Addictions of a Sex Demon (10 page)

Axel turned, furious to be caught once more. His hands
gripped the wire being pulled by the hunter on the ground. In a rush of speed,
Axel flew to the ground and hauled the hunter into his arms. The man screamed
like a child as his feet dangled from high in the clouds. So petrified was he,
that he dropped the barbed lasso. Axel released the hunter and loosened the
wire from around his neck. The twisted steel might come in handy, so he held
onto it as he descended below the clouds once more.

When he dropped back down to earth, the sight of Sephina
charging toward the hunters turned the hot blood in his veins to cold steel. He
hadn’t bought as much time as he’d hoped. Damn the woman rode fast. Her bright
pink hair whipped behind her as her strong, white steed galloped toward the
remaining hunters. One of them aimed a gun in her direction.

Axel folded his wings, giving him the speed of a missile
through the sky until he crushed the man to the ground. The impact of their
bodies colliding together jarred Axel’s senses and another arrow with flame
suppressant hit him from behind. The impact was worse for the hunter, for he
was dead on the ground. Axel turned toward the foe who’d shot the arrow and
spewed fire.

Strong arms gripped his neck from behind. So the hunter would
try to behead him then? Good. That meant they were out of weapons. Axel reached
back and grabbed the hands circling his neck to throw the hunter over his head.
The man landed against the human with the crossbow. Axel soaked them both in
flames as the pounding of hooves drew nearer.

“Axel!” Sephina’s voice reached him even through the roar of
brimstone fanning against soft skin. She leapt off the horse in a graceful move
and aimed her bow at the man in flames. Her arrow pierced the hunter’s heart as
if to offer him a quick death.

The scent of burning hair and melting flesh filled the air.
She’ll
think of me as a monster after this.
He turned to see Lennox drive a sword
through a hunter approaching Sephina from behind. Not far from Lennox, Zahra
launched a dagger. It flew dangerously close to Axel, passing him only to lodge
into the throat of a hunter.

“Only five left. I like those odds.” Zahra flashed a wicked
grin to the blacksmith before she swung out in a lethal arc once more.

“Make that four, my love.”

“Look!” Sephina pointed to the horizon where more hunters
galloped toward them.

Lennox clashed swords with two hunters as Axel breathed fire
toward the enemies descending upon Zahra and Seph. The two men fell to the ground
in a heap of flames. No matter how much they rolled in the dirt, it would not
save them.

Axel caught sight of a pink blur and trapped Seph in his
arms before she could mount her horse once more. She met his gaze with a fierce
amber fire in her eyes. “We need to cut them down before we’re surrounded!”

“I know. You can’t just ride into an ambush. Get on my
shoulders.”

Lennox finished off the last of the hunters and for a
moment, there was silence. Sephina looked up at him with a question in her
eyes. “What do you—like, ride you?”

“I won’t let you fall.”

“I know.”

“You’ll be safer from the sky. You can cut them down with
your arrows one by one before they get to your family.”

“I’ll take care of the hunters,” Lennox added, stepping in
front of Zahra.

Sephina latched the bow around her arm so she could grab
hold of him. “Let’s go.”

Axel hoisted her up around his shoulders and couldn’t help
but be reminded of the first night they met. He hardened instantly.

Zahra huffed. “Do I really wanna know why this man might be
flying into a trap with my little sister and he’s got a stiff one?”

Lennox pulled Zahra against him. “Look at the quetzalem’s
crotch again and I’ll lay you down on this ground and pleasure you until all
the hunters and quetzalem disappear from this realm.” His mouth covered hers
and the succubus groaned with pleasure.
Gods.
Axel wanted to do the same
thing with Seph.

“C’mon, lover boy, let’s go.” Sephina grabbed hold of him
right before he launched into the air. Flying through the clouds toward the
hunters, they’d be invisible.

“Ready your bow. As soon as we leave the clouds, take out as
many as you can. I’m going to sweep down on them and torch those without arrows
so if they continue forward, they’ll be in bad shape by the time they reach
your family.”

“I’m ready. Hey—” Her soft palm rested on his shoulder. “I
love you.”

He wished he could see her. He relished the feel of her
latched onto his back like a brave warrior woman. “I love you more.”

They plummeted from the clouds, and Sephina’s arrows whizzed
toward the hunters with lethal grace. Men dropped from their steeds one by one.
Axel prepared to make his sweep and brimstone ignited within belly.

“Try not to get the horses, okay?”

Axel smiled. He loved his woman. “I’ll try.”

Instead of unleashing a wave of flames, Axel directed
fireballs at the men still on horseback. One by one, they dropped from their
steeds just like the men Seph punished with her deadly aim. Soon, no riders
were left and Zahra and Lennox remained in the distance, unneeded.

“You are a good shot, my love.” Axel landed on the ground
and set Sephina down on her feet gently.

“That was incredible. I love flying. And look, you even
managed to avoid a horse BBQ.”

Axel pulled Sephina into him and covered her lips. She
melted against him and moaned. Her hand gripped his shoulder as if to pull him
even closer. The pleasure of her kiss was nearly dizzying. Axel opened his eyes
slowly to gaze upon her, but saw a hunter on the ground aiming an arrow. Axel
shoved Sephina out of the way, but it was too late. The arrow grazed them both,
but his hardened scales had saved him. The warm crimson flooding his stomach
wasn’t his. It was hers.

“Seph!”

Her eyes found his in a horrifying reflection of pain. The
fire in her eyes was awash with tears. Axel laid her on the ground and left her
there to go and finish off the hunter. Reaching down, he pulled the arrow from
the hunter’s back. Jerking the man’s head back, using a fistful of hair, Axel
sliced his foe’s neck with the blade of the arrow. Blood gurgled from the
hunter’s fatal wound before Axel once again knelt by Sephina’s side.

“You’re going to be all right.” The quiver in his own voice
betrayed his worry. He slashed his wrist over one of his hardened scales.

Sephina smiled weakly as she clutched at the bloody wound in
her side. “You just wanna get me all hopped up on erotic dreams.”

Axel’s heart dropped into his stomach. She was in so much
pain, and yet she still sought to make him smile. He wanted to capture her lips
with his own, but knew what had to be done. He placed his bleeding wrist
against her mouth. She had to heal quickly. He had to take away her pain.

As she drank the livelihood he offered her, the bright amber
in her eyes bore into him. Sephina was the one that was wounded, but she drilled
him with a courageous gaze that he knew was meant to heal the ache in his
heart. She swallowed drink after drink. Fresh off his heat, he could afford to
give her all he had. Even if he wasn’t, he’d give her every last drop until he
bled dry to heal her.

“You’re going to be okay.” He repeated the mantra in his
head, but his heart didn’t stop raging against his ribcage until serenity
finally entered Seph’s gaze. The hand he held firmly against her wound detected
the slow heal of her skin coming together. She’d need more blood though to heal
the wound as well as take away the pain. When she tried to take her lips away,
he forced more down her throat. He wasn’t taking any chances. Finally, her
wound healed beneath his fingertips.

The brimstone in his bones kept him warm, but his veins had
emptied out enough to leave him dizzy. But she was healed, and that was all the
mattered. Axel took his hand away and immediately captured her lips. He needed
to kiss her. Sephina thrust her tongue inside his mouth and met his passion
head on. He cherished her. And he’d almost lost her.

“What happened?” Zahra’s worried voice interrupted them, but
Axel didn’t release Seph. He continued to savor her. Even with the taste of his
own blood, the kiss was exquisite.

“There’s blood everywhere. Seph, are you all right?” This
time it was Lennox’s concerned tone that sought to halt the kiss.

Hellplane.
Axel released her lips, but fought the
urge to rip her brother-in-law in half. As soon as his lips released her,
blackness swirled across his vision.

“Axel!” Sephina’s worried tone bounced through his brain,
but her image waved before his eyes. And then finally, everything else
disappeared. As the darkness of death consumed him, he gave himself up with
happiness, for his love would go on. She would survive.

One month later

Sephina finished washing her hands in the elaborate bathroom
inside Nymph’s Hideout. Ananda walked in. “Hey Seph, there’s a client giving
Catrina a hard time in the BDSM room.”

“All right, I’ll be right there. I thought I’d never be able
to get the scent of that troll’s balls off my hands.”

Ananda laughed, and when she did, her whole face lit up.
Sephina was glad for it. Ever since she’d accepted the position as Security La
Femme at the whorehouse, Sephina had made it her goal to boost that damn girl’s
confidence.

The young human left the bathroom and Seph dried her hands
off. When a troll had gotten overly aggressive with one of the concubines,
she’d gone nutcracker on his ass, well, his testicles. And now apparently some
asshole was giving Catrina a hard time in one of their hardcore playrooms.
Well, Seph would put him out on his ass, just like anyone else that got too
carried away this past week. Gods, she loved her job.

A second later, Seph barged into the BDSM room ready to set
the brute straight. Instead, she walked in and found Catrina fully clothed
standing beside Axel. The concubine flashed Seph a wicked grin before whacking
Axel with her riding crop. “Here. You’re gonna need this. I say she’ll be a runner.”

“What’s going on here?” Seph looked between the brothel’s
most popular concubine and Axel. Ever since the night they’d fought off the
hunters, she and Axel had been inseparable. He’d helped her stay strong through
the withdrawals, and she’d been sober a whole month. In turn, Axel had found a
new way to keep the rough drugs off the street as the new town lawman. Catrina
skipped past Seph and fled the room. The lock clicked in place behind Seph.
“You wanna tell me what’s going on?”

Axel approached her. As he did so, his brilliant blue eyes
glittered with sensual intention. “I’m here to tell you how much I love you,
Seph.”

Her heart swelled. “I know you love me.”

“I came here, because I’m not leaving until I get the answer
I want. Even if I have to torture you with hours of pleasure.”

Seph glanced around the kinky BDSM room. “Well...in that
case, I might not give you what you want just for the fun of it.”

Axel knelt before her, and her breathing came to a sudden
halt. Her palms trembled as he took them in his hands. He gazed up at her with
eyes like warm steel. Framed by pale, blue skin and dark, black hair, he was
her exotic, sexy beast.

His lips kissed her palm. “Sephina Antara. You are sensual,
brave, kind, and you set my body on fire every moment of every day. I want
nothing more than to be your fire, to set your body and heart aflame. I love
you more than everything in this realm, and I always will. Will you be my
lifemate?”

She swore she wasn’t a crier. But damnation and hellplane,
tears came anyway. She laughed and sobbed at the same time. “If I say yes, can
we still use the room?”

Axel’s grin brought her to her knees as she found his lips
in an all-consuming kiss. When she released him, he took her hand and brought
it to his mouth. He slid one of her fingers past his lips. The space inside his
mouth rivaled the heat of a volcano. He breathed against her flesh and swirled
the finger within his mouth. Heat flamed against her skin. The pain of his
brimstone flicked against her, but she welcomed it. She was a woman who
belonged to a dragon.

When he pulled her finger slowly from his mouth, his grin
had her examining her hand. Her finger burned. Axel blew on it, and as he did
so, a golden fire traced its way around her finger and left a blazing red
tattoo around its circumference.

“Axel! It’s beautiful.” The marking he’d left on her cooled
against her skin, a permanent reminder of their everlasting love. The only
thing more beautiful than the new marking around her finger was the incredible
man kneeling before her. “I want to spend forever with you.”

“I love you, Seph.”

“Good. Now, let’s get started on this forever thing. Pretend
I didn’t say yes. What was that thing you said about punishing and pleasuring?”
Seph gave herself to the smile that took over her cheeks.

Axel took her into his arms and backed her against one of
the wooden bondage wheels. Sephina gasped as heat flooded her body in
anticipation.

Tonight would be good.

Forever with Axel would be even better.

Jaye Shields holds a degree in Anthropology from San
Francisco State University with an emphasis in archaeology. Her previous claims
to fame include being a bass player for a grunge band called the Hymens, being
mistaken for Britney Spears while in Tokyo, and commercial model. She insists
the commercial still counts even though her lines were cut.

Born and raised in Seattle, she now lives in the realm of
fog, skyscrapers, and redwood trees. Happy to call San Francisco home, she
spends her time writing sensual paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Thanks to
her grandmother, she’s been reading romance novels since she was ten years old.
Jaye sprinkles her love of history, mythology, and the occult into flaming hot
reads.