Bonds of Fire: The Bellum Sisters 2 (paranormal erotic romance) (21 page)

“I said...you know what this means.”

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Jackie considered lying. Yeah, she did know. But did that make anything better or right? Nope. He pressed his face into her hair, then his lips found her ear and she couldn’t stifle the shiver that wracked through her—it happened too fast, too startling. “

Say it, Jackie. I want to hear you say it.” Jackie was practically shaking in his arms. Her cheeks were flushed but not from embarrassment. There was a roaring fire building in her body. She’d never heard his voice sound like that—as if touching her brought out his beast, as if he could barely control himself.

She took an unsteady breath. “No.”

He laughed the sound dark and erotic as his hands gently traced over the contours of her bottom. Her eyes slid shut and she waited anxiously for him to grab her hard and bring her close. But he didn’t. He continued to barely caress her, lightly cupping her in caressing strokes, teasing her with the possibility of his touch.

“I never knew that you’d be the one, but I’d thought about it. Damn had I thought about it.” His hands finally did cup her squeezing her cheeks in a delicious way that had a moan bubbling from her throat.

“You have to stop this,” she whispered. It didn’t sound like a protest though, even to her own ears.

“God, I don’t want to stop. I want to take you in the nearest empty room and learn every inch of you. It’s all I’ve been able to think about.”

“No, we can’t. You’re wrong,” she said desperately. His lips found her throat and tasted the skin there, kissing it, and licking her. Jackie grew wet in an instant, her panties dampening uncomfortably at the touch.

“Why is it wrong?” He didn’t sound like he cared about the answer, because he was too busy torturing her with sexy little kisses.

“Because...it’s you.” It was a stupid defense, but it was true. She couldn’t stand who he was. Hell he’d slept with most of the free females in the pack and God knew who else. Her ardor froze. She pushed him away.

“Stop it!”

He pulled away with a frown. “What?”

“I don’t want you,” she said furiously. His eyes darkened with anger.

“What do you mean you don’t? Of course you do. You can’t resist it anymore than I can.”

Jackie squared her shoulders.

“Wanna bet I can’t?” For a moment he looked like he was about to shout, but then his body relaxed and a devilish smile crossed his face. “Okay.”

Huh. “Okay what?”

“I’ll take you up on your bet.”

Jackie took a step backwards and his smile grew even wider. “What do you mean?”

“You wanna bet that you can resist me, resist us. Then fine, challenge accepted.” Jackie’s mind spun in a thousand directions. All possibilities led to him winning. The thought made her heart pound wildly.

“No, that’s not what I meant. We can’t, Thane.” God she was actually begging.

“Too late.” He stepped forward and caught her chin in his hand. He brought his mouth close to hers. Close enough that if she leaned an inch forward they’d kiss. “Consider yourself no longer free, Jackie. Because you’re mine now.” He leaned into her and stupidly her eyes fluttered closed, waiting for his kiss.

It never came. He released her and started down the hall. “See you in the office. Stephanie’s waiting for us.”

Mouth hanging open, Jackie stared at his retreating back. Just who the hell does he think he is? Her heart stuttered in her chest.

He thought she was his mate. And what was worse, she thought he was right.

Chapter 20

Willow sat down as everyone gathered in the conference room. Poor Stephanie. She looked scared even with her mother here to comfort her. Hell, she’d be scared too if she disappeared for days with no recollection of what happened. For the meeting they had the lieutenants Thane and Jackie who have been leading the investigation, Draven, and of course Lyonis.

After their romp this morning, there was an air of tension between them. Every now and then he’d send her a guarded look, but Willow ignored it. She would not take that test.

The thought of finding out right now was scarier than that demon. She’d gladly deal with the demon than a baby. What the hell did she know about raising a baby? Nothing. Not a damn thing. And she wasn’t sure but she didn’t think having a baby came with an owner’s manual. A Guide to Having a Baby by Willow Bellum. Ha! At least she could still make jokes at a time like this.

Lyonis leaned across the oval table. “Stephanie, now that you’ve had a few days to think about it I want you to recap exactly what happened from before you left the house to when you came home.”

Stephanie nodded, her eyes darting nervously around the room. Her mother held her hand under the table and Willow’s chest tightened. She never even had a mother herself. Diana had left/disappeared, a few months after Lily was born. So she remembered absolutely zilch about her mother. She kept a picture of her in her wallet that Papa had given her for her tenth birthday. She was a pretty woman with a full head of blond hair. Her hair was wavy and curly like Lily’s but Willow had the same color.

Stephanie cleared her throat. “I finished eating dinner with the family. Then mom made me do my homework. I was feeling stressed after it was done ‘cause I have a big report coming up. So I decided to go out for a wolf run. I remember getting to the forest and feeling happy, you know. Like some of the stress was already gone. I...” she pandered off as her face pinched in confusion.

“Do you remember what happened then?” said Lyonis gently.

“I don’t ever remember shifting into wolf form. The next thing I know I’m strolling out of the woods feeling good and everyone in the town is hanging out in the center, excited to see me.” She laughed nervously. “It was weird.”

Lyonis leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingers on it. “Alright, now we’re going to tell you what we found. I don’t know if it’ll help but maybe it’ll trigger a memory, okay?”

Stephanie nodded, her frown growing deeper. The poor girl, thought Willow. She was only about sixteen.

“Several hours after you left for your run, you didn’t return your parents grew worried. They got a hold of Jackie and Thane who went to search for you. They couldn’t find you anywhere in the pack.”

“What about the cameras?” Willow said. Lyonis turned to her with a startled look.

 “I checked the camera footage,” Jackie said. “We didn’t find anything. We see her entering the forest then that’s it. She’s nowhere in any of the other frames. It’s weird.”

“Get me that tape, I want to see it.” Lyonis scrubbed his hands over his face. Willow hated seeing him like this. She didn’t know why she cared, but she did. Before she could think twice about it, she reached out and laid her hand on his thigh. He looked stunned, but she saw the happiness shining in his eyes and she smiled a little. Was this what it would be like to be his mate? He’d told her to think about it, and she was going to.

Jackie returned a few minutes later with a laptop. She set it up then hit play on a video. Everyone watched to see Stephanie entering the forest. The camera then switched views to a camera inside a tree looking down. Willow recognized that area, the camera should have caught Stephanie walking, but nothing was there.

“Draven, what do you make of this?” The half-demon vampire was so silent in the room that Willow had forgotten he was there. His hair was pulled back today in a long braid down his back; it might have looked feminine on most men but on him it looked like he was about to enter battle. That and Willow knew about his little invisibility trick. He probably had an entire arsenal of weapons on him.

“Telal Demuzi described the demon to us. Some demons of that power have the ability to cloak things. To make things invisible or to distort an area and change its appearance. My guess is that’s what happened.”

“But we didn’t smell demon there,” Lyonis disagreed.

Draven arched a cocky brow. “But I did.”

Thane took an aggressive step towards Draven. “Do you doubt the word of our Alpha?” Draven smiled at the shapeshifter with a taunting look that said: bring it on.

“No, I don’t believe any of you scented the demon’s stench. It was subtle. If I hadn’t been careful then I would have missed it too. But I’m half-demon,” he shrugged casually. “Maybe I can smell my own easier.”

Willow didn’t know why but she came to his defense. “You’re not even the same species of demon as that thing is, Draven. You’re
shahoulin
and that is thing is
jaheera
.” He gave her a peculiar look as if he was surprised, then he slowly smiled and bowed his head to her.

“Okay, let’s get back to that night,” Lyonis said. “Steph, after we couldn’t find you we sent out a larger search party. You weren’t here. Your scent disappeared, except on a tree where we found a piece of your t-shirt with a drop of blood.”

Stephanie jerked, startled. “My shirt?” She reached and rubbed along her right arm. Lyonis straightened in his chair.

“Show us your arm.” Stephanie hesitated for a moment, then pulled up her sleeve. A small cut was on her arm. It was deeper than it was long as if she’d been poked with something.

“Where did you get that, sweetie?” her mother said. Stephanie looked as shocked as everyone else.

“I don’t know. I don’t even remember getting it.”

“Then why did you touch that arm when I mentioned the shirt?” Lyonis said. There was no suspicion in his voice, only curiosity, but Stephanie stiffened.

“Look, I don’t know! I told you everything that I remember!”

“Okay, I think we’ve had enough,” her mother said. “We’ll finish this another time. Obviously she isn’t ready.” Willow wanted to stop them, they needed to talk to Stephanie, but Lyonis nodded grimly at them and let them go.

After the door closed, Willow turned on him. “Why did you let them go?”

“Because I respect her mother’s wishes.” Willow frowned. “Alright so what’s going on?” Lyonis said to his lieutenants.

Thane spun his chair side to side. “I think the demon that’s after your mate did this.”

“You don’t have to talk about to me like I’m not here,” Willow mumbled. No one listened to her.

“If Draven’s suspicions are right—” began Lyonis.

“And they are,” Draven replied.

“Then it took Stephanie. The question now is why and what for? Any suggestions, Draven?”

Draven looked thoughtful for a moment. “Mind control to spy on us, to get closer to Willow, or an assassination attempt.” He finally shrugged. “I have no idea.”

Lyonis sighed heavily. “Fine, I want a guard on Stephanie at all times. Don’t make it obvious, I don’t want the family scared. Just keep an eye on her until we figure this thing out.”

“No problem,” said Jackie. Lyonis dismissed them and the room cleared.

Willow was suddenly aware that she was alone with him...and her hand was still on his thigh. As discreetly as she could, she pulled it away. Her palm chilled without the added heat from him, but she hid her disappointment behind a false smile.

“So what now?”

Lyonis spun his chair towards her and had a grin so sexy Willow leaned away from him.

“What?” she said hesitantly.

“Tonight, we’re going out.”

“Out?” she replied dumbly.

“Out. Go home and get dressed. You have a present waiting for you. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

Willow started to protest but then he swooped down and kissed her. The kiss was gentle and coaxing, teasingly soft. Her heart sped up nonetheless. He teased her bottom lip with his tongue before slowly pulling away.

“One hour,” he promised and left.

Chapter 21

Willow paced nervously at the front door. What the heck was she thinking going through with this? After the meeting, she went back to the cabin and found a thin, long box on the bed.

It was wrapped in shiny red paper with a white bow crisscrossing it. Next to that was a box the size of a shoebox, and she was right. Inside the gift was a pair of decadent black high heel shoes. They were classy looking with a pointed toe and a heel that didn’t remind her of something a stripper would wear.

But inside the first box was a beautiful white dress. The material under her hands felt light and soft. Willow stopped pacing and looked at herself in the small oval mirror on the living room wall. It didn’t allow her to see her entire image but enough to get an idea of how she looked. Her stomach fluttered with nerves and her heart wouldn’t quit racing.

She hadn’t been on a date in years. Since David, actually. The dress must be made out of some expensive material, though she didn’t know what it was, and for some reason she didn’t want to look at the tag. As if knowing would ruin part of the surprise. The dress cupped her shoulders baring most of her neck and a portion of her chest and back, which made her feel sexy but not too exposed. The waist cinched with a red band of the same material as the gift that acted as a belt and magically seemed to make her smaller breasts look bigger, her waist thinner.

Falling just past her knees, the dress billowed around her, teasing her bare legs with its soft touch, which felt like a caress all on its own. Willow took a shaky breath and let it out. She checked the clock for the twentieth time. Any minute now he’d be here. How was it she felt more nervous about this than when they had sex?