d done this to herself; the desire to have him had been overpowering, and she knew she could easily use the excuse of ‘traumatic situation’, but it was really on her at the end of the day. He hadn’t even messed with her mind, as she knew he could have.

The Guild taught them about how the Fae could manipulate their minds, and take away free will, or make your body respond even if you didn’t want it to. They were powerful beings of sex, which she knew. So why was she responding to him in ways that were so unnerving and so unlike her?

She’d never had vivid sexual dreams before she’d met ‘Justin.’ Since the first moment she’d seen him, everything about him had drawn her in. She’d stopped thinking with her brain and had started allowing her hormones to lead her around. He wasn’t her happily ever after; shit, he wasn’t even Human. He was half-Demon, half-Fae, and all wrong for her. He would end this thing between them the moment she gave him the information he needed, and she would do good to remember that. She pulled the covers up to her chin and closed her eyes, exhausted at all of the different directions her mind was roaming to.

*~*~*

Ristan paced Ryder’s office as he considered just what the fuck had happened earlier. It hadn’t felt like Danu, but that didn’t make him feel any better. At least if it had been her, he’d have known who it was. She would always eventually reveal herself to him. It was part of the mind games she liked to play with him. Whoever it was hadn’t done that. Instead, they’d disappeared after watching him with Olivia, and it bothered him. Partly because he had no fucking clue who it had been.

It wasn’t Fae, of that he was sure, but what the hell was it? Why had it been there? It was his special place that he’d gone to ever since he’d discovered it by accident when he first learned that he could open portals, and now it was violated as far as he was concerned. He wasn’t sure if it was the violation of his favorite place that pissed him off or was it the timing of the intrusion as she’d been sexy as fuck with her innocent seduction.

Fuck, she’d been sexy! A bit clumsy with inexperience, and still, he’d been about to explode from just the anticipation of her sensual assault. Normally that shit didn’t send him off the deep end, but she did.

“You keep wearing a hole in my floor like that, and you’ll need to fix it,” Ryder pointed out as he entered the large study he used as an office.

“You know that place I found the first time I opened a portal?” he asked. Ryder was the only one who he’d ever told about it, in case he had a need for Ristan and couldn’t reach him. The telepathic link to his brothers while he was inside that realm was like getting cell phone reception in the middle of the mountains.

“Yes, the one just off of Flora?” Ryder asked as he took his seat and sighed heavily as a frown wrinkled his forehead. “What about it?”

“You know how I told you that I didn’t believe anyone else goes there, that every time I go; it’s only been me in that place for as far as my senses will reach?”

“Yes,” Ryder replied, his eyes finally resting on Ristan’s.

“I took her there,” he said.

“Who?” Ryder asked, his eyes narrowing slightly, the gold starting to sparkle with mirth. “Olivia?” he questioned.

“Who else? I don’t exactly have an entire ward of hostages,” Ristan growled. “Anyway,” he continued. “Turns out, I wasn’t alone with her,” he said in a deep, irritated tone.

“Someone else was there?” Ryder countered. “Who was there? Another Fae, perhaps?”

“I don’t know!” Ristan snapped.

“Ristan,” Ryder warned, as he shook his head.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch the face. I only know it was a male. It wore a cloak like what we use for the Elite Guard, yet it had a somewhat different design. The way it moved, though, it was strange. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was watching us, and I could feel it pulsing with so much power when I approached it, Ryder. It was almost similar to Danu’s—or yours, when you let that shit leak—and I only felt curiosity coming from the creature, not malice or danger. I didn’t need to even touch it to feel it.”

“And you’re sure the creature wasn’t Fae?”

“I’m sure,” Ristan replied as he finally took his seat. “It means I’m wrong about that place, and if there is a breach there, I wonder if that might be one of the places the Mages are gaining access through.”

“We’ve always known that Faery had a few natural portals; Lucian and others of his kind have used them on occasion. Angels have also passed through them into our world, but only those who are fallen. Like Elijah.”

“You think it could be one of his people?” Ristan asked as he considered it.

“No,” Ryder squashed it quickly, “but I do think our newly discovered half-brother should be watched. He’s half-Angel, albeit a fallen one; he’s been asking quite a few questions about you and the girl that you brought in with you from the Guild.”

“Why the fuck would he be asking about her?” Ristan demanded. It was one thing for him to ask about Ristan; he was half-Demon in the company of High Fae, which would be an oddity in itself to any outsiders, but Olivia?

“I have our brothers watching him. It could just be curiosity to see how we respond to traitors,” Ryder said. “He was present the night we brought you both back, and he would have seen her then. Back to the hooded figure: You think it could be a Mage?”

“No,” Ristan said softly as he pulled his mind from why Elijah would want to know about his woman.
His woman?
What the fuck? Why had that even popped into his head? He didn’t have one woman, he had many and often. He stood up abruptly and turned to the door, his mind in an uproar at his sudden anger at himself.

He was growing attached to the little Witch, and that wasn’t an option. Shit, he’d let her control their play while some sick, twisted fuck watched it! Wait, he’d watched a lot of fucking in his days, so maybe…Nope, he was sick and twisted too.

“Ristan,” Ryder called as he opened the door to leave.

“It wasn’t Mages; there was no hostility, only curiosity—and something else I can’t pinpoint.”

“Good,” Ryder said as he stood to his full height and stretched. “Zahruk said the party plans are in full gear, and that you managed to stop by and get things set up for them. Are you planning on attending as well? Synthia would miss you and worry if you aren’t there, and as you know, she has enough to worry about.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said softly. “Besides, it’s a family thing.”

“That it is,” Ryder replied with a boyish smirk on his face, which made Ristan breathe easier.

“I’ll be there with bells on if it makes Synthia smile,” he said in reply. He, of course, would need to figure out what to do with his little captive; the idea of that much time away from her was worrying, but it wouldn’t be right for him to be a no-show after helping put the plan to lift Synthia’s spirits in motion. He’d also used a very old, very powerful spell to hide his and Olivia’s signature trails leading to his home. It wouldn’t work to completely hide her from Danu, but it would make it harder to find. He just hoped Danu was too busy with her own concerns, like a wayward, estranged husband, to take too much interest his captive—for the time being.

*~*~*

The Witch in question was fast asleep when Ristan returned. Her hair was mussed and framed her face, which told him she’d tossed and turned as she finally passed out. He’d brought her to his place in the mountains, rather than back to his quarters at Ryder’s mansion outside of Spokane, because if she did manage to escape, she couldn’t get very far. From this room, she’d only assume she was back in the Pacific Northwest, when, in fact she was deep inside Olympic National Park. 

He’d created this safe haven long ago, and no one knew of this place except for a select few of his brothers, because it was his. He loved being able to watch the wildlife that was thick in this part of Washington, which often reminded him how similar the Human and the Fae worlds could be at times.

With a simple flick of his hand, he turned on The Eagles’
Hotel California
, ensuring it was playing low enough that it wouldn’t wake the sleeping beauty currently wrapped in a Sex Pistols T-shirt that he must have missed, and who looked too good in it at the moment.

He took a seat on the small sofa, noting that everything in the room was messed with since she’d probably spent most of the afternoon looking for an exit. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, expelling a deep breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

He didn’t think he’d fallen asleep, and he was pretty sure he wasn’t in a vision. His sight cleared to reveal Olivia still asleep in the room behind him and before him was a nightmarish place that he never wanted to see again. An imposing being, or man, that was about Ristan’s same height, with shoulder length black hair that was only a bit shorter than his own, was sitting on a throne, one that was composed of living souls. His eyes were alight with laughter, as he watched Ristan process the place he’d brought him to.

“What the fuck, Lucian?” Ristan finally asked after he’d seen enough.

Humans who must have sold their souls to him were chained together and moaning as pain overtook them. Some were bleeding from what looked like welts, but Ristan knew enough about Lucian to know he didn’t get off on the pain of others. Lucifer did.

“Why the fuck did you bring me here, of all places?” he asked as Lucian just watched him closely.

“Vlad said you needed me. Was he wrong?” Lucian asked.

“I thought I did, but I have it under control,” Ristan lied as he continued to watch the souls behind Lucian. Perhaps asking Vlad to bring Lucian into his problems with Danu wasn’t the best idea.

“You’re a curious one; you resist feeding from souls the way your brethren do, but why? You’re born to devour them, as I am not. I partake in it freely, and you restrain yourself. Does the Demon within scare you?”

“I’m half-Fae; I prefer to fuck for food,” Ristan said calmly, unwilling to show any weakness to Lucian. He knew more than he should about Ristan, but he didn’t know everything. No one did. That was the way he preferred it to stay.

“You shouldn’t hold back what you truly are,” he said as his eyes appraised Olivia. “Her soul on the black market would command a very high price,” he mused, ignoring Ristan’s growl as it sounded. “I could resolve your Goddess issues by taking her off your hands. Problem solved and you wouldn’t even owe me,” he offered as though he was doing Ristan some kind of favor. 

“That’s not an option,” Ristan snapped. “She’s mine.”

“You could always join me, and leave your brothers, who smother the potential you have. If you did, she’d be forced to leave you alone, or pay a very steep price,” he countered. 

“Never,” Ristan snorted at his suggestion. “I would never leave Ryder’s side.”

“That’s a pity,” he said as he turned his midnight eyes on Ristan and smiled coldly. “Especially with the Guild calling for blood—any blood, really,” he continued. “Fanatical fucks. They wouldn’t know a snake if they had one crawling up their asses.”

“But you would,” Ristan said with narrowed eyes. “You’ve got something going on; what’s your plan?” he asked.

“I have my own Demons, in a manner of speaking, to fight,” Lucian said with no emotion on his face. “Women are fickle creatures. Are they not?”

Ristan shook his head at Lucian’s sudden switch of topics. “That’s a given,” he replied easily as his eyes raked over Olivia’s sleeping form. “I didn’t think you would come here just to talk about women,” he added.

“No, I expect you didn’t, but that’s why I am here. You think I’m not aware of what you need? I believe you are looking for a safe location to contain your mother, and another for your little sexual hunger games with this one, no?” he said with a bored look.

“Yes,” Ristan replied, “I could use some help getting my mother to a safe place, where she can’t cause trouble. This one I just need for a bit.”

“Perhaps when you’ve finished with this one, you’ll find my offer more agreeable,” Lucian proposed, and smirked as Ristan’s face flushed with anger. “I need a certain box found; my informant tells me it’s currently buried under the rubble in the catacombs of what used to be the Spokane Guild. The Guild itself is warded against my kind of Demon, as you know. Not yours, though, which is curious, no? I need that box, and I need it to be sealed when it’s delivered to me,” he continued.

“Is that so?” he asked. “What’s inside the box?”

“Pandora,” Lucian said with a wicked glint in his eyes.

“You expect me to hand you a box with that answer?” Ristan asked.