Richard: Blood Brotherhood – Erotic Paranormal Dark Fantasy Romance (11 page)

“Hector, it wasn’t your fault. None of this was. And you changing me when you did.... Well, had you not, I would not have met Skylar and the rest of the Brotherhood. I cannot thank you enough for that.”

“At one time you wished for me to die and to leave you in peace.” Remy nodded and smiled. “You saved my life more than I changed anything in yours. Had you not taken my son that day and worked so hard for all of us, there would be no Ruben nor myself. This world, too, would be nearly as destroyed as my own is. You are a great man, Rembrandt. In that, I have to say I was right.”

“You are a good man as well, Hector. But we are getting upset over something that we don’t know will happen. Skylar and I, we have spoken with Ryiah as well. She is…I think once she has more confidence in herself, she will be able to take on Benton all on her own. She’s scary like Skylar and the rest of them are. And I don’t want to think of things like new worlds until we have this one in better shape than it is at the moment.” Hector agreed with him. “Hector, do you think him dead? Benton…do you think when he fell into the water, that he was killed?”

“Do you?” Remy shook his head. “I do not either. I think that he will need to die at your hands, all of yours. And while he might be down and in, I think that’s correct, he will not go down so easily.”

“Down and out. But I think you’re right.” He glanced at the pictures again. “Ryiah said that this was fae. A long ago language and magic that even the fae of now do not use. That our bodies are marked with hundreds of dialects, as well as other magical languages, that we might not ever learn where they came from.”

“I’ve been thinking on that as well, and I have a theory. What if the earth, which you are a large part of, decided to band together and help you? The fae and faeries, as well as the earth and other elements. There are hundreds of creatures that live here that we might not even realize. What if they all put this magic on you with the thoughts of making you the strongest person in both magic and strength to save them as well?” Hector got up to pace, something that most of them did when they were working on something, but Hector seemed to have a passion for it. “I changed you that way only in that I made you immortal as well as healed you. Strength you had. Plenty of muscle as well as fortitude. But that day, you spilled your blood on the earth. I think in that, even it knew that you were the man to save it as well as make it better.”

Remy thought on that. It made sense. Not that he thought himself any different than many other men out there on that field, but he had been the one that Hector had chosen. He’d told them from the start that he’d only saved them to do the job, and had not marked them as they were. Perhaps this was just the way he’d said, the earth as well as other magic had decided to help them.

“Do you still think that when the last mate comes here that she’ll bring us such magic that we’ll be able to conquer this?” Since, like him, they didn’t believe that Benton was dead yet, he needed to know that they could fix things here. “I’m not sure if I want to think about what she’d bring to us. I think us pretty powerful as it is.”

“But you see, I don’t think she’ll bring magic that will kill Benton. I think she will be a part of the whole of you. Her magic, whatever it might be, will be the key to bringing him down, but only because of the rest of you. A link in the chain, I think.” Remy asked him why he thought that. “Because, my good friend, it’s what I need to believe. As a whole we’ve done much. The malefactors are not as many. Dolin and Ward are gone, and we’re not working nearly as hard as we were in trying to figure this out. With the help of each person that comes here, we’ve learned a great deal. People are talking to each other, getting along, and sometimes when necessary, when they need to work things out, they do, not with fists or guns but with words.”

“Aye. And we’ve new life too. Not just from the people coming here, but new babes as well. Just yesterday we had two being born. That’s what I wish, for us to be a human race again.” Hector said that he thought they would be. And soon. “Yes, I think you’re right. I believe it too.”

Standing up, he stretched. Hector, even with them being as good of friends as they were, still backed from him when they were together. Remy had thought at first he was afraid of him, but Skylar pointed out that with his size, Hector was fearful of being in the way. It was not that he was being rude or afraid, he wished only to give Remy space.

“I think that we should have a party. A large one too. With food and friends aplenty.” Hector laughed and agreed with him. “I’ll leave talking to Ann about such an undertaking to you. The good woman would do just about anything for you.”

“No. Oh no. We’re just good friends.” Remy watched his friend as he seemed to think things over. “You don’t think she’s falling in love with me, do you? I shouldn’t know what to do with.... How does one...? Remy, I think I shall have to think on this.”

Remy was still laughing when Hector left him. He had no doubt that the man would have graphs and charts trying to figure out this deepening friendship between him and Ann. Remy would admit that he’d not seen it, but Skylar had. She told him that it would be good for the two of them, as they had a great deal in common. Not to mention, she thought them in need of each other’s company. Remy wasn’t so sure, but if they were happy, then he was.

As he made his way into the yard, he thought of the things that he and Hector had discussed. Bending to his knee, he put his hand on the earth and felt it warm beneath his hand. Thinking again of all the harm that had been put upon it, he thanked it for its nourishment as well as its help.

He felt the movement before the grass seemed to reach up and wrap around his fingers. It wasn’t painful, not in the least bit, but Remy was a little nervous. Trying to think what to say to grass and the soil beneath it, he felt…well, Remy felt refreshed. Stronger and rested.

“Thank you, my lady.” The grass tightened around his fingers for a second, then loosened again. “I have taken much advantage of you, I think. We all have. And after all you’ve done for us.”

When the soil came up and touched his fingertips, Remy dug them deep into it. When he felt the connection, he sat down. Christ, all he wanted to do was be a nicer person to the earth that had fed him over his lifetime.

You are a good man, Rembrandt the Warrior.
He said he was but a man, and didn’t feel the least bit afraid that he was hearing the ground speak with him.
Nay, you are more than that. You are everything that we had hoped for when this war began. More if you wish the truth of it. We have provided for you as much as we could. The earth yet owes you more than you can know.

“I should like to repay you for our food and warmth. The way that I’ve only just realized that you made us safe with your magic. Provided for us in ways that we never thought of.” She told him it was her pleasure. “I’d like to do more for you, my lady. Tell me what it is and I shall do my very best to give it to you.”

I should like plants. Trees as well. Fruit-bearing ones so that their seeds can propagate and grow more. Flowers and bushes. Flowering plants for the bees and faeries. I’d like for you to, if you could, make us fruitful again. Give us a reason to live.
He told her he’d do that and more.
Thank you, Rembrandt the Great. Should you need me, or any of my sisters as well, you need only to call out to us. Touch us as you are now and we can give you what we can.

Standing up after telling her again that he’d help, he looked around. Yes, these were things he could do. Things that he’d done in his life before becoming a warrior for Hector. Going to find someone to go with him into town to look for seeds and saplings if he could find them, his mind was working on plans to get them into the ground. He decided that he’d make this a daily project for himself. And if the others would like to join him, he’d welcome them.

Chapter 10

Ryiah moved to the cell where her sister was. She’d made such a nuisance of herself that the Gathering had asked her to come see her. She explained to them that she wasn’t ready to see her just yet, but they said that it would go a long way to getting answers should she do them this favor. She told them she would, but she’d have to have someone with her.

The Gathering had been around since before she’d been born. Most of the time they would only be asked to preside over something when it involved not just murder, but a disregard for everything that magic stood for. The seven men and women brought with them years of experience, as well as a vastly different kind of information about any particular paranormal. They were, as their name implied, a part of the whole of all magic there was.

As soon as she saw her sister, Ryiah knew things would not go as well as the Gathering had hoped. But they’d asked her to see if she could come to some arrangement to set her free. A freedom, they assured her, which would be short-lived. But they needed more evidence against Lucia to make their ruling more complete.

Lucia was the same as she’d been when they were children, expecting things to be her way, and damn those that wouldn’t see it that way. Whatever they had planned for her sister, she’d make sure they did it. Ryiah would be glad to have her out of her life. Prison in the dungeon was just what she deserved.

“Lucia.” She stood up and came to the magic that held her there. When she asked her about Rick, she told her. “This is Rick. You might have known him as Richard James. We’re mates.”

“No. That can’t be. I didn’t give you any leave to take a mate. No, that won’t be happening. As soon as you get me out of here, we’ll have to figure out how to make this right. You cannot have found a mate in the man that I was to have as mine.” Lucia looked at Rick then. “You certainly are more than I thought you’d be. Why did you let yourself be all marked up that way? Well, for that matter, the two of you. Whatever magic you used on each other will be returned to me as well. I’ve been punished long enough for your misdeeds.”

“
My
misdeeds? What on earth can you have in your sick mind that you think I did to you?” When Lucia started to speak, Ryiah cut her off. “You know what, I don’t really care. Whatever comes out of your mouth right now, I’d not believe you anyway. I’m sure you think you have some sort of justification for how you treated me.”

“I did nothing to you that you didn’t deserve. And as your sister, your only living relative, I demand that you get me out of here so that I can take back what is rightfully mine.” Ryiah asked her what she thought that might be. “Well, first and foremost, my magic. You’re going to return every bit of it to me. Also, this sham of a bonding. That will have to be taken care of as well. With you having a mate, the magic is stronger. I’ll have to either kill him or you give him up.”

“No.” Lucia just laughed. “I’m not going to get you out of here, not without conditions. I’m not going to give up Rick, nor am I going to turn any magic over to—”

“What sort of conditions?” Ryiah glanced at Rick when Lucia continued. “Still can’t make a fucking decision on your own, can you, Ryiah? No matter. I was always better at it anyway. So what conditions do you think to impose on me to get me out of here? I’ll do it. I just need to get out so that I can get my shit together.”

“You’ll not come near me or mine.” Lucia nodded and Ryiah didn’t believe her. “You’ll live your life as a human. Giving back to the earth all the magic that you took from it and never returned.”

“Why should I do anything like...? Never mind. Yes, I’ll do that as well. What else do you want? My money? You took that when you left me there to fend for myself. How about my magic? You stole that from me as well. Just went out and did what I tried to keep you from doing all your fucking life. A mate, Ryiah? You found a mate when I wanted you dead? How could you?”

“I could do it because I got away from you. Started to realize that you’re not at all a nice person. Not that I didn’t already know that, but without you in my life I’ve enjoyed myself. Had fun. Laughed with new friends.” Lucia started mocking her, flapping her fingers to her thumb in a way that hurt Ryiah. “You’ll abide by these rules or you’ll find yourself back here and in the worst kind of cell.”

“When? When are they going to free me?” The paper appeared in front of her and Lucia snatched it up without reading it. When magic presented it before her, Ryiah signed it as well. Anything to get this over with. When the magic was dropped at the door, Lucia walked by her without a word. Ryiah looked at Rick.

“It won’t last, you know that, right?” Ryiah nodded and moved to get comfort from Rick. “I look for her to be arrested again by the end of the day. And when she is, we’ll not come back here no matter what they say. This has been hard on you.”

“I’d like to go home, please.” He nodded but held her in his arms. “I haven’t had any feelings for her for a very long time. I can’t even remember the last time that I thought of her as a sister and not some monster.”

“She made it difficult for anyone to like her. And the fact that she sees nothing wrong with what she’s done shows just what sort of person she really is.”

They started for the door and were stopped by Hunter.

“My lady, she’s trying to rule us. I should like your permission to ignore her when she calls to us.” Ryiah asked her how she was able to do that without magic. “She has our blood. It was given to her when we were on the battlefields. Not all of us, mind you, but enough for us to be afraid when she does it. Her connection to us could be our downfall.”

“You have my permission to do whatever is necessary to keep all of you safe. When she summons any of you, you will go to her at your own risk.” Hunter smiled, then bowed before leaving. “I’m assuming that she wanted the army at her beck and call to end my life. I don’t know how she would be able to do it; I’m assuming because she thinks that I’ve grievously harmed her. That is all it would take to let her use them against me.”

“You can do the same, can’t you? Call them against her should you need to?” She told him that they both could. “Then we’ll keep an eye on her so that when she fucks up, not if but when, we can take care that we end the world of her darkness.”

“Rick, take me home and make love to me.” He lifted her in his arms and Ryiah felt safe and secure. “What would I have done had you not wanted me? Or I’d not come to the compound to find you?”

“Neither of our lives would have been complete.” She found herself in the bedroom and naked. When he stood over her, his body as hard as hers, she reached for him and he came to her gently. Softly. “I love you so very much, Ryiah. More than I could ever put into words.”

“Then show me.” He touched his mouth to her breast, then the other. As he kissed her body, he touched her as well. Every part of her yearned for him, yet she felt that waiting for him to take her was going to be what they both needed.

~~~

Rick wanted to savor every part of her body. Not just the flesh that was hers but her soul, heart, and mind. She was his, in every sense of the word, and in turn, he belonged to her as well.

Taking her nipple into his mouth, he suckled just the hard tip. He knew that she loved this, her body bowing up for him to take more of her. But he wanted to go slowly. Have her pleasure come to her over and over until he took his own. When she curled her fingers into his hair and held her to him, he looked at her while he bit down hard enough to draw blood.

“Yes,” she cried out as her body shuddered beneath his. He suckled harder, drinking deeply from her before moving to the other breast to do the same. As she held him to her, he moved his hand down her body, cupped her ass, and brought her closer still to him.

She was hot, wet, and he wanted to take her then. But he also wanted her to forget about the day they’d had so far, the treatment from her sister. Moving down her body to her navel, he licked the tiny indention before moving back up to her throat and earlobe. Ryiah cried out again, but she was rolling her hips in such a way that he knew he could easily slide into her.

“Please? I need to feel you.” Rick teased her with his cock, his crown barely breaching her as he fucked her slowly. “You’re killing me. I want to feel you fucking me.”

“You will.” He moved over her again, sliding in and out of her as sweat slid down his spine. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

She nodded and he pulled free of her. “Yes. I know. Yes, please. I hurt, I need you so badly. Please?”

“The thought of plowing you, taking your pussy over and over while you hold onto me. Feeling your sheath strangle my cock with your release. I love the way your nipples harden; the way your breasts seem to swell just before you come.” Her soft growl had him laughing. “Come for me, Ryiah, and I’ll show you with my body how much I love you.”

Her scream seemed to come from her feet. It was loud, long, and gave him the perfect opportunity to fill her. When she came a second time, then a third and fourth, he knew that if he didn’t come soon, he’d be in a great deal of pain. But before he could finish them both, she rolled him to his back and sat over him. All thoughts of rushing to the end evaporated in that minute.

With her hand on his chest, she rode him hard. Her hips rolled over him much like a cowboy did a bull. Smiling at the thought, he rolled his own hips upward and watched her face when she came again.

“I love how deeply you fill me.” Rick grabbed her hips and held on. He didn’t want to stop her, nor to slow her, but he felt like if he didn’t keep holding her that one or both of them would fly away when their climax took them. “I need to take you.”

Rick tilted his head to give her what she needed, but when she ran her fingers over his chest, where his heart was, he pulled her wrist to his mouth and waited. The moment that she came, he was going to bite her and fall over the cavern with her.

Her mouth moved over the wound at his chest. When she drew deeply, he licked the pounding pulse that he held in his hand, and when she came, he pulled her closer to him with his free hand and bit down into her wrist at the same time.

The explosion in his body seemed to take forever to peak. But once it did, it took not just his breath away but seemed to stop his heart as well. Then he cried out around her flesh when she dug her own nails into his ass. Rick came three times, sharp hard punches to his system. He next rolled her to her back and took her again. Christ, he’d never get enough of this woman, he thought.

He brought her to climax three more times, and held her when she went limp. He knew that she’d passed out. And while he was very proud of his performance in that moment, he was also very happy that she wasn’t shy about hard sex. Christ, the woman was going to kill him.

Rolling to his back, covering her as he did, Rick sat up on the side of the bed and dressed. He watched her rest, knowing that when she woke again she’d be just as stressed as she’d been before her visit with Lucia. Ryiah hadn’t been sleeping well and he was concerned that she was going to be hurt by Lucia. More so than she had previously.

I was wondering if you could come and help me with something.
Rick stood up and moved to the door as Nate continued to speak to him from the link that they all had.
I have some information that you might want to pass on to Ryiah. Or not. I don’t know what I’d do if I was mated to someone that is.... Can you come to the command center?

I’m on my way. And if this is about Lucia and her being free, we know that.
Nate said that he figured they did.
And the faeries aren’t to go near her. Hunter said that they were connected by blood.

Yeah, that explains a lot.
Rick asked him what he meant.
You should come here and let me show you. That freaky thing I can do with computers? Well, apparently I can do the same with cameras. More than likely any kind of connected service like that.

As soon as he entered the command center, Rick wanted to turn back and go to Ryiah. He had a feeling that whatever was going on, she was going to be involved. Nate showed him what he’d found.

The room looked normal enough, messy and like someone had had a fight in it, but he wasn’t sure what else he was to be looking for. When Nate zoomed the camera in on a small part of the room, it took Rick a few seconds to figure out what he was seeing.

“That’s Hunter.” The little faerie wasn’t moving, and it looked as if someone had put a glass or something similar over her. “She’ll die if she hasn’t already.”

“I don’t think she’s dead. I don’t know why that is, but I don’t think that she is. But what I can tell you is that she’s been lying that way for several minutes. At least since I called to you. I have a feeling you know where she might be.” Rick nodded but never took his eyes off the little warrior. “I’d say she went there to tell Lucia that they were finished and she somehow ambushed her. I don’t know a great deal about the magic that the little one holds, but I’d say that Lucia was waiting for her.”

“What is that over there?” The camera moved in to where Rick pointed. “Christ. I’d say she was waiting. Is that a badminton racket? You don’t think she hit her with that, do you?”

“I’d say that’s a good possibility.” Both Nate and he looked at the door when Ryiah spoke. “She’s hurt badly and cannot move, and her air has been cut off too…I’m assuming by the glass that is over her. I have to go there and get her. There are others there with her, but they cannot go to her. Lucia has them all terrified. Can you go back, look at the room?”