[Phantom Warriors 01] Bacchus (3 page)

“God, you smell so good, succulent and sweet, definitely good enough to eat. And I

intend to devour you, then lick you dry.” With that, he lowered his face and began

nibbling her quim. “You’re incredible. Plump, fresh and juicy like the perfect pussy

should be,” he murmured between strokes. “I can’t seem to get enough of you.” He

flicked his tongue over her engorged clit, exposing a small gold ring, which sparkled in

the sunlight.

“Please, Ryan.” She groaned, her skin glistening with a sheen of sweat.

Bacchus was convinced he’d explode if he moved a muscle. He’d never seen such a

ring on a woman. He wanted to explore its round surface with his mouth, slide a fang

into the opening and tug. Taste the flesh beneath it.

Ryan flicked his tongue over the adornment. The woman gasped, her hips rising

from the bed. Bacchus knew now what held the Earth man enthralled. The ring added to

her pleasure, heightening her need, made her crave his cock.

“I want you to fuck me,” she begged.

Ryan laughed, a pain-filled sound that told Bacchus the man had reached the end of

his control. “I’ll do that, right after I hear you scream out my name when I give you

another orgasm.”

Ryan dipped his head and began to feed upon her flesh. Sucking and licking sounds

filled the air, tormenting Bacchus worse than any suffering he’d ever experienced during

the course of war.

The woman’s body clenched and a keening cry ripped from her lungs as she bowed

off the bed. Ryan drank her juices as they flowed from her body onto his chin. He teased

the ring on her clit, drawing out the last ripples of release. His fingers followed the dark

strip of hair between her spread thighs, petting her flesh for a job well done. Ryan

reached for a foil wrapper he’d placed on the bedside table before entering the shower.

Bacchus stepped closer to see what the man held. Horror filled him as Ryan slid the

object over his shaft then plunged inside the woman. Bacchus wasn’t sure if sheathing

one’s cock was part of the human mating ritual, but if so, he wanted no part of it. He

longed to plant his seed deep inside his mate, not catch it for safekeeping.

Ryan’s movements slowed as he rocked his hips back and forth, sending his shaft

spearing into the woman’s entrance. “You are beautiful. You know that?” he asked on an

upward thrust.

She shook her head.

“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.” Their gazes locked.

The woman giggled. “You probably say that to all the women, but it’s nice to hear.”

Ryan’s brow furrowed. “No, I don’t. I say very little actually. We exchange

pleasantries, perhaps a drink or two, then I fuck them once and leave. No fuss. No mess.

No complications.”

Bacchus stood near the wall, shocked to hear the man’s confessions. The beings on

this planet were mad. That could be the only explanation for the Ryan’s actions.

“So, is that what you’ve got planned for us?” Her voice quieted in anticipation of his

answer.

Bacchus waited too, anger surging through his body. If the man replied the wrong

way, he’d materialize and make him very, very sorry. No one discarded a woman who

so willingly laid herself bare. Did this fool not realize how precious they were?

Ryan’s jaw clenched and unclenched a few times. Finally, he spoke. “At first, yeah.”

“And now? Have you changed your mind?”

He scrubbed a hand over his stubbled face. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I

sure as hell don’t have a plan, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t want to talk about it.

Not when we have better things to concentrate on.”

Bacchus left the room, but chose to remain close, ignoring the hunger growing inside

him. He wanted to ensure the woman’s safety and well-being. The couple made love on

and off, stopping only long enough to eat and shower. He knew a confrontation would

occur as the need to bond grew. It was only a matter of time.

Ryan and the woman slipped out of the room on the second day to stroll down the

beach to the Santa Monica Pier. There was talk of taking the woman’s car up north later

that night to attend a friend’s wedding. Ryan’s car would remain in the lot to keep his

mileage low. Whatever that meant, Bacchus thought as he watched them go. Envy filled

his chest.

If they planned to take the woman’s vehicle, then Ryan would not be in need of his

for at least a couple of days. Bacchus smiled as he realized his transport problems were

solved. He took the opportunity to rummage through the closet, finding a pair of jeans

and a T-shirt he could wear. Ryan had ordered the clothing from a place called “the gift

shop” and had it delivered like their meals. It would be a tight fit, but should work until

Bacchus obtained the proper clothing down the road at the open-air market at Venice

Beach.

He morphed his appearance to lessen the red of his eyes and pulled his long black

hair into a queue at the nape of his neck. With Ryan’s imminent departure came a

newfound urgency. Jill would be alone soon, whether she knew it or not.

Bacchus slipped Ryan’s car key off his key ring, then dropped them back onto the

table. He shoved some of the replicator-created money the Atlantean queen had ordered

printed, so Zaronians could purchase items on the planet, into his pockets. He didn’t

bother to walk through the wall this time. ‘Twas time to blend in and adhere to Earth

customs. Bacchus opened the door and slipped outside.

The woman would be safe in Ryan’s presence, even though the demons of guilt over

not being able to save his friend haunted him daily. Bacchus understood loss all too

well, but that didn’t excuse the man’s treatment of Jill. Ryan had selfishly moved on with

his life by choosing to bed another. With Bacchus’ patience and assistance, Jill would

move on as well.

He found the car and followed the highway south, heading to the palm tree-lined

area Jill called home. Driving ended up being a bit more difficult than it first appeared

from viewing Ryan, but Bacchus eventually got the hang of it.

He learned to wave with one hand while honking and steering with the other, just

like the drivers who passed him. Bacchus still didn’t quite understand why they’d put

that red octagon-shaped sign on the side of the road. It now sat in his back seat, along

with a couple of orange cones, the car’s bumper and a small pine tree. It shouldn’t have

been planted so close to the sidewalk, anyway.

Bacchus arrived as darkness descended upon the neighborhood. Finding things in

Los Angeles was difficult with its one-way streets here, no entrance areas there. He’d

barely missed the man holding the “slow traffic ahead” sign. If he hadn’t dived out of

the way into the pile of dirt nearby, Bacchus would’ve flattened his feet. He could still

hear the man’s curses ringing in his ears and see his raised fist punching the air. Luckily,

Bacchus had made it and the car was still in two pieces.

He slipped out of Ryan’s borrowed clothes, folding them neatly on the leather seat

beside him before killing the engine. Bacchus sat in the car for a few minutes, listening

to the sounds of the night. His forked tongue darted out of his mouth so he could scent

the air. The streets were relatively quiet, except for the constant hum of traffic on the

freeways in the distance. Nearby dogs barked as underground sprinklers sprouted to

life.

Bacchus could hear stereos thumping alien music, couples making love, murmuring

television sets, yet no ocean. His ears strained as he searched for the gentle lapping of

the distant waves. There it was, buried beneath the cacophony of existence. He stepped

out of the vehicle, his feet falling silently on the pavement, and faded into the darkness.

Shrubs lined Jill’s small yard, creating a green wall of privacy around her little white

home. Fragrant flowers surrounded the windowsills, their red and yellow blooms

adding a burst of color to the otherwise plain palette.

Neat and obviously well tended, the space was cozy and seemed to fit the

personality Ryan assigned to her. Curious, Bacchus allowed his image to solidify. He

stood in the shadows, searching the windows for any sign of life.

Would she look like the woman Ryan created in his mind? Would she have short

brown hair and a pixie face?

Then Bacchus saw her. Like taking an Atlantean energy blast to the gut, the air

rushed from his lungs in a whoosh. Jill flicked the light switch on, illuminating her fair

skin under the soft glow.

She’d changed her hair since Ryan had last seen her. It was now shoulder-length and

blonde, without a trace of the brown that had been there before. Tiny boned but long of

limb, she moved with the grace of a gazelle as she walked from room to room, lights

twinkling on in her wake. She stopped in the main area, a rolled magazine grasped in

her hand. Jill brought the pages to her mouth and began to sing into it. She tossed her

head back as she held a long note, while her hips swayed in time to the beat.

Bacchus stared, gaping, unable to look away. Blood rushed from his head straight to

his cock as she dropped the magazine and bent over to pick it up off the floor. She held

it in her hand, carefully unfurling it, before placing it onto a side table. Bacchus knew

without looking that his eyes glowed red to match the heat churning inside him. He

could
feel
the color as it surged through his body, demanding release.

The need to possess this woman was strong, but he fought his instincts. He couldn’t

exactly march in and demand she mate with him. He didn’t even know if it were even

possible. Beyond that, Bacchus knew he would scare her to death in his current

condition and that was the last thing he wanted. He needed Jill to come to him willingly

in order for the blood bond to work. This was going to take careful planning, not a direct

assault. He hated the idea of deceiving her, but what choice did he have? The future of

his people depended on his success with this fragile woman.

Tiny lines bracketed her mouth as she pursed her lips into an “O” and began to

whistle. The sound tore through him, slicing into his flesh while imbedding in his soul.

His gaze remained locked on her enticing lips as they puffed out in order for her to

blow. Bacchus longed to cover her mouth and capture the sound, draw it deep into his

body for safekeeping.

His three-inch fangs unfurled without warning. Sudden hunger beat at his brow. He

brought his hands to his temples and rubbed as he followed the curve of her mouth

down to her chin and over to her throat. Bacchus could hear her blood pumping just

below the surface of her milky skin. It called to him, demanding that he taste her

essence.

Bacchus swallowed hard, fighting the urge to mark her as his own. He needed to be

sure Jill and the other females like her were compatible with his people. The only way to

do that was to get close, but not tonight.

Tonight was for observing. A breeze filtered over his skin. He watched her for

another two hours. She sat on the couch, laughing at a television show he didn’t

understand. The yellow cartoon characters appeared to be some kind of family with a

particularly unruly son. Bacchus glared at the screen. If that boy were his child, he’d

spend his time in the fields picking crystals until he learned how to behave and stop

mistreating his sister, Lisa.

* * * * *

Jill watched her favorite show, feeling the quiet press in around her. John had

brought the house to life with his raucous behavior. Always one to pull childish pranks,

he kept her in stitches of laughter during his visits. She missed him dearly, but the pain

wasn’t quite as acute as it had been. Even Ryan’s sudden desertion nine months ago

didn’t hurt as much as she’d expected. Jill wasn’t sure what that said about their

relationship and her feelings for him. This was the man she’d planned to marry, after all.

She had always thought that she’d been in love with Ryan, but lately…

The skin on the back of her neck prickled and heated, something it had been doing

for the past hour. Jill glanced out her living room window into her front yard. Darkness

met her, the shadows clinging to the bushes particularly dense for this time of night. Her

eyes strained to penetrate the inky mass.

No movement came beyond the hiss and spray of the sprinkler system. There was

nothing to explain the sudden wave of hyper-awareness coursing through her body or

the heaviness in her breasts. She gave the darkness one last glance, before dismissing it

as an overactive imagination and settling back in her chair. She looked down at the front

of her shirt, noting her pebbled nipples. This was one more indication that she needed to

get out, start dating again.

Jill pursed her lips in thought. Perhaps, she’d look into moving. She wasn’t sure

where she’d go yet, but a change of scenery would probably do her some good. It would

certainly be easy enough to sell the house, since she was only a few miles from the

beach. With the money she’d make from the sale, it wouldn’t be a problem to start over.

Maybe she would even take the time to get back into her original field of study,

herpetology. Not that there was anything wrong with training and breeding dogs, but